It is not an easy thing to create royal guards and drag them back across the desert but a single demigod undid everything she did with a simple toss of fire.
"Wait, how does he know about it anyway?" She asked absentmindedly.
"The gods probably sent him to do it. They must have sent the demigods with multiple agendas." The tree father answered her.
"Damn those gods. That explains how he was able to find where I kept them." She cursed again.
It is not a secret that royal guards become disobedient and that ant queens recover their bodies. So it sounds reasonable that the gods will plan for various outcomes. They may be preparing for the possibility of her becoming a demigod. Now, even if she succeeds in digesting the divinity, she won't have an increase in power substantially.
'That demigod is really special. I wonder what this entity wants with him. If he can sacrifice divinity, then this demigod must be worth more than the divinity. I wonder what kind of special creature I can create from this demigod's flesh. It has to be something special. That golden armor he wore reminds me of the armors of Behemoths.' The queen thought to herself.
She has always thought that there must be something special about the target, or else an entity like the tree father won't start a heist to get his hands on the demigod. Her evaluation of this specialness is increasing the more she is getting to know the target. The specialness of the target is beginning to tempt her.
Number 1 is very strong and can take on an adult giant of order when it comes to brute strength but the demigod, clearly a young one considering his height of 30 meters, was able to best her champion. What's even more special are the various runes that the target was using. That transformation with armor and extra arms reminds her of behemoths. Except Behemoths only have four arms and those arms don't warp around or be disintegrated only to form again.
If not for the way the target fought she would have thought he is a transcendent giant of order. So the target has to be very special. That's why she is tempted, but only that. She doesn't have any intention to cheat her employer. It is normal for her to be tempted, but to act on it is another thing that might bring calamity to her.
'I'm sure he won't mind if I take a little flesh here and there.' She glanced furtively at the quiet tree as she schemed.
She just can't let go of the opportunity to gain something from the target. Her fear for her employer might stop her from betraying the tree father, but it won't stop her from taking her pound of flesh from the target.
"These damn gods. They are really out to get me." She cursed again.
She was pulled from her fantasy when she noticed the royal guards being rounded up. They were captured one by one and taken to the frontlines of the giants. The gods didn't violate her warning not to come close to the ant mound. They waited for the royal guards to distance themselves from the ant mound before nabbing them. It proved to the queen that the tree father was right and that the gods had planned for it or at least are on it now.
She believes that they had to have planned it. There's no other believable explanation for why the target just happened to stumble into the cavern where she stored the royal guards and then retreat immediately instead of storming the Central room to kill the queen.
She is certain now that the demigod didn't stumble into the cavern where she kept the rebellious royal guards. The target had appealed to Number 1 before he freed her prisoners. The target must have known about the prisoners and where they are kept. The only way to acquire that information is from the gods since the target didn't get it from her.
She was thinking of all the evil things she will do to the target once she gets her hands on him when the captured demigods were brought before her. They were accompanied by 3 royal guards. Their arms have been bonded and are kept far away from the queen.
"I can do anything I want to them right?" She asked the tree father.
The tree replied. "Yes. Just keep them alive. They are worth more alive than dead."
The queen grinned. "Yes."
The demigods noticed the tree before the ant queen. Their eyes went wide when they noticed it. A tree burning with green flames is not something you see every day. It is not something you see within an ant mound. It is also the thing with the highest divine power in the central room. So their attention was glued to the tree.
"Oh no. A god." One of the demigods managed to say through the panic making it difficult to breathe.
"What is a god doing here?"
"Why is a god helping the ants?"
"We are doomed."
Three of them fell to their knees and bowed. Then they started to cry and beg.
"Please let us go your divine greatness. Forgive us for any sin that we have committed."
"Please forgive us. We didn't know you were supporting the ants. It was the Celestial Supreme that sent us here."
Some of the others were too stunned to speak. Their mouth hung open and their eyes focused on the entity that has doomed them. Thoughts of their soon to arrive end filled their minds.
They suspected that a god is helping the ants, but to have an avatar here like this out in the open means that this issue is bigger than they thought. It doesn't matter if the gods are playing with their lives or there's conflict among the gods, neither means anything good for them. All that matters is that this heroic quest might be the end of them.