The origin of the curse

As soon as Hera saw Reynara and Alex, she tried to dash up the anthill, but unlike how it was before, the ants here didn't give her passage. There were too many of them moving around, and even if they wanted to, they couldn't change their paths. The only solution was to go back to the bottom of this half mountain and run to the back, where no ants were coming from. While running, she kept Armory, Scythe, and Nimbus in his weapon form out but recalled everyone else. She did that in case she had a chance for a sneak attack. The Empress ran ahead of the group, even if Adriel was behind her, still struggling to keep up. The rest of the party was caught in the ant wave and were strutting to move past them. None of them wanted to attack the monsters for fear that this might trigger their aggression. Hera ran up the hill of loose sand, almost falling a couple of times until reaching the peak, where she saw the ant queen and one of the people she was chasing after. Alex was nowhere to be seen, but the huntress who received the blood legacy turned to her and smiled. They were just behind the opening leading to the ant nest, watching as the troops ran out.

"Reynara!" Hera called, "What is going on? The village is being attacked by the ants. Why are you not stopping the queen?"

"Because that doesn't matter. There was only one person there who I wanted to live with, and he is gone. Now, everyone responsible for his death will pay. Honestly, I'm glad you are here, Hera. I know you were not part of the rebels," Reynara said with a smile, the purple goo dripping from her eyes like she was crying tar.

"What are you talking about? We killed all of the rebels already. The people in the village are all on your side," Hera replied.

"You don't know that!" Reynara snarled, a purple glow pulsating through the goo. Hera noticed that the pulse happened to the goo covering the ant queen at the same time it happened with the huntress, "You don't know if the rebels realized they were losing and decided to hide again. And you don't know how much it hurts to be betrayed by those you care about!"

"Oh, please. Do you think you are the only one whit a sob story? My mother kicked me to the ground almost daily throughout most of my life. Don't use your shit to justify this. How did you even manage to control the queen? If that's what you are doing."

"You like it?" Reynara opened a smil, like a child who was showing a school project to their parents, "I kept thinking why Grilat died, and the result is because he was weak. If he had more power… If he had this power," her hands glowed with red energy and the same thing happened with the ant queen.

Reynara closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "If he had this power, he would have survived. I know because I could kill the Night River myself now. You see, Multrak didn't understand a part of the legacy. When he passed it on to me, the attributes he gained by drinking blood came along. Eventually, that increase will be reduced to just a fraction of what it is now, but for the next couple of days, I got a few levels worth of attributes."

"Yeah, that's great, but what does that have to do with the ants?"

"Imagine what we could do if everyone had this? The legacy. That's what I did. I gave my blood to the ant, using one of Kadhan's hexes to share my senses with the ant queen and a buff that Grilat taught me. It lets me share one of my skills with someone for as long as the hex is active, and I chose the legacy. The entire legacy! That only worked because of the hex, but think about it. If this works with monsters, why it wouldn't work with people? I know you have a legacy, but others don't. I can just share this with all of them, and everyone ends up on the same level," Reynara spoke with glee, "Of course, I'm not going to give this to anyone, but this way, I can make sure everyone I care about can be safe!"

"This is not a good idea, Reynara. You know the system won't let this stand."

"Won't it? The system is all-powerful. So if I'm doing something against it, why doesn't it stop me?" the huntress asked.

Hera couldn't reply. That was one thing she never understood. The system could have stopped the curse, or maybe it couldn't because it was dealing with a legacy. One way or another, she couldn't give Reynara a response.

"Then that's that. If you want, I can even share that legacy with you. I know you already have one, but maybe it will still work," the huntress said.

Hera shook her head as Adriel got into her view. He was still far, but he was the closest backup she had. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble climbing up the sand. For some reason, Hera knew where to step, to climb up here, almost as if there was something showing her the way. The rest of the team had just now being able to escape the river of ants.

"Why? Why would you give it to me and not to the people in the Vanguard? I know you don't believe that everyone in there is part of the rebels. If they were, their plan would have worked."

"Their plan did work. Grilat is dead, and I'm the new chieftain. And even the people who were not on their side, they all call me crazy. Why would they trust me? How do you think the Vanguard will exist now? The ones who don't trust me will keep arguing with everything I do, and the ones who want me to become the chieftain will just kiss my ass and try to manipulate me to attack the kingdom. There are still a few people who, if they survive, I'll offer this new power. That includes you and your friends. You never called me crazy unless I acted like it, and you got here too late for you all to be a part of the rebels. And honestly, if you are a part of them, I have to respect the long con you pulled off," Reynara smiled, showing that her fangs were also covered in ichor.

"We are not part of the rebels. But you do understand that this plan of yours doesn't really make sense. What will you achieve with all of this?" Hera pressed, she was trying to stall and let the rest of the group get here.

"I will honor what Grilat wanted. I'll keep protecting the kingdom, but now with an army that will never betray me. An army that will never try to hurt me or anyone who is important to me," Reynara looked down, for the first time since Hera arrived, she saw some pain in her eyes.

"Do you really think this is you honoring him? You are just lashing out! Throwing a tantrum like a child, but this time it will hurt people."

"So? I'm crazy, remember? Even if Multrak wanted that skill to rein me in, it only reduced the craving for blood, not who I am," Reynara shrugged, "So, what do you say? Do you want to help? Or are you here to attempt and to fail to stop me?"

Sammy appeared behind Reynara, seeing that the Empress tried to pretend like she was thinking about her proposal, "Hera, this is the curse. What she made is the curse. I can tell because of the memory we used as an anchor. And it's already starting to spread. The ant queen is also cursed, and she is trying to birth children with the curse. I can sense the larva growing inside her, it will be a while before they are born, but I don't know how long. This is not how ants are supposed to work. Then again, I don't know if this specific type of ant doesn't lay eggs. I'm sorry to say, but you have to kill them before the new batch of ants is born."

'Hera, Adriel is almost in range. But if you start now, you will be fighting alone,' Armory added.

"Ok," Hera nodded, "How can I get that legacy?" she looked up to Reynara.

"I knew you would understand," Reynara smiled and started walking towards Hera, "Grab my hand, then I can apply the hex and share the skill. It needs to have physical contact, and I think you will need to accept it. To make the ant queen part of the army, I had to almost tame her."

"Any hand?" Hera asked, but said something different in her mind, 'The moment she reaches out, all of you should attack. And… aim to kill,' thinking about that last line made her swallow her spit as if it was a bitter pill stuck in her throat.

Reynara put out her hand for Hera to grab, the ant queen watching her intently. Hera was already thinking that the moment she struck, the monster would turn to her, and she would need to run away. The Empress stared at the hand in front of her for a moment, trying to stall and find the perfect chance to strike. Adriel was just a few meters behind her, meaning that if things went south, she wouldn't be alone.

"Why are you hesitating?" Reynara asked.

"I'm just steading myself. This is not something small, you know," Hera huffed and took a deep breath, telling her court 'Now!'

With that cry, she slashed using the tonfas as her entire court emerged from her back aimed at Reynara. Unfortunately, it looked like the huntress was expecting something. She managed to step back, dodging most of the attacks, but Nimbus' blades still were able to make a large cut on her stomach.

"I fucking knew it! I can't trust anyone!" Reynara snarled, but she still had a smirk on her face, "Unless I'm the one controlling them."

"Hera, what is going-" Adriel appeared from behind the anthill, but he was greeted with a kick in his spine that sent him tumbling to the side, falling inside the hole where the ants were coming from.

Hera looked back only to find Alex, her face almost completely covered in the curse, and her hair flowing almost like it had a life of its own.

"Take care of them for me, will you?" Reynara said.

"With pleasure," Alex's voice was filled with venom as if she was staring the person who murdered her baby.

"Alex, what is this?" Hera asked, her court moving in to sandwich her, that way, they could protect the Empress if attacks came from either side.

"This is what happens with a bitch who just wants to steal other people's boyfriends!" Alex yelled, and in the blink of an eye, she was pushing Hera towards the ant hole with a dagger, trying to pierce her stomach. Luckily the dagger wasn't covered in mana or any other spell, which allowed the Empress' wasp wing skill to help block the attack. But the momentum behind it was too strong and sent her tumbling back after Adriel.

The two of them slammed against the tunnel walls a few times until they reached the ground. Around them, a sea of ants kept moving forward, ignoring them but still giving the two enough space to move around.

"Sammy, tell everyone what is going on. And find Adriel!" Hera called as soon as she jumped back onto her feet, turning to Alex, "What is the great idea? We need to get rid of the curse!"

"Shut up! You are using that just as an excuse to help him cheat! I thought that we were friends, and the two of you kept sneaking off to who knows where. You say you are with Reynara, but no one can tell for sure! I know you have skills to hide, and Mylo can even make some illusions of the two of you," Alex yelled in a voice that almost didn't sound like her.

"Alex, what the fuck are you talking about? We told you where we were going, and we even invited you to come. Besides, you are one of my best friends. Why would I hurt you like that?"

"Then what is the secret that you and Adriel are sharing?"

"It's just about his job, it has nothing to do with you," Hera replied.

"Stop lying!" this time, Alex's voice wasn't alone. There was a second bestial voice coming from her mouth, as if it was one of those movies about possession, "I'm not going to let you betray me like the Vanguard betrayed Reynara. If someone is going to die because of this, it won't be me," she got into her fighting stance, with one dagger in her hand and another in the sheath that would increase the power of her attacks.

"Don't make me do this," Hera begged, also getting into a fighting stance. It was clear that the assassin wasn't in her right mind, and she could only hope that this didn't mean Alex was cursed by the version of the curse that Reynara just created.

The assassin scoffed, "You do this? You couldn't even if you tried," she snarled and lunged at Hera, her daggers going straight for her throat.