Like a rain of cats and dogs mauling at each other's throats, giant Lava Ants clashed with the tiny Spawns of the Swarm. With one move of their sharp legs, the Lava Ants killed multiple Spawns at once. On the other hand, the Spawns were much more helpless.

Their mandibles are too weak to have an immediate effect on the Lava Ants.

‘These ants have evolved like us! They're no longer the slow, bulky ants from before,’ Zhar glared at the army of Lava Ants.

Both armies had wings, and while the Lava Ants only had a hundred thousand members outside, each of them was five centimeters big. Not only that, the Swarm had barely killed a few hundred Lava Ants.

Contrary to the Lava Ants, Zhar's army faced massive casualties in their first clash. Tens of thousands of Spawns were killed in mere seconds, and the Lava Ants haven't even used any of their abilities yet. They've only been using their physical prowess.

‘I need to warn the Lord,’ Zhar thought, when a soothing voice entered his head.

‘I already know what happened. Retreat for now, but keep an eye on them,’ Helzar commanded. ‘When our official invasion starts, we will bring all of our Motherbugs. I want them gone!’

Helzar yelled loudly inside his mind, but Zhar only felt pleasure rather than discomfort. Before Helzar disconnected with him, he told Zhar to capture a few Lava Ants alive.

‘RETREAT!’

With Zhar's orders, the army of millions of Spawn flew to the nearest alleyway, disappearing in the darkness along with a few Lava Ants in tow. The Lava Ants made no efforts in following them, opting to return inside their nest hidden underneath a tree.

In the deepest part of the ant nest, the Lava Queen Ant lay silent, listening to the report of her minions.

“So we've met those bugs from before?” She gazed at the ants before her. She no longer produced “Major Ants,” opting to produce the more versatile “Alate Ants.”

Unlike ordinary alate ants from other ant colonies, she didn't produce “reproductive” alates. Instead, she modified them to inherit the Major Ant's strength.

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Apart from having powerful defenses and offensive capabilities, their venom was more potent than before. If an ant stings a human, their skin would burn and melt, exposing the flesh underneath.

Of course, the venom inside one ant is minimal, but if thousands of ants swarmed one person…

The Queen named these terrifying warriors of hers simply as Lava Ants, as she only produced one type of ant anyway.

“They barely pose a threat to us. We have a million Lava Ants ready to wreak havoc if we want to,” the Queen scoffed. Hearing her queen's speech, the Lava Ant retreated back to tending to the colony's young.

Although they have crazy powerful abilities, they don't have the same reproduction speed as Helzar's Swarm. Each Lava Ant has to go through the egg, larva, and pupa stage for a total of three days before maturing into adult Lava Ants.

“Rather than some pesky bugs, I want to kill those damned humans! They dare destroy my hard work, capturing me from my home just to make this graceful queen into their accursed pet!”

With rage seeping from her eyes, the now five inches long Lava Queen Ant opened her mandibles, letting out a wrathful wail. The air surrounding her became hotter by the second, before she finally reigned in her anger.

“When I meet that blue eyed human again, I'll be damned to give him a swift death!”

+++-+++-+++

An entire day had passed since the Swarm discovered the Lava Ants, and Helzar couldn't keep his legs from crawling around. He was both impatient and anxious. His gut was telling him that invading the Lava Ants in a hurry would be costly, even for the burgeoning Swarm.

However, after hearing Zhar's report, Helzar felt threatened. He couldn't wait to extirpate the Lava Ant colony.

‘I didn't expect for those mutated insects to evolve like the Swarm. Does their queen have a soul?’

Coming to that idea, Helzar felt his mind racing even more. Curiosity filled his phantom heart, and what remained of his social desires surfaced.

‘I wonder if I can talk to the Queen…’

Helzar had been isolated from any meaningful interactions with anyone aside from humans. Unfortunately, he abhorred humans. Knowing that there might be someone out there who's similar to him made Helzar feel complicated, like he was facing a fork in the road.

However, after a bit of mulling, Helzar dispelled the hazy, intoxicating candy mist enveloping his mind.

‘It doesn't matter. The throne is always lonely,’ Helzar emptied his thoughts. ‘What matters is the Swarm's growth, and the Swarm's domination!’

Having regained his focus and motivation, Helzar used his energy to open a crack on his back.

“Zhar!” Helzar called out and was met with Zhar's wounded appearance. He was rapidly healing though, giving Helzar a sense of relief.

Whilst carrying the captured Lava Ants home, the Lava Ants didn't remain still. They struggled, killing hundreds of Spawns on their own before resorting to their last option. They were already tired, and the only thing they could do was choose how they would die.

In the end, they covered themselves with their own venom, slowly melting into a puddle of hot goop. Zhar tried immobilizing one of the Lava Ants, stupidly throwing himself into their lava-like venom.

‘Yes, my lord?’

“We'll be moving out. Lead the way to the ant nest!” Helzar sprouted his wings, ready to take flight. Zhar likewise spread out his wings, bowing to Helzar before following his command.

The Swarm had already run out of Eaters and Bloodworms. All that remained were a few thousand eggs, hundreds of thousands of Spawnlings, and more than a hundred million Spawns!

The hundreds of thousands of Motherbugs were being protected by the Swarm, and the latest Motherbug was right next to Helzar. It was focused on laying Motherbugs eggs, the three centimeters version.

‘I only have a few of them, and each of them is precious. Creating those Motherbugs via the Nest costs thousands of Eaters!’ Helzar’s mouth filled with bitter pills from the thought alone. Not only was creating the new Motherbug expensive, it also wasn't a guaranteed success!

‘The five centimeters ants can survive being surrounded by hundreds of my one centimeter spawns, but can they survive being surrounded by millions of Spawns?’

Helzar chuckled.

“With more than a hundred million Spawns, the Lava Ants can only perish!”