The next month passed like a blade dragged endlessly across stone—slow, relentless, and merciless.
At Fort Nightfall, training did not stop for rain, exhaustion, or injury. Dawn bled into dusk, and dusk into another dawn, as the Red Flags Battalion sharpened itself into something far beyond an ordinary military force.
Above them all, Zenn ruled the skies.
The dragon had grown at a frightening rate. No longer the hatchling that once fit easily within Daniel's domain, Zenn now possessed the body of an adolescent dragon—long, muscular, and crowned with jagged horns that shimmered faintly with violet light. Each beat of its wings shook the air, sending shockwaves across the training fields.
When Zenn exhaled fire, even the veterans stepped back.
The flames were no longer red or orange. They were thick, roiling torrents of purple-black fire—dense, hungry, and absolute. Anything caught within them did not burn slowly. It vanished. Armor, bone, demonic flesh—reduced to ash in a heartbeat, leaving nothing behind but scorched ground and silence.
Daniel watched from the ramparts, arms folded, eyes calm.
Good, he thought. You're almost ready.
—
The portals did not stop.
They appeared without warning—tearing open reality like festering wounds. Alleyways, forests, abandoned farmlands, even once near the capital itself. From them poured demonic beasts—howling, clawing things driven by instinct and slaughter.
This time, Daniel did not intervene personally.
Instead, he dispatched his troops.
Two knights per portal.
They are beast slayer.
And each of them was strong in their rights
It was deliberate.
Each pair moved with precision, riding wolves through smoke and panic, black armour streaked with crimson markings. The people began to recognize them before the demonic beasts even passed through the portal,.
"The Red Flags are here." people who were in shock cheered, The red flags fought in quick precision killing the Demonic beasts within minutes, the vice assistant Eseren and maria were supervising and watching the execution from a distance on top of tall trees and telepathically report back to the War general Daniel.
Hope spread faster than fear, in villages and town.
The battles were brutal and efficient. Tier after tier of demonic beasts fell beneath spear, blade, and bow, and whip. Every kill was counted—not with gold, but with battle points.
Daniel introduced the system personally.
"The battlefield does not reward emotion," he told them. "It rewards results."
Each kill earned points. High-ranking beasts earned more. Coordination, efficiency, and survival mattered just as much as strength.
The competition ignited something fierce within the battalion.
Among them, two names rose rapidly above the rest.
Prince Aaren—now whispered among the soldiers as the Prince of Death—and Olga voge the girl vice commander Eseren recruited.
Aaren's spear was merciless. His movements were precise, economical, and terrifyingly calm. Where others fought with fury, he fought with inevitability. Every thrust was aimed to kill. Every step closed distance. His eyes never wavered.
Olga, clad in dark armor, wielded her black bow as if it were an extension of her soul. Her arrows sang through the air, each one claiming a life before the beast even knew it was under attack. She moved constantly, repositioning, covering Aaren's blind spots without a single spoken word.
They were young.
But on the battlefield, they looked like war gods, forged by war itself.
By the end of the month, forty portals had opened.
More than two hundred high-ranking demonic beasts were slain.
The inner kingdom breathed again.
Markets reopened. Villages repaired their gates. Parents slept without clutching weapons beside their children.
And always, the whispers followed:
"The Red Flags did saved their mind."
—
Far from Fort Knightfall, at the true frontline, the war painted a very different picture.
Five distinguished war generals held the line.
Each commanded thousands. Each had seen decades of bloodshed.
And each was being ground down.
Men fell daily. Supplies ran thin. The demon army did not press recklessly—they tested, retreated, and struck again with cruel intelligence.
Yet the generals held.
Not because they believed victory was near.
But because the king's order was absolute.
Hold for two months.
A special battalion was coming.
Doubt flickered in their eyes when they heard the rumours—one hundred men, a single war general, a fortress at the border.
It sounded like madness.
Still, none of them broke.
Resolve did not waver.
War continued.
—
Back at Fort Knightfall, as the final days of the month approached, Daniel stepped into his domain.
The air inside was thick with mana—so dense it pressed against the skin. The land itself seemed alive, humming softly with power.
At the center of it all lay the cocoon.
The ant queen's egg. Thraxa
It was massive now, pulsing faintly, its surface veined with glowing lines. A deep, rhythmic heartbeat echoed through the domain, slow but powerful.
Daniel approached and knelt beside it.
"My child," he said softly, placing a hand against the warm surface. "I've been waiting a very long time."
The heartbeat quickened.
"I think it's time," Daniel continued, his voice gentle, almost fond. "I miss you."
The response was immediate.
A crack split the cocoon.
Then another.
The shell shattered outward, fragments dissolving into mana as a massive form emerged—wet, glistening, and alive.
Thraxa, the ant queen, unfolded herself slowly. Her body gleamed with dark iridescence, her mandibles sharp, her presence overwhelming. She was enormous, dwarfing anything Daniel had seen before.
She bowed her head toward him.
Daniel placed his hand upon her slick crown.
"Finally," he said, smiling. "At last, we're together again."
A notification appeared before his eyes.
[Lilith – Domain System]: Ant Queen Thraxa has awakened as a Virgin Queen. Hybrid Fusion Protocol available.
Lilith's voice followed, calm and precise.
Master, by using the blood of your two strongest beasts—Zenn and Silver—I can perform a hybrid fusion. The resulting offspring will be mutant ants possessing the body of an ant and the dual core of a dragon and wolf.
Daniel's eyes narrowed slightly.
"And the benefits?" he asked.
Extreme resilience, accelerated growth, pack intelligence, and elemental adaptability. Their loyalty will be absolute.
Daniel did not hesitate.
"Proceed."
The fusion began.
Blood essence was drawn—violet-black from Zenn, silver-blue from Silver. The energies twisted together, roaring through the domain like colliding storms.
Thraxa screamed—not in pain, but in triumph.
Then she began to eat.
Endlessly.
Daniel issued a new order that same night.
"All demonic beast corpses are to be brought to Fort Nightfall by tomorrow."
Carriages rolled through the gates without pause, driven by Red Flag knights. Mountains of carcasses vanished into the domain.
Inside, Thraxa consumed them like a bottomless abyss.
As she fed, she laid eggs.
Millions of them.
Cocoons spread across the domain like a living sea—pulsing, absorbing mana, whispering with unborn life. The sight was overwhelming, almost grotesque in its scale.
Daniel felt the mana density spike dangerously.
Frowning, he reached out through their bond.
"Thraxa," he said firmly. "Focus on quality, not quantity. I need strength—not numbers."
Her response echoed directly in his mind, calm and confident.
Do not worry, my master. I will make you proud.
Daniel smiled.
The month ended.
Standing once more upon the ramparts of Fort Nightfall, Daniel exhaled slowly, watching Zenn circle above and his battalion train below.
"I think," he said quietly, "now we are ready."