God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The Redscale Colony was made up almost entirely of the black chitin. This material was many times harder than obsidian, perhaps due to the defensive runes that ran through its structure.

It was either that, or truly, the material was some divine gift from the gods...

The structures within the Colony looked ridged and sharp to the touch. The swirling purple runes cut into the surfaces glowed and throbbed with steady light, adding mystery and throwing jagged shadows across the large, spiralling vents and corridors that spanned the entire length and width of the Colony.

Anathe moved through these corridors wide enough for enormous war-beasts to march in formation very slowly. The demeanor of the Ant Queen was as mysterious as she was herself.

The way she walked was somehow rigid and yet still regal. She walked with the poise and burdens of a true Monarch.

However, despite that, it was hard to tell what she thought by looking at her face.

Her facial features was oddly human-like. If not for her dark eyes and the swathe of strange hairs that glinted strangely in the arcane light of the surrounding runes, one would not be able to tell quite easily that she was not human.

Nevertheless, despite not showing it on her face, the Ant Queen was quite troubled with a few things.

Most of these things stemmed from the human, Cain, she had in holding.

’To think he would have a bride already...’

Indeed.

The Ant Queen, the gracious ruler of millions, the maiden of the Mother Goddess herself, was troubled over the trivialities of the heart.

Her flesh, partially protected in some parts by her chitinous exoskeleton seemed to turn a different shade.

After absorbing the Divine Seed, she had been granted access to a grand ocean of knowledge.

Most of it was about the more important details of the reality her world existed within. A decent portion of it, however, was about Urbus.

One of the many abilities the Mother Goddess possessed, was the ability to connect with all life forms that existed or had existed in a world she had set her roots into.

As such, she was very knowledgeable when it came to all manner of beings that crawled Urbus.

One of them being humans, of course.

Anathe let out a subtle sigh.

In the end, things could only come to this.

Although she had some understanding of humans, she couldn’t help but feel like they often subverted expectations in the most unusual ways.

All around her was an empire that would only continue to grow fast and faster until it enveloped everything under the grey skies. It was as clear as the coming of the frigid nights.

Why would he choose to ignore that obvious fact and instead choose to support those that were obviously damned.

’It is truly perplexing,’ The Ant Queen thought to herself.

In the end, she couldn’t think about it too much.

’As long as I get rid of the distractions, he is sure to change his mind. And then...’

A dark thought flashed across her mind as she walked into an open platform right a the very top of the tallest spire. The same one the large moth-beast was perched on.

The air was thick with resin and the musk of countless creatures.

Amidst the countless obsidian-colored spires and burrows, something strange was going on.

There were chambers opened along the black walls— Armories filled with organic and inorganic magic weapons twitching and pulsing on their racks, pens holding twisted mutants waiting to be unleashed.

The passages climbed higher, spiraling tighter, until they broke into the vast chamber at the top where the Ant Queen stopd. The ceiling split into a circular opening, jagged around the edges, where pale light bled down from above. The glow of the runes met it, filling the space in a shifting mix of white and violet.

Below that opening stood her army. Creatures and Beasts in endless ranks—scaled brutes, insectoid hybrids, humanoids with carapace growths and thousands of beasts that defied shape.

It was a terrifying thing to witness.

Thousands of eyes locked on her as the chamber shuddered under their weight.

With a loud decree that needed no words, the Ant Queen delivered her message to the army below;

"Destroy my enemies."

"Give this land to the goddess."

The millions of eyes within the million-strong army glowed with reverence.

That reverence quickly turned into a furious tide of bloodlust and killing intent that washed over the entire island.

Almost immediately, the grey skies turned even darker and the cold winds kicked up.

Outside the island, the surrounding waters seemed to stir and bubble over.

Watching as her enormous army began to spread out in all directions, Anathe’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

She closed her eyes and let her senses spread out.

Then she frowned.

Her black eyes took on a faint purple glow as she stretched her arms out.

There were hundreds of thousands of {Redscale Ants} amongst the troops she had just sent out.

However, there were thousands more still within the Colony. These were mostly worker ants. However, a decent number of guards as well as creatures that weren’t {Redscale Ants} had stayed behind to hold down the fortress in the unlikely chance that they were attacked.

The eyes of several thousand ants suddenly lit up with the same purple glow.

They all immediately stopped whatever they had been doing and began marching quickly through the seemingly endless maze of corridors, vents and chambers.

This was one of the many abilities Anathe possessed.

Each {Redscale Ant} was an extension of her will and her sight, regardless of if they possessed their own individuality or not.

And the same could also be extended towards other creatures if they received the Blessing of the Mother Goddess and came into her embrace.

Just earlier, she had tried connecting to Traxillion.

However, much to her surprise, she had been unable to do so.

The Ant Queen already suspected foul play, but wanted to be sure before proceeding to take action.

And sure enough, once the first ant entered the Grand Hall, she was sure of it.

She let out a dissapointed sigh and immediately gave the command.

"Find them."