I Became an Ant Lord, So I Built a Hive Full of Beauties

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He spun, took a spear by the middle, and snapped it over his knee. He threw the broken half at a face and made that man fall back into his friends. He took a breath and tasted blood that was not his.

"Anchor!" the captain barked.

The second rank stepped into the spaces as if they had planned for this. The front rank turned on their heels and became the rear. The line slid back into shape like a chain being pulled straight. The captain came in again, point low, then point high, then a short jab for a gap under Kai's arm. Kai turned each one with a small move that did not waste his wind. He could feel his aura pulling hard. The two cores he had eaten were still pouring aura into him, but the aura burns fast when you use multiple skills.

He let himself fall a step and drew in sand-cold air. He opened the smallest door in his core and let a thread of Essence Eater run. It did not bite a man. It bit the spill of aura that men throw when they panic. He skimmed it, not to steal souls, but to feed his motor. It gave him one more minute of sharpness.

A four-star thought he had found a clean lane for Kai's throat. Kai saw the elbow rise too high and knew that would leave a rib open. He slid inside the strike and hammered the man's ribs with his forearm. Something gave. The man went down, gasping, while his spear clattered from numb fingers.

"Count," the captain said. "Do not chase. Count."

The line counted without speaking. They knew more were down. They knew the man in front was a cliff, not a hill. Their eyes were bright with fear. Their mouths were flat with discipline.

Kai heard the runner's steps fade along the ridge. He felt the bile of it in his mouth. He swallowed it. Kill what is in front of you first. Get to the cage after. That was the only road that did not break twice.

"Your vice general will not have time to gloat," he said.

The captain's face did not change. "We will see."

They came again. Ten spears. Then eight. Then six. They tried to time him. He broke their timing by taking the step a half-beat early and hitting with the butt, not the point, so the man expected one thing and got another. He made three men stumble into each other and then used them as a shield for half a breath. He felt a point slice his side and graze the plate. It did not bite flesh. He swung his spear and smashed a mouthpiece, turned, and cracked a wrist. The spear fell. He kicked it back down the dune so no one could grab it with their feet.

Azhara saw the center bunch and made a decision. She put the short bow away and crawled to a better line on the right edge. She waited for one man to lean too far to see around a friend. When he did, she slid a thin blade into the seam under his arm, then pulled it out and let him fold quietly. She did not linger. She moved two body lengths and set herself again. Her breath was slow. Her eyes were bright. She did not try to be a hero. She killed the men who were about to make heroes of their friends.

Silvershadow tracked the runner in his mind. He felt the camp ripple when the message hit. Orders ran along rope like wind along a line. He saw two new guards come to the dome from the far side. That made six. He saw the vice general rise without hurry and stretch like a cat. He looked bored. He was not bored. He was thinking. Silvershadow rolled his shoulder and lay flatter. He touched the reed mark with two fingers and sent a tiny scratch into the sand with his nail. The scratch pointed west. The line was drawn.

The captain made one big call. "Break!" he snapped.

The front rank stepped aside like a gate and two men with weighted ropes came through low. They threw the ropes at Kai's legs, not his arms. It was a good trick. He chose. He let the first wrap his shin. He stomped the second with his other foot and pinned it. He hauled the first rope up with his leg and ripped the thrower off his feet, then drove his spear into the sand and used it as a post to pivot and kick the pinned rope free. The second thrower went on his back and the breath left him hard. Kai pulled his spear, turned, and used the blade to cut the first rope as it whistled past his knee on the rebound. He did not get tangled. He did not get cute.

He saw the captain's eyes change. Not fear. Respect, angry at itself for appearing.

"Again," the captain said, stubborn as stone.

Kai did not give them the same picture. He went straight for the captain this time.

He drove in with three short thrusts that were not meant to pierce, only to force the man to choose where to put his spear. The captain defended well. He did not try to be clever. He knocked the two he had to knock and let the third bite his plate on the shoulder where it would do the least. Kai stepped closer and hooked his spear shaft around the captain's spear and pulled, testing his grip. The man had good hands. He kept the weapon. Kai stepped closer still and drove a knee toward the man's thigh. The man turned and took it on the muscle. He grunted and smiled with bloody teeth again.

Then he did something smart. He took a single step back and let the line bite for him.

Six people came for Kai's flanks. He spun in a tight circle, kept the spear high, and let Adaptive Armor bleed the edges off the thrusts.