The world briefly turns back …
* * *
Around a decade ago, long before the nine calamities, the Red Ring Tribe lived high among the trees of the Silver Song Forest, peaceful and isolated in the far south of the Western Region.
The Red Ring Tribe were cat-type Beastmen with red hair and amber eyes, named after the distinctive ring of flesh at the base of their tails, a natural loop that hung behind them like a handle or belt.
The Silver Song Forest was bright, warm, and filled with vibrant life, unlike the rest of the western region. As one of the few places where greenery still thrived, it had been a valued retreat for westerners seeking relief from the black trees, dark swamps, and cursed hills that dominated the land.
Children played along the rope bridges that connected their hanging homes, their voices blending with the static of the leaves and the whispers of the wind. The sweet scents of fruit and wildflowers drifted through the canopy. Hunters returned with game slung over their shoulders, and the distant hum of the Silver Song echoed softly from the forest around them.
-
Among the hunters returning that day was a young boy, lean, red-haired, and eight to twelve years old, with wild amber eyes and a lively aura.
This was 'Rell'… and that was Rose's original name.
He energetically climbed the rope bridge two steps at a time, his bare feet gripping its knots, while his small satchel bounced against his hip. A proud grin stuck to his face, the kind of grin only a child could have after hunting something twice their level.
"Mom! Old man! I got a horned titan rabbit!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the upper canopy.
His mother laughed from the doorway, shaking her head as he slipped into their small hut with endless energy. The walls were woven from wood and vines, with the faint scent of dried herbs still clinging to the floor. Outside, his father was working at the forge near the central cluster, and the steady ring of hammer against metal traveled through the bridges, reaching all the way back to their home.
It was one of the few sounds that stuck with him, even now, forming a nostalgic memory.
For a moment, it was peaceful.
Then, after an unknown time, the peace was shattered.
One day…
Outside, someone screamed.
Rell raised his head, startled.
The sound came again, closer this time.
Panic.
Shouting.
Fear.
His mother's smile vanished.
"Stay here, Rell," she said quickly, her voice concealing a tremble. "Don't go out!" But Rell didn't listen…
He rushed to the edge of the treehouse, peering through the cracks in the wood.
Smoke was rising from the lower structures, clear and targeted. Black figures blurred between the bridges and buildings, their armor reflecting a faint metallic sheen. They weren't soldiers from the tribes. They weren't anyone Rell recognized, no, wait, he had heard about these people from the surrounding tribes in the Silver Song Forest.
"Takers!" one of the elders screamed, his voice cracking as it stretched through the village.
"Get the children inside…!"
There was chaos, then silence.
Soon, the sound of steel came clashing with an even more ferocious momentum.
Rell's blood froze as swears and screams intertwined.
He saw his father rushing down the bridge, weapon in hand, ready to fight as he shouted for the villagers to take the women inside. But before he reached the house, he froze, his eyes widening as his gaze was drawn away.
Rell followed his gaze down to the lower bridges.
There, a small figure was being dragged away, kicking and screaming, her face crying in desperation.
That was… his little sister.
"Lira!" Rell screamed.
His mother grabbed his arm, but he tore free. "Rell! Stop!" she cried, her voice cracking. "Don't…!" But the boy was already gone.
He ran, no, he erupted forward with his greatest speed.
He ran down the swaying bridge, through the smoke and screams, his small heart pounding in his chest like thunder. Each breath stung, and each step felt heavier than the last. The attackers who took his sister were fast, slipping between the trees with pre-prepared ease, their black cloaks fading into the forest below like shadows vanishing into the night.
Even at his young age, Rell understood that these people had come prepared.
Regardless, he didn't care.
He pressed on, following the faint scent, the sound of snapping branches, and his sister's faint cries.
Minutes passed like hours.
His lungs burned, his body ached, but he kept running, pushing past his limits until the forest opened into a shallow ravine.
Woosh!
There, beneath a dead tree, he saw them.
Three men stood around a bound child, with dozens of others bound behind. His sister struggled weakly, as her small hands clawed at the ropes around her wrists. One of the men laughed, releasing a cruel, heavy sound that echoed through the clearing.
"She's got fire, that's for sure." One said, kneeling beside her. "But 'those guys' said that's a good thing, right? Better odds or something, right?"
"Teach her to behave," another replied indifferently.
Rell's breath caught in his throat. He crouched behind a log, trembling in anger. His tiny hand reached behind him and gripped the stone knife that was tied to his tail, the same knife that his father had taught him to craft during his birthday.
Then, his sister screamed.
"Ah!"
Rell snapped up, and in that instant, the world turned red.
A silver arc cut through the air.
Whoosh!
Blood sprayed across the earth as his sister's body fell, her small frame collapsing into the grass. The sight of her thin neck being cut with a horizontal streak of light was enough to make everything else in the world fall away.
"Whoops, she moved, hahaha!" The man burst out laughing.
"Idiot," one of the men spat.
As they leisurely laughed, Rell, on the other hand, couldn't even scream, no, he couldn't even breathe. Everything inside him broke, his control, his patience, his rationality, all of it snapped. Something twisted inside, sharp and suffocating, igniting an all-consuming flame that pierced his heart.
His vision turned red, and his ears rang with sharp static.
His breathing stopped.
Time seemed to slow.
The next thing he remembered, he was already running.
He held his stone knife in one hand while his throat roared until it was raw and burning. He let out an inhuman scream as he surged forward.
Woosh!
He lunged.
He roared with his soul, igniting it with his rage and grief. Without thinking, without planning, he pierced through the air.
The first man fell back, startled, as Rell carved through the air wildly with his stone knife. A cut across the leg, a cut across the arm, then a fist to the head. Each attack was aimed at useless targets, because Rell knew in his heart that he would never be able to pierce the man's armor with this stupid stone knife.
A child shouldn't have had that kind of strength.
A child shouldn't have made that kind of sound.
But grief made monsters out of men.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
"Little bastard!" one of them shouted as they finally retaliated. A blow struck Rell across the back of the head, then another, and another. A large hand swept around, gripping his tail ring, then with a sharp tear, a mind-numbing pain shot down Rell's spine.
Then… there was only darkness.
-
Time passed.
When Rell woke up, he was already bound. His head ached, and the blood around his temple had already dried. He was moving, the sound of a cart creaking below his limp body loud enough to hear. The air grew colder, thinning out as they seemed to ascend.
Through half-open eyes, he saw a path winding upwards through the red fog. They were… headed towards the mountain?
He didn't know where they were taking him.
No…
He didn't even care.
His mother was too weak to do anything but hide, and his father, in all of his 'love', only gave him a useless weapon. Would they miss him…? Would they cry…? Would they…
These thoughts no longer mattered.
All he could see was 'her' small body lying in the grass, her blood soaking through the soil.
He tried to scream, but no sound came out.
Only a hoarse mumble escaped his lips.
"Lira…"
Then, there was only silence.
* * *
Returning to the present.
Petra tilted her head, lip twitching in restraint. "…Well, damn~" She leaned back in her chair (The Calamity Wolf), while fighting off a mischievous smile. "I guess that means I'm 'obligated' to save her~."
Rose froze on the spot.
Uh oh…!
She stuttered something, seeming to understand the problem, before being knocked out by Nebula with a quick wack. As if practiced, Lilly and Luna dragged away the unconscious cat.
Petra turned her attention back to the little girl who seemed to be Rose's sister. She wondered, what would this little girl think if she saw her big brother as a cute girl…?
Petra raised her hand and covered her mouth.
She desperately fought off a smile.
* * *
A few minutes later…
Petra was hopping through the trees at a leisurely pace.
On her shoulder was a—
"Damn it- damn it- damn it! Little bug, let me go! Hiss-hiss-hiss!!"
—wildly thrashing cat girl. She was a feral child who clearly had no idea how to properly speak. Her clothes were old and worn out, her words came out patchy and slurred, and every tiny habit she showed was completely disconnected from the common sense of the outside world.
If not for how comical she looked, the scene might have been far more distressing.
The red-haired brat was securely tied with green rope made from Petra's mental energy, so even if she somehow called for an expert, escaping would be nearly impossible.
As Lira flailed around, Petra began to 'speak'.
With a swirl of mental energy, a green bubble abruptly popped up in front of Lira's face.
[Are you Lira?]
The little savage paused for a moment, looking at the name with equal parts confusion, shock, and distrust. She narrowed her eyes, then began growling cutely.
Petra could feel her mood switch from 'help me, oh god I've been kidnapped' to 'who is this person, and how do they know my name?'
Petra nodded as the air between them became even more tense.
[Why are you still here?]
Lira's ears twitched, her eyes narrowing into slits. She hesitated for a long time as her tail coiled loosely into vague shapes, a habit that appeared whenever she was thinking. Because of this, she couldn't hide her emotions at all.
When she finally spoke, her voice was low and guarded, seemingly carrying her many years of solitude.
"I'm waiting for someone." It was as simple as that.
The moment after she spoke, she immediately began thrashing with a newfound vigour. It would seem that she was more determined than ever to escape Petra's little claws and return to the village.
Another bubble appeared, bumping the first one aside.
[Who?]
"None of your business," Lira hissed with a sharp tone.
After a strong buck, her small butt poked out of the bindings, and her tail suddenly snapped towards the crude stone knife that hung there. The speed was so fast that if Petra hadn't already been prepared, then perhaps she might have really been able to sneak in an attack. Petra didn't react very much, she just conjured a small shield around the old knife to prevent her from grabbing it.
The tail bounced off with a 'boing'…
Lira, seeing that it was futile, snorted and turned her head away.
There was a long silence.
Petra continued to carry her on her shoulder, letting time pass.
Then, after an appropriately calculated amount of time, another bubble jumped out…
[Are you still waiting for Rell?]
"!"
These words seemed to cause time to stop.
Lira's pupils constricted as her entire body went still, her ears straightened, and her breathing stopped. With a shaky voice, she asked. "H-how did y-you…" Her voice shook. "Who are you!?"
Petras' face cracked into a sadistic grin.
* * *
One hour later.
-
A faint hum filled the air as the black clouds above the forest began to stir. It was a grand movement, one that would draw many eyes from all around the western region.
Something rolled through the dark sky, shaking the treetops as it approached from far away.
Wherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The leaves trembled beneath the compounding vibrations of countless wings.
Woosh!
The dark sky split open, and descending through the clouds came a formation of massive ants, with black and sleek bodies, riding down along a single ray of light. They moved in a perfect formation, each one cutting through the air like a blurring shadow. Their carapaces gleamed faintly, streaks of green light running across their armored shells in clean geometric lines. This group was one of Petra's 'special projects', the result of some work she had done before leaving for Sevensen.
It was only within the past month that the Ant Queen had finished stabilizing the templates and began to mass-produce them.
This particular team was made entirely of specialized ants, each with its own role. Together, they formed a unit targeted at 'Research & Collection'.
Collectors, Analyzers, Recorders, and two colossal Transport Ants shaped just like flying fortresses. Behind them followed twenty-two Ant Guards, their shells etched with dense runes that wrapped over their black carapace.
The 'Ant Guards' possessed a pair of mutated dragonfly wings that granted unmatched maneuverability. They advanced on four legs, with the front two folded neatly across their chests, like hands tucked into a coat. Their shells were light yet incredibly durable, no weaker than a common knight's armor. With the runes empowering them, their strength and resistance exceeded most creatures of the same level.
The 'Collectors' were offensive-type ants, part mantis and part squid. They were nearly two meters tall, and they carried two scythe-like forearms and two long tendril-like tails that split at the end. They possessed remarkable regeneration and dexterity, making them capable of dismantling nearly anything they were asked to collect.
The 'Analyzers' were bulky and slow, with a focus on consumption and digestion. At 2.5 meters, they were one of the largest Ant Units. Whatever they devoured could be translated into spiritual energy, that could then be sent back to the colony for processing.
The 'Recorders' were small, half a meter at most, ant units, yet their role was the most important. They could read and store all forms of energy and convert the information into Crystal Tomes that could be brought back to the Tower Spider to be transcribed into normal books. (Research Papers)
The 'Fortress Ants' were absolute beasts, standing five meters tall, and functioned almost like sky-carriages. Their bodies contained an 'internal storage chamber' that was large enough to hold equipment, research samples, or even passengers. They hovered like floating fortresses, and the sound they produced was closer to a sonic attack than anything else.
They descended like angels through the clouds, carried by the only ray of light the Western Region had seen in many days.
Petra had been using this particular unit to study the black sky and its composition.
The vibration from their wings shook the treetops, rattling the leaves and knocking loose bits of bark.
Petra stood atop one of the surviving tree trunks, her avatar's cloak billowing as she watched. Lira, still bound, had gone limp in her arms, her whole body terrified by the sheer pressure that these massive insects produced.
The swarm slowed as it reached her, hovering with prideful precision.
The largest Transport Ant lowered its claws, uncaringly retrieving the glowing sphere of mental energy that Petra had used to wrap around Lira. Once secured, the formation rose again, the hum of their wings dispersing as they ascended back into the black clouds, vanishing as quickly as they had arrived.
Wherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The ray of light faded with their departure. The sound drifted away, leaving only the creaking of old wood and the whispers of the wind through the burnt trees.
For a long time, Petra stood there on her treetop perch, gazing at the clouds where the light had vanished, striking a heroic pose without even realizing it.
At that moment…
Petra was fairly certain she had gone deaf.
* * *
Petra's next destination was the Red Rise Mountain.