Chapter 130: The Queen Lies Hidden

Chaos had reached the Safe Zone. Houses burned. Mages fired containment spells. Soldiers battled in the streets. Ants poured in from every direction, constructing a colossal hive at the edge of the city, and worst of all, they operated in strategic divisions. Assault units. Construction units. Hunting units. The last ones were the most terrifying. They dragged off anything alive, beasts, animals, even humans. Everything was taken into the hive.

A damn queen ant…

It was the only explanation Luke could come up with. The creature had to be devouring everything it could find, feeding nonstop to spawn more soldiers. A rapidly expanding army. Luke shared his theory with the others. It didn’t come as a huge surprise; several had already considered it. After all, the beasts tended to follow behavior patterns eerily close to real-world biology.

Never thought my biology classes and Hunter x Hunter marathons would end up saving lives someday…

They were gathered inside a makeshift tent at the camp. Civilians had taken shelter in the hotel—now completely overpacked. People from all over the Safe Zone had begun to arrive, desperate. They were unaffiliated—neutral citizens with no ties to Bastion or the Haven. The attack had slowed. The ants hadn’t retreated, but the intensity had dropped.

Now, they were in collection mode. Wood. Corpses. Stones. Everything. All of it was being hauled into the living hive. A temporary lull… just long enough to feed the queen. At the center of the tent, a large map of the Safe Zone lay on a crude table. Angelica pointed to it with a knife, her expression tense.

“They’ve taken this area,” she said, indicating a mark on the far edge of the Safe Zone. “An old mine. Probably because it’s easier to expand a hive through pre-existing tunnels inside a mountain.”

Everyone watched in silence.

“If it had been near the Haven, we’d already be dead,” Paul muttered. “A direct strike would’ve wiped us out in minutes.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Angelica said. “We’ll have to cross the Safe Zone and enter the hive. The queen must be the Beast General the system warned about. Or she’s guarding him. Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

She continued, “Just like in nature—or close to it—the queen’s buried deep, protected by the strongest ants. Meanwhile, the workers build, hunt, and fight.”

Jonathan slammed a fist on the table.

“We’ve killed three damn captains, and these pests are still coming. The soldiers don’t even pull back!”

“Because they have the queen,” Allison explained. “Irrational beasts always obey the strongest authority. Captains lead troops, but with the General present… they don’t retreat. They stay. Until they die.”

“And Bartholomew’s soldiers?” Anna asked. “This is the moment to unite forces.”

Angelica sighed, her shoulders tight with tension.

“It’s not going to happen. Bastion’s closer to the hive. The attack there is even more intense than it is here. They’re too busy trying to hold the fortress.”

The Haven sat on the opposite edge of the hive, while Bastion was much closer to the center.

Paul added bitterly, “And the Renegades… they’re taking full advantage of the chaos. Firing fireballs at the gates. I even saw catapults. They want to destroy Bastion.”

This level of coordination… wasn’t a coincidence.

“They planned everything,” Jonathan muttered, face smeared with dried blood.

“They probably used storage items to smuggle in the siege weapons,” Angelica said, tapping the map with the tip of her dagger. “Now you understand why Bartholomew started searching everyone approaching Bastion. It was to prevent this exact situation. But with this chaos…”

Everyone nodded. The tension hung thick in the stifling air of the tent.

Paul scratched his forehead. “With Marshall attacking Bastion and soldiers being pulled back to defend it… that means—”

“It means no one’s sending reinforcements to the hive,” Angelica finished. “Bartholomew won’t risk leaving his fortress exposed. We’re on our own.”

She pointed to the map again. A drawn line cut across the Safe Zone from one end to the other, leading straight to the old mine—the heart of the infestation. The path would take them through areas already overrun by ants. This wouldn’t be a simple walk.

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“There’s always the option to go around through the Wild Zone…” someone began.

“And deal with the Midnight Wardens?” Angelica cut them off. “No. The hive is hell. But the Wardens… they’re the abyss itself.”

Another survivor raised his hand, visibly anxious.

“But if Bartholomew takes too long to act, a lot of people will die. The whole Safe Zone could fall.”

Angelica let out a laugh—cold and humorless. “You think he cares? Bastion is the last thing to fall. The fortress is isolated, well-stocked, fully defended, with its own healers. He could watch the entire region burn before he ever feels a hint of real danger.”

Allison clicked her tongue. “But he has that powerful item. Why doesn’t he just fight Marshall himself?”

“Because Bartholomew is weak,” Angelica said bluntly. “He’s a healer. Sure, he might be high-level, with absurd stats—but offensively, he’s the weakest link. He only survived because he played the game smart.”

She looked around the tent. “During the conquest of Bastion, only four people survived: Bartholomew, Kruger, Evangeline, and Marshall. Of them, Bartholomew was the only support. Kruger was the assassin, Evangeline the thief. And Marshall… a crossbowman who evolved into a hunter.”