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After the battle, Cerastis limped into a fissure valley where wind died. They fortified among eroded pillars, and posted triple watches. Kai volunteered for the first shift with Needle.
At moonrise he climbed the peak to scan dunes. Miles away torch beads moved, Coatl Banner. They must have heard battle thunder but chose a different canyon to bypass. Tactical cowardice or cunning? Who knows!
Kai glimpsed Darius among them, armour pristine. Thea rode a dune-lizard, aura majestic. She held a banner of black silk whose star glyphs pulsed silver.
Kai ground mandibles. "Enjoy calm, bastard. The Ruler’s trench will test all."
Needle tapped his shoulder. "I owe you life earlier," he said softly.
Kai shrugged. "Debt paid by every blade you threw."
Needle smiled faintly. "Still... glad I followed Mia. Thea would have fed us to that thing to save her."
Kai nodded, silent vow: he would protect Mia, on the battlefield and behind velvet curtains of palace politics.
Morning sky unveiled the endgame terrain: ahead lay a vast depression, miles wide, where dunes funneled into a whirlpool pit. At its centre a crater steamed faintly, the Desert Ruler’s territory.
Mia gathered her banner at the ridge top. Coatl Banner arrived opposite the rim minutes later. Between forces stretched chaotic slopes dotted with boulder spires.
Princess Thea rode forward under white flag; Mia mirrored. Dismounts met in swirling dust, entourages ten paces behind.
Kai stood among Mia’s rear guard. He could hear despite the wind.
Thea’s voice syrup-sweet: "Little sister, you bleed yet still limp like a stubborn beetle. Return to the palace; let my squad harvest the Ruler’s gifts. Mother will applaud your caution."
Mia smiled. "And let her wonder why the cautious daughter yields her sworn purpose? No. Cerastis will claim our share."
"Share?" Thea laughed, high and cruel. "I claim all. The Queen/ mother told Elite squads. Sister, your team is the weakest and pathetic among all the squad. It’s better to give up and return. It will save you from embarrassment. Don’t die!"
Mia’s jaw tightened but she bowed. "Good luck, elder sister. The dunes choose who lives."
Thea tapped the spear on sand. "Dunes choose power. You are still only six-star. I am seven. Remember childhood sparring? You wept."
Kai clenched fists. Shale growled, but Mia raised a calming hand. "We’ll see whose tears water the desert," Mia replied softly.
Thea’s eyes flicked past Mia, settling on Kai. She smiled predatorily. "Ah, the hero ant. Mia spoke of you at the council. Interesting aura. If you are tired of small tutelage, join me, you will survive and become a legend among worker ants." She raised voice for all. "Any fame-seeker may cross..." she pointed to her banner. "But cross back, and I carve limbs."
No one moved.
Shale whispered to Kai, "Her glamour is poison. Do not let it seep."
Kai nodded, though he felt a spark of temptation, Thea’s aura buzzed like golden thunder, quite unlike Mia’s gentler rhythm.
Mia faced her sister again. "Enough. We start at the second sun-rise. May the strongest heart win." After that they parted.
That night Kai cleaned weapons while the wind keened low. Mia stopped by, thanked him again.
He studied her moonlit profile. Despite sweat and burnt shells, she commanded stars in her eyes.
"I must match her," she whispered, meaning Thea. "But six to seven star ranks feel like a canyon I cannot leap."
Kai shook head. "You already leapt bigger today. Power is more than stars."
She looked inside his gaze, searching for mockery, but found none and smiled tiredly. "Then lend me your courage tomorrow."
He placed fist to heart. "Always."
She left.
Kai sharpened spear for a while, thinking of the coming descent: sandstorms, Thea’s machinations, perhaps the Ruler’s final quake. And behind all, distant Ant Kingdom politics waiting to swallow truth.
He murmured to himself, "When desert eats all, what remains is the weapon."
The silver moon sank behind dunes. Tomorrow the trench would open its jaws.
A pale dawn haze still clung to the horizon when Kai knelt beside a cracked basalt monolith and opened his system panel. Grey desert light glimmered across the violet glyphs.
[Ding! Allocate unspent attribute points?
Remaining pool: 33 ]
He rolled one aching shoulder. Survival in the ruler-lands would hinge on brutal, direct strength but he had watched too many good fighters collapse from sheer exhaustion or sluggish reflex.
He blinked. "Thirty-three, huh? That’s not a small number..."
His multifaceted eyes swept across the desert horizon. Sand stretched endlessly in every direction, and somewhere out there, predators stronger than anything he’d fought lurked beneath the dunes. And if he had learned one thing from this cursed journey, it was that surviving the desert was less about raw power and more about strategy.
He pulled up his system window and reviewed his current stats.
Strength: 142
Speed: 110
Stamina: 110
Unallocated Stats: 33
"Let’s not rush this," he muttered, pulling a small chunk of beast meat from his storage and chewing slowly. His mind raced with possibilities.
[Strength – 142] Great for biting power, physical lifting, and direct attacks. Kai’s Devourer’s Bite thrived off strength. But in the desert, brute force wasn’t always enough. The last battle proved that when he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.
[Speed – 110] A tempting stat. Reflex Mode temporarily boosted it, but its instability made long-term reliance risky. Still, dodging ambushes and countering attacks would be easier with more speed.
[Stamina – 110] His greatest concern. Even though he had Worker’s Resilience, the longer fights dragged on, the faster fatigue gnawed at him. The heat, too, drained stamina mercilessly. Buffing this could save his life.
"Let’s break it down," he thought, dragging a claw through the sand and creating three columns: STR, SPD, STA.
He drew a small line tally:
STR: |||
SPD: ||||
STA: ||||||||||
He erased it. "No, that’s too much for stamina. Let’s think again."
He reviewed his current skills.
Essence Eater relied on efficiency, getting the most out of enemies he devoured.
Tiny Tank worked better with higher stamina and strength.
Reflex Mode was good, but extra base speed could make it better.