"I've figured it out."
In the middle of their clash, the Ant King seemed to experience a sudden epiphany. He halted his movements, slowly descended to the ground, then clenched his fists.
"I possess great power—and that power is what truly matters."
"Shogi is nothing more than a toy to pass the time. Only battle is what I truly desire."
"Shogi, Komugi... none of them matter."
His smile was cold, as if trying to hammer in the point.
Cyr also landed on the ground. Watching this, he thoughtfully scratched his face with a fingertip.
Could this be... one of those twisted love-hate tropes?
You know, like: "I caught feelings, but I refuse to admit it. Not only that, I'm going to insult you, belittle you, torment you—and then, bit by bit, I'm moved by your sincerity until I'm forced to acknowledge my feelings. Cue the happy ending."
Unethical? Definitely.
But Cyr did kind of want to watch it play out.
"If shogi is a toy, then someone like you who plays it every day—we actually have a phrase for that."
The white-haired figure's tone turned teasing.
"'Destroyed by your own indulgence.'"
"Me? Destroyed by indulgence? Impossible."
The Ant King's brilliant mind quickly grasped the meaning and flatly rejected it.
"As long as I kill her, I'll never touch shogi again."
He sounded resolved. Aura flared around him.
Cyr glanced at him—and was startled to realize he meant it.
Wait... so it really is a love-hate arc? Seriously?
Pretty sure the comments on that old video he watched didn't mention this.
Although a lot of people had praised the author's skill in writing domineering leads.
Dawn had just broken. The Ant King strode purposefully in one direction.
Cyr remained still, glancing down at the two siblings peeking up from underground.
"Did we guess wrong?"
"Seems like we guessed wrong, yeah."
The siblings spoke like a practiced comedy duo.
"If a human falls in love with someone," Aimei pondered aloud, "they wouldn't try to kill them, right?"
"Not necessarily. There are plenty of niche subgroups within humanity," Cyr said with a shrug.
Including the kind that wants to destroy what they love.
"We'll find out soon enough."
Cyr lifted a foot and followed in the King's direction.
The Ant King's destination was the room of the human girl, Komugi.
She was kneeling on the ground, covered in wounds. Feathers and blood lay scattered nearby, alongside the corpse of a hawk—clearly killed by the King's tail.
And the same Ant King who'd vowed to kill Komugi was now crouching in front of her, gently cupping her battered hands.
He told her that if anything like this happened again, she should call for help—because she was a distinguished guest.
Cyr, Aimei, and Eili all came to a halt at once.
Wait—this is how you're killing her?
Really?
They had clearly walked in at the wrong moment.
The three exchanged glances—then simultaneously vanished and reappeared somewhere else.
"I've suddenly been struck with inspiration," Cyr declared, slamming his right fist into his left palm.
"Inspiration?"
"For what?"
Aimei and Aili turned to him.
"Literature." The white-haired boy nodded solemnly.
Back in the day, when he was an up master (content creator), Cyr didn't just do cosplay—he wrote scripts, too.
After all, photos alone could lead to aesthetic fatigue. Adding a bit of story and skits made it easier to gain popularity.
The sibling pair didn't understand any of that—but that was fine. As long as he wrote it down, they'd get it soon enough.
Cyr immediately grabbed pen and paper and started writing.
He preferred handwriting over typing on a phone or keyboard. It was a chance to practice his calligraphy, too.
Go too long without writing, and your handwriting would turn into a scribbled mess.
In just two short hours, he had written a ten-thousand-character short story, neat and flowing.
He took photos of the pages, compiled them in order into a file, and sent it out to all the contacts in his list.
…Which, sadly, was a pitifully short list.
But he made sure to add a note asking the recipients to forward it to others.
He'd already come up with a title:
"After I Beat the Enemy Commander at Chess, He Fell for Me."
Of course, he didn't directly use the names "Ant King" or "Komugi"—instead, he used stand-ins.
Not a single line named them, but every word was unmistakably about them.
Aimei and Aili were the first readers.
"Sui knew full well the enemy commander was a cruel, heartless, demonic figure—but for the sake of her nation, she stepped forward, wagering her own life in this game of strategy. Her victory or defeat would determine her country's fate…" Aimei read in a calm, even voice.
Was that… really what that human girl was thinking?
"Did the human even know that herself?" Aili asked, puzzled.
"It's creative writing. Of course you modify and embellish things a little," Cyr replied with righteous confidence.
"So this is human literature?" Aimei and Aili looked pensive.
So… this is what humans like.
---
Meanwhile, Gon and Killua were analyzing the situation and preparing for battle.
They planned to infiltrate the Royal Palace. However, Neferpitou's En field covered a vast area. They worried they'd be detected the moment they stepped in.
They also brought up how Knov hadn't sensed Neferpitou's En at first and assumed the enemy wasn't inside—only to detect it halfway through.
If Neferpitou was clearly there, then why hadn't she used En at first?
To investigate, they asked Colt—the Chimera Ant who surrendered to the humans for the Queen's sake.
The Queen had already died, but left behind a child. Colt was now with the humans, caring for the child.
Colt explained: when Neferpitou was treating someone, she couldn't use En at the same time.
That raised a new question:
When Knov infiltrated the palace, who was Neferpitou healing?
Who could possibly injure one of those monsters?
Just then, both Gon and Killua's phones buzzed with a notification.
"…What is this?" Killua looked at the title, which screamed spam, and his normally composed face twisted with confusion.
"After I Beat the Enemy Commander at Chess—" Gon began to read aloud.
"Don't read it out loud!" Killua cut him off immediately.
Did Gon not feel embarrassed saying that out loud? Just looking at it made Killua's skin crawl!
It… did kind of feel like something that fat idiot at home would be into.
°°°
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