Chapter 163 Men In Black Robes
The gate creaked as Isaac pushed the gate. The wind blew out through the doorway and hit his face. His eyes instantly opened wide to the inside of the room.
"Amazing."
Hundreds of eggs stuck to the wall like barnacles. They piled up and overlapped each other. The antfolk eggs were shaped like rice, white and oval. The young antfolk trailing behind him looked stunned.
Of course, his companion's reaction made the demon curious.
"Hey, what's wrong with your face? You look like a kid seeing an egg for the first time," Isaac said.
The young Antfolk nodded. "Yes, lord. This is my first time. I have no memories of when I was a child."
Isaac nodded.
This was the first time he'd heard it. All he knew was that the life of an antfolk worker was work.
"Now, help me sort the eggs."
"Sorting eggs?" asked the young antfolk.
"Yes, I want you to pick out the eggs that have the potential to become antfolk warriors."
The young antfolk looked puzzled. Isaac then gave him an explanation.
Antfolk eggs were divided into several types. Although their shapes were the same, there were characteristics that distinguish which eggs would become workers and which eggs would become warriors.
Most antfolk eggs were about the size of a human torso. When they hatched, they would be worker antfolk. Eggs that had the potential to hatch into warrior antfolk were larger. While eggs that hada the potential to hatch into males were smaller.
Of course, not all eggs that had a larger size would become warriors and vice versa. There was still a possibility that eggs that had a large size would hatch into workers. The benchmark based on egg size was not one hundred percent accurate.
"Ah, I see. I understand now," said the young antfolk innocently. The antennae on his head stood up, then, a questioning look appeared on his face again. "How do you know so much about antfolk? I, who lived from hatching until now, don't know anything."
Isaac chuckled. "You would know if you dared to come out of this tower."
Hearing Isaac's reply, the antfolk warrior could only squint.
Isaac was a dungeon master, he knew many things thanks to his previous life. Long before that, he was a noble.
Nobles were rulers in the nether realm. Isaac had seen a lot of how demon nobles governed their territories. There were rulers who ruled with an iron fist. There are rulers who rule tyrannically. There are rulers who give false promises to their people.
They had their own ways of leading their people. They would do anything to make their people obey and carry out orders.
The Queen of the antfolk was no exception.
Isaac saw that the Queen of the antfolk led just like the demons. The Ant Kingdom was nothing more than a pyramid of social castes. She gave jobs and labeled each class of antfolk.
The working antfolk who are at the bottom must work desperately for the class above them. Meanwhile, the Queen is at the top of the pyramid, receiving all the pleasure from the suffering of her people.
"Let's get to work, before the other troublesome ants come."
"Yes, lord."
Isaac and the young anfolk quickly dove into the thousands of antfolk eggs.
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While Isaac was busy stealing eggs, on the other side of the tower something happened.
"They don't dare come here anymore, huh?"
A red-haired woman sat cross-legged in the center of a large room alone. Around her, thousands of antfolk died in flames. Their charred odor wafted through the air.
Lady Alyna managed to eliminate hundreds of antfolk warriors by herself.
She needed to rest after the long and mana-draining battle. Some ether and potions helped her to recover her strength. In her inventory, there were now only a few bottles left, she had consumed too much.
"Damn it, where's Isaac? I've made a big fuss, he should have shown up. Why didn't he show up?"
After the two of them parted ways in the underground maze, Alyna made a detour and managed to find a tunnel that led her to the Ant Kingdom. They arrived at the same time, only on different sides.
She also saw how Isaac was caught by the antfolk warriors. Alyna did not take action at that time because she did not want to make a mistake. After traveling with him for a few days, Alyna knew how the character of the man. Isaac wouldn't do anything reckless for no reason.
Therefore, Alyna let Isaac get caught.
The demoness waited and watched the tower patiently for three days. She infiltrated it, avoiding the patrols of the antfolk warriors. That woman hoped for a surprise created by Isaac.
However, nothing ever happened. The demoness ran out of patience. She began to think that she was being tricked. Finally, she made a scene and attacked hundreds of workers. With the expectation that Isaac would reveal himself.
Unfortunately, until now, after slaughtering Yandez and thousands of his men, her actions have been fruitless.
"Huft... damn... what am I doing here. I've been waiting here for an hour, he hasn't shown up. I'm wasting my time. I'd better get out of here."
The duchess got up. She patted her dirty clothes then walked leisurely past the charred corpses of the antfolk warriors.
All of a sudden, she felt goosebumps. She felt a strong aura of presence. A very familiar aura. There weren't just one or two of them.
"Damn it...!"
The demonsse quickly jumped back. She squeezed the handle of her scythe tightly. Her eyes stared intently at the shadows. The sound of footsteps rang out amidst the silence.
Not long after, a silver-haired man in a long black coat appeared. Behind him was a group of men in black robes, their heads covered by hoods so that the shadows covered their faces.
A murderous aura surged high from the duchess's body.
"Oh, it was you, Lady Alyna."
The silver-haired man seemed to smile sarcastically. His eyeballs rolled, looking at the corpses of the antfolk scattered around. After that, he looked the duchess up and down.
"You look messed up. You seem to have run out of ether and potions," she said.
"Why? is that a problem for you?" Alyna quipped back.
Gavin laughed. "Very funny. Don't you realize, in your current state, it's quite easy for me to finish you off. I don't see anyone next to you. You're alone."
Hearing the number one duke's words, Alyna clucked her tongue. What he said was true. With her unfit condition and alone, she was nothing more than an insect that was easy to kill. Maybe she could survive against Gavin, but not with twelve of his men.
This was a checkmate for Alyna.
The red-haired woman gritted her teeth. Her life was now on the line.
However, that didn't mean Alyna would give up. She was a warrior. Begging for mercy or running away was not an option.
Naturally, a large amount of mana came out of her body. Her red hair floated in the air.
"Let's begin, sly fox."
Hearing the challenge from the duchess, Gavin chuckled. A black sword appeared from his hand.
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"Wow! I thought it would be hard."
The young antfolk lifted an egg in the air with a dumbfounded look on his face. His hand felt the soft texture of the egg's surface.
Isaac wouldn't be surprised after seeing him get excited when they entered this place.
"Hey! Stop playing around. Do what I say."
The demon reprimanded him. The young antfolk was startled, almost dropping the egg in his hand. Antfolk eggs did not have shells, they were very resistant to small impacts.
Finally, the two quickly continued sorting the eggs.
Isaac looked at each egg around him. He picked up the one egg that looked the biggest, and used it as a benchmark for the size of the other eggs.
He sorted the eggs until he lost track of time. And during that time no obstacles occurred. No demons or antfolk warriors came. In a way, Isaac was completely free.
"Lord Isaac, I'm putting the eggs here!"
Since the antfolk had no inventory, he collected the sorted eggs in the center of the room. After Isaac was satisfied with collecting the antfolk warrior's eggs, he would pick up the eggs collected by his companion.
Before they knew it, two hours had passed.
Isaac had collected 200 eggs while the young antfolk managed to collect 120 eggs.
That's a lot for such a short time.
"I think it is enough."
Isaac put the eggs collected by the young antfolk into the inventory.
Suddenly, his companion cried out.
"Lord Isaac! Come here!"