The subtext of Neferpitou's words was clear: she was worried that Cyr might suddenly flip out and bring the whole place down.
Absurd. That was slander!
Cyr immediately interjected, "What kind of joke is that? I've fought the Ant King so many times—I've never once disguised myself."
"If I really wanted to kill him, I wouldn't force myself to tolerate his presence."
"Are you insulting me or insulting the Ant King?" Cyr crouched beside the kneeling Neferpitou and pinched one of her cat ears. "Or do you think he's the kind of being who can be easily harmed?"
The Ant King would never tolerate being regarded as a weakling in need of protection.
"Enough." As expected, the Ant King's patience snapped, and he spoke up.
"The En may only extend within the first floor of the palace. No one is allowed upstairs. If an intruder appears, I will personally eliminate them."
His tone left no room for argument.
Neferpitou, unable to defy the King, could only bow her head in submission.
"What a confident King," Cyr said, smiling. It could have been praise, or sarcasm.
If the humans did manage to infiltrate, they might really owe the Ant King a thank-you for giving them this golden opportunity.
Suddenly, Cyr looked up at the sky. With a flick of his foot, he leapt out the window, landing atop the palace spire. His four eyes locked onto a point in the distant sky.
Through layers of thick clouds, he saw something high above.
A long, winged creature was flying through the sky. On its back stood two people.
One of them felt familiar—Netero. Except now, compared to when he'd been sparring with Cyr before, his energy was far more intense.
Damn it. When he played around with me, he didn't even use his abilities. But now, going up against the Ant King, he's pulling out all the stops? That's just unfair.
But the other person… who was that?
At 11:55 p.m., Neferpitou also looked up. Her beastly instincts warned her—an enemy was coming from above.
What they saw first wasn't the enemy themselves, but a flash of golden light flickering through the clouds.
Then, a beam of golden light fell from the sky, splitting into countless golden nen bullets that rained down like a celestial meteor shower.
The target—was the entire palace.
Cyr looked up at the golden meteors for a moment, then made his decision.
To the sky. The best view is always from the top.
"Take us with you." Aimei and Eili, the sibling duo, appeared and made their request.
They knew staying in the palace would be suicidal—but neither of them could fly.
Cyr was always a bit more tolerant toward non-humans. Without much thought, he grabbed them by their collars and lifted them into the sky.
Neferpitou withdrew her En and shot up toward the sky as well.
But before she even got close to the enemy, the force of their aura alone blew her back violently.
One exchange. That was all it took to establish the gap in strength.
At exactly midnight, the golden meteor crashed into the palace, utterly obliterating it.
"Hm?" Cyr turned his eyes toward the chessboard where the Ant King had been sitting.
One human was wounded. Their vital signs were fading.
And the only one who had been with the Ant King… was that blind girl.
Not killed by a monster—but by a human ability, in a battle meant to destroy monsters?
This ending was kind of ridiculous.
In the sky, Neferpitou summoned her Doctor Blythe, using its 20-meter tether to arrest her backward motion. Then she plunged downward, heading straight for the palace.
With no wings, she had no way to stay airborne—she could only fall freely.
She finally managed to crash into the palace and rushed toward the King's location, but what she felt there was a surging aura—an overwhelming, ominous pressure that clearly belonged to the Ant King.
Meanwhile, several humans emerged on the stairs between the first and second floors.
"Looks like the best seat in the house was inside the palace after all," Cyr muttered.
Though his Six Eyes allowed him to see anything from anywhere, the view they offered was more like thermal imaging.
Not exactly beautiful. Lacking in cinematic appeal.
So, once the golden technique ended, Cyr carried the sibling duo back down into the palace.
The two old men had already reached the King's chamber. Neferpitou crouched on the window sill. A fight was still raging on the staircase—Youpi was locked in battle with one of the humans.
"Neferpitou, heal Komugi."
"I'm begging you," the Ant King said to her.
He cradled Komugi, gently laying her on the ground. Kneeling on both knees, he even wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with his own hand.
The proud King… actually said please to a subordinate?
"That's a big change," Aimei couldn't help but say.
After all, the Ant King usually just gave orders.
Neferpitou's pupils widened, and to her own surprise, tears streamed from her eyes.
The King hadn't cried—but she did.
Was it his emotions that infected her, or something else entirely?
"…I really just can't accept this kind of tedious sentimentality," Cyr mumbled, stepping back and whispering to himself.
The Ant King—wasn't this basically the same as being possessed?
Netero and the other old man didn't do anything during this time, likely because of the wounded human girl.
A monster was trying to save a human girl—if they launched a sneak attack now, who would be the real monster?
It wasn't until the King rose and said, with cold composure, "Let's change the location. You agree this place isn't ideal, don't you?"
In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from their sight, appearing behind them.
Humans only had two eyes after all—no way they could keep up with non-humans.
Well, Cyr excluded. His two pairs of Six Eyes gave him seamless 360-degree vision.
The two old men and the King headed outside.
Pouf was fighting Morel. Youpi was still engaged with another human.
Several more humans were on the move.
Cyr honestly didn't know which scene to focus on first.
It felt like multiple blockbuster movies had dropped on New Year's Eve—and he could only pick one to watch.
Such a difficult choice.
Neferpitou used Doctor Blythe to treat Komugi.
There was a gaping hole in the girl's abdomen. Blood had soaked her waist. Her lips were slightly parted, eyes closed.
She looked indistinguishable from a corpse.
If she really were dead, the Ant King might very well shift over to the side of justice—avenging the death of his beloved by turning against the humans who had caused it all.
Now that would be an inspirational story arc.
"Wanna go watch the war?" Aimei and Eili asked.
To them, the battle between the King and the two humans was a clash between two entire species—Ants and Humans.
"Of course we're going," Cyr replied, his tone firm.
He thought of Netero going all out, and the Ant King—now likely to grow even stronger due to Komugi's injury..
This was going to be something worth seeing.
°°°
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