A voice. It was not the voice of the Core ordering anything from those under it. Neither was it the voice of the [System], though that hadn't been heard since the very start. No, this was the voice of something foreign, something that had never been experienced before. The sound of the vocals echoed in the Entity’s head over and over again. Was it due to the power of the wielder or was that just a normal effect? And who was talking anyway?

That question was put on hold for a moment, the black circle of Mana taking another step towards overstepping its bounds. Which it had already technically done the second it decided to come into the Core’s domain but whatever. The Mana was spreading its colour all around the fifth ant, and that was certainly not the plan that the Entity had for its destruction. No, that ant was meant to survive a whole three more expeditions before dying in the name of sacrifice. This was wrong. More Mana got funnelled into destroying the foreign blackness, the Core putting all the mental might it could into the thought. It needed the colour gone from its sights.

‘Are you not even going to answer with words? A shame. I had thought you might have developed enough to at least speak a few words. Another Core and another disappointment, I suppose,’ the voice said yet again, a small… chuckle at the end. How the Core recognized a chuckle at all was left for another time, the Entity putting much more attention on the fact that it saw where the voice had come from. It was coming from the Circle of Blackness.

That… didn’t bode well. And it refused to stop growing. Almost the entire back of the ant had been enveloped now. What would happen if it grew more? Would it start to cover the floor as well? The very idea brought not a small amount of fear into the Core’s heart, to the point where it thought of throwing the thing out instantly. Yet, in the way of that was the most compact piece of Mana in the entire domain. If the blackness could connect to that… it would spell ruin for the Entity, as the entire edge would receive the darker colouring. The thing needed to be destroyed soon. More time was needed to study it.

‘Who are you?’ the Core sent in a form of an order, not sure what else to do. The Mana itself was directed at the black circle, the Entity not sure how else it would communicate. Yet, for a lack of a better word, the order somehow stopped the growth of the Mana,it briefly went quiet before another message came out.

‘So you can hear me. Good. I had been wondering who else could have taken in that little creature,’ the voice came back, seeming amused. The emotion was highly likely to be related to the stopped growth. If the Core made it remain at such a level, it would reach the time needed to figure out the blackness’ secret. Trying to use [Mana-Sense] on the energy was rather difficult, the thing not wanting to be like other coloured Mana. It was interwoven into an uncountable level of layers, each side of each layer lined with markings that didnt make the slightest sense. And the worst all was that no instant weakness could be seen. Yet there had to be something.

And that something would be found. As long as the growth was stopped, there was a chance to be had. What made it stop before? Amusement from the other end of the connection. Was the Entity the reason behind the amusement? The Core answering. That was a good point. Though, with how much time had passed since the last reply, the Entity thought it best to make another one quickly.

‘You did not answer my question. Who are you?’ the Core sent back, putting in a bit more Mana this time, just to make sure that it wasn't the words sent in that made the circle diminish in growth. The lacking reaction from the circle made that a no.

‘I have been called many things, though you would best know me as the [Queen of Hollows]. Those little feisty things of yours had a few bits of your secrets inside. You certainly have an interesting life,’ the other entity said, though it was now obvious to be the Queen Ant. The Core had somewhat realised it already, the black Mana not being seen anywhere but with her. Though, hoping it was somebody else would have been better.

The progress to finding the answer on how to destroy the circle was coming along nicely. A hole in the formation had been found, though it simply allowed one to enter the next layer of many. The size of the layer did fall drastically with each one completely, however, making it clear that the only needed factor now was time. And time could be reached by being amusing.

‘You attacked me,’ the Entity sent over to the intelligent ant, making sure to keep the conversation running. It was not extremely easy to do. The act of formulating words for another mind to understand was quite peculiar. Too much time had been spent living through the chaotic infestation called a normal mind where nothing was in order yet everything was still understood. Communication between two minds did not work in such a way

‘I have attacked many throughout the years. What is your point?’ the Queen answered back, clearly not too surprised by the accusation. Or was it even that, since both parties knew it was the truth? It was hard to truly tell, though the Core knew that a more direct question needed to be made. It sounded a bit more boring than it was supposed to. The circle could grow at any moment.

‘Your ants tried to kill me. I did nothing to them yet they tried to remove me from the living world,’ the Core sent back to make the Queen see reason while also making it show from a more empathetic side. Attempts had been made on its life. How would the creature feel if she got the same experience? The emotion needed to be sent over, though the Entity was entirely without the skill and knowledge to do something like it.

‘You should be happy that you didn’t and that luck was on your side. But I might even fire back with a complaint of my own. I will have you know that it is not very of you to steal a child from me and then use it against me again and again,’ the [Queen of Hollows] sent back, with a tone not too light this time around. It wasn’t angry outright, being closer to a static version of annoyance. The fact that its own creatures had been used against it wasn't something it liked but it wasn't going to go into a fit because of it. Displeasure and rage were two different things and it showed clearly.

However, that negative emotion needed to be turned on its head, the circle beginning to grow yet again. The insides were changed with every millimetre of it being increased, making it harder for the Core to figure out the route. Constant adjustments to even keep up progress was hard enough yet finding the way deeper inside was more and more complicated because of it.

‘I was able to use it better than you would ever do,’ the Core fired back as a form of intimidation. Though, that clearly wasn't how it was received by the Queen, laughter clearly coming through. It was high and mighty as if the ant was hearing the words of a [Jester]. Though… the Core hadn't the faintest what such an class was, and much less how it knew it was one. Not being distracted enough to fall into the questions too hard, stopping another burst of pain from coming up, the Entity continued the banter along.

‘If you wish to think yourself more mighty in manipulations, I will certainly let you do so. But, do not believe that I attacked you out of spite. As luck would have it, you hold the key to my salvation,’ the Intelligent Ant answered back, becoming slightly more muted in its tone. Something more serious was coming along, though the Core couldn't guess what it was. It apparently held the key to salvation. What was salvation in this context? And what key was it meant to have? The Entity supposed it could have been a metaphor of sorts but that didn't make sense.

‘What is this key you are talking about?’ the Core inquired, only to hear more laughter from the other end. It truly was an amused creature. Not that the Entity minded much, the extra time wasted allowing it further and further inside the circle of darkness. It was getting hard but the centre was almost reached now.

‘It is more the path you are guarding which I seek. Behind the point I attacked you from, you will find a direct route to the surface above. It is also the one and only route to the outside world which you can find within fifty kilometres of walking this cave system. Destroying you is the way I reach the top again. There is no hate towards you or anything. You are just… in the way of my goals.’

Ignoring that gold nugget of information, the Core began to think about what it had been told by that point. The [Queen of Hollows] wanted to get out of the so-called cave system. To do that, it needed to go through the domain that the Entity had carved out for itself. However, that would also require the destruction of the Core since any intrusions before had caused much destruction for the queen.

A solution came to mind. One which would bring joy for both parties.

‘So you are only seeking to escape the cave system, yes?’ the Core asked, still having some thoughts about why the Queen even knew the location of the exit to begin with. Had it travelled down there originally?

‘That is correct. Nothing more than that now.’ Another theory was confirmed. Now came the offer that was meant to make the Core’s life so much easier.

‘I could dig out a tunnel beside mine and let you through if it means that you will leave the tunnel system afterwards,’ the Core offered, sure that it would work. The Entity sought safety, yet such a thing could only be gained when the ant-queen was gone. And the ant-queen could only be satisfied when it had received access to the cave system behind the Core’s lair. If both compromised, it would allow for-

‘If you had offered that a month ago, I might have accepted. But… you have caused me many losses, you know. Many of my more precious children have been slaughtered. In all fairness, I could agree that I have pressed on you without kindness. Yet you doing the same to me means that we are enemies. And I cannot trust to walk in a tunnel made by you. Nothing would truly stop you from making it collapse with me and my children inside.’

… The thought had passed by the Core’s mind, yet doing something like that had seemed much too risky. That the Ant thought that the Entity would do such a thing was quite abhorrent to hear.

‘Is there anything else I can do which would end up with you leaving without us fighting?’ the Core asked, knowing it wouldn't end well no matter what. But trying it out had never been too bad an idea. If it got lucky, the chances would even turn without notice.

‘If you give me safe passage through your little house with all my children in tow, I would be more than happy to let you be. Does that sound like an agreement to you?’

The Core felt a bit more how the Queen had it with the Entity’s offer. Letting the enemy control your life was without any real chance of happening if the Entity could avoid it. There was no way it would allow for any amount of creatures to come inside its domain and especially not the queen herself. It was too dangerous.

‘... That was what I thought you would think,’ the ant said after a few seconds of silence. It seemingly took the lack of response as the intended answer. ‘I would love to talk more, but you seem to be close to destroying the runic circle. I'll give you a run for the goal to not make it too easy for you, but I do believe this is where our talk ends. I hope to see you another time!’

Just like that, the connection ended. The Core had hoped this would entail the circle vanishing as well, but it did quite the opposite. For the next three seconds, it grew more and more, going ever wider. It almost reached the ground, entailing itself around the legs. However, it was stopped in time, the centre reached where the Core was able to rip out the power supply in time. The ability to sense Mana on a smaller scale was working wonders, though it also came with new obstacles.

Everything else was alright, though. Looking at the ground, nothing seemed to have been hit, the Black Mana slowly diffusing. Though… not that quickly. In fact, it seemed some parts were staying on the [Giant-Ant], entering into the veins and… what was even happening?

Flesh fell off slowly, with enough time to make the other ants back away. The exoskeleton became more obvious as everything else disappeared from sight, it all falling into the ground while looking foul. What remained was the Mana-Veins, their glow black and pulsing, with it all being supported by an exoskeleton that shouldn't have been able to walk. Yet it was more than able to move, looking over at the other creatures in the Core’s domain.

And with a seconds pause, air gathered in immaterial lungs and a loud whistling sound was heard. Spending a brief moment to use [Appraisal], the Entity was quite shocked at what it found.