Ch.112 The Blazing Ant Empress

    [East Continent, The Burning Nines, Sacred Volcano]

    (3 Years later, Year 153)

    * BOOP * BOOP * BOOP *

    Quite some time had passed and the Sacred Volcano was much larger than it was before, reaching a grand height of 4500 metres. This was no doubt a combined result of the World’s evolution and the Syphon Essence innate skill that all Anomalies seemed to have. But more interesting than that was the powerful Laws of Earth and Lava that the Volcano was consistently releasing like it was nothing.

    Clearly, the area around the Volcano had long become a Sacred Land, but the density of which the ambient Magical Energy had reached, was truly impressive. On top of that, instead of it mellowing out the further it spread, it was actually systematically raised the closer you got to the Sacred Volcano and never reached out of the 1st Circle, causing the special properties of the Volcano’s ambient Magical Energy to be concentrated within the 9 Circles. For example, if someone were to cross through the invisible dividing barrier of the 1st Circle and enter the 2nd Circle, they would feel an abrupt increase in the quality of the ambient Magical Energy, talk less of if they were to enter the 1st Circle from the outside.

    However, just as the ambient Magical Energy increased the closer you got to the 9th Circle, so did the heat. So this prevented many beings from delving deep even if they had the courage to do so. But on the flip side, if you were able to spend a lot of time within the hottest Circle you could reach, not only would you steadily gain a resistance to heat, but the harsh conditions would also pressure you into advancing in Anatomy Refinement. And thus, allowing you to proceed to the next Circle.

    This created a powerful environment for those who were able to fend off the attacks of the ferocious Lava Ants and make a living within the 9 Circles (which had also expanded in size), producing many battle-hardened elites.

    A territory like this was to die for, and unfortunately, many often did.

    It was quite hard to look loving when your face was made from chitin.

    But although the numerous eggs were a marvellous sight to behold, they could not compare to the fantastical beauty of the Blazing Ant Empress herself.

    A domineering height of 30 metres tall that left many of her peers in the dust, a dark red crystal-like chitin that resembled magic rubies and was covered in soul-stirring intricate patterns that streaked across her body like lava, curved and sharp serrated mandibles that snapped every once in a while, amber-like compact eyes that glowed and showed obvious signs of intelligence, spear-like legs that stood securely and surely, a disproportionately large abdomen that could produce many eggs, and 2 long antenna that had glowing tips.

    Although beautiful in the way lava was beautiful, most would similarly run away from the first sight of her, and they were right to do so. Unlike the way she treated the Colony and the Sacred Volcano itself, she was a cruel, unfeeling creature who considered other life-forms as the nutrients she needed for her and her colony.

    This was because of the fact that the stronger she became, the more talented, powerful, versatile and intelligent her offspring were when they were born, and this was especially so when she evolved. But because of this, the amount of eggs that she was able to produce per day was rapidly dwindling.

    It took too much energy to produce new offspring and she was needing more and more nutrients. It had reached the point where the amount of eggs that she was able to produce per day had dropped to 50 and she wasn''t happy at all. 800 eggs a day reduced to 50. Utterly atrocious!

    The growth of her colony brought her great happiness and she hated for it to slow. So as a result of this, the brave adventurers that dared to try their luck in The Burning Nines, often didn’t come back.