Chapter 5 : Ant Queen

As soon as the back door was opened a lot of dust particles entered the RV, blinding everyone's vision for at least a few seconds.

The only two people unaffected by it were the driver and the navigator besides him as such there was a glass wall between the driving and compartment area.

Martha too was affected by it for a moment but soon clenching her fist, she was about to take a step forward to jump outside.

However, at this moment she felt a strong force applied on her left shoulder that pulled her backwards and sent her flying towards the glass wall.

Though the force applied wasn't something she couldn't resist but because she was careless at the moment that led to the other party's intentions to succeed.

As such now she recovered from her defenceless stance, she managed to land right before the glass wall after making a back-flip in the mid-air.

" Which bastard is it ? "

Right after landing the very first thing she did was to ask in an angry tone. After all, she has missed the best timing to bait the ants and even the door is also closed and opening it a second time may let the ants that stick on the RV to enter inside as by now they must have been aware of the fact that the back door can be opened.

This kind of action whether it is out of companionship or not, but has already endangered the life of twenty people at the same time.

But even after a few seconds passed away no one gave her an answer but looked at her puzzlingly right after restoring their vision.

" Leader Martha, what happened ? "

Robert asked while rubbing his eyes with some puzzlement on his face.

" **Huff, Just as I was about to jump outside, somebody threw me here after he pulled me backwards and by the time I regained my composure, we had missed the best time to bait the ants. "

Taking a deep breath she said what happened honestly both with anger and remorse.

Listening to her words, the rest of people once again have a hopeless face as they didn't have expected an Idiot to interrupt the very last chance to save the lives of Nineteen people excluding Martha.

" Fuck !! You can die if you want but don't fucking kill all of us. "

The bad-mouthed Alex begins to curse even without knowing who was the one to endanger their life.

However, unlike him everyone else was trying to look for the person who had left his seat when he pulled back Martha. Surprisingly, there was no one standing in the midst of them giving them no choice but to look for the people beside them.

" Huh ? The RV is still running straight doesn't that mean, his calculation was wrong ? "

Suddenly, a person pointed to the man who said that the path after the place where Martha jumped will be destroyed and showed others that the RV is still running in a straight direction.

As soon as a person pointed it out, a lot of people turned their heads to either the monitoring screen or the windows and eventually, found out that this is indeed the case.

" My God, That's true. The path is really not damaged and the RV is running straight and even the collapsing behind has almost stopped."

" Fortunately, somebody pulled the leader back otherwise her sacrifice might go in vain."

" Yes. He almost killed our leader. We must not listen to his words in the future. "

The recruits who were suffering from several mood swings for the past minutes finally found a target to vent out and even forget that this was the same person who saved their life after figuring out the hidden Man-eating ants.

On the contrary, the man didn't talk back a word but raising his head towards Martha's side asked a single question.

" Has anyone seen Albert ? "

....

A few moments ago.

Outside the RV

A person suddenly jumped out of the RV, attracting the attention of every single Man-eating ants in the vicinity.

Albert who was in the mid-air longer than he expected after jumping only because of the RV being motion for a long time, he suddenly has a crawling like sensation all over his body as everyone outside is eager to take a bite of his flesh but nevertheless he has already made a decision and doesn't want to go back, lest Martha will do such stupid things herself.

**Thud **Thud

Finally, he fell on the ground with a violent impact which his body was naturally incapable of solving as he doesn't know things like back-flip that Martha and others do and eventually, he fell with his face on the front.

There appears light bruises all over his face, some blood was also dripping from the top of head towards his forehead and then, it passes through his two eyebrows, falling silently on the ground with his consciousness slowly fading away.

Though it hurts like crazy but his body after inheriting the blood of a Royal Incubi even with weak physical stats wasn't that vulnerable to die so easily, as he can feel there is still some chance for him to live if only someone came to his rescue.

However, soon he gives a bitter smile knowing that this is only the start of unbearable pain and a short but hellish nightmare.

He didn't jump outside to prevent Martha from getting injured but to become Man-eating ants food instead of her.

" I wonder if my blood can pose any kind of special attraction to these ants. With how much of it is flowing out, it must have greatly affected their appetite, right ? "

Looking at dozens of ants gathering beside his fallen body, Albert started to think of a very important question.

If his blood as a Royal Incubi demon can be up to taste to these ants or not otherwise his sacrifice to stall time for others might really go in vain.

But soon he found out that the ants beside him were not moving at all but kept standing still, even new ants came closer to him, they were all the same.

This situation lasted till, the number of ants around him increased up to one thousand while all of the other ants had already moved towards a specific direction of the hole that he watched on the monitor screen but they also stopped destroying the ground.

Albert didn't know if it was an illusion or something else but he could see the ants around him frequently moving their antennae and moving their heads in that Hole's direction.

Can they communicate with their Antennae ?

This was the last thing he thought before fainting and completely becoming unconscious.

Just right after Albert fainted, the ants around him started to make a move and one by one they crawl in front of him and without a moment of hesitation, tightly held the hems of his clothes within their mouth.

It didn't take long before, they also advanced towards that Hole's direction, roughly and rudely dragging his injured body. Some were pushing him from the behind while some walk backwards pulling from the front.

Though it was only a dozen or two ants that drag his body but the rest of ants of this thousand numbers group were walking side by side him as they are guarding him from any expected danger, not treating him as the foot but their own kind, also giving some silly looks from time to time.

....

Inside the RV

A single question, 'Has anyone seen Albert? ' made everyone in the RV speechless and tense.

Wasn't he just sitting in the Van completely silent and spineless for this whole time.

Where did he go now ?

It didn't take long before someone made a bold guess.

" Could it be the person who pulled Leader was Albert but instead of just pulling her, he accidentally fell replacing her ? "

Martha who heard this looked at the other with a shocked face, not daring to accept such a guess to come true but she still failed to find him even after several rounds of searching within the RV, making this conjecture look more and more right.

" Did I really lost him ? "

In the end, Martha said with an Idiot-like expression on her face, it is not known if she forcefully held back her tears or the shock was too great that made her unable to perceive her emotions.

Normally, she is not such a weak person to suffer mentally so easily because of a companion's death but Albert's figure has taken roots in her heart deeper than she expected that made her unable to calm down no matter how much time passes by.

" Leader don't be like this, okay ? That idiot Albert if was anything then, it was nothing else than a womanizer. You don't have to be so sad about him. "

" That's right. There is no need to feel sorry for a person like him. It was his own fortune that he can sacrifice himself for you and us. "

" Indeed. This was the only good thing that he has done in his entire life. "

The recruits in the RV felt Martha's state was a bit wrong and tried to Console her but every word that came out of their mouth become taunt and ridicule for Albert, which in fact only worsen her state a lot.

To make the matter worse, bad-mouthed Alex couldn't sit still on his seat and remembering the incident from yesterday started to talk nonsense.

" That bastard really deserve it. I said how could a coward who ran away leaving us alone the day before could be a great person, it's the karma that today forced him to commit suicide all by himself. But.. even if this wasn't the case, I will myself push that motherfucker out of the RV....Ahh. "

Suddenly, a person gave a strong slap on his face, making him cry in a bitter and painful voice. Looking closely, five sturdy and big fingers are also printed red on his left cheek.

" Fuck you !! How dare.....uhh, Elder brother, why ?"

Raising his hand, just as he was about to hit the person back, Alex was shocked to find out the man slapping him was none other than his own elder brother, Robert.

The same man who always dots on him and their younger sister, now has a very dangerous face, making everyone including him, breathless for a few moments.

Alex couldn't understand what was wrong with him and wanted to know why his brother will slap him so strongly. Unfortunately, not giving him any answer, Robert shifted his attention to other people in the compartment with a cold and icy aura around him.

" Did all of you lose a screw or something? Don't tell me none of you realise Albert not only saved Leader's life but also all of us and you guys instead of being grateful to him, chose to bad-mouth him. At least shame on you. "

His words not only solved his younger brother's doubt but also embarrassed everyone present.

" But brother... He harassed Celestine."

Alex tried to bring up an old issue but Robert cut him midway saying :

" I have already told you this during the training, try to not mix the personal feelings while being on a mission. As Albert troubling our sister in the past is one thing but saving the life of his companions is another, Simply putting the Albert who jumped instead of leader is a hero to me. Also, Celestine's matter can't be brought up in the future, saying this kind of no sense you are hurting our sister's reputation. "

Finally as the RV runs straight to Sector/District-3, Robert took a deep sigh seeing now everyone is completely silent with no one consoling Martha nor any one talking about Albert.

Although Robert also hates Albert a lot for his idiotic behaviour and troubling his beloved sister in the past but since Albert has at least attempted to save a person's life, he has finally managed to earn some respect out of him.

But Robert can't also simply expect everyone to be like him, even when his brother doesn't follow his ideals.

Generally, Human nature is like this if they find you wrong they will say it on the face, but if their assumptions about you were proven wrong, apologising or even a fake, 'Sorry' is an almost impossible thing they will do as you can see no one for the whole way back didn't utter a single word of regret about him.

Alex with a slap print was also expecting his brother to apologise instead of feeling sorry for all the things he has said about Albert.

....

It took fifteen minutes for the Man-eating ants to drag Albert's injured body right in front of the hole with a diameters of 3 feets in length.

Looking down from the above, the bottom is like an endless pit, a direct entrance to the underworld at the very least.

The wall on the side appears to have slight moisture which is a pretty strange event in a deserted place.

From one side you can also watch some ants that are constantly clearing the sand and other dust that can potentially block the pit-like Hole's entrance.

Suddenly, the ants feel a moment from the hole and almost all of them instantly bow down to ground as welcoming their leader.

It didn't take long before a black and slender hand came out of the hole and after taking a hold of Albert's one hand pulled him down and disappeared from ant's sight in the span of less than a moment, leaving a feminine but Dominering voice echoing everywhere.

" Good job my children, with the aid of this person our family will definitely return to it's peak and maybe advance a level further than that. The ideal rejuvenation of our clan doesn't seem that far away. "

The ants who heard this starting to make noise, their blood was boiling to the peak and the face shows expression of joy and happiness.

In excitement, they were scratching the ground here and there.

After all, this long-heard voice not only belongs to their leader but also the one who brought them in this world, their mother, The Ant Queen.