Regix only shook his head and chuckled. Corrin was more unrestrained, throwing back her head and laughing until it filled the entire room.
“You haven’t changed, Verita. You’d think it was you sitting on this throne right now! I’ve no idea how you got back inside the city, but the only thing that did is save me the trouble of hunting you down in the countryside and putting you down like a dog. You’re outmatched here, give it up and I’ll kill you quickly.”
Judging by the sadistic look in the others’ eyes, Queen Verita sincerely doubted a quick death featured at all in her plans.
At this moment something pushed its way through the Guards behind her to appear at the front. As one, the soldiers arrayed before her tensed, and even Corrin’s eyes widened in surprise. Without even turning, Verita knew exactly who stood beside her now.
Concentrating deeply, she wove anew the mind bridge to allow communication between her and the monster. As soon as the weave was done, the cold and emotionless voice she had still not grown accustomed to echoed in her mind.
[Who are these worms?] the voice demanded.
The queen’s mouth tightened. As royalty, she wasn’t accustomed to being spoken to with the constant disrespect and rudeness she received from this monster, but she could only overlook it. How could she expect manners from a monster?
[The leaders of the coup against me and a century of soldiers from a neighbouring kingdom.]
She could almost feel the weary disinterest rolling off the creature in waves, confusing her. What was it so bored about!
Corrin stood from her place on the throne, a grin twisting her face. “You’ve even allied with a monster in order to regain your throne, Verita? What would your precious Legion say if they were to find out of this? Or the Church of the Path for that matter? If word of this were to get out, you’d be finished!”
“Somehow I don’t think you’ll be talking much when I separate your head from your shoulders,” Verita bit back.
[If we can win here, the rebellion will fall apart and our pact will be finished, monster. All those people have to die, and you will have your reward. Are you able to do it?]
Verita had to admit she was nervous. As far as monsters go, this ant wasn’t that large or powerful, but for some reason it managed to overcome impossible odds over and over again. The baffling magic it was able to use continually surprised her, even filled her with trepidation. The blast that destroyed the gates was seared into her memory. No city wall, no matter how enchanted, would be able to withstand that shocking power!
That memory only firmed her resolve…
[If I can kill or disable all of these people, I can take my reward and leave?] the monster asked.
Verita wasn’t sure, but she felt she detected something strange in the creature’s tone.
She shook off her thoughts.
[Of course,] she replied. [Is it possible?]
[Tell your people to stay out of my way. I’ll finish this.]
The monstrous ant leisurely walked forward as the hundred soldiers braced their weapons against it.
“One little ant, Verita? This is the best you could find? Exactly how is this piece of garbage going to turn the tides here? You must be insane!” Corrin exulted.
The ant monster indeed looked weak as it faced the enemy soldiers arranged neatly in their formation. Nobody in their right might would think a single ant monster would be able to overcome these odds. Ants were not known for their individual strength. They were so feared because of their terrifying numbers.
But this ant was different. Verita wasn’t sure why or how, but this one was different.
The monster continued its unhurried march. The closer it got, the tighter the soldiers grip on their weapons became.
When a short gap of only a few metres remained, something changed. With the monster at the centre, a crackling purple energy sphere flickered into existence and rapidly expanded outward.
46. The Queen’s Circumstances, Part 2
Seeing that baleful magic flickering into existence, Queen Verita’s heart froze in her chest. In all her days, she hadn’t seen anything as horrific as this magic. The sound. The destruction. Everything it touched was simply… gone. Smashed to nothing as if consumed by a monstrous beast.
Even though it was her foes who were about to experience this horror, the queen held pity for them, feared for them, even. Who knows what gods would await them on the other side of that dreadful maw?
The little ant opened its mouth and the vortex of death howled into existence. The air inside the throne room pulled at everyone as it was sucked toward the purple ball racing through the air to impact against the shield of an enemy soldier in an instant.
Despite the horrific shriek of the wind, the soldiers didn’t panic, but calmly began to deploy their defensive skills. They didn’t believe this little monster would be capable of casting a spell strong enough to threaten them. How many monsters had they killed on training expeditions to the Dungeon? How many towering, powerful beasts had they faced down? To retreat in the face of this little thing would be an insult to their pride.
It would be their death instead.
As soon as it touched that shield, the dark purple, almost black, ball expanded, and the soldiers near the impact point vanished entirely. Those close to the edges had a split second in which their faces twisted with fear and shock before they too were pulled into the ball. Horror overtook every soldier in the room as the wind rose in pitch to a deafening howl. Soldiers tried to flee, tried to pull their comrades away from that sphere of death, but they could not resist it and nothing would sate it.
Even the ant who cast the spell backed away slightly before becoming still and watching its creation consume the enemy. The queen could only stare at the grisly spectacle before her. Seeing this magic employed against a gate was one thing. Seeing it make proud, trained soldiers vanish in an instant was another. Fear gripped her. What Level of mage would be required to defend against something like this?
It felt like a lifetime, but it was only a few seconds before the sphere vanished. A tight, dense ball of… something—The queen refused to think on it—dropped to the ground with a wet THUNK and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
Even the floor had not been spared. The lower half of the spell had carved a groove out of it. The stone slabs were simply… gone. Sliced away so precisely it could have been the work of a god.
Before the remaining shocked and demoralised soldiers could recover, the monster was already acting again. The spherical, purple domain flickered and expanded as the monster charged.
Queen Verita had seen the creature use this spell before. The powerful domain type spell that had brought the enemy to their knees. What was this purple Mana? What type of magic was this? She’d never heard of anything like it, capable of flinging people up into the air or crushing them flat into the ground.
It was hard to imagine that a monster, and one apparently quite young, could comprehend magic in the way this creature had. To cast the various types of spells like a human mage would take years to learn. It was terrifying.
Exactly how strong would this single ant become? Queen Verita narrowed her eyes. She didn’t think she wanted to find out.
No longer complacent, the soldiers wanted no part of this spell. Their morale was shattered, and fear was plastered over their faces. The proud soldiers of Andron broke ranks and fled before one ant. If the queen hadn’t seen it herself, she would have felt she’d lost her mind. Even though she witnessed the events, she almost couldn’t believe them.