Milady! You shouldn't be doing this!" Rene begged while crawling backwards frantically.
"But Reneee I'm so lonely…" Antonola said while crawling towards Rene. "And I can sense a great power in your trousers."
Rene hated to admit it, but he was slowly becoming aroused as well. Being trapped in this room, it was only a matter of time before the poor knight would give in. But he was a Hospitalier so his chastity had stayed untouched by demand of the Oath of the Hospitaliers. Rene needed to stay strong if he was to prevent himself from failing to her charms. He saw a bottle in the woman's hands and realized that she was drunk. Rene then decided to risk it, as he grabbed the girl by the shoulders. The girl stared amorously into Rene's eyes as she puckered her lips for a kiss. Rene frantically grabbed the bottle from her hands and stuck it into the girl's mouth. The girl suddenly falls over, finally unconscious from her drunken state. Rene sits down and sighed, that was close, too close for comfort. Rene glanced at the girl with a frown.
"I don't blame her for being so excited. Being isolated from humanity for so long." Rene said while sighing. "It seems so cruel…"
Rene stood in the tunnels, still deep in thought. But he saw a familiar sight, a purple-haired woman in the middle, Antonola, seemingly talking to the ants. She seemed to be invested in her work, as Rene saw utmost seriousness on her face, as if she was absolutely sure of what she was speaking of. She still had her white silk dress on with her antenna hat on, while holding a book in her hand. Rene was curious to see this side of her after seeing her drunken state. He approached her, hearing her instructions to the ants.
"Gather a small workforce to harvest the fungus, it's almost harvesting season and the brood really need feeding." Nola said while crouching down to one of the ants, who then went their way.
"And you!" Nola pointed to a large soldier ant. "Another attempted spider raid? Get some soldiers out there and tighten defenses! We can't afford to have another mimic in our colony! Send a hunting party to kill any more spiders in the area!"
The soldier ant also went on its way. A worker ant walks up to Nola, with a limb of some sort of creature in its mouth.
"Ooh! An orc arm!" Nola said with delight while petting the ant. "Gather some workers to get the rest of him!"
Nola then saw Rene, causing her to blush, hiding her face behind her booklet. Rene walked up to her, trying to exhibit confidence so that she would not think that he was still embarrassed from the night before. But judging from her expression, it looked like she was the shyer one here.
"H-Hi…" Nola choked out, trying to speak properly while averting her gaze.
"You seem to be really busy." Rene added.
"O-Of course! Being a general also involves a good allocation of resources!" Nola said while skimming through her notes. "I'm currently handling the problems the colony ants have reported to me."
"You are?" Rene asked while glancing at the wolf-sized ant, which seemed to be looking at him curiously. "How do you… talk to them?"
"You don't know? I thought you were an ant person?"
"W-Well, this is my first time on the job." Rene lied, hoping that this would throw her off.
"Hmmm, fair enough!" Nola said while picking up one of the smaller ants, about the size of a large cat, then bringing it and placing it at Rene's feet. "Go on then!"
"Er what?"
"You want to talk to them right?" Nola asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes but—"
"It's easy!" Nola added. "Just look into her eyes and establish a connection, once you establish a connection, you'll have no problem speaking."
Rene took off his helmet, his black hair shining under the dappled sunlight shining splendidly into the subterranean city. His facial features were well defined and quite clean, compared to his other grittier looking combatants. He didn't even have any signs of facial hair, and his greenish eyes were bursting with youthful vigor. He seemed more like an energetic youngling than a tired warrior. Rene then bent on one knee and looked into the ant's eyes, trying to establish a connection with the smallish creature. The insect looked curiously into Rene's eyes, tilting its head in wonder. Rene had a gut feeling that prompted him to say.
"Climb onto my shoulder."
The ant paused before it hesitantly approached Rene, creeping up to him in uncertainty. The ant approached Rene's body before using its antennae to feel him. The ant gets a little closer, before suddenly climbing onto Rene's body. The ant began to walk all over the knight's body before settling on Rene's shoulder. Rene smirked at the little ant as it nuzzled itself onto him.
"Okay, I think I got it." Rene said.
"That was amazing!" Nola said with her eyes shining. "I could never really talk to him without having another ant explain it to him!"
"It's all good." Rene said while petting the young ant on his shoulder.
But the atmosphere changed, with Rene feeling a sudden chill in the air. Rene saw a soldier ant frantically crawling through the tunnels. Rene stared curiously at the ant before it disappeared. But rumbling can be heard as hundreds of worker and soldier ants alike rushed through the tunnel, prompting Nola and Rene to jump out of the way of the giant stampede. Rene looked at the crowd of ants disappear, as he then turned to Nola, who wore a face of seriousness before running off. Rene and his new ant companion followed Nola to a room, where Nola cuts open a silk container, finding a set of armor.
The armor was detailed but not ornate, it wasn't made of gold or any sort of metal, in fact, it looked organic, like the shell of a beetle. There were wings attached to the chest that had a segmented design. Her helmet had a curved horn like that of a rhinoceros, and her gauntlets and greaves had strange spines on them. In that armor, Nola resembled a giant insect.
"W-What's that?" Rene wondered, sizing up Nola in her new set of armor.
"Scarab armor, or chitin armor. I earned it when I fought and killed my first giant beetle, though sadly they're becoming rarer and rarer."
Rene saw Nola grab a spear and shield made of, and tried to run after her as she stomped her way towards the exit.
"Wait, why are you getting yourself armed? Why were there so many ants stampeding through the tunnels?"
"Because the Black Dogs have arrived." Nola said with utmost seriousness.