Usurping the Supercolony

On the fourth day, he returned to the surface and first checked on the cricket. Then, he ate what he had craved so much: honey. After eating his fill, he created an army of thirty-nine puppet soldier ants. He controlled only five of them directly, giving the others orders to follow the five that were leading.

You know how ants work - once a small group starts something, others want to join in. However, he didn't allow for such behavior and executed all uninvited individuals.

Afterwards, the puppet ants marched across the nest, quickly reaching the location of the first-generation soldiers. The general, sensing something was off about the little ants' behavior, sent out a command for them to scatter. Yet, nothing happened.

When the general sent another command, the puppet master sent forth his army of thirty-nine strong to attack the first-generation soldiers, who numbered less than a thousand. The general was infuriated by this challenge to her authority and led the charge.

Very quickly, both sides met head-on. However, the puppet master was hidden at the very center of the one-sided war, watching coldly as his men were dismantled and killed by the first-generation soldiers.

The first-generation soldiers not only outclassed and outnumbered the puppet soldiers but also outexperienced them. The main star of this show was none other than the general, who was slaughtering away in joy and bliss, unaware of the looming danger watching her from afar.

Suddenly, the puppet soldiers started swarming towards the general, gathering around her. No matter how many were eaten and ripped apart, they simply kept heading straight for her. When she was surrounded by four larger puppet soldiers, the puppet master was in a tight spot.

These weren't mere puppet soldiers; they were elite first-generation soldiers, some of the stronger ones at that. If these guys had been the ones to surround the hornets that attacked the queen at that time, they would have ripped them apart at the expense of one of their lives.

During the infighting, the general wouldn't stay still, so the puppet master had no choice but to borrow some helping hands from the enemy lines. While fighting the first-generation soldiers, the puppets somehow managed to hold the general down.

Seeing this opportunity, the puppet master flew from his five guards and landed two rulers away, sending his soul force to wipe and shatter her mind. Upon succeeding, he quickly commanded his remaining puppets - excluding the five guarding him - to stop fighting.

There were only two first-generation soldiers and a single dying normal soldier ant left. He sent a command to the general to stop her troops from attacking.

"And now, to claim the throne and become the first ant king... No, that's not right," he thought. "This is a supercolony with over twenty colonies merging to create it. I should say first emperor instead of king." He chuckled to himself.

However, his mood quickly turned sour as he remembered he only had three to four days more to live.

"Let's go," he commanded the general, and she sent out his command.

Very quickly, they marched towards the queen's hidden abode. However, when they reached the area with many doors, the master stopped them, fearing they would destroy his future assets if they fought there.

He made the gate guardians open the path wide open and told the general to release her pheromones as much as possible. This, in turn, woke the queen up from her rest. She knew she hadn't called for the general, and the way the general released the calling pheromones was taken as a challenge and a display of rebellion.

The queen quickly sent out her own pheromones to take control of the first-generation army. However, she found it challenging, as the first-generation soldiers had been bathed in the commander's pheromones for too long to be swayed so easily.

This enraged the supreme queen even more, and she sent out a death sentence to the general. Suddenly, over thirty false queens appeared from the other side and attacked.

Normally, the general would attack head-on, but this time, someone else was controlling the battle from behind the scenes. Charging forward recklessly would be tantamount to giving herself up to the enemy, rendering the master's plans vain.

Instead, he sent out the first-generation army to confront the false queens while the general stayed at the back lines, surrounded by over fifty large first-generation ants acting as protectors.

"Only thirty-six came out? Wouldn't that mean the other twenty-two are still inside?" he thought. "I'll have to start now, or it's never."

He made his way inside, wearing the head of a first-generation ant as defense equipment for his smaller head and weaker neck. Upon entering the room, he was greeted by the familiar sight of pure green light.

Immediately after entering, he pushed himself to the left side with his wings as fast as he possibly could. Not even a breath later, a set of large pinchers appeared where he had just left and bit into the ground.

"If I was any ordinary ant, that's where I would have died," he thought. "But jokes on you, as I can see your soul even without seeing your body."

At that same moment, he sent out a mental message. The large gatekeeper that was supposed to be guarding the door suddenly appeared behind him.

The other twenty or so ants thought he wanted to bite, which was strange to them, as they considered this ant lesser and thought of it as a simple gatekeeper. Who would have thought it would also attack enemies?

The next moment, the doorhead used its head to cover the master, and both started walking towards the queen, who was watching them approach with amusement. She sent out her pheromones to try to control them, but they didn't respond, continuing to approach instead.

Sensing their unusual behavior, she sent out her false queens to dispatch them. Two flew towards them and attacked, but the doorhead's armor was too hard to penetrate in a short amount of time, especially its head, which it used to protect the master.

Four more false queens joined the first two, but they could only manage to hold down the doorhead. Afterwards, the puppet master flew by himself towards the queen. The distance between himself and the queen was now very close, thanks to the doorhead's protection.

Just a little closer, and he would be able to use his soul force on the queen. However, at that moment, two false queens flew towards him. With no intention of wasting more time, he sent out two whole tentacles each into their minds and immediately made their heads explode.

The shards of their exoskeletons flew at great speed in all directions, hitting some of the other false queens and injuring those closest to the explosion.

When he was close enough, he sent out his soul force and shattered the Queen's consciousness, making her into one of his living puppets. Then, he commanded her to stop her false queens.

Afterwards, he flew towards the entrance and commanded the general to stop the first-generation soldiers.