Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 143: Rift Gate

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Grev’s scythes rasped at each other. "Understood." He stared north, where the sky writhed.

Dawn Blades and Klick resumed marching. The tunnel ejected them onto a valley floor sheeted with fused skeletons and herd beasts long petrified. Each step thunked hollow.

"Spread out," Shale ordered. He tapped the crust, vibrations suggested caverns below. Needle etched warning glyphs every ten strides. Flint sealed minor cracks with flame. Vexor prowled the perimeter.

Halfway across, a bone-fin shark-like cartilage, calcified burst from beneath. Vexor intercepted, blades scissor-snapping the monster mid-lunge. Its halves slid apart, spilling diamond dust marrow. Klick gasped, then chuckled. "Free fertilizer!"

Shale hastened pace until they reached solid basalt. They’d lost no blood, only breath and a sliver of calm.

Shadow-Talons halted on a spur where the air turned thin. Sil’s illusions flickered, aura density interfered. Grev grunted. "Drop cloak; rely on steel."

They advanced openly. Near dusk the path widened into a plateau of black glass. In its reflection, the sky-scar looked like a gaping maw under their feet. Drask tapped the surface magnetic resonance. "Stable."

They set a minimalist bivouac. Grev honed scythes. Sil meditated to clear illusion burnout. Brask and Drask took turns gnawing an anchor cache into the plateau’s edge, for a rappel tomorrow.

Grev muttered toward the basin below. "Dawn Blades will be first to reach the destination. They might find treasure before us."

Sil raised one brow-plate. "Unless the guardian devours them whole."

Grev’s teeth gleamed. "Then we harvest leftovers."

Below, at dusk, Dawn-Blades reached a sheltered arch of split stone. They ringed the campsite with Heart-Mason wax. Klick knew the recipe too and helped spread a thicker layer, impressed. freёnovelkiss.com

Once stew simmered, Klick regaled them with more bar-rumors:

A peddler swore a "silver-hair devil" ate an entire wolf leg like jerky, in one bite. A Silvertail scout fled claiming the same fighter’s cloak in mid-battle. Another story insisted the rabbit girl sang a moon lullaby that made arrows miss.

Needle guffawed. "Our Late squad captain would love this gossip."

Flint poked the fire. "Don’t joke around about Kai."

Shale stared into the flames. "He’s alive," he said finally. "If not, then the secret royal guard Princess Mia sent, should have found his body. The mantis cave was empty when he got there."

Vexor nodded, settling half-sleep with blades half-open. "Yes! The mantis must have taken him to someone else or Kai escaped from the beast."

Storm light strobed overhead, painting canyon walls silver. Shale rotated watch. Klick volunteered a middle shift, tuning bone-whistles. Around midnight, a boom trembled through bedrock and distant cliff collapse.

Shale peered north, a faint spark of silver aura on the high ridge. "Shadow Talons," he guessed. "They’re closer than we thought."

But he ordered no pursuit; tomorrow’s basin would decide roles.

At gray dawn both squads resumed. Dawn Blades clambered a last quartz escarpment and beheld the basin, a two-kilometer crater rimmed by half-collapsed cliffs and lightning-blasted monoliths. In its center churned a silver funnel entrance to the hidden realm. It was covered with the Storm. They need to wait until the lighting stops. Or they can take risks by charging forward.

They halted on a ledge shadowed by needle rocks. Shale planted a signal spike, "Camp here," he said. "Observe first surge, then move. Let the others go. We will wait a bit longer."

Klick unpacked resin gourds, whistling at the view ."A Whole new kingdom might hatch from that twister." Many beasts were charging at the rift gate, some got injured, some died. Others waited like them. Some were hiding,

On the opposite rim, Grev’s squad mirrored the scene. Sil’s eyes flicked in confirmation. "Dawn-Blades visible, southeast shelf."

Grev raised scythes, points crossed. "Let’s wait here." Between two cliffs, lightning bent upward in silence. Dust devils of essence danced.

Shale posted Vexor and Needle on scouting perches. Flint improvised small flare-pots blue for retreat, red for guardian, green for peaceful ingress. Klick bartered two resin gourds for a seat by the fire; he claimed it cured rift-cough.

Dusk came early, the scar brightened, timetables warping. Dawn-Blades huddled in whispered debate. "what if guardians only respond to high-rank aura?" Should they risk a probe? Shale decided to wait until the first natural outburst, let the storm reveal dangers.

Across the basin Grev contemplated similar angles. Shadow-Talons cleaned weapons in silence, silver reflections rippling across their armor.

The invisible tension between ridges felt like coiled steel. Two missions, two loyalties, one prize and Kai’s legend drifting like smoke at every campfire.

When night finally swallowed the sky, the rift exhaled a gust that smelled of scorched cinnamon and salt. Everyone shivered.

Moss motes glowed green in their respirations. The rift’s distant winds carried whispers of vague words in over fifty tongues. Many beastman were talking to each other, promising power, naming fears. Almost thousands of beast men had gathered in one place. Everyone wanted to see what’s going on. The lightning is slowing down. Soon they will be able to enter the rift.

Vexor tightened his cloak, muttering Kai’s name as a mantra to others. Asking them if they heard of two star rank Ant named Kai.

And on yet beyond another ridge, Five to six hundred miles away, a silver-haired monarch watched the same lightning forks, unaware his name had become a rumor on the lips of warriors, merchants and elite blades alike.

(Back to Kai... Timeline one day earlier.)

He swept an Aura Insight pulse through the lair mouth one final time. Every crimson thread reported strong, outer traps armed. Silvershadow’s signature is entrenched behind three glyph gates.

The wyrmling nestled there chirped drowsily but promptly sank a tooth into her leather harness. <<Father... Milk... hungry-soon.>>

Luna approached, fastening her cloak. Bioluminescent beads along the hem responded to her calm aura, "Supplies double-checked. You want to eat before we go?"

"No, feed some star milk to Miryam. She is hungry." Kai replied.

Not far behind, Stone Ram and Iron Rampant lowered themselves into the siege-sled yoke, tusks sliding into groove clamps, shoulder plates locking with a hiss. Each boar’s dorsal spines were wrapped in rope coils and kegs.

Skyweaver stretched her wings overhead, membranes flashing lavender in the dawn light, then settled them tight to reduce drag while marching. Tunnel Crown and Heart Mason emerged from a service burrow, packs clinking with flasks.

"All right," Kai called, voice carrying down the ridge. "Follow this route." He sent them a mental map by soul link.

The initial stretch slalomed across shale slopes where avalanches were common. Kai chose a half-buried basalt spine as the main track, each fragment of stone jutted like overlapping scales. He walked in front, adjusting stride so the sled’s runners matched his footfalls. Luna took position mid column, scanning side gullies.