Chapter 220: Farewell Speech!
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When the final body had been laid to rest, Akayoroi approached the central cairn. She held something cupped in both hands. A drone egg. It was small. Cracked. Its outer membrane dulled to a smoky sheen. But still warm.
"New life from loss," she whispered, placing it atop the cairn. The air didn’t stir. But something shifted.
An echo of power—an unspoken vow—rolled through their spine. The surviving assassin-class ants dropped to one knee. No words. Just bowed heads. Amber tears gathered in their eyes... but none fell on the ground.
Grief had hardened into resolve.
Kai stepped forward at last. His exoskeleton shimmered faintly under the fungal light. Though no one said a word, they felt him closer.
He walked to the center. Raised one hand—not as a king, not as a monarch, not even as a warrior.
Just as someone who is showing respect to the fallen. "I didn’t know your names," he said, voice low but clear. "I didn’t lead you. I didn’t train with you. I didn’t even fight beside you."
His fingers curled into fists. "But you protected a queen. You defended your sisters. You gave your lives for someone you trusted to lead you. You all deserved a better life. I respect you all for your sacrifice and bravery."
A quiet hiss of assent moved through the tunnel like wind through stone cracks.
"I don’t know what kind of Lord I am. Or even what kind I should be. But I swear this—your names will not be erased. Your stories won’t be buried under moss and forgotten. One day if this... your clan rises higher, if your sister becomes something more than survivors... it will be because of your sacrifice."