His body was wrapped in a simple brown cloak, but his face was clearly visible beneath the hood. His form was similar to Petra's bipedal ants, but far sharper. The ridges, spines, and angular plates unique to an ant were all preserved in perfect detail across his humanoid silhouette.
Elena froze.
Her eyes trembled as she looked at the old ant.
When his eyes turned towards her, Elena felt her blood run cold.
He looked humanoid, but she could 'feel' his true form beneath his shell. Petra would not have sensed it, she was terrible at observation, but Elena, who already knew who he was, did, very clearly, feel him!
'It' radiated from the old ant like a shadow beneath his flesh.
Behind that simple, unassuming body, she felt it, the twisting shape of millions of creatures, from countless races, all different species, and different lives, woven together into a single being.
He was life itself, or at least the personification of its laws.
An existence made of countless fates and endless time, an unending form with countless abilities.
As for his aura, it wasn't that he didn't have an aura, but similar to the way light worked, the vibrations of his spiritual energy were far too high for someone at her level to detect.
His eyes were ancient and still, almost calm.
But…
They carried a wrath so deep it could smother the world! And yet, within that wrath, there was something else. What was it… Ah, of course!
It was—
'Relief'
As for why he would be feeling relief, Elena knew very clearly!
She was worried about him from the start.
This man was the father of the Ant Queen they had just killed. He would become a character in the later calamities, but he always held a grudge over this incident. Elena had tried in her previous lives, but she was never able to find him in time to reunite him with his daughter before she 'had' to be killed in the Second Calamity.
- Fate would not allow it, this was an unstoppable event…
He would always be too late, and Elena was sure about this. It was a [Tragedy] woven into the world.
But now?
He was here!
Elena's heart sped up, and her mind spun as she tried to think about how this was possible!
How was this possible?
He should not be here!
He could not be here…
Not now, no, actually, this was bad, really bad!
This man was a monster beyond words, a ninth-tier existence, one of the few in the entire world of Pillomal! A calamity near the same level as the Dragon of Destruction, an existence standing just below the Gods, a Demi-God!
She knew who he was, she had known him in every loop up till now.
But she couldn't understand…
Why now?
Why here?
How?
In the past, he never arrived on time. Elena had spent years tracking him down, just to find out where he was at this time in history, but it was impossible.
He never sensed his daughter's suffering until the Second Calamity had already ended. This was woven by fate! It was like an infallible 'barrier' that could never be 'broken', wrapping the western region, and isolating it to a series of pre-set events!
This was one level higher than how people like Dorthy and Hexfill were 'controlled'!
So why had he come early this time?
What had changed?
Could it be…
Her thoughts spun in circles until a small green flash flickered past her mind. Could it be…?
The old man didn't wait for her to recollect herself.
Above his head hovered a slowly spinning cocoon of light.
Elena's eyes narrowed, then shot open!
That cocoon… the thing pulsing inside of it… It was the Ant Queen! It was her mutated evolution, compressed into a final cocoon that was shed from her body, the last desperate act of her existence. Her will to survive! It had been saved in time!
Elena lowered her body and took a stance, preparing herself despite knowing that she was no different than an ant before this monster.
Her hands tightened around her daggers.
She was ready to die on the spot if he moved, but the old man simply looked at her and snorted. His gaze sank in like a knife, ancient, wrathful, and sharp enough to cut through a soul.
Then—
He turned away...
Without a sound, he vanished into the void with the cocoon in his hand.
His speed tore the void apart.
The air cracked behind him, leaving scars in the air like shattered glass.
Elena stood frozen on the spot for only a moment before a violent earthquake smashed through the cavern. The chamber was collapsing. The floors split, and the walls trembled. The entire structure groaned as if the continent was pulling apart, no, that's not it, the world tree was imploding!
'Shit!'
Elena inhaled sharply.
She had to escape!
Now!
Before the whole world came down on top of her head!
Elena staggered to her feet, but the mere act of standing hurt so bad her mind flashed white. Every breath was like pins and needles, and relaxing was impossible at this point in time.
Waves of pain pulsed through her body in slow, suffocating waves, giving her a headache.
Her ribs were shattered, her foot was twisted beyond repair, and both body and mind had been pushed past their limits. Bruises, cuts, and burns covered her from head to toe, and her spiritual energy was completely exhausted. Even the poisonous air, which had previously been harmless, was becoming a problem because her resistance had fallen. Elena was almost exhausted, but she couldn't slow down, not even for a moment.
From this point onwards, each wasted action was one more life lost.
Rumble!
After being corrupted, most of the Ant Army, and all the little bits of the corrupted world tree, carried a trace of the darkness element, so after the Sun Spear fired, it vaporized nearly everything that carried even a hint of that element.
The corruption had been burned clean, leaving only a hollow chamber with no natural light.
This also meant that the United Army had not been as heavily impacted as everything else in the chamber. Despite that, many had still died, especially those who operated the Sun Spear. They were vaporized instantly, but many survived as well, especially those who had remained closer to the middle of the pathway that connected the central platform to the tunnel where they had entered.
Elena limped across the devastated platforms, leaping over shattered stone, and fallen shells, and climbing across brittle roots that crumbled beneath her weight.
She looked pathetic, that's what Petra would say right now…
Rumble! Rumble… rumble... rumble...…!
The world shook, nearly knocking her down.
She continued to climb until she reached the edge. The platform had once been a perfectly circular structure, but now it was warped and melted, still hissing with heat that conflicted with the air...
Elena's hands burned as she touched it, only worsening her injuries.
The whole space had turned into an oven.
Her body, as a cultivator, could withstand the worst of it, and so could the few elites who had followed her, but many of the others didn't possess the same resistance that the top talents did. Most of those people had died instantly when the Sun Spear detonated, but even then, a small number had survived.
These people were in the worst state.
Getting from the central platform back to the tunnel would take nearly half an hour with her current injuries, but she forced herself to keep going. Every few steps, pain surged through her bones. Her headache matched the rhythm of the earthquakes, pulsing in her body and making her legs tremble.
The entire cavern was shaking more violently as each second passed.
Despite her state still worsening, and despite the opinions of the others, she still stopped and searched for survivors every now and then. Whenever she found someone breathing, she hauled them to their feet, poured her precious medicine into their mouths, or pressed a pill into their hands.
Elena always carried the best medicine.
She used it all without hesitation.
She jumped from stone to stone, using cracked roots as stepping stones, dashing through the shaking debris towards the exit as best as she could.
By the time she reached the tunnel entrance, her entire body felt like it would collapse at any moment.
But—
She still didn't rest!
She performed a quick count of those who had made it out alive. Less than ten percent remained, and the Stoneback Tribe was nearly gone, with only three survivors.
Elena clenched her teeth.
She issued the order to retreat.
"We don't have much time, move! The entire chamber will collapse soon!"
They ran.
Behind her, the corrupted World Tree groaned from above. Its once colossal roots began to shrivel, withering like dried vines at a speed that defied logic. It almost appeared as if whatever regulated its vitality had been confused, and it absorbed everything all at once, destroying itself in the process.
This movement shook the entire western region.
The tremors spread far beyond the cavern, racing upwards in violent waves that tore through the surface of the entire cross continent.
The world tree was 'dying', and everyone knew.
It was the most violent way to announce that they were 'successful.'
-
Elena turned and supported a youthful soldier with her shoulder.
"Move," she roared again, turning her head towards the others.
Rumbel!
The massive tunnel shook, splitting apart as chunks of High Elven metal rained down from above. The survivors broke into a desperate sprint. The cavern wailed like a dying world, its walls fracturing under the strain of the weakening earth around it. Overhead, the withered roots imploded violently, destabilizing entire slabs of stone and earth. Streams of ethereal molten light bled from the ceiling, casting the tunnel in swaying waves of red and gold. Behind them, the great chamber groaned, roaring with a sound so deep it vibrated through flesh and bone, stretching even into the soul.
Elena pushed herself harder.
Her vision blurred, but she kept running.
Her breath was ragged, but she didn't stop.
Her bones throbbed, but she refused to fall.
The corrupted World Tree gave one last shudder, Crack… crack… crack…
Then—
'The world behind them folded like paper.'
* * *
While the United Army, or at least what was left of them, was escaping in an epic offscreen scene, a certain green-haired little girl was swaggering around, doing her own thing…
Our camera comically cuts to the cute little critter skittering below the storyline…
Literally…
Far below the massive chamber where the Ant Queen was held, there was another large complex that was completely hidden from all records. This was a special research laboratory known only to the highest-level High Elves, those permitted by the emperor himself.
When Petra had agreed to 'leave his daughter alone', the old ant had given her the coordinates to his 'secret stash.'
After looking around, Petra had some serious doubts about ownership of this 'secret stash', but that didn't stop her little claws from scooping up anything that wasn't nailed down.
Kek kek kek!
After a lengthy looting, she found herself before a shining sealed door. This door was clearly an extremely high-level secret room.
Even the Tower Spider's venom couldn't destroy it!
Jackpot!
Petra, who was occasionally not an idiot, tested the walls and floor around the door as well. Unfortunately, the same protection extended across the whole structure, not just the entrance...
"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue! "Then let's see if I remember how to do this!"
- Petra kicked the door.
- Then paused.
- Then crouched down.
- Then grabbed her foot.
- Then slowly laid down on her back.
- Then—
She started flailing back and forth like an overturned beetle in a completely unnecessary scene, just for you, dear readers. Ahem… Petra: "Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck! My fucking toe! Whaaaaaa! Damn door! Damn it! Don't let me find out who built you!!"
* * *