The Return of the Betrayed Heir

23

Three Years Later...

Deep within the secluded reaches of the Elven Forest, hundreds of crimson-colored ants—standing two and a half meters tall—roamed the terrain. Emerging once every two years, they assaulted the forest with an insatiable hunger. Consequently, the elves had dubbed them "Slaughter Ants." Their relentless strength and jaws designed for carnage rendered them exceptionally dangerous. Regarded as the most formidable amongst C-rank monsters, these creatures left no stone unturned to sustain their colony and queen. The ants were divided into two distinct castes: Worker Ants and Warrior Ants. While Workers generally fell into C-rank, Warriors often ranked at B-rank, and occasionally, an anomaly would reach A-rank. Anticipating their recurring resurgence, the elves calculated the exact day of their emergence to launch defensive countermeasures.

The Slaughter Ants had awakened, throwing the forest into chaos as they steadily advanced toward the Elven Kingdom. A squad of ten Worker Ants had just devoured every beast in their path. Having recently brought down a massive troll, they were busy tearing flesh from bone with their powerful mandibles. As the ants feasted, a sudden rain of long ice spears descended upon them from the canopy. Possessing thick chitin armor, the monsters suffered minimal damage; however, they instantly signaled one another using their antennae, alerting the squad to a dangerous presence.

This five-man elven unit was led by Prince Elrond Arwen—the heir to the Elven Kingdom—a muscular warrior with icy blue eyes and long silver hair. Elrond was a master of ice magic, carefully tempering his spears to hold minimum power merely to draw the monsters' attention.

"Prince Elrond, what are our orders?" one of the soldiers asked.

Elrond drew his blade. "They are advancing. Prepare yourselves—we eliminate them all."

The ants roared, surging toward Elrond and his squad with alarming speed. Positioned at the rear, the elven archer aimed precisely and impaled one ant through its eye. Blinded and disoriented, the monster collapsed to the ground. Capitalizing on the opening, an elven Lancer struck the beast's weak point beneath its neck, driving his weapon deep. When the remaining ants lunged at the Lancer, Elrond erected a massive ice wall to impede their progress without making direct contact with their bodies. As the Lancer fell back, Elrond charged forward, severing a Slaughter Ant's head with a single swift strike. Concurrently, the archer targeted their eyes, successfully blinding the remaining Workers. Elrond and his squad repelled the initial wave with ease.

Suddenly, heavy, seismic vibrations reverberated through the soil. The archer, possessing a natural affinity for the earth element, detected the approaching threat immediately.

"Prince Elrond, another swarm of Slaughter Ants is heading our way!"

"How many?" Elrond asked, his expression cold and unbothered.

"Fifteen!"

Elrond smirked. "Good. Prepare yourselves; we wipe them out."

The soldiers nodded in unison. The archer attached a smoke canister to an arrow, fired it into the sky, and detonated it with a second shot. A green, cloud-shaped smoke signal alerted nearby units. Receiving the message, a cloaked figure whose face remained hidden bounded across the treetops toward the coordinates.

To gain a superior vantage point, the archer raised a five-meter stone pillar from the ground, nocking an arrow as he stood ready.

Crashing through the timber, the Slaughter Ants reached their target. Elrond intercepted them with an explosive burst of speed, closely followed by the Lancer, preventing the monsters from encircling them. Raining down from above, the archer's arrows disrupted the ants' focus while Elrond and the Lancer inflicted severe wounds. Having awaited battle for so long, Elrond relished the thrill of combat. However, the ants' dense chitin armor proved difficult to pierce, forcing him to target their weak points—a strategy that met resistance as the ants used their armored legs to guard their vulnerable necks.

Using their heavy mandibles, the ants parried Elrond's sword strikes repeatedly. Consumed by competitive drive, Elrond made a critical miscalculation. He formed a sphere of ice in his palm and detonated it against an ant. Elemental magic was ineffective against a Slaughter Ant's armor—a fundamental lesson Elrond overlooked in the heat of the moment. Worse still, Slaughter Ants possessed the ability to absorb elemental damage and convert it into corrosive acid.

Absorbing the ice magic, the ant spat a stream of concentrated acid directly at Elrond. Paralyzed by surprise, Elrond froze. As the acid hurtled toward him, the Lancer shoved the prince out of harm's way, taking the full brunt of the corrosive spray himself.

The Lancer collapsed, screaming in agony as the acidic poison dissolved his flesh. Watching his comrade perish right before his eyes, Elrond stood frozen in horror.

"Prince Elrond!!"

The archer desperately infused his arrows with mana, firing relentlessly to keep the ants from closing in on the paralyzed prince. As he maintained his barrage, he felt his stone pillar shudder violently. Looking down, he saw a Slaughter Ant attempting to crush the base with its mandibles. Firing a shot directly into the ant's eye, he turned back toward Elrond, only to see two Slaughter Ants lunging toward the prince.

"Prince Elrond!!"

At that critical moment, two crimson arrows streaked from the depths of the forest, impaling the necks of both ants simultaneously.

*Who fired those?!* the archer thought.

Before he could process the situation, a massive ant emerged from the tree line. Larger, broader, and emanating a far more terrifying aura than the Workers, its armor bore a blend of deep crimson and metallic bronze.

The archer swallowed hard. "No way..."

It was a Warrior Ant. The archer knew he stood no chance against such a beast alone. Had Elrond been lucid, they might have stood a chance, but the prince remained paralyzed by shock.

The Warrior Ant roared and charged forward. However, three crimson arrows fired in rapid succession disrupted its momentum. Following the arrows, a figure wrapped in a black cloak descended. Drawing an obsidian-black blade from beneath his cloak, he severed the Warrior Ant's front right leg in a single fluid motion.

The resulting gust of wind blew back his hood, revealing crimson eyes and dark hair. It was Alex.

"The Dragon Boy!!" the archer exclaimed.

"Focus on Elrond. I will handle this one," Alex commanded.

"By yourself?!"

"Yes. Just do as I say."

Recognizing Alex's overwhelming martial prowess from that single strike, the archer complied, though anxiety lingered. Leaping down from his pillar, he retrieved the dazed prince and retreated to higher ground. Reaching into his pouch, he attached another smoke device to an arrow and fired it upward, detonating it to release a bright red signal. This was not a warning; it was an urgent request for medical evacuations.

"I will take the prince to safety and return! Hold out until I get back!"

"Don't worry, I have this under control," Alex replied evenly.

The archer sped away with Elrond, praying for Alex's survival. Relieved to be alone, Alex assumed an offensive stance. The Warrior Ant parried his initial strike with its massive mandibles before spitting a torrent of acid at him. Alex dodged the attack effortlessly. Unlike Worker Ants, Warrior Ants did not require elemental absorption to secrete acid—a fact Alex was well aware of, prompting him to maneuver with calculated precision.

Evading a series of acidic strikes, Alex repositioned himself behind the monster. As the Warrior Ant pivoted to face him, Alex's shadow expanded across the ground. A massive golden tail emerged from the shadow, slamming into the ant's head and staggering the beast.

*Thank you,* Alex communicated mentally.

*Don't mention it,* Tessarion replied.

Infusing his obsidian blade with mana, Alex unleashed a flurry of sword strikes. Shifting the black blade to his left hand, he thrust toward the monster's jaw, which the Warrior Ant caught firmly within its mandibles. Alex smirked, drawing his three-eyed sword, *Greed*, with his right hand and severing the beast's neck cleanly.

As the Warrior Ant collapsed, Alex reclaimed his black blade and sheathed *Greed* back into his right arm. Sweeping his hair back, he let out a calm breath.

"That was decent."

Now nine years old, Alex had grown significantly stronger than before. A Warrior Ant was no longer a threat to him.