All For One

'Insects?' 9 Flame Queen gazed at the incoming swarm with slightly shaking eyes. Since when did insects become so capable? Or was it that the insects in her Continent were trash and these ones were normal? But that probably wasn't likely. The weakness of insects was mainly a body issue rather than an environmental one; the size and density of their bodies was too lacking.

This led to a bunch of problems, one of them being that they didn't even have enough room in their genetic makeup to have an affinity for any particular element. But the most pressing one of them all was the fact that their bodies were too weak to handle great amounts of Mana, talk less of raw Magic Energy. Hence, their path in cultivation was forever doomed to be short.

Or so she had thought.

Thinking back on it, she had always admired the single-minded unity that a few insects like the ants and wasps had when they pursued their goals. It was a little terrifying actually. Often enough times, she would see them performing feats far, far greater than what their individual bodies were capable of performing, just by chucking whatever amount of bodies that their task needed to be complete.

There was a time that she had witnessed the corpse of a large eagle submerged in a sea of ants. She didn't know how it died, or why there were so many ants in one location… but she had always had the harrowing thought that maybe, just maybe, those ants were the ones to do it.

The ones to actually kill that eagle.

This World was bountiful in resources, that was certainly so, but nobody would leave the carcass of an Eagle for ants to enjoy. For a Beast, the corpse of any lifeform was a source of strength and a source of strength was not something that could be ignored.

But perhaps one of those pitiful herbivores did it. A few of them were strong enough. Maybe the Eagle had been overly bold and paid the price.

But just maybe…

If that really happened, if just regular ants were capable of killing an Eagle… what could a colony that contained 4th Realm members be able to accomplish? What great feats would they be able to perform if they threw their ENTIRE colony onto a single task… or a single enemy.

Her powerful mind quickly conjured up scenarios of such a thing and goosebumps spread across her skin.

How terrifying…

Chad and Aliana were having similar thoughts and their faces became grim like everyone else's. Never had they ever seen insects like this before and it was a worrying prospect.

The gathering fell into complete silence as they awaited the Moonlit Wasps with solemn demeanours. But as one could imagine, that silence soon broke apart as the Wasps came close enough for their music to fill the valley.

Without asking, they found a space for themselves and soon settled down one by one. But where most of the other factions placed their least important members at the back and left their more powerful members at the front, these wasps settled into a circular formation that had their most powerful members safe in the centre and their less important members on the outskirts where they were the most vulnerable.

But nobody who knew about their behaviour was surprised. Most insects were like this. They may have obtained greater intelligence and comprehensive emotions along with their expanding brains and cultivation, but they had not changed that aspect about themselves at all.

Other races like the Glacial Saint Deers had more of a 'one for all' belief and relied on their powerful members to protect the rest, but these insects were clearly of the 'all for one' category and valued only their important members, doing all that they could to protect them even if it cost many of their own lives.

And yet still, they had never seen a race more unified. There were no rebellions, there were no disagreements, and there was not a single one of them who wouldn't sacrifice their life for whatever benefit. It was strange enough to call it a phenomenon; a miracle of sorts.

Gaia looked at the swarm of wasps with impassive eyes. She had seen and heard about powerful insects and other similar things, the worst among them being the Insecta Abyssi; terrifying creatures that had emerged from the Abyss with crazy powers and psychotic ambitions that inevitably led them to conquering Planets and even Worlds. Thankfully, such creatures had never looked the Lolay Galaxy's way. She had only read about them in ancient texts.

The point was, she wasn't afraid of the Moonlit Wasps that were far, far inferior. She could look at them like any other race, so long as they behaved themselves. And when it came to equality, it wasn't all about equal benefits. Equality also meant holding everyone to the same standard.

"Queen of the Moonlit!" she called out, once more breaking the silence which had returned due to the Wasps no longer moving, putting an end to their music. "I believe you received the same invite as the rest of us. The one stating to only bring your highest upper echelons... So why is it that you have brought your entire hive? What are you trying to do?"

Murmurs erupted as people began to show support to her question. They too wondered why the Moonlit Wasps were being so blatantly audacious.

The Queen of the Elves had only come with a few Grand Elders, the Progenitor of the Glacial Saint Deers had only come with a few of his Guardians of Peace, Beast Emperor Raiko had only come with his subordinate Beast Kings, she herself had only come with the Crystal Dragon King and the Supreme Dragons, and even Jörma was only here with Lily and Hiculu, only 2 of her 10 or so Juggernauts. And the list went on.

So it went without saying that nobody was pleased with the actions of the Moonlit Wasps.