Chapter 217: Say Goodbye!
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Betrayal. Treason. All masked as duty.
Hoorius had no intention of letting the Queen return to the throne. Her mother’s absence would become permanent. And in the void... the Scarlet Ant Kingdom would fall into her laps.
Mia stared out into the midnight garden beyond her chamber windows, the moonlight etched with pale frost.
She needed Kai. She needed her Dawn-Blades. But they were gone. Even if she knew the truth, there was no evidence.
By dawn of the next day, Hoorius stood on the outer rampart overlooking Legion Plateau. Twenty thousand armored ants in a dusk black plate formed wave after wave across the field, banners snapping in the wind. General Vorak awaited below. His seven star rank aura flexing around his frame like coiled smoke. The Regent raised one hand; silence radiated through the ranks.
"Find the silver-haired man," she commanded, voice ringing across the plateau. "Drag him to stand before this throne or bring me his head and shattered core."
Vorak slammed a gauntlet across his chest, plates clanged like thunder. "For the Scarlet Ant kingdom," he roared.
The legions surged forward in perfect columns. The earth trembled with the march. Dust plumed behind them as they funneled through the eastern gate, spears glinting, banners bearing Hoorius sigil unfurling like blood red wings. Hoorius watched until the last regiment vanished beyond the ant kingdom gate. Only then did she allow herself a thin, satisfied smile. It was an expression that never reached her eyes.
The game had begun. And with the queen sealed away, the Regent’s game board was hers alone.
Five days after the queen’s enter her seclusion