--- Chapter 28 ---
Chaotic Devouring Ant. A mistake Hayate created in the past and sealed within his inner world to never emerge into the real world.
It's an Ant with the size of a pinky finger, and its entire body is black with a shade of brown. This Kaiju was normal at first and didn't possess any ability.
Devouring Ant was merged with random cores Hayate created in his boring time. It became violent and started to reproduce, multiplying by a thousand in a short amount of time.
After a day, a small island gets loaded with a swarm of Chaotic Devouring Ants. There was no living organism left in this place because they had devoured it to the brim.
What makes Chaoting Devouring Ant more annoying is their tenacity. It's basically a cockroach in ant form and could even handle a ton of weight.
Hayate burned Chaotic Devouring Ants with lightning radiation for days to eradicate them from his last world, sealing the disastrous kaiju core in his inner world.
He was sure that Chaotic Devouring Ant's core exploded with himself. Yet, reality slapped Hayate hard when a swarm of black ants chased him.
"There is no other explanation." Hayate assumed a theory in his mind and ran to the north.
"Every core that explodes with me should have crossed into this world."
"90 percent of my collections."
"This is a disaster."
Hayate's expression was solemn because his reincarnation might lead to the massive destruction of planets.
"Chaotic Devouring Ants also become stronger and err... More violent." He glanced back and noticed the forest had vanished into flat ground.
Dragon God's eyes blinked in surprise because he couldn't recognize or sense these Ants until they appeared in front of Hayate.
A divine sense can perceive everything and pinpoint the most precise location, yet these Ants escaped it inside Dragon God's domain.
"That shouldn't be possible." Dragon God said in disbelief.
In the first month, he noticed a few profound beasts had disappeared from a distant terrain.
However, he ignored it because a fight between beasts is typical and usually ends with some casualty.
Chaotic Devouring Ant's aura penetrated Dragon God's senses and shook his soul because this exact sensation was so raw yet familiar to him.
"Primordial Energy."
"How...?" Dragon God's eyes trembled slightly.
Since Chu Yuechan and Little Ghost ran away in a different direction than Hayate, they were safe from Chaotic Devouring Ants.
They witnessed a wave of dark ants swallowing the entire forest into the barren land and realized how dangerous it would be if they stayed there.
Chu Yuechan bit her lips because Hayate used himself to lure those Ants away from them. She was confused about her feelings for him because of Frozen Heart Art.
At first, Chu Yuechan decided to use her Frozen Cloud Art to maintain calmness.
After a month with Hayate, she attempted to deactivate her profound art once and felt such an extraordinary yet bizarre sensation within her heart.
Chu Yuechan unlocked and stepped into a forbidden territory every Frozen Cloud Asgard's disciple learned to despise.
Love was a forbidden desire that Chu Yuechan loathed.
To fall in love with someone is easy, and it could be because that person was good-looking, it could be because that person said something that you agreed with, or it could be because that person smiled at you when you were at your lowest.
Whatever it was, Chu Yuechan couldn't understand it clearly. It's new for her, after all.
She only understood one thing, only the genuine act of giving could prove a person's status in one's heart.
Chu Yuechan stepped forward with determination, but Little Ghost caught her arm from behind to stop her from being a ridiculous woman.
"Don't go there," Little Ghost solemnly said.
"Master told you to protect me, so listen to his words."
"Aren't you worried?" Chu Yuechan questioned while raising her hand.
Little Ghost raised her head and gazed at Chu Yuechan through her ebony eye band.
"I'm not worried because he's stronger than both of us combined." She answered naturally.
"Unless you want to die early for being an idiot, go there."
"If not, then stay here and watch."
"I can't fight you because I'm weaker, but the young master surely hates you afterward for leaving me alone." Little Ghost threatened without moving her covered gaze.
Chu Yuechan stared at the young lady with a complicated gaze and lowered her hand. She gritted her teeth slightly in frustration.
A faint blood scar appeared on Chu Yuechan's palms from squeezing too hard.
Kacha!
"Being weak is a sin." Chu Yuechan's frozen heart entirely was shattered. Her eyes shone in a sinister luster that could freeze one's soul.
Dragon God, who noticed Chu Yuechan's emotions, whispered a few words into her ears.
Chu Yuechan stared at the pair of azure eyes and answered, "I'll do anything for him."
"Good." Dragon God answered with a joyful tone.
Meanwhile, Hayate arrived on the corner of the northern area and turned around calmly.
He worried that Lightning Radiation was not enough to kill Chaotic Devouring Ants.
"No, I have to trust myself." Hayate breathed out to calm himself.
He utilized [Storm Zinogre] with the newly created [Emerald Phoenix]'s core.
Hayate created a Kaiju with [Phoenix Core] he obtained from Phoenix Spirit's sacrifice and [Emerald Butterfly]'s core.
Emerald Butterfly is a creature with vibrant life energy and tenacious metal element power of this world. It existed by eating precious metals and medicinal herbs.
Hayate luckily discovered an Emerald Butterfly in the market after a merchant mistaken it for a green butterfly.
A butterfly around the size of an adult palm with vibrant green wings and radiant emerald-like luster in the dark, making it more beautiful than a typical green butterfly.
Emerald Butterfly is unique because of its ability to enhance medicine's effects and detect precious metals.
Since Hayate doesn't have cores that complement Phoenix Core in terms of quality, he uses Emerald Butterfly, creating a pseudo-divine beast Kaiju.
According to Hayate's idea, [Emerald Phoenix] has the potential to reach beyond the S-grade it currently has. After four years of living in this world, Hayate finally created another masterpiece.
An enormous silhouette of a bird appeared in the sky.
Emerald Phoenix is a kaiju with a bird characteristic, two pairs of emerald-like wings, and a green flame that covers its entire body.
Hayate's golden eyes blazed with green flame on the left and blue lightning on the right.
He stomped on the ground and caused a piece of raw metal chunk to burst out from the ground with [Emerald Phoenix]'s metal element authority.
"I must find the Ant Queen." Hayate calmly placed his left hand on the floating piece of the raw metal chunk.
A negative-positive electricity current reacted wildly in Hayate's palm, causing the raw metal to ignite in green flame.
He grasped the ignited metal and launched a ray of pure energy at Chaotic Devouring Ant's crowd.
SWOOSH! BOOM!
Hayate closed his eyes and sensed a portion of the Chaotic Devouring Ant's crowd got burned by his technique, which caused him to smile.
"Let's see how long you guys could handle the burn." He released a soft neon ray from his palm.
A dome formed by pure electricity and green flame trapped every Chaotic Devouring Ants, but they persisted and moved to Hayate.
Even if Chaotic Devouring Ants burned to death, another one will step forward and cover the dead one.
Hayate frowned because they were persisting more than he assumed.
SSSH! SSSH! SSSH!!
Chaotic Devouring Ants pushed themselves onto Hayate's barrier and slowly broke it from inside with their bodies.
A wisp of primordial energy corroded Hayate's barrier, catching him off guard.
Kacha!
The barrier exploded and sent Hayate a few meters away, but Chaotic Devouring Ants won't let him run away. They quickly surrounded him in every direction.
Hayate calmly covered his entire body with Green Flame and Blue Lightning, watching Chaotic Devouring Ants eating him slowly.
"How long you want to hide, Queen." He whispered while releasing the barrier around his pinky finger, allowing one Chaotic Devouring Ant to eat it.
ZZZTT!
Hayate grinned because Kaiju Creation triggered. A faint link with his former owned core appeared in his inner world.
"Empyrean Dance of The Verdant Phoenix." He used a newly completed version of World Ode of The Phoenix's fifth technique.
BOOM!
Hayate's entire body released a violent green flame and burned away Chaotic Devouring Ants.
He watched his pinky finger regenerate with the help of [Mystic Art of Body Cultivation] and moved his gaze to where those ants emerged a few minutes ago.
He flew with two pairs of emerald-like flame wings on his back and rushed to the Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen, the source of this disaster.
However, Hayate frowned because he couldn't sense any Chaotic Devouring Ants chasing him.
He peeked slightly and noticed they moved in Chu Yuechan and Little Ghost's direction.
Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen should have realized that Chu Yuechan and Little Ghost were important to him. The Kaiju used this fact to manipulate Hayate's decision to kill her.
"Oh, you sly insect..." Hayate laughed coldly.
Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen buried herself deep underground and witnessed Hayate from another Ant's view.
She was confused because her master should have died from the explosion, but here he was, with a more frightening strength than his former self.
Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen knew Hayate's personality very well because she had lived inside his inner world for years.
After the past explosion, she arrived in a foreign land and absorbed bizarre energy that could make her more powerful than ever.
She lived in loneliness for years and finally broke through flimsy space to this place, where she met her master once again.
'Former Master, Naive.'
'He, Save them.'
Chu Yuechan's expression was solemn because the swarm moved toward her and Little Ghost.
She tried to fly away while carrying the Little Ghost in her arms tightly, but Chaotic Devouring Ants formed a towering wave like a mountain to reach them.
A freezing mist appeared around Chu Yuechan, protecting her and Little Ghost from Chaotic Devouring Ants for a few moments.
It won't last long because Chaotic Devouring Ants are above their league.
However, it was totally out of the Queen's expectations.
Hayate didn't change his direction to save Chu Yuechan or Little Ghost and flew even faster than before instead. His golden eyes shone in a familiar sinister way.
'N-No!' Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen shivered in fear.
'Run!'
'Run!'
'Run!'
BOOM!
Hayate landed on the ground and exploded a portion of land into a massive crater, exposing a fat black ant with a shade of golden color.
A wisp of green flame covered the entire crater and burned the outer skeleton of Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen.
BAM!
Hayate stomped on the Kaiju powerfully and forced it to bow down.
"Oh, Hello there." He commented slightly.
CRACK!
HAHHAAA!
Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen released a painful squeal because Hayate's flame burned her from the inside.
"Ah, sorry..."
"I couldn't see your body because you were too small, an annoying kaiju of mine."
Hayate added more pressure to his leg.
CRACK! BOOM!
The ground below them sank deeply, which caused a portion of the Queen's body to be damaged.
'Don't kill...'
'Please.'
'Forgive.'
"Of course, you don't have to worry." Hayate put on a cheerful smile, which caused Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen to shiver excessively.
"I'll give you a pained death."
A vibrant green flame entered the sight of Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen. She tried to run away, but Hayate burned her thoroughly with Evergreen Flame.
The entire crater was set ablaze with a deep green flame, and a core dropped from Chaotic Devouring Ant's Queen.
Hayate was about to destroy the core with Evergreen Flame, but Jasmine suddenly stopped him.
'Stop, Hayate!' Jasmine said hurriedly.
'Why did you destroy such a powerful core?!'
'You could use it later.'
Jasmine knew the basics of Hayate's Kaiju Creation.
Even though she wasn't an expert, Jasmine was sure Chaotic Devouring Ant's core was worth keeping.
'From what I've observed, you can modify the core to the docile state, right?'
'Why not revert the Chaotic Devouring Ant's core back to its docile state?'
"No, It's a failure. I can make a better one later," Hayate indifferently answered.
He took the core and decided to consume it, gaining the core abilities.
BOOM!
Hayate moved his gaze to the east and saw a giant wave of Chaotic Devouring Ants crumble into pieces.
Chu Yuechan's bloody appearances entered Hayate's sight and made his heart clench in worry for a moment.
Little Ghost was safe because Chu Yuechan created a very long ice slide to let her escape from Chaotic Devouring Ants.
Hayate flew quickly to Chu Yuechan and caught her body gently in his embrace. He saw her eyes shone dimly with faint cold light.
Chu Yuechan's body got bitten by Chaotic Devouring Ants into an awful state, where her raw flesh and bone horribly were exposed, but her smile was still beautiful.
"I-I've protected her..." She smiled a little at Hayate.
Hayate stared at her and answered with a sigh, "Yes, you are."
Dragon God's eyes appeared near them and declared, "Congratulations, three of you have passed second trials."
He looked at Hayate and added, "While you're fighting that creature, Chu Yuechan and the young lady tried to defeat as many profound beasts as possible."
"There were around a few hundred profound beasts left, and they quickly annihilated them with a cold poison mist, which was a wise move."
Hayate landed on the ground and saw Little Ghost walking to him with heavy breathing.
"I'm okay... I only need a rest." Little Ghost said while sitting on the ground.
Hayate nodded his head and started to heal Chu Yuechan's body with his everlasting vigor.
"You don't have to do the third trial." Dragon God suddenly said, which caused Hayate to frown.
"What do you mean?" Hayate questioned weirdly.
Dragon God blinked and answered, "Since you have passed Phoenix Third Trial, it means your character is passable."
"Yes, Dragon God's third trial testing one's character."
"Which means you have passed all tests to become my inheritor." He added with a chuckle.
"However, both of them haven't passed yet." He glanced at Chu Yuechan and Little Ghost.
Hayate sighed in relief because Chu Yuechan and Little Ghost shouldn't have a problem passing the third trial because their characters aren't evil.
Dragon God's eyes approached Hayate and said, "You can ask questions about the Miracle of Life while waiting for them."
Hayate was unaware that Chu Yuechan's third trial would change her entirely. She wouldn't be a frozen beauty to him anymore.