Chapter 142: Diverging Paths
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The queen’s herald struck a gong carved from a seashell. "By decree of Queen, retrieval expedition to void-phenomenon commences. Travel under royal aegis. Return with relics, knowledge, and the essence pool, if one truly forms. May the Ever-Spiral guide your mandibles."
Stone gates rumbled open. A tunnel mouth yawned into the dim world beyond the same eastern route Kai now marched.
Mia glanced sidelong at Thea. "Tell Your squad to keep their distance otherwise."
Thea’s eyes shone like moonlit ice. "Little sissy, Distance vanishes in the dark."
They crossed the threshold together, yet very much opposed, the air tingling with the promise of blood and treasure.
From the ramparts, lesser soldiers watched the torch-lines diverge: one veering high along the obsidian ridge, the other plunging into crystal tunnels far below. Both trails pointed toward the silver scar blinking on the horizon.
Beneath the citadel’s emerald dome, The Ant Queen closed her eyes in thought. "Two sisters aimed at one another’s heart," she mused. "But which will strike clean and which will break? The answer waited in the storm."
The tunnel beneath Gate Δ forked after barely three hundred paces. A crystal-lined shaft angled sharply up to the obsidian ridge. It’s a deeper, watery passage curved down toward buried rivers. By silent agreement, each squad chose a different route, neither wanting the other at its back.
The Ant Queen stood on her dais, satisfied, the kingdom would gain knowledge, and the restless fighting of her daughters. She enjoyed her childrens fighting each other. She thinks it makes them stronger.
Dawn-Blade squad: Shale (4★) — This mission field captain.