He who sleeps still sins.

The ant queen returned to her host with great reluctance, suppressing her desire to cause him harm. She knew just how dangerous these flames were for anyone who dared to interfere in this process. Cleansing or the baptize by heaven was something ever lifeform had to undergo. Though the process could differ in its form from being to being.

Some might be cleansed by water, fire, wind, earth or even light and darkness. there were some special cases but those were rarely seen and always depended on the circumstances. She really had thought, that her host would never be able to attract something like this. as his affinity and talent were absolutely non-existent.

But once again this lunatic found a way to accomplish exactly that. She was not even surprised anymore. Even finding the corpse of her host left her unfazed. Only he can find a way to end up on the verge of death from a cleansing.

Despite looking like a dead man walking, she did not particularly care how exactly his appearance was. Undoubtedly he would change sooner or later. it was just a matter of time before something like this would occur. Given his nature, it was bound to happen again somewhere in the future.

The current decline in his body was natural and no cause of concern. Healing the body was not out of question, but the resources needed were quite abnormal. The pressing issue was to collect that many resources. While her host had been training, she scouted the area and noticed all the changes that had affected this world.

The ground had hardened making the normal ants unable to penetrate it, causing it to be inaccessible. With the wave of stronger monsters, it became a lot harder to hunt and kill them. The efficiency had sunk in general,

Instead, she found another option, that was easily accessible. It was water, that could be found in great quantities. It did not pose a threat to the ants, nor was its surface impenetrable. The biggest downside was the lifeforms living in it. Only a portion could be gained without risking a confrontation.

Every loss would mean, that even more energy was needed to produce new ants again. This activity had to be carefully planned out. She was not as foolish as a certain person. Her line of thinking revolved around minimizing the risks. Her role was just supportive and enabling her host again was her biggest directive.

There was not much of choice from her side, as she did what had to be done. And the corpse-lookalike clearly was not able to decide for himself at the moment.

The number of ants, that she currently commended was not nearly enough to cover everything she wanted to achieve. Such an army had to be balanced and structured. It should be versatile enough to be able to cover all the objectives that might arise.

Looking at her surroundings, the ant queen noticed that her current location was full of risks and did not offer a lot of protection. The only thing keeping his body safe was the delicate balance in the sea. If only one monster passed this impasse, then the future looks troublesome. Because if it happens once it can happen again. The only option is to keep this situation in check and intervene the moment a monster comes to close to the shore.

This activity binds a lot of her forces to this place and restricts the potential options even more. Not only would the ant queen have to stay here as well, but all the resources would also have to be transported to this location again.

Relocating his body was impossible, as she lacked the personnel to move him safely from this location. The flying ants were not capable of carrying such weights, the warrior ants could not swim and fight while keeping her host safe, the builder ants were unqualified in general.

Once this whole ordeal was over she would demand a lot of compensation for this ludicrous task. She had a lot in mind, she would ask for a new type of ant design and new weapons, new strategies. Demanding her host to stay safe and not to commit to such suicidal acts was asking for the impossible.

For the time being it was necessary to collect as much energy as possible in order to produce enough ants. The health of her host could be preserved with a minimal amount.

She tasked her builder ants with collecting the lake water and delivering it to her. The chain of supply was a basic necessity to nourish the next generation of ants.

The warrior ants kept guard at the shore, while the flying ants scouted the area. With all of the basics covered she focussed on producing eggs for the time being. She just wondered how long it would take for her host to wake up again. But not even she could have guessed that long would mean this long.

-------------------------

Many nights passed and many days had come. The ant queen occupied more and more resources Successfully dictating the fate of the Lake and beyond. Many monsters still struggled and fought desperately but in the end, they had to lay down their lives to the horde of ants.

Many lives have been lost and much blood has been split for the greater good. Not once had she been able to stop the production of her eggs, as more and more ants were needed. But after receiving more and more resources, most of them were given straight to her host.

Her host was an endless abyss who absorbed those nutrients as if there was no tomorrow. Despite all the care, that he had received no visible change had occurred. He neither woke up nor did his skin return to its previous colour. The only thing discerning him from the dead was the rhythmic breathing motion of his chest.

She had never suspected his injuries to be this grave. Not even during the merging process did it take that much time for him to wake up. Regardless of the situation, he was still breathing soundly. That was the only sign of him being still alive.

Yet she could do nothing more than deliver more and more nutrients into his body. Trying to stimulate his body from the outside had proven to be fruitless, neither pain nor poison showed any effect. Throwing his carcass in front of a live monster was dismissed.

Throwing water on his face also did not work either. But the one thing that worked was placing a monster inside of his mouth. It did not wake him up, but at least he began to chew. On further inspection, everything placed inside was ground to dust by the sharp teeth.

The loud noises produced by his consumption did affect his sound sleeping. The queen was slowly running out of options to probe her host. She could try and throw his body under water, but too many ants were needed to move his body. His weight had even more increased after the cleansing for whatever reason.

Moving this mountain was akin to committing suicide. It could and should only be done by himself.

But as even more time passed and even more resources were spent on her host she decided to consult her mentor for a possible solution. She would have done so earlier, but keeping guard had been her top priority.

But upon arriving at the physical place of her mentor she saw 3 people arguing back and worth. Her mentor and her Host and another person she did not recognize were currently busy throwing around insults.

At first, she was curious about what they were discussing. But looking at her host, she saw a smug grin upon noticing her arrival. She pondered briefly why her host, would react in that manner upon seeing her. After looking back at all of her acts, she realized, that she had been making a fool of by this maniac. It was the very first time, the ant queen felt a deep resentment.

" You suicidal lunatic, how dare you?" Her anger reverberated in this small space, but the 3 men were not surprised by her appearance. They continued to argue without paying any attention to her.

" HEY. YOU, LUNATIC: I AM TALKING TO YOU." Despite her shrill voice, she fell on deaf ears, as the men were still ignoring her. In her anger, she failed to realize, that her current body was not capable of transferring sound waves. Only a shrill high noise was produced, quite similar to a mosquito.

While the ant queen was busy trying to scream at her host, the 3 men were having a hissy fit. Although that hissy fit had lasted for God knows how long already, they were still going strong. Neither side showed any intention of bowing down, so the cycle proceeded.

In the beginning, the whole discussion had been civil with a level of mutual respect. That is until the lunatic joined in. Everything went downhill from there. As of now the madmen rejoiced in riling up his partner.

" So let me get this straight, you told him of my origin and made it sound like I am some kind of saviour. You are seriously trying to piss me off. Give me a break, you would not need my help to get this idiot on board anyway"

" PFF, it is amusing to see you have the nerve to talk to me, the one who literally saved your life in that tone. Maybe I should have just let you die." said the supermodel with his face clearly shaped by his anger.

" Remind me, when did I ever ask you to save my life? Oh right, I did not. Sorry, my memory gets kinda hazy, when I have to deal with all the bullshit that leaves your mouth." said the madmen, who had previously cut off his skin.

" Oh please, you act all high and mighty but I am trapped in here and forced to listen to your tantrums. Trust me, you have it a lot easier." said the men still visibly annoyed by the galls of his partner.

" Would you still, please not forget about my presence? I was and I am still taking part in this conversation" said the former black substance, that had now changed into a middle-aged man with fully black eyes.

" Why would I care about an idiot, who believed this old fogy?. How gullible do you have to be? A person of his status, would put trust in me? If he could he would take over my body in an instant. You can trust people like him only as far as you can throw them. Sorry, but your initial judgement disqualifies you automatically from ever being taken seriously again."

" You truly are a vile spawn. No wonder, you were chosen by this fiend. Birds of a feather flock together. "

" Do not put me in the same boat with him, do not be that cruel. Remember you are trapped here." said the current owner of the body. His expression was appaled as he was compared to the old entity.

" At least in all of my lifetime I have not once looked as ugly as you currently do." The Adonis did not hold back, as he targeted one of his weak spots.

" That's harsh, coming from someone who isn't even pretty on the inside. At least show me some respect."

" How would you know? All your life you have just been betrayed, disrespected and exploited by the person, who you loved. Ostracized like a dog, spat at, discarded when you were no longer needed. Why should I respect you, when you can't even respect yourself?"

The atmosphere got chilly all of the sudden as the expression on his face turned slightly distorted.

" There are some things in life, that can't be reversed. Some regrets will remain until the end. Your words are true, but that does not mean that I treat them so. I am a hypocrite through and through. If I do not get your respect so be it. But there are some topics, that should not be discussed for the sake of both of us. I think we both can agree on that."

The Adonis had not expected such a reaction from his words. He knew, that it be disadvantageous to press on any further. Rarely had it seen such a strong emotion from his partner. He spoke with a much more solemn voice:

" It would be unwise to agitate you needlessly. After all, your safety is my biggest concern." The sarcasm permeated the air.

" Cut, that crap. I do not need that fake camaraderie. We are both in for our own selfish goals. And to you, whatever you are, as long as you do not disturb me do whatever you want. "

" With this boring topic out of the way, let us come to the fun part of today. Tell me what the hell happened with my body? I have absolutely no idea, what that flame was and how I am still alive."

" This flame is called the Flame of rebirth or in this world, it is referred to as the cleansing." The middle-aged men spoke in a serious tone.

"But even I have not many ideas, what exactly took place inside of your body."

At that point in time, no one had noticed the gleaming light descending from the sky slowly surrounding the decomposing body.

Something big was about to occur, but nobody had realized it. They were busy discussing their theories about what happened with the body and its special state. This conversation would last a long time.

Whatever the future might bring it will take the inhabitants of this body by surprise.