The Princess of Ant Bee explained that she was the perfect form of the Queen Ant Bee that Alvaric had taken care of. When a Queen Ant Bee reaches full maturity, she will give birth to a special Ant Bee who will consume her and some other Ant Bees.
That special Ant Bee was her. This usually happens every 500 years. Not every Queen Ant Bee will give birth to a special Ant Bee, even until they die.
"But wasn't the Queen Ant Bee at that place only a few days old? Do they grow old that fast?" asked Alvaric.
"That's because of your blood," answered the Princess of Ant Bee.
"My blood?" Alvaric pointed to himself. "Am I that special?"
The Princess of Ant Bee shook her head. "I don't know, but I was born quickly because of your blood."
The answer left Alvaric puzzled. He stared at his own hand for a long time. He even cut his own hand and drank his blood. But nothing happened. After waiting for two minutes, still nothing happened.
Alvaric looked back at the Princess of Ant Bee. "Can you fly?"
The Princess of Ant Bee nodded. "Of course."
"Take me back to our home," he requested.
The Princess of Ant Bee immediately picked Alvaric up and flew. It surprised Alvaric because there was no warning at all. But he didn't protest. In fact, it was a good thing. He didn't need to walk, though it did render the path markers he left to find his way back completely useless.
Alvaric looked at the Princess of Ant Bee. "Your name is too long, so I'll call you Niva."
The Princess of Ant Bee nodded. "Thank you." She liked the name.
She smiled.
Marie, Kael, and the others had arrived in front of the portal. Many personnel were stationed to guard the portal. When Marie, Kael, and the other Hollow Fang members arrived, everyone cheered. All eyes turned to Marie. Not only was she strong, she also had a stunning appearance.
She had beautiful purple eyes, long flowing blonde hair, and charming thin lips. Marie stood at 189 cm tall. Compared to the average woman—especially at her age—Marie was very tall. That added to her charm.
"They've arrived. Thank goodness!" said one of the people near the portal.
"An Awakened Rank S is here. Everything will be alright."
People believed in that. Awakened Rank S individuals were humanity's greatest hope against the monsters. They were the ones who destroyed portals and killed the monsters within. Their service to the nation of Vaspera was immense.
They were even granted rights and positions by Vaspera's top officials as representatives of the people. When the nation was about to decide on something important, the Awakened Rank S individuals would be present to give their opinions and votes. Their position in Vaspera was extraordinary.
"Miss Marie, we've prepared everything. Will you and the others enter now?" asked the official managing the portal seal.
"We'll enter now," answered Kael.
Marie glanced over. She hadn't answered yet, but Kael had already replied. It was quite disrespectful, but Marie didn't want to cause a scene and ignored what Kael had done. She nodded at the official still watching her.
After getting a direct response from Marie, the official left to relay the orders to the others. Kael glanced at Marie with displeasure.
"We'll wait a bit longer. You stay here and keep watch, I'm going to get something to eat," said Marie.
Kael frowned. "Didn't we already prepare food?"
"That's for supplies inside the dungeon. I need something for now," Marie replied.
She turned around and walked off, waving her hand. Kael, seeing that, didn't seem to care much. He walked toward the portal guards. He observed what they were doing. Their job was incredibly important.
If portals weren't guarded like this, monsters would emerge from them. Those monsters would rampage and attack anything in sight. People nearby would be killed.
"This is really an A-rank dungeon?" Kael asked.
He could feel a strange aura from within the portal. Although faint, his instincts told him that what lay ahead was an S-rank dungeon. If it truly was an S-rank dungeon, then they should've brought at least 2 Rank S, 10 Rank A, or 30 Rank B individuals. The more, the better.
"We've checked it with the device and confirmed it's an A-rank dungeon. The device can't be wrong. We've used it for 10 years and not once has it failed," the official explained.
Kael nodded. "Ah, that's true."
Alvaric had arrived at the Ant Bee nest. When he got there, he was a bit surprised because there was still a Queen Ant Bee present. That was strange, as she should've been killed by Niva. That's what Alvaric assumed from Niva's earlier explanation.
He turned to Niva. "Didn't you say your queen was dead?" Alvaric pointed to the Ant Bee queen lying in the same spot. "Isn't that her, still alive?" he asked.
"Our previous queen is indeed dead, and this is the new queen of the colony," Niva replied casually. She was puzzled by Alvaric's expression, as if something was off. "Isn't your species like that too?" She tilted her head.
Alvaric wanted to say something but held back. He walked toward the new queen. He examined her form and after looking for three minutes, Alvaric nodded. He realized that the one in front of him truly was a new queen. The significant difference between them was size.
The one in front of Alvaric was only a quarter the size of the previous Queen Ant Bee. He should've noticed that from the beginning. Alvaric's mind was still filled with thoughts of the Giant Sandworm. It had distorted his sense of size.
"If that's the case, then this colony will have two special Ant Bees. That's interesting," said Alvaric.
Niva shook her head. "No. In one colony, there will only be one special species. As long as I'm alive, no other special Ant Bee will ever be born." She explained.
Alvaric looked disappointed. If only he had two followers like Niva, that would be amazing. Alvaric didn't know how strong Niva was since he hadn't seen her fight yet, but remembering her fight against the Prince of Ant Bee, he was confident Niva was at least equal to that.
Suddenly, Alvaric had an idea. "You can fight, right?"
Niva nodded. "Of course."
Alvaric grinned widely. "Good. In that case, you're coming with me tomorrow."
Niva frowned. She sensed a bad omen from Alvaric's smile. However, as a follower, Niva couldn't refuse her master's orders. If Alvaric asked her to commit suicide, Niva would do it without hesitation. Without any regret at all. As long as it pleased her master, she would do it.
"Just say the word! I'll always be here for my master."