God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 530: Meeting the Ant Queen (2).

Staring at the creature that slowly and calmly walked out of the dark entrance, Cain couldn't help but grit his teeth.

'One wasn't enough, there had to be two?! What even is this situation?!'

From what Cain could see, it was a Mutant Creature quote similar to the one he was about to decapitate. Instead, rather than the masculine features on this one, it was replaced with more effeminate ones.

Even as the creature walked out, Cain could tell immediately that this was a female creature.

'Damn it.'

What this meant for him, was that there were new enemies to face. The only problem was...

'I still can't move.'

The moment those words had rung in his ears, he had been unable to move an inch. And it wasn't just him. Even the {Redscale General} couldn't move.

'What type of evil creature is this?'

As the creature walked out, Cain was able to discern its features better.

He was once again, surprised,

'It... she doesn't look... bad?'

As inappropriate as it sounded, much to his own disbelief, Cain found himself unable to tell the difference between this creature and a normal human at first glance.

Upon further inspection, it became more obvious...

A light coating of exoskeleton in some areas, the blades forelimbs, the strange, black eyes; it was deeply unsettling...

And there was something else. There was something in the gaze of this beast that differentiated it from the others. Cain could recognize it quite well.

'Ruby has the same gaze in her eyes.'

Thinking about his lovable mutant beast pet, Cain forced himself to calm down. Resigned to his face, he opened his mouth to speak.

With the battlefield mostly silent, his voice travelled through it like an echo,

"If you could have ended things so easily, why wait till we'd slaughtered so many of you?"

While it wasn't very smart to provoke the other party in this state, Cain had no other choice. He had no idea what else to say!

The other mutant creature continued to walk slowly until it... she was directly facing him. Cain was opportuned to gaze directly into the creature's dark eyes.

"My... my Queen! I'm... sorry... This human... is strong."

The Queen's smile was benevolent,

"Traxilion, don't blame yourself. It was my fault for being negligent."

Cain couldn't help but narrow his eyes,

'What the hell is wrong with the plot?'

Aren't all Mutant Creatures supposed to be bloodthirsty, death-seeking, chaos-bringing beasts?! What the hell were they doing having a normal conversation?! It didn't make sense...

The Queen turned her attention back to Cain, the smile still on her strange, humanoid, yet not human face. It was extremely off-putting.

"Humans..." The Queen's expression turned a bit strange as she approached Cain.

A chill ran down his spine as he frantically tried to take a step back. However, he was unable to do so.

"You!"

The Queen's delicate hands stretched out and held onto his face. Cain was quite shocked at how soft they were. Still, all this just didn't seem right.

"What do you want?" Fed up, Cain was curious to see where things would go.

He had accepted that they had lost. When he activated his {Eye of General Observation}, he had gotten the terrible news that he had hoped not to receive.

This creature that looked so delicate, was a Level 190 being, just a few strides away from being Tier 2. The level disparity wasn't something that was easy to overcome. If it were five, or even ten levels, then perhaps he might have been able to fight back.

The Queen smiled,

"This is my first time actually meeting a human. You all aren't as scary as I've been told."

Cain grinned, "That's because we've been holding back. Why don't you let me go, so I can show you how scary humans can get?"

The Queen shook her head. Staring deeply into Cain's eyes, she spoke softly,

"How you look on the outside doesn't truly matter. It depends on what is inside."

A mage's staff greatly resembling a gnarled tree branch sat in her hands. With a delicate wave, she uttered a few words under her breath.

Cain felt the invisible restraints that bound him come undone.

"I believe we got off on the wrong foot. I'd like to believe you aren't looking for enemies, human."

Frozen in the spot, Cain took a moment to study this peculiar being in front of him. According to the system, this creature was called the {Queen of the Redscale, Anathe}.

A rather peculiar name. The only other creature he had seen with a name similar to this, was the {Flame Devil, Forza}.

'Just what type of creature is she? Are these things even native to this world, or did they crawl out of a portal?'

Cain was eager to find answers. This meant...

"Even though we killed some of your people?"

By now, the strange spell's effect seemed to have worn off. His squad had drawn back, while the {Redscale Soldiers} were holding position, neither retreating nor advancing.

Ignis, Manny, and Blaze threw him strange gazes, but he gave them a sign to stay put without interfering.

The Queen, Anathe, shook her head,

"There were casualties on both sides. Ultimately, I believe that we don't want to lose any more. This is why I suggest a stalemate."

Cain frowned, "You... just what type of creature are you?"

The beautiful, yet strange creature smiled at him,

"I am but a lowly creature that had been given an opportunity from the Goddess to achieve excellence."

It all began to look clearer...

"Goddess, huh..."

The Queen nodded, "Yes. The Goddess of the Earth and all beings that crawl above and below it, Haeria."

"So it was this goddess that gave you all your knowledge?"

Anathe nodded, "It might be difficult to believe, but yet, even beasts like us can be granted wisdom."

Cain was suddenly a bit embarrassed. In reality, he should have guessed so. After all, he was able to communicate mentally with Ruby, so this shouldn't have been any different.

Cain shrugged, "I see."

With the way things were developing, this entire mission would prove to be a huge waste of time.

"Then I can take this to mean that you aren't interested in being hostile with one another."

The Queen nodded, "Quite the contrary. I wish to develop a friendly relationship with you humans. I'd rather we coexist peacefully on this island than start something that can't will lead to endless rivers of bloodshed."

"My Queen! The... mandate of our Goddess is to do away with all humans, and every other being that could be a potential link to the Heavenly Army!"

The Queen shook her head, "I understand you, Traxilion. But fighting now would do us more harm than good."

Hearing their words, Cain was more than a bit shocked,

"What? What do you mean by Heavenly Army?"

Was it the same Heavenly Army he was thinking about?

An amused expression appeared on the face of the Queen,

"Seems like we have a lot to discuss, human..."

Cain frowned, "You can call me Cain, for starters. Second, why would you assume we are affiliated with the Heavenly Army?"

The Queen sighed, "According to the Divine messages of our Goddess, most humans are loosely, or closely to the hosts of Heaven and its ruler. While we are very far away from the heavenly realms, that doesn't mean much, as the influence of the Heavenly Emperor is something that cannot the measured with words alone."

Cain's frown turned deeper. Things had just taken a rather strange and unexpected turn.

Cain suddenly asked, "Tell me one thing... Are you and your species from this planet?"

The Queen nodded firmly, "Indeed we are. Evolving from lowly, mindless beasts, we've managed to attain this height solely because of our connection with the earth and its ruler."

'This is too much to take in at once.' Cain thought to himself.

Still not sure how to proceed, Cain fell silent for a few seconds.

Then, the Queen of the Redscale opened her mouth and spoke,

"Although we might have spilled blood mere moments ago, I hope you can seriously consider my offer, Cain. We don't want enemies."

Cain nodded thoughtfully, "I agree with you. I'd prefer not to have to do this. I'll tell my troops to withdraw immediately."

Having said that, Cain quickly turned around and walked towards the huge wall of tower shields.

"Cain's what the hell happened just now?!" Blaze said the moment Cain was within earshot.

"I truly can't explain it with a few words. What you do have to know, is that we need to retreat. Fast..."

Ignis gritted her teeth, "Why?!"

Cain looked into her eyes,

"If all four of us attempted to take her on, we could very well lose our lives. Mor just that, but all the people that accompanied is will die with absolute certainty.

Hearing Cain's words, Blade had a look of disbelief on his face,

"That's... impossible."

Cain sighed, "We don't have the time. We can discuss more when we get back."

With that, Cain gave the orders to withdraw speedily.

Just like that, their first invasion of the Redscale Colony ended... in failure.

Although they hadn't lost a lot of people, they hadn't accomplished their taste in the slightest. It was more than a little bit embarrassing.

Making their way back, Cain couldn't stop thinking about what had just been said.

'Could I be being misled? These creatures evolved fromnormal animals before all this, and now, they can speak so fluently? All this doesn't make sense.'

However, it did...

If certain variables were included into the equation.

"Celestial Deities, huh..."