220: Farewell Speech!

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When the final body had been laid to rest, Akayoroi approached the central cairn. She held something cupped in both hands. A drone egg. It was small. Cracked. Its outer membrane dulled to a smoky sheen. But still warm.

"New life from loss," she whispered, placing it atop the cairn. The air didn't stir. But something shifted.

An echo of power—an unspoken vow—rolled through their spine. The surviving assassin-class ants dropped to one knee. No words. Just bowed heads. Amber tears gathered in their eyes… but none fell on the ground.

Grief had hardened into resolve.

Kai stepped forward at last. His exoskeleton shimmered faintly under the fungal light. Though no one said a word, they felt him closer.

He walked to the center. Raised one hand—not as a king, not as a monarch, not even as a warrior.