Well after learning that Lidaz and Vrusha were actually ancient, I decided not to bother asking anyone else their ages. It was still kind of a shock to learn their ages, but I'll try not to think about the fact they are old enough to be my distant ancestors.

I eventually let everyone get back to whatever it was they were doing, and I sat down with Vrusha back in my office to get a read of the situation.

Especially after learning that both Lirian and Frian joined the battle. Of course, I knew that the battle would still be ongoing even after 10 years passed due to the words of Elder Zal, but I couldn't help but worry about the lives of my Clan members.

"So, what is the situation? Be detailed."

"Yes Patriarch. The members of the Black Dawn commenced the operation shortly after you left with the zeal and determination expected of your conflagration. I and many of the others did not join them as there were many other projects to work on.

"The group progressed in the underground steadily for a time. The ants weren't much of a problem for them. The only things that were reported to pose any sort of threat were there

numbers and size.

"Even before the members of the Black Dawn travelled too deeply in the underground, they had run into thousands of ants. It was only a few weeks of fighting and steady progress that the problems began.

"At the start, the underground was just one giant tunnel, but it quickly became a maze of tunnels leading all over the planet. That itself was no problem for the Black Dawn, but the ants seemed to finally start taking them seriously.

"No longer were the numbers faced in the thousands. It was millions. Millions of ants would attack from various tunnels, and they weren't just throwing their bodies into the fire.

They were using advanced formations, setting traps, ambushes, and anything else you would expect from a vast and experienced military.

"Even the ants themselves seemed to have a few different variations among them that could do different things. At some point the members of the Black Dawn could no longer advance and were only focused on survival.

"Once word of the situation reached us, more and more Infernals were poured into the battle, until most of our force were occupying the tunnels. The last few years have been nothing but a stalemate. We are currently maintaining a few fortified positions while the ants are continuously trying to remove us from these positions.

"The ants not only surpass in numbers, but they do in strength as well. No battle has been easy and over the past 10 years of fighting, 15 of our number have gone to sleep with the Eternal Flame."

He paused there for a moment, and it was a moment I was grateful for because it allowed me to take time to process all that he was saying.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Especially the last part.

15 Infernals died.

I suppose that I should be grateful that after 10 years of what sounds like brutal fighting, that only 15 members of my people died. That number could've easily reached into hundreds or even more since they were up against millions of enemies, but it was only 15.

I should be grateful...but for some reason I can't feel that particular emotion right now.

Knowing this wasn't the time to allow anger to spring forth, I suppressed it and motioned for Vrusha to continue.

"The battles were intense, and it was in one of those battles that Lidaz managed to have a breakthrough in his cultivation and had no choice but to take the chance to make an attempt to reach the Immortal Realm. He is currently sitting inside the volcano that the Pillars once trained in.

"A few have been sent to guard him and ensure a smooth ascent."

"Good, send more if need be, his breakthrough cannot be allowed to be disturbed. How is everything else? The Cities, the Planetary Force, our trade guests."

"The Planetary Force is up and running in full and without people occupied, it's through them that we have been managing the policing and guarding of the Planet. By now, all those children have reached adulthood, and likewise at minimum they are all at the very peak of Qi Refinement.

"A solid amount of them have also reached the Core Formation Realm, but it will be some time before the entire group is in that realm as well, and it will be even longer for them to climb through the stages of Core Formation.

"But for now, they are above the standards of the locals in their respective Cities save for the City in the North, your very own Black Cove City Patriarch. The Merchants on the Planet have also settled well and have both paid their fees on time. There haven't been any problems.

"The only thing that of note was a few calls that came into Oval. One was a declaration of war from a Ratathien. I believe you have already mentioned that this may reach us.

"The other was from a woman who hails from a race that I have not heard of. My apologies.

Her only request was to speak with you and once we denied that request she would end the call. She has called four times in total for the same request.

"Overall, with the exception of the underground, the Planet has reached a point of rapid growth both the natives and the wildlife. There are more human children now, and the Cities have developed rapidly."

Sounds like good enough news to me.

"And the humans who have been trapped down below? Have we freed any of them?"

"We have Patriarch. There were a few periphery farms of a smaller scale that we were able to successfully evacuate, roughly a few hundred thousand worth of humans. The bigger farms are much deeper in and far more heavily guarded."

A few hundred thousand huh...that's only a drop in the bucket compared to how many are down there.

If before I was only excited to fight against the ants just for the sake of fighting and only freeing the people down there as a side quest of sorts, now the situation is a bit different.

They killed a few of my people. Unfortunately, that is unacceptable.

Perhaps I'm something of a hypocrite after all.

I sent my people down there to kill them in droves, and it was only after Infernals were killed that I decided to make this personal. Were they not allowed to fight back when someone came to fight them?

Were they not allowed to kill when their own species were being killed?

Of course they were.

But I am selfish.

I want my cake, and I want to eat it too.

Killing members of my Clan is not something I can excuse.

"Vrusha, how have the ants reacted to the flames of Lirian and Frian? Was it effective?" Vrusha then gave me one of his rare smiles. It was probably a stretch to even call it a smile, but for Vrusha it might as well have been a grin.

"The ants cannot resist the Eternal Flames Patriarch. In fact, after the appearance of the Pillars they ramped up their aggression towards us by a magnitude. Likely due to the Eternal Flame."

I returned his smile.

"Good. Then let us not keep our people waiting. Lead me to the underground."

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