"So what you're saying is that a termite colony was discovered somewhere near one of the training routes?" asked Queen Celeste, shocked.
"Yes, one of our groups of recruits was almost completely wiped out due to an assault made by three termites. Luckily, it just so happened that Ari was there with them. He and another ant recruit managed to each defeat one of the termites and badly injure another, saving their own lives," said Anastasia.
"I see. In any case, we should be grateful that some of them came back alive, and now we know that there is a termite colony hidden somewhere close by. Termites are highly dangerous enemies to almost every insect with their toxic acid substance. If they are left to do as they please, our colony might be in grave danger in the near future," said Queen Celeste.
"My queen, that's preposterous. Termites take months or even years to establish their colony, so there is no way a termite colony could have just appeared out of the blue or even gone unnoticed for so long, not with the scouting team checking the terrains beyond our colony every day," said one of the elder ants.
"Then that must mean that the scouting troops are not doing their jobs properly or effectively. How can something that has the power to annihilate our entire colony be missed?" said one of the elders, enraged.
"That's not the case. I can't deny that prior to when I had the new recruits start their training, the scouts did their checks and confirmed that it was safe. However, they were not at fault. I myself should have made sure all the areas were thoroughly checked. If I had done so, we wouldn't have had so many casualties," said Anastasia.
"There is no use blaming yourself for what happened, Anastasia. Let's direct our focus on handling this issue at hand before they threaten our very existence," said Queen Celeste.
"That's right, which is why I brought Ari with me to break down our strategy for eliminating them."
"That outsider again? Why should we allow him to be the one to take the lead on a matter that doesn't concern him?" asked one of the elders.
"You still think of Ari as just an outsider, after all he's done for this colony? While he created a foolproof strategy against the invasion of Queen Helen's army, he was on the battlefield helping all of us win the war, while all of you just sat here all high and mighty. Show him some respect."
"I made him in charge of this mission. Is that alright, Queen Celeste?" asked Anastasia.
"I don't disagree with you on the matter, Anastasia. Ari has proven himself to be quite useful to the colony, so I'll allow him to command for me on how to deal with this threat," said Queen Celeste.
"I'm glad to hear that. Ari, new recruits, you can come on in," said Anastasia.
"Commander Anastasia is cruel... she didn't even remember my name," said Isla to herself in a sad tone.
"So this is the room of the great elders. It's the first time I've ever set foot in here, and it's all thanks to Ari," said Rory to himself, impressed.
"Thanks for sticking up for me," whispered Ari into the commander's ear, which made her flustered.
"Oh, shut up," she said, punching him in the rib.
"Man, she still packs a punch," said Ari, in pain.
"Okay, so here's how we are planning on taking down their colony..." After planning a strategy to raid the ant colony and with the approval from the elders and Queen Celeste, a dispatch of four hundred ants was led by Ari and Anastasia to purge the termites.
After traveling for over seven days, the ants finally reached the end of the training route where the recruits were attacked.
"This is where we were attacked by them," said Ari.
"There's nothing left of them, just their mandibles, not even bones," said Isla as she averted her eyes.
"Judging by the way that termite fled, their colony should be in that direction," said Ari as he walked off, and the army of military ants followed.
"Just as I thought, their colony is huge, and luckily it's flammable," said Ari.
"Yeah, you were right. Attacking them recklessly and head-on would have resulted in our deaths. What do you have in mind, Ari?" asked Anastasia.
"Alright, gather up every stick, branch, and even log that you can find because we will need them."
"Um, Ari, what are we going to do with the wood?" asked Rory.
"Well, that's simple. We will be starting a fire."
"What do you mean by creating fire? That's not possible; the only ones who are capable of producing fire are the fire ants," said Anastasia.
"It doesn't surprise me that you don't know how to start a fire. Well, let me show you," said Ari as he rubbed two sticks together until it caught fire.
Everyone of the ants was shocked to see that Ari had managed to produce fire.
"Who the hell is this ant?" Anastasia asked herself, impressed.
"As I said earlier, we are going to flush them out of their colony, and whoever tries to avoid the flames, we slay," said Ari as he threw the flames on the branches and wood stacked around the colony.
After a few minutes, the cries of termites could be heard inside the tree stump, and termites started running out in disarray.
"Take them out! Don't let them escape!" shouted Beatrice as the ants started slaughtering the termites from left to right.
The termites started retaliating by shooting acid from their hands; however, the ants were able to move out of the way without getting hit.
"The kid wasn't lying. They can only attack in a straight line or at angles. They can't attack us all at once," said a military ant.
Anastasia rushed and slashed at all the termites who ran out of the colony, killing them before they could use their attack.
After slaying a termite, Ari noticed a strange digital screen above his head with a quest to slay fifty termites, with an unknown reward for completing it.
"What the heck is that thing? It looks like the quest screen in one of the games I played."
"Why is there a game system in a world as realistic as this?" he wondered. "An involuntary quest, huh? So that means it was automatically accepted," said Ari to himself as he noticed the number of termites he killed with the fire starting to go up.
"I'm at a complete loss as to what's happening here, but something is compelling me to complete this quest," he said to himself as he rushed into the termite colony that was burning.
"Ari, what the hell are you doing? Do you have a death wish?" asked Anastasia furiously.
After entering the colony, Ari started killing all of the termites in sight. With them being overwhelmed by his sheer speed and their lack of defense against physical attacks, Ari took out dozens of them effortlessly.
"That's forty, forty-one," said Ari as he noticed a termite behind him preparing to shoot acid. He then dodged and slashed the termite in half and said, "That's forty-two."
After relentlessly killing the termites, Ari realized that he had completed the quest.
"I wonder if I'll be given a reward or something that can get me back to my world so that I can be human again, so that I can see Keiko," thought Ari to himself.
However, his daydreaming was short-lived when a mandible encoded with toxic acid pierced his chest from behind.
"I finally caught you. You're a quick little one, aren't you?" said a termite as she laughed. "To think that you lowly ants attack my colony. How dare you?!"
"Now I'm really in trouble. I can't escape, not with them surrounding me," thought Ari. "Oh, I know, you seem really strong, so you must be really important to those pests. So I'll use you as my one-way ticket to escape. Sadly, you won't live after this because my acid is already entering your body, destroying it from the inside out as we speak."
"Crap, I let my guard down. This termite got me," thought Ari to himself as the hemolymph in his body leaked out and he spit up a lot of it.
"The situation seems to be under control now, Commander. There are fewer termites exiting the colony," said Beatrice.
"That's good news, but don't let up until they're all dead," ordered Anastasia.
The termite that stabbed Ari in the chest walked out of the colony with him.
"Oh no, Ari!!" shouted Isla.
"They got him... no, he can't survive their acid," said Rory, shocked.
"I'm the termite Queen Andromeda. You all have destroyed my colony and killed all my people, and one day we will have our revenge," said Andromeda.
"Let's kill her!" shouted an ant.
"No, wait, she has Ari! Do not engage them," said Anastasia.
"I knew you were special. Thanks for your help, handsome," said Andromeda as she removed her mandible from Ari's chest and started running.
"After her! Don't let her escape!" shouted Beatrice.
As soon as the ants went after her, she released acid from her body that covered a large area, turning all of the ants in the perimeter into nothingness.
"Ari, say something to me! I told you not to run off into the colony so carelessly, you idiot!" said Anastasia with a worried look on her face.