During the trial inside the dungeon, Klaus fought an alien-looking monster whose hair was ropelike in nature. It was literally a rope that, nearing the end of the battle, was used to latch onto him.
Back then, Klaus tried to break free, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.
This was also the reason why he made a mental note to understand how the wood element works. The ropes were akin to the vines Lucy uses.
Now, standing before him is a 45-meter-tall ant with six legs, a carapace that seems to be crafted from the hardest metal, and over five dozen ropelike hairs wiggling in the air.
"Where the hell did you get a Tier 10 Metal Doll Puppet Ant from?" Klaus asked, not understanding how such a powerful and rare ant could be on Earth, let alone in Asha's legion.
This ant shouldn't exit on Earth at all.
The Metal Doll Puppet Ant is one of the fiercest ants out there. They are also one of the most dangerous types of ants you will ever face in battle.
They are known as Doll Puppets mainly because of the ropelike hairs on their bodies. Those are no ordinary hairs.
The moment they latch onto you, they can easily turn you into their puppet.
Back when Klaus faced the demon alien inside the trial, he had the sense of déjà vu that perhaps he had faced such a monster before or knew this monster from somewhere. However, he just couldn't figure out from where.
He was under pressure back then, so he couldn't think of that...
Now, seeing this monster ant, it seems it all started to come back to him...
The memories began to flood his mind, fragmented at first but slowly piecing together like a puzzle. He recalled an ancient text he had stumbled upon years ago, hidden deep within the archives of the Arcane Library.
In his life as Fruity, he and Yuying visited the Arcana Library. It was somewhere inside the tormented world that required them to fight dangerous demons just to gain access tokens.
Back then, he was looking for information on a forbidden ritual, and the arcane library was the best place to research it.
It was where some of the long-forgotten memories were hidden.
During his time there, he also came across the records on this type of forbidden and long-forgotten abominations.
The records spoke of creatures born from the fusion of organic and metallic elements, entities that defied the natural order.
These beings were said to be the creations of a long-forgotten civilization, one that had mastered the art of blending life with machinery.
The Metal Doll Puppet Ant fits that description perfectly.
Its ropelike hairs weren't just for show—they were conduits, capable of ensnaring prey and draining their energy.
Klaus shuddered as he remembered the sensation of being bound by those very same ropes during his trial. Back then, he just couldn't break free from the bind.
The alien monster he had fought back then must have been a prototype, a lesser version of this abomination now standing before him.
"I didn't look for him. Kai came to me," Asha revealed, and Klaus raised an eyebrow.
"Asha, dear, Metal Doll Puppet Ants don't come to you... They are not like ordinary ants. This ant standing before you is a Level 3 Ascendent (Tier 10), and from the look of things, it has already evolved, yet it remains .
Do you want to know why? It's because this ant is not an ant at all. I don't know where it came from, but that thing is very dangerous."
Klaus didn't like what was happening one bit.
He had read the records, and from them, he knew the forbidden creatures were not like him. He may be a forbidden-born, but these forbidden are more like rejects.
They don't have a place in the universe, unlike him, who can live under the heavens' watchful eyes.
"Kai is not dangerous. In fact, Kai has already told me about his origin. From what he remembers, he just woke up seven months ago inside a cocoon. When he woke up, he started looking for a home and found me two months ago."
"And you trust him?" Klaus asked, and Asha nodded.
[Brat, you must trust her. Though your suspicions are probably right, this is her decision to house this monster. Now, if you are worried, why don't you feed it your blood?
You will have supreme authority over it when you give it your blood. This way, if one day it were to retaliate, you can easily subdue it.]
The senior advised, and Klaus could only sigh.
What he said was indeed true. If he were to give his blood to the ant, he would not only have supremacy over it but would also be able to access its memories and learn more about it.
Klaus had the Star Monarch bloodline, which meant that if he were to give it to Kai, it would evolve yet again and gain all the benefits that come with the Star Monarch bloodline.
'I only wonder what monster it will become the moment it evolves using my blood,' Klaus sighed.
"I want to give Kai my blood. I can tell he really wants it," Klaus said with a small smile, watching how proud Asha was for having such a monster as a companion.
Asha's face lit up like a child who had received candy.
She had seen what happened to Kathy, so while she wasn't about to force Klaus, she had been planning to ask him for a few drops of his blood to give to her four Ant companions. If possible, she wanted all of them to evolve.
"Yes," Klaus said, shifting into his elf form. He cut his palm, extracted the blood, and froze it in ice.
"Give this to him. He'll go into a hibernation state for at least a week or two. But when he wakes up, Kai will become much more powerful."
Klaus sighed. He had learned a great deal about his bloodline, so he knew Kai was about to turn a new leaf.
If only they had known that this decision today would have a far more catastrophic effect in the coming years, they would probably look for a few more Kai's and feed them his blood...