The great queen's scream was a call to return.
She was intelligent enough not to take long to understand that I was the commander — and that, without me, everything crumbled.
"No, you son of a bitch… Yokais! Set up a protection perimeter! Don't let the Tyrin get close!"
The gap she had given me, by sending the army to the sides, was all I needed to reach her.
The Yokais, who had gained space through the gate, finally managed to leave the wall, advancing toward the queen. But what I wanted wasn't help. What I needed was to not be interrupted. The fight against the queen would have to be a fight without interference — because my entire bet came down to a single idea: just like me, a good commander couldn't also be a great warrior.
"Daughter, this is our chance! Advance… AHHHHHH!"
My battle cry was less an order and more a way of manufacturing courage — the courage needed to watch two colossi crashing while I was mounted on one of them.
The impact hurled me against the queen's body.
I transformed the Mark into a sword and began to strike — and the great queen simply didn't seem to care.
"DAMN! HOW CAN IT BE SO HARD, THIS SHIT?!"
My sword crashed against the chitin, and the sound that came back was the dry noise of metal striking stone.
I kept striking while I tried to hold on. Maybe I lacked strength — but it was nearly impossible to find footing with that colossal body swaying from side to side. When nothing worked, I transformed the sword into a dagger. And failed again. The blade didn't even scratch that monster.
Meanwhile, Arachne traded blows with the creature — and the truth became clear, blow by blow.
The queen wasn't just the commander. She was an extraordinary creature. Unlike the two giants down below, who seemed to be on the same level as Arachne, each of the queen's blows opened furrows of wounds on my daughter, sinking her chitin as though it were fruit peel.
"Daaamn… damn!"
Desperation began to take me.
Because I had bet that Arachne and the queen would have the same power — and that I would be the ace up the sleeve. But, realizing now, that son of a bitch had planned everything. Probably, it was she herself who allowed the opening. With exactly this intention.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was a scream of pain from Arachne that finally made me think of something.
Looking back, I saw the enormous slimy, white sack the queen carried on her back — so large that it dragged along the ground, and so alive that, every few moments, it spat out Tyrin that were immediately trampled by their own mother while she fought. It was disgusting. But there was something else about it, something my strategist's eyes grabbed like a drowning man grabs wood: it seemed flexible.
And flexible meant pierceable.
I transformed the dagger into a Macedonian spear of nearly seven meters and advanced, desperate, against that white mass. And, surprisingly, the sarissa passed through easily — as though it were nothing more than a thin skin. The scream that followed hurled me upward, and I fell back onto the sack itself.
"So you feel pain, you son of a bitch."
Still in the air, I transformed the spear into a pair of shukos — the Japanese claws attached to the palms of the hands, made both for tearing and for climbing — and clung to the great white mass, tearing it while I fastened myself to the creature's body.
The weapon was perfect: it caused damage and anchored me at the same time.
And, clinging there, I finally saw the effect. The pain of being shredded made the fight against Arachne much less unfavorable — because now the queen had to worry about someone flaying her alive while she fought. Arachne took advantage and struck a direct blow to her face, causing severe damage to what I thought were the eyes. The creature's scream and movements became erratic. She wanted to tear me from her back at any cost — and, at a new scream, the Tyrin coming out of the sack began to climb after me, trying to bring me down.
But they caused more damage to their own mother than to me — tearing the sack with their claws to manage to climb.
"That's it, you sons of bitches! Help me kill her!"
✦ ✦ ✦
I kept tearing that giant white velcro, running from the creatures trying to reach me.
And, when I thought the battle was in my hands, the queen let out a scream — and blood spurted from her mouth. The sound was so deafening that I found myself screaming in pain along. But the worst wasn't the scream. It was the reason. From the sack, a Tyrin wasn't coming out. Something much, much larger was coming out.
And I knew exactly what it was.
"ARACHNE, ATTACK HER NOW! WE CAN'T LET HER HAVE ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE SONS OF BITCHES!"
Arachne realized, with the same desperation as mine, what was being born from that creature.
She advanced screaming, striking the enormous queen — who, suddenly, seemed fragile, accepting each blow with her body being shredded and her face being disfigured. It was a desperate gambit, and she knew it. She knew, just as I did, that if she managed to give birth to the child, we would be lost — because Arachne and I only caused damage while we had the advantage. The queen screamed more. More blood came out of her body. And then, in a final spasm, the sack spat out the enormous creature.
We didn't manage to bring her down in time.
"Let's go back to the wall… NOW!"
I ran back to Arachne, who still tried, desperately, to pierce the queen's face — managing, at most, to draw blood and sink a few centimeters of chitin.
I jumped on her back and, wounded, she returned at a dash, calling her daughters.
"Run! Everyone come back!"
I shouted while the Yokais pulled back to the gate — and then the irony hit me: the disadvantage I had created for my enemies was now mine. Only one Yokai could pass at a time.
"I'm going to stay here and hold the enemy until all my daughters get in, Papa. You, go back."
Arachne stopped near the gate, killing the Tyrin that tried to prevent our retreat.
"No. If you're going to stay, I stay too."
It was I who put her in that situation — and it would be I who took her out of it.
I wouldn't abandon her. She was part of everything I had. To abandon her meant to give up something we had built together.
✦ ✦ ✦
From afar, I could see the queen.
Extremely debilitated. And, even so, happy — while, behind her, the enormous creature finally rose. The son of a bitch seemed a bit smaller than the guardians I had faced underground, which told me it probably wasn't its time to be born yet. And, even premature, it seemed as strong as its siblings. By the enormous withered sack on the queen's back, it became clear that that creature occupied most of the sack — her body had visibly shrunk after the birth.
The creature looked at us with rage — as though it had watched, from inside, everything we had done to its mother. And it advanced.
Unlike its mother, it was fast. Very fast, despite being at least a meter smaller than Arachne.
"Get ready, Papa."
That was all Arachne managed to say before the clash — the creature's impact pushing her backward as though she weighed nothing. The strength of that thing seemed to be on another level. Far greater than any creature I knew.
"The son of a bitch created someone smaller, but stronger."
It was strange to think about that creature's capacity to create something so unique.
Maybe that was her true power: to create something adaptable for any enemy. The queen understood that quantity didn't work. Understood that size didn't either. So she preferred to create something smaller — and stronger. It was unique. And it was brilliant. With each interaction with that race, I understood better why, despite seeming irrational, the Oasis had let them in: their capacity for adaptation and their generational intelligence were incredible.
Unfortunately, I was feeling that firsthand.
"Daughter! Hold on!"
Arachne finally succumbed to the creature's power — which pushed her against the gate, squeezing her together with three other Yokais.
The strength was such that the thing seemed capable of lifting Arachne off the ground with ease. I fell off her back, rolling across the earth, while three Yokais threw themselves against the new enemy — only to be hurled like pieces of paper.
"Damn… how can this go so wrong?"
I observed the queen — who, despite being gravely wounded, seemed enchanted with her own work.
My mind sought a solution while I watched Arachne be crushed against the wall, defenseless, trying to bite and tear a chitin that wouldn't yield. And then, suddenly, something came to my head.
✦ ✦ ✦
"Arachne! Come to me!"
I ran toward her — and she, without understanding, wounded, advanced to me too, squeezing out of the grip of that creature.
I jumped on one of her legs and climbed until I got close to her face.
"Please… I hope this works."
I placed my hand on her head — and the Mark on my arms began to descend, sliding down my skin, until it finally disappeared into Arachne's body.
A scream escaped her. And, when she opened her mouth, the pincers were larger. And much sharper.
"Try to bite that creature again, daughter."
My theory was simple.
The Mark's power made it possible to create weapons and armor — but I had never stopped to think that, despite applying to me, maybe it didn't apply only to me. And my suspicion worked: now it was clear that her pincers and teeth were coated by the Mark. I knew the Mark was unbreakable. The problem was never the weapon — it was my strength, too pathetic to pierce that chitin. But Arachne was different. Arachne was, as far as I knew, practically a level S creature.
And then the enemy arrived again.
It grabbed one of Arachne's legs, crushing it and tearing from her an enormous scream of pain. But the colossal ant's bite opened exactly the space we needed — and Arachne sank her mouth into the creature's neck. It didn't even try to protect itself. It didn't care about leaving the weak parts exposed, because it trusted that nothing in the world would pass through its chitin.
And it was surprised.
Arachne's teeth and pincers tore the carapace — breaking it to pieces — and sank into the flesh.
The creature's scream of pain and confusion made the queen leap up, even in the midst of her own agony.
"That's it, fuck! Finish it, daughter!"
Arachne began to shake the prey, and the scream — now thin, desperate — attracted the queen, who came running, roaring with rage, while my daughter held the enemy by the throat.
"Arachne, watch out!"
Before I finished speaking, the clash came.
Arachne and I were hurled into the gate, flying — and the queen got what she wanted: to tear the child from Arachne's mouth.
✦ ✦ ✦
"ARGHHH!"
Blood ran from my mouth while I tried to raise myself, dazed. Beside me, Arachne was down, unconscious, her legs turned upward.
"ARACHNE! DAUGHTER!"
I ran toward her — and felt the Mark rise back up my arms, returning to me the instant her consciousness went out. A cold consolation. Useless.
And it was then that a sinister smile struck my mind, along with a voice that sounded like that of an old woman:
"How dare you hurt my child? You are pathetic — just like everything that exists in this pathetic place. Were it not for his power, you would all already be in the bellies of my children. Finally, your time is up."
I looked, shocked, at the queen. I knew it was she who was speaking — she, who until that moment had only screamed like an animal. Maybe she felt I didn't deserve her words. But that changed when I managed to wound her perfect creation. And, even worse: she seemed to have healed completely, as though nothing had happened.
"Healing magic…?"
I was in shock. She didn't seem to have any power beyond the creation of creatures. I was mistaken. And something else hammered in my head, in the midst of the desperation: his power. His, whose? The dragon's?
"You, of the other races, think us pathetic. But, in the end, it's in our belly that you end up. Your audacity of trying to kill my child will be punished with something much crueler than death. Now stay there, while I kill everything that exists in this place. HAHAHAHA!"
I felt naive.
I really thought I would have a chance against that creature. Rage and hatred filled me — because I believed that, with a strong kingdom, I could defeat any enemy. And, in my arrogance, I forgot that the universe harbored creatures so terrifying that, in the end, we, humans, were nothing more than a minuscule gear within something much larger. The fury rose through me while I felt that everything — everything I had done — simply served no purpose.
"Wait… there's still a chance."
While I watched my army be swallowed by the enemy, and the great queen keep ignoring the magic towers, I clung to the only hope that remained — something I had already used to win a battle, once.
I took the small red box from the ring. And opened it, slowly.
My body began to scream the same instant — and then the sound came out: the immense growl of a millenary creature. All the creatures on the battlefield felt the weight of that power striking the soul, as strong as I did.
All. Except the queen.
"ARGHHH… HOW?… ARGHHH!"
My mouth spurted blood while I fought to keep consciousness and understand what was happening.
Everyone around was as wrecked as I was. And the queen… the queen was normal. As though it didn't touch her.
"No… argh… it's possible… She has resistance against soul damage."
It was rare. But not impossible.
Every power, however strong, had some countermeasure. I just never imagined there existed one for direct soul damage — and, most certainly, not in a creature that already had the power of creation and of healing. That, simply, was too much.
"You idiot. Do you think that I, a Matre Queen of my race, would come here in search of Tiamat's home without having the power to withstand a mere growl?"
And, finally, her words made me understand.
From the beginning, she knew that inside the nest there could be countermeasures. Of course — she had the strength to face the guardians. But a dragon's nest didn't come down to guardians. There could be other ways to stop invaders, and a power capable of damaging the soul was one of them. And, even so, she continued to actively seek the nest. I believed she would sacrifice her own children to enter that place. But, in the end, she herself was powerful enough to seek the treasures inside that place.
My heart sank while she approached.
All my countermeasures had been read. All of them. She came prepared for everything. And the only thing that remained in me was the rage — rage at my own weakness.
"Now, die, you insignificant thing."
✦ ✦ ✦
Her leg descended in my direction.
I didn't close my eyes. I wouldn't give her the taste of submission.
But, before the enormous leg reached my body, three Treebeards appeared — holding it in the air — while a dart struck the queen's eyes and tore from her a scream of pain and rage.
"How DARE you!"
I looked back. And there they were.
Livina and Morgana approached — as wrecked as I was, their bodies trembling from the soul damage, and still dragging themselves in my direction.
"My Lord, sorry for the delay… we've arrived."
They placed themselves in front of me, protecting me while I was on the ground.
"You need to get out of here… we've lost."
More blood ran from my mouth while I fought to close the box.
"It's all right. We're going to protect you."
"Yes, my Lord… flee."
The two of them were worried about me — me — while they endured, standing, the pain of having their own souls damaged.
"How pathetic… How can you submit to such an inferior race?"
The queen advanced.
I transformed the Mark into a sword and stood up, taking my place beside Morgana and Livina. If we were going to die, it would be fighting. They had just taught me that. And I wouldn't give up.
"You still dare… Die, inferiors."
But, while she advanced, the earth began to tremble — knocking me, Morgana, and Livina down all at once.
"What's happening, my Lord?!"
"I don't know… something is coming."
And then I realized: the great queen had stopped moving.
The earth around us began to sink, fast.
"Run! Something is coming!"
We ran as much as our destroyed bodies allowed — and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the queen running too. In the opposite direction.
Even she was fleeing.
A colossal hole opened behind us — and, from inside it, emerged a giant humanoid creature. Bronze under the light of the towers. Absolute silence where before there had been war.
"This is…"
Livina and Morgana spoke at the same time, shocked.
"Yes… I think that, in the end, the guardian won the battle."
And, if it was up here, it could only mean one thing: down below, no one had been left to stop it.