He felt fear because he couldn't beat them—
because he believed they could kill him easily.
But by that logic—
"Shouldn't they be afraid of me? They don't look scared at all." The white-haired boy spoke lazily.
This time, he didn't have the extra two little eyes on his face—just a normal pair of eyes, though they still glowed a deep blood red.
For a moment, Knov even wondered if the four eyes he saw earlier had just been a hallucination.
"That's why I said earlier—you should've trained more.
Getting scared from so far away—how ridiculous is that? Hahaha!" Cyr burst out laughing on his own, not sparing Knov's pride in the slightest.
Of course, Knov was in no mood to care about that now. His whole demeanor had gone gray and lifeless.
Even the rain where he stood seemed heavier than anywhere else.
…
"Your Majesty, would you like to dine?
We've just captured a rare human specimen,"
Neferpitou asked respectfully.
The King, completely absorbed in his game, showed no interest in food and didn't respond.
"Then… may I use her as an experiment subject?"
Neferpitou asked again.
"Do as you wish." The King didn't even glance over.
The experiments Neferpitou and Shaiapouf conducted together involved turning humans—
through a specific process—into Chimera Ants with special abilities.
Similar to Zazan's abilities, but unlike Zazan's grotesque creations, these were meant to retain Nen.
What they sought to create was a stronger breed entirely.
And this experiment hadn't just started—it had been ongoing. It's just that, until now, all the subjects had been ordinary humans.
With the King's permission, Neferpitou and Shaiapouf carried the unconscious woman away.
By the time Cyr returned to the palace, the woman was already gone.
In her place stood a large white cocoon, taller than a person.
The Queen's eggs were green.
The cocoons from their experiment were white.
It resembled a silkworm cocoon—likely due to Shaiapouf, whose ability allowed him to emerge from a chrysalis in multiple smaller forms.
"How long until this one comes out?"
Cyr knocked on the white cocoon, which made a dull thud.
It wasn't soft—it felt like a hard eggshell.
Hit it hard enough and it'd probably shatter.
"Since she's the first test subject, we're not sure yet, nya," Neferpitou said, tail swaying and finger tapping her lips.
"What will she be like when she comes out?" Cyr asked curiously. "She won't be the same as you, right?"
To him, the Chimera Ants were just failed products.
"She'll be a qualified soldier, nya,"
Neferpitou replied lightheartedly.
By "qualified soldier," they meant:
No emotions.
No sense of self.
A creature that lived only to fight for the King and obey him without question.
"Oh. So, still a failure,"
Cyr scoffed, and asked no more.
He had no interest in mass-produced creations—
and no respect for these ants.
He never hid his disdain either.
After all… the Royal Guards couldn't beat him anyway.
Logically, the Queen—being an ant without any human genes—shouldn't care about names.
Maybe it was one of the later-born ants who brought up the idea of wanting a name.
"If the Queen gave them names, then she probably would've given you one too…"
Maybe you were just born too fast, too violently—and the Queen didn't get the chance?
"But naming yourself isn't a bad thing either. A name usually carries hopes or blessings. You could give yourself something powerful, kingly," Cyr continued.
"..."
The King thought of the Queen who had nearly died giving birth to him.
Thought of how she never gave him a name.
An unfamiliar, indescribable emotion stirred in his heart.
"What does your name mean?" the King asked again.
"…It means 'sky.'" Cyr, thinking of the name he gave people in this world—answered offhandedly.
"It also means sky blue. It was the color of my eyes.
Well—my previous eye color."
Cyr pointed at his own eyes, then dropped his hand after a beat.
He always forgot—he had red eyes now. Like some kind of chronic conjunctivitis.
"..."
The King's expression grew even more unreadable.
"'King' is just a title, not a name.
Anyone can be a king.
But none of them are me."
He spoke quietly, but firmly.
He should have a name that belongs to him alone.
So that when he called Komugi by her name,
Komugi could call him by his—not just "Commander."
"You do kinda have a name though," Cyr said, sounding unsure, like he wasn't entirely confident.
It was something from two or three years ago—he'd have to dig into old memories to remember.
Too much effort.
Besides, the King's name didn't matter much to Cyr.
Not worth the energy.
"If you really want to know, go ask the Queen,"
the white-haired boy stood up, stepping onto the railing.
"Oh—though she might already be dead,"
he added, turning to grin at the King, eyes full of challenge.
A little push with his foot—and he shot into the sky.
The next second, the King leapt after him.
His mood was foul.
He needed to vent.
The storm raged, thunder roared.
As lightning flashed, two silhouettes flickered in the sky—appearing and vanishing among the clouds.
The dark rain clouds made a bleak backdrop,
but their auras—red, blue, and purple—shifted and surged through the storm.
Two flashes of soundless but violent lightning clashing again and again in the heavens.
"Chimera Ant species development update—King appears to have fallen for a human…"
Aimei took out a notebook and began recording.
The notebook already held records of various other strange and notable events.
"Whether the Chimera Ants will accept a human as a potential Queen remains unknown…"
She wrote down the final note and closed the book.
°°°
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