God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 809: Evolution (1).

Lyos let out a soft, acknowledging hiss, the glow of his silver scales shimmering under the heavy gray clouds.

Steve snorted, shaking his head.

"Lyos, huh? Fancy name for a big, scaly lizard bastard."

Cain snickered then rolled his eyes,

"Way better than Gilbert."

Steve threw up his hands. "You've got no taste, that's all."

Before Cain could retort, the squad of {Redscale Warriors} riding ahead of them suddenly veered down sharply, their speed rising as they dove down towards the massive colony.

Cain and Steve exchanged glances.

After giving Lyos the metal command, the silver serpent coiled its body and shot down as well.

Their descent was quick, but Cain was still able to enjoy the side profile of the enormous settlement of beasts and all manners of creatures as the descended into the abyss.

"The Mana here is off the charts." Steve suddenly said, his fingers twitching.

Cain nodded,

"You'd think it would be dense in the forest, but its far more in here. And the deeper we go, the more concentrated it gets."

Steve hummed, "How intriguing..."

They both exchanged knowing glanced, but remained silent.

In moments, they had descended a frightening distance.

The {Redscale Warrior} at the forefront kept leading the group down toward a large structure built into the depths of the pit.

Cain's eyes were sharp, so he was immediately able to pick up the details of this building.

For one, it was very huge.

Like extraordinarily so...

Unlike the rest of the structures in the Colony, the materials used in its creation were a bit darker. Like the color of ivory.

It was tall, jagged, and glowing with faint lines of violet energy that pulsed in slow, rhythmic waves of energy.

Energy in the form of pure, concentrated mana.

Cain's eyes narrowed,

'Those are advanced mana concentration runes and magic circles. I can't make them, but I sure as hell understand what they are. However, they aren't the source of this insane ambient mana. Could it be the purpose of the magic circles is to increase the rate of mana gathering over time? That would be rather smart. But I didn't sense any mana coming in from the forest...'

Cain was curious.

There were a lot of questions he had to ask, but they would remain a mystery until he had the full picture.

Luckily for him, the answers were waiting for him down there, in that strange underground castle.

It gave off an unmistakable presence the closer they got. Its grandeur was something out of this world.

The precision and details of the architecture were beyond impressive.

There was no doubt about it.

"The Queen's Domain..." Steve muttered softly.

Cain felt it in his bones. The same weight he'd felt the last time he had met the eerie ant queen.

'She's grown stronger.'

Perhaps she was still significantly stronger than he was.

'That won't be very good for negotiations, will it?'

Lyos spiraled downward with eerie grace, and Cain adjusted his footing as they landed on a raised platform of some strange material and stone. The {Magenta Three-Eyed Crows} landed in practiced synchronization beside them.

The Redscale Warrior stepped off his mount, his black eyes narrowing.

He waved at them, urging them forward,

"This way."

Cain exhaled. Without looking, he already knew they were surrounded.

However, this was only normal, as they were deep within the other side's territory. In fact, they were at the center.

Of course, they would be watched like hawks.

Still, it was rather unsettling.

He could feel Steve's tension.

"Getting cold feet?" Cain muttered under his breath.

Steve snorted, then whispered,

"Like hell I am..."

They entered the structure.

***

Everything within the Colony was created by the Redscale for the Redscale.

They were not created with human parameters in mind.

However, since the Redscale had such massive bodies, things weren't that terrible.

And since they were mostly humanoid, it wasn't too bad either.

Still, Cain didn't feel very comfortable walking through dark tunnels.

The tunnel leading inside was massive, and the deeper they went, the darker it became. Yet, there were no torches, no visible light sources.

Only a soft, ambient violet glow emanating from the runes etched into the walls themselves.

The runes pulsed with every motion made, some of them randomly undulating and pulsing as they're structures broke down before they took on new shapes and forms.

The hive felt alive.

It was a surreal experience.

It was also rather off-putting.

Cain's instincts screamed at him to be on guard.

As they walked, the weight of a presence thickened the air, pressing down on them like a physical force.

Then, the tunnel opened up into a vast, mostly empty chamber.

The Queen's chamber was not awe-inspiring.

It was bleak and dark.

But it was saturated with Mana, almost to the point Cain could almost taste it, a sweet, subtle taste, like nectar, in the air.

The walls of the Grand chamber were different from the tunnel walls. This material was much smoother. The runes etched into them were also stranger and more archaic, making even staring at them a migraine fueled nightmare for most.

"Shit!" Steve cursed as he tore his eyes away from a set of spiral runes that seemed like a bad idea.

Cain's eyes didn't wander. Instead, they settled on the one thing in the chamber that could steal the minds of all.

A creature of beauty and of grace...

She was seated on a simple stone chair, a staff made of a gnarled white wood with deep green accents and runes all over.

To her side stood an absolutely massive {Redscale Warrior}, standing at a height comparable to three regular {Redscale Warriors}.

Although it looked humanoid like the other {Redscale Warriors}, this one still had more prevalent features from when it had been a {Redscale Soldier}.

This was a {Redscale General}.

A book was nestled between the slender fingers of the Queen. Quietly flipping the pages, she stopped when the sound of knees hitting the ground filled the cavernous air.

"My Queen, I have brought the humans."

***

{Queen of the Redscale, Anathe}.

***

Cain locked eyes with the majestic specimen.

His body shivered.

Anathe looked him in the eyes as well.

Then she smiled,

"Cain..."

A smile tugged on Cain's lips as he gave a deep bow,

"Anathe..."

BOOM!

The enormous {Redscale General} suddenly moved, faster than even the smaller ones.

Its body turned into a blitz as its forearm extended forward, the scythe-like protrusion inches from kissing Cain's neck in mere seconds

Time seemed to come to a halt.

Cain remained calm and unfazed.

The {Redscale General} was a powerful and fast Tier 2 creature with an incredibly robust physique.

Despite being at the early levels of Tier 2, it had the power to turn a mountain to dust with a single blow.

Still, Cain knew he didn't have to worry.

After all, there was no way the Queen would let her servant chop off the heads of her visitors.

Sure enough, the voice of the queen, soft, yet full of authority, reached all ears,

"Traxilion, restrain yourself."

The enormous creature stood as still as a statue. There was only an inch of space between his blade and the human's neck.

The {Redscale General} slowly withdrew and returned to its place beside the queen.

Cain grinned,

"That was a bit scary. I remember you for last time. You've grown big. Did you want to start up round two?"

Traxilion trembled as his words bounced off the walls,

"You draw breath, only because of my queen. Smash your head into the ground in joy, human!"

"He doesn't like you." Steve whispered under his breath.

"That much is obvious." Cain whispered back.

"I apologize for my subject's actions. It will not be repeated." Anathe said after a moment had passed.

Slowly, the Ant Queen stood up from her stone chair and walked forward.

As she did, the {Redscale Warriors} that had accompanied them turned around and quickly exited the chamber.

"Praise Haeria. She has brought you back to me in one piece." Anathe said with a smile as she walked forward, stopped just before Cain.

Stating up close at the giant evolved ant, Cain couldn't help but be more certain that this creature was perfect.

Its body was not too big or too small, although she did stand a head above him.

Her proportions were immaculate, and she had the face, of a human goddess of beauty.

"Well, I have just been lucky, is all." Cain said, Tryon to sound as calm as possible.

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"You also look rather good. You've grown more beautiful since the last time we spoke." Cain said. Although it was strange for him to complete a beast's beauty, he had nothing else to say.

Anathe chuckled,

"It is the goddess's grace. But that is besides the point. I would like to get right to the issue."

The book the Ant Queen still held in her hands vanished into thin air.

She stretched out her hand, and the staff rested on her stone chair gravitated through the air and into her hands in the blink of an eye.

She waved it, and just like that, three stone chairs and a small circular table sprouted out of the ground.

Cain's eyes twitched.

"Before we start, I'd like to say it's good to see you again, Magus Steve."

Steve shook, then laughed dryly,

"Ah! It's good to see you too, my queen. I haven't seen you in weeks. You sure have changed quite a bit. Your dwelling has also grown... a fair amount as well."

Anathe smiled warmly,

"Thank you for the compliments. Now then..."

She turned her attention back to Cain.

Her smile never left her face,

"Since you are here, I assume it means you have intentions to pursue a relationship with my brood? Is that right, Cain?"

Cain was silent for a moment, thinking for the best way to answer.

"Before I answer that, I don't think there's any need to rush, is there? Let's chat a bit..."