Battle
A/N : Check Beru from solo leveling for reference at the three kings. They are giants though.
"They will expand their colony soon." Clara said calmly. She continued, "I bet those three kings are ready and will lead an army to destroy everything in your homeland."
"Not gonna happen." Ban turned to Lucy and patted her head, "This place is dangerous, little sis. Go with Clara, she will protect you in the meantime as I hunted these monsters down."
"Will you be alright, brother?" Lucy asked worriedly. She saw how savage those monsters were. They even slain people in the process and dragged their dead body back to the volcano for a feast.
"I'll be fine." Ban smiled and turned to Clara. He gave her a knowing glance.
Clara nodded and pulled Lucy to her side.
Ban then flew towards the brawl.
"Stop."
Everyone was startled when they heard a voice in their head. Even the giant fire ants were staying still like a puppet doll.
"Look!" A divergent pointed upwards and saw a floating masked man.
"Woah! I didn't know a human could float in the air."
"Who is he?"
Divergents chatted to one another and stared at Ban with different expression.
"Leave this area. This place will turn a hell soon. If you start running now, you might save your lives." Ban didn't say anything else as he floated down to enter the entrace calmly. Following him were the giant fiery ants like puppets in a uniform line.
"What?"
"Who's that st*pid man?"
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this. Did you see those ants followed him like he was their master?"
"You mean he's the boss of those ants? Did that man disguised himself as a human? Impossible!"
"Should we head back?"
"Head back my *ss! He's clearly protecting those vermins!"
...
Meanwhile, Ban floated down while examining the area. He was clenching a sword while using his Soul Catcher in every ants he passed by.
100...
1000...
10 000...
100 000...
1 000 000...
Ban's familiar kept increasing at a rapid pace. He didn't spend much Spirit Energy as he controlled everything with ease.
The volcano wasn't that dark as the giant ants' feiry bodies light up the whole underground.
The colony has a radius of more than ten kilometers and twenty kilometers in height. Ban didn't spare any ants and build an army for himself.
What puzzled him was that, when he tried to control the three kings, his skill didn't work. He was quite surprised that an ant can have this much of Spirit Energy in itself.
Meanwhile, the three kings felt the anomaly of the colony and stared at one another.
They commanded the generals nearby to check what was happening. However, they noticed that nobody was moving.
When a king was about to lash out, it suddeny sensed an intruder coming on their way very fast.
"Kkkkkkkiiiiiieeeek!!!!!"
"Kkkkkkkiiiiiieeek!!!!!"
"Kkkkkkkiiiiiieeeeeek!!!!!"
*Rrrumble!!*
"HU....MAN!!"
One of the kings dashed upwards to attack Ban with full force.
*Clang!!* *Boom!!*
'Strong!' Ban felt his body tightened from the clash. His blood boiled from the excitement of challenge he was facing. He narrowered his eyes at the remaining ant kings.
'Seems like they are protecting the queen. The queen's aura was unstable like she was planning to breakthrough. This is problematic. I need to stop her advancement before the situation gets out of hand.'
Ban's eyes glowed in purple and all the ants in the surrounding rushed towards the queen with bloodthirst.
"Kiiiiek!"
"Kiiiiek!"
"Kiiiiek!"
"Kiiiiek!"
The two kings guarding the queen were dumbfounded at what they saw. Their subjects were rebelling in front of their queen with the intent to kill.
"AU...DA....CIOUS!!!"
"PRE...POS..TE....ROUS!!!"
*RUMMMBLE!!!!*
Both kings released their aura that blasted all the incoming ants away. However, their aura cannot deal with those tough scales of the ants as they came back up and attacked again with the same momentum.
The king who was dealing with Ban noticed the commotion downwards and became enraged.
"Kkkkkkkiiiiiieeeeeek!!!!!"
*Booom!!!*
The ant king facing Ban let out a shrill as it's body was covered with scorching flame. It slammed it's flaming claws at Ban with great force.
"Hmph!"
Ban didn't shy away as he casted Nine Laceration Divine Slash.
*Booom!!!* *Booom!!!* *Booom!!!*
The dead volcano trembled violently from the clash of Ban and the ant king.
"Kkkkkkkiiiiiieeeeeek!!!!!"
The ant king was blasted away from the terrifying skill of Ban. It's tough scale that can withstand a cannon without any scratch was now full of sword marks.
...
At the surface...
Many Divergents were panicking as the ground was shaking violently like a 10th magnitude earthquake.
They suddenly remembered Ban's caution earlier and got horrified.
"D*mn! He's telling the truth!"
"Ahhh!!! We should leave this place!"
"Go! Go! Go! Forget those monster cores! We can earn them somewhere else!"
They began to scurried away as the tremor didn't lessen in the slightest. In fact, it was getting stronger that the trees were jumping off of the ground. Many hills nearby got flattened and the ground were sinking very fast.
"Is brother gonna be okay?" Lucy's palm sweated from nervousness as she glanced at the entrance with unhidden worry on her face.
"He's alright. In fact, he's dominating the battle." Clara was surprised when Ban wasn't even in a disadvantage position. She could feel the tremendous upgrade on Ban's power.
'How long has it been since we last fought? Two weeks ago?His power was a thousand more stronger than before. Even his skills contained Spirit Enegies in it, terrifying. Is this why uncle wants me to investigate him? His unusual soul structure is really unique. He can even tame am army.' She gasped inside.
"Brother is winning? Really?" Lucy's eyes sparkled and showed a determined face, "In the future, I want to help my brother hunt those monsters."
Clara nodded at patted Lucy's head, "You don't need to." She paused and continued, "Your brother is a very talented man. No one can surpass him in terms of increasing ones power. You should spend more time with your brother. Your support is enough for him to fend away all the bad guys that tried to harm your family."
Lucy nodded as she silently clenched her delicate fist. Her eyes showed determination and decided to train more deligently in the future. She didn't want to be a flower vase in a house, waiting to be protected. She wanted to help her brother, even destroying all the enemies that will harm their family in the future.
...
*Booom!!!* *Booom!!!* *Booom!!!*
While Ban was gaining the upper hand by pummeling the giant ant king, he noticed that the queen was already closing on breaking through.
Ban's eyes glowed again and his army of ants became more aggressive.
"Kiiiiek!"
"Kiiiiek!"
"Kiiiiek!"
"Kiiiiek!"
Their flaming eyes stared at the queen with ferocity.
Meanwhile the two ant kings who protected the queen doubled their efforts on defending as the queen was on the critical phase.
Ban narrowed his eyes and decided to end this battle. He then used the Dragon Transformation Kick towards his opponent making it hurled to the wall, stucked. He then dashed towards the queen whose body was glowing in red. The glowing was stronger by the second and it's aura was getting stronger.
'Space Rending Slash!'
Ban casted a skill, aiming for the giant body of the queen.
"S-Stop..."
"Huh?"
Ban halted his move as he tried to focus who was trying to call him.
"...Please! I beg you! Stop killing my children!"
Ban saw the glowing ant queen covered with bright lights. He understood something and it was trying to communicate to him.
The blinding red lights disappeared and was replaced by a naked mature woman. However, she was not a totally a human. She has a long fiery red hair which has an unusually burning effect. She have two cute red antenas on her forehead.
"MO..THER...QUEEN!!"
The three kings approached the queen.
"My children..."
The queen patted the three ant king's hands. She showed a worried expression when she saw the battered king which was Ban's opponent just now.
Ban frowned at the scene. He noticed that the ant kings were very obedient to the ant queen. Different from what he saw and searched online. He thought that they were like human family instead.
The human ant queen stared at Ban. She stepped forward and bowed, "Thank you for showing mercy to my children."
"..."
Ban was silent. He was pondering how to solve this problem. Clara didn't explain further back then what's the other traits of Demon Beasts. He also noticed that the ant queen doesn't have a blood-red diamond on her forehead unlike the other ants.
"Unfortunately, I can't spare your lives. You are a threat to my land and will be exterminating your colony once and for all."
He gripped his sword tightly. He was ready for a second round of brawl.
"I am sorry. I didn't mean to intrude your land. I just wanted to have a peaceful life with my children." The queen explained. She continued, "Is there any other way? If staying this land is not possible, how about we leave your land? We will not disturb your peace."
Ban frowned. He wasn't against about her leaving. However, those foolish Divergents were asking for trouble if they offended these monsters. Sooner or later, this so-called queen will be waging wars against humans and he wouldn't want to see that happen.
He took a deep breath and said, "You have one solution to your problem. And that is to acknowledge me as your master."
"AU..DA..CIOUS!!!" An ant king screeched as it's aura flared up again.
The two other kings also expressed dissatisfaction and released their aura. How could they let the queen accept such a humiliating offer. This was a shame for the royalties like them.
"I accept..." The ant queen replied in a clear tone. She approached Ban much to the surprise of the ant kings and kneeled. She continued, "I will accept you as my master. However, you also have to accept them. I wan't you to be their father."
Ban twitched his lips. He was a minor. How could he have kids that looked like giant fiery ants.
"I accept. However, I can't spare your army. That's my bottom line. You also have to stop producing them as it will only caught others attention." Ban waved his hand. Having a powerful follower is not a bad thing after all.