"You can't… it's too early!" The queen could feel her child move. He moved too much and that was making her worry. The child was restless, he wanted to be born. He needed to show the world how powerful he was. And the queen knew he had grown well. But he wasn't ready to show his power to the world yet. It was too soon and her body wasn't prepared yet.

But the king didn't think about what it was his mother wanted. He was more important, he had to get out of the fleshy prison that held him. A small rupture appeared in the queen's skin. Screams filled the tunnels of the nest. She was in pain and there was nothing she could do. He had to get out. The small rupture grew and soon her belly was torn open by a little cut. The fluid that had been inside her, protecting the child, dripped down from the side. The queen was hurting, but relieved. If she could just… just see her baby. Her greatest creation, the best child she had given birth to. She wanted to see him, but she couldn't. Just like all others, her king was small. And once more the queen knew she had failed. The best she could give still wasn't enough to get him to grow.

Her wound wasn't big or anything life threatening, but the fact that she was weak didn't help. She needed her rest. After that she was sure she could be fine. To her servants however the injury seemed anything but light. They saw their queen die slowly, her life leaving her with every passing second. At was then that panic formed under the soldiers. The presence of the king went unnoticed at first. Only when one of the ants tried to reach for the queen, did heads start to roll. First that of a servant, then the wound on the queen's body was no longer a small cut. Her stomach was ripped open and not a single ant was allowed to help her as she was choking in her own blood.

The king was hungry and he was bored. Killing his own species didn't bother him nor did it cure his boredom. He made a simple guy clean the blood of his tail after having killed another one. And yet he was still torn on the inside.

Three voices dragged him out of his state of madness. Three ants, all giving off a sense of power. Not as much as his, but it was there. And he knew that if he had to fight them, he could have a good spar. What did it matter to him tough? They were his allies and even if they didn't exist, the king was sure he would be fine. He wouldn't be the type to worry. No… he just wanted to eat.

…

The original nest had not been to his liking. It held no class. The structure existed of nothing but tunnels dug through a large hill. It was dirty. And with that it was perfect for those weak, stupid soldiers, but for a king… he hated it.

He was glad two of his guards carried wings on their back. As small black dots they went to look for food. And they found that, but none was what the king was looking for. He remembered the taste of the well-known special prey he had been fed when in the queen body. It had been no lie when he had been told that that prey was rare. There wasn't a single one in the area and it was driving the king crazy.

If he couldn't get his food, then he could at least get a great place to live at. He travelled some more, stopping to leave a slaughter at some places. Then a wall blocked their path. The king ordered his ride to fly higher and show what was behind the wall. Bright, green grass greeted him. Behind that an even bigger wall. Perhaps it was more like a house? This place was a true castle, better than a smelling cave.

In the garden a couple of guards were walking around the place to keep an eye out for any intruders. As beautiful as the high grass of the garden was, it made it impossible for the men to see their enemy. The king and his company had returned to walk on the ground. Their movement was quickly paced. They didn't care for the lowlife prey that was standing around. They didn't until one of them walked through the grass without care. His foot broke blades of grass and, more importantly, came down at a crushing pace towards the body of the king. Neferpitou had run towards him, wishing to kill the attacker before he could reach the king. But it wasn't needed. Before the sole touched ground, the foot had already landed a meter from where it had been in the first place. Screaming followed, the sound of gunshots filled the garden. Soon it was silent again and what had been green before was now dyed in dark red.

The king licked his lips. These creatures were weak. And he could feel what was waiting for him inside. A rare prey, multiple of them.

…

While the king was finding himself a new home, the left behind ants had their queen to take care of. She was bleeding and if there was nothing done, she would die. The ants knew this just like they knew that their queen would never give birth again after this. If she were to survive in the first place. As much as it hurt to admit it, they needed help. Their own bodies were too small to heal her. The only thing they could was to stop the bleeding a little.

It was Colt who took the mission of finding humans upon himself. With a small piece of white cloth, connected to a stick he flew away. The lands were abandoned, no humans were around for a long time. They had all been killed. But that was until he found 'them'. A group of humans who seemed to making their way to the nest. Filled with hope, Colt tried to reach them. He yelled at them, swung his flag with the wish to grab their attention. But he couldn't get them to see him. He was nothing but a dot at the horizon, invisible against the many trees and rocks. The humans walked on and Colt's wish shattered along with every single one the ants had had. Their queen was meant to die and without realizing it, so were the humans now. Their only way of getting information, the only way to know that their worst enemy had already been born, was now gone. It all left the world with the whisper of a name that wasn't meant to be forgotten. A single name.

Meruem

…

One piece of information Colt could've given them was that some of the squad leaders had set out to be their own king. An act of pride. They knew they weren't like the king, but it couldn't stop them. Staying with the queen had given them nothing. Hell, the queen was dead anyways. Every attempt to talk to humans had failed and to be honest none of the leaders felt like joining the side of what had been prey all the time. They were better on their own or accompanied by only a few.

This would be the age of kings and queens. They all felt it.

All except the humans.

They still walked around NGL as the ants started their big migration. NGL was becoming empty. NGL was no longer the place to be.

It was the Republic of East Gorteau where a king sat on his throne.

A hungry king

A bored king