Chapter 78: Sudden Visit
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Darius bowed slightly. "Confusion of the battle. There was so much dust and falling rock... it must have seemed blocked..."
Kai stepped close. "You also left with most of the mined star crystals." He opened his pack, withdrew a single piece. "We recovered only a loose piece."
Darius’s pupils shrank. Councilors whispered again, first threads of doubt weaving through the room. "Did he betray his team members? What should we do? This is very complicated." One of the elders asked the other elders.
Before questions could explode, twin doors swung wide and Princess Mia entered. Her aura stilled every tongue. She moved to the dais, her red eyes bright yet unreadable.
The vaulted ceilings of the War Hall echoed with hushed murmurs. Glittering torches set in gilded sconces cast long, wavering shadows across the polished marble floor. Little motes of dust drifted in the golden light, swirling like silent watchers of the great injustice about to unfold.
Kai stood at the far end of the dais, his two-star exoskeleton still bearing the faintest sheen of sweat and battle‐dirt. Beside him, Vexor leaned against a column, at the side. Princess Mia stepped forward. Her six-star aura flared softly, light enough to comfort rather than intimidate, yet strong enough to settle every ant present into a respectful hush.
"Brave warriors," Mia began, her voice carrying clearly across the silent hall. She inclined her head once to Kai, once to Vexor. "I know you have journeyed through perilous lands, endured harsh tempests, and faced savagery most vile. You have returned to share nightmares made flesh with the very gates of hell. Your valor and sacrifice have not been forgotten."
A ripple of respectful bowing spread among the councilors, other captains, and sergeants who lined the benches. Several younger ants dabbed at tears with folded leaf‐shrouds. For a heartbeat, Kai felt that justice might at last be served to Captain Darius. His secret betrayer, the man who had buried them on star crystals mine, ran from the predatory beast, and left friends to die.