What I awoke to find was the members of the Black Dawn vehemently defending against the ants pouring out from the tunnels. Everyone else was still busy working on the mud city, which meant I wasn't out for long.

Which was good since it meant that the Black Dawn hadn't been defending the tunnels alone for too long. Something I was a little worried about when I was falling unconscious but quickly learned that my worries were not needed.

I didn't have to worry because Izanshi was apparently a very quick study when it came to the use of the Eternal Flames she was now bestowed with. Apparently, the same struggles that the boys had when it came to using it didn't exist with her.

I didn't know the exact reason why she was already so capable, even beyond just receiving help from the boys, but I had a feeling it had to do with the fact that she had far greater control over Infernal Qi than the boys did.

Whatever it was, she was an absolute monster. In fact, while the purity of her flames could never compare to mine, the amount of power they contained was arguably more, simply due to the quality of Qi that was backing her flames. I was strong. Far stronger than a good amount of Core Formation Cultivators, but as I've come to realize more and more recently, I am far from being able to compare to someone in the Nascent Soul Realm.

I wanted to jump back into the fight and allow the Black Dawn and their commander to rest, but I didn't need anyone to tell me that they didn't want that right now. Especially not Izanshi. She had a mad grin on her face as she hurled balls of black fire at the seemingly never-ending tide of swarming ants.

She was having fun.

And the other members of the Black Dawn were absolutely loving it. Even from my position I could clearly see how they watched the flames Izanshi was using. There was still a level of respect there, but now it was colored by a desperate hunger.

A hunger that wasn't present when they watched me use my own flames. I know it was because they looked to me with a level of reverence that would never allow any other feeling to be directed towards me.

Especially not something like hunger.

But to Izanshi? Yeah, there was nothing like reverence there so their emotions were in full display.

So, with that being said…I think that calls for a change of plans.

Instead of worrying about helping the members of the Black Dawn, I'll continue bestowing the Eternal Flame for a couple days. Vrusha and Ozal will do since Lidaz is out of the picture for now.

After sending someone to grab him, it didn't take very long for Ozal to arrive.

Two and a half days later, there were now five total Infernals, not including me, who could wield the Eternal Flame, and the effectiveness of the group multiplied with each one that joined the battle.

Ozal only stayed for a few days before leaving to return to his role as my steward, but Vrusha was temporarily relieved of his role as my head guard. Well, not really, he was only practicing in the battle because I was nearby. If I were to leave, he would immediately join me.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Anyway, the mud city was pretty fortified by now and everyone else was getting the rest they needed and finally taking some time to cultivate and do whatever else they wanted with their free time.

Then eventually I took over with the V word and allowed the Black Dawn to have the same level of rest.

A couple of weeks of this passed and the members of my Clan were all well-rested, rejuvenated, and highly motivated once again. Which meant it was time to advance forward to the next site.

It took almost two months.

The two tunnels that led further into the territory of the ants did not lead to the same place and thus posed a bit of a problem. We simply didn't have the manpower to conquer both branches and hold them at the same time, so one group would remain to hold down the fort, while another would advance.

So of course, that meant I, along with the Black Dawn, would be the ones advancing forward. I chose the left tunnel, and we dove down it like sharks smelling blood in the water. With the V word in my back pocket and an extremely motivated pair of Infernals in Izanshi and Vrusha, Eternal Flames blanketed every bit of the tunnel without ceasing for quite a while.

We eventually pushed all the way up to another mud city and painstakingly held on long enough to free all the humans there and get them back down the tunnels we came from. It took nearly two months of fighting, but the fighting was controlled, and no lives of ours were lost.

After a short period of rest, the same thing was repeated in the right tunnel.

Only there was a bit of a problem once we cleared all of the ants from the mud city there. The type of problem I really didn't foresee happening, nor did I really understand it.

When we finally gave the all clear for the humans to safely escape the mud city, a group of them came forward and were quite literally cursing us out. One of them in particular seemed to be louder than the rest and was vehemently against our presence in the mud city.

"GET OUT OF OUR CITY! HOW DARE YOU KILL OUR PROTECTORS! WE DON'T WANT WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE OFFERING! GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR CITY!!"

I really couldn't understand what this man was talking about. It honestly took me a few moments to wrap my head around what was said and I barely managed to raise my hand in time to stop Vrusha from rendering the man in question to nothingness.

Once I collected myself and the man stopped yelling I began speaking.

"Do you know what this place is? It is a farm. A human livestock farm for ant consumption. If you know that and still want to stay here then so be it."

That set off a whole lot more yelling from the group and even more from the man.

Unfortunately, I no longer had time for this charade.

I then allowed my voice to extend to the entire mud city and everyone living within.

"This is your one chance to escape. If you want to leave and return to living amongst other humans instead of being cattle for ants, then exit the city and run towards me. Now."

"NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO LEAVE AND NO ONE IS COMING WITH YOU. I SAID GET OUT OF OUR CITY YOU TYRANT!"

"Shut them up."

Vrusha didn't need another reason to act before forcing every member of the group to their knees and not allowing a single sound to escape the purview of their own bodies. He knew me well by now and didn't need to be told not to kill them.

Ignoring them, I extended my senses throughout the city and I could clearly see that while a good number of the residents here indeed would not follow, there were still some that were trying to come but were either hesitating or being stopped by others.

I don't really care for the ones hesitating, but no one is allowed to stop an order that I've given. Especially not when I plan to offer these people my protection.

"Go into the city and gather all those who wish to leave but are being stopped from doing so. We need to leave now so do it quickly."

My Infernals stormed through the mud city and picked up all those who wanted to leave and once that was complete, we quickly conducted a fighting retreat back to our fortified mud city. Unfortunately, I will not be going back for anyone that didn't want to leave. They made their choices and they can live with it.

My people aren't worth their foolishness.

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