A fire dragon’s wrath is pure, unrelenting destruction—a bzing fury that incinerates everything in its path, reducing all to ashes and leaving only smoldering ruins behind. A dragon’s rage is primal, instinctive, and uncontrolble, born from its very essence of destruction.

  Scorched earth.

  Burning trees.

  Charred corpses.

  The sight before me was clear—everything around me was engulfed in fmes.

  Phew...

  I finally calmed down after realizing there were no more ants around. My uncontrolble anger had fred up the moment I saw them invading my home.

  The thought of them stealing my precious food reignited my instincts.

  “Dare to steal again!!” I roared.

  Stepping cautiously inside, I scanned my surroundings and found that nothing had been disturbed.

  I let out a sigh of relief—my timely return had saved my treasured food from being taken. It was clear that the ants had set their sights on it.

  Unlike humans, who treasure gold, jewels, or rare items, ants pce their highest value on food, prioritizing its collection and transport back to their nest.

  "Hmm... I see... Are they acting under orders?" I wondered.

  Ants are exceptional at finding food. Their keen sense of smell, memory, teamwork, and communication allow them to locate and transport resources with remarkable efficiency.

  “If they’re following the queen’s orders, this pce might be swarmed again,” I thought.

  Then, a question arose in my mind—

  “How did they find this pce?”

  I retraced my memories, searching for the first moment I encountered an ant. It was when I discovered the rock salt mine. Out of nowhere, a red ant appeared and spat a strange goo at me. I dodged it instinctively, finding it disgusting. Later, I was awakened by an entire swarm of ants.

  Piecing everything together, I realized—my first encounter with the ants had happened right when I carried rock salt back home. That lone ant must have spat its goo onto my salt without me noticing.

  “I see… so that goo was a marking… like a tracker,” I concluded.

  With all the clues fitting together, I had finally solved the mystery.

  "It's time to retaliate," I muttered darkly.

  If they were the ones who attacked first—invading my domain and attempting to steal my precious food—then it was only natural to eliminate them all in return.

  Determined to strike back, I decided to invade their nest. Since they had discovered me in the rock salt cave, I suspected there might be a path leading directly to their ir.

  Without hesitation, I soared into the sky, heading toward my target.

  "Unforgivable… Stealing from me not once, but twice… These insects! Know that the wrath of a dragon can only be appeased by your destruction!" I roared in fury.

  It wasn’t long before I arrived at my destination—the very rock salt mine I had discovered before now stood before me.

  "So, inside this pce lies the path to their nest, huh?" I muttered.

  I stepped inside and examined my surroundings. Large chunks of rock salt were scattered throughout the cave. Though the darkness would have hindered most, my dragon eyes allowed me to see clearly. As I moved deeper, I eventually spotted a narrow passage—one just the right size for my body to fit through.

  "Found it," I excimed, realizing I had discovered the entrance to their nest.

  "Now, there's only one thing left to do—exterminate some bugs," I thought with a smirk.

  I trekked along the narrow path, certain it would lead me to the ants’ ir. Before long, I reached an exit that opened into a much rger cave.

  There, I spotted numerous ants scurrying back and forth, each carrying stones in their mandibles like diligent workers. They appeared busy, focused entirely on their tasks.

  "Hmm…" I observed them for a moment, studying their behavior before deciding to make my presence known.

  "Aren't you all working a little too hard? How admirable!" I remarked in a pyful, mocking tone.

  The moment they sensed me, the worker ants immediately halted their activities. In an instant, they swarmed toward me in overwhelming numbers.

  These ants were massive—far rger than the ones I had encountered before. Their head structure was different as well, featuring significantly rger, more powerful mandibles designed for gripping.

  I stood a foot taller than them, but even so, they were massive. I couldn't afford to be careless—despite considering them insignificant, they still had numerous advantages.

  Strike! Strike!

  I swung my arms, sshing at them with my bde-like cws. My sharp talons effortlessly tore through their heads and bodies, slicing them apart with ease, leaving them mutited in an instant.

  As the battle raged on, countless worker ant corpses littered the ground like scattered pebbles. With each swing of my arm, more bodies piled up as I relentlessly pushed forward.

  Every time I appeared, the ants would immediately react, rushing toward me without hesitation—completely disregarding their own lives. It was as if they were programmed to intercept any creature that wasn’t one of their own.

  Observing their movements, I quickly realized their weakness.

  "I see… so you’re just carrier-type ants, huh?" I muttered, unimpressed.

  As I ventured deeper, a new type of ant appeared. Unlike the worker ants, these were different—standing at an imposing four feet tall due to their long legs, which also granted them increased speed.

  "Oh… another kind, huh?" I muttered, watching their silhouettes emerge from the darkness.

  Soon, a swarm of these towering ants joined forces with the worker ants, their combined numbers surrounding me.

  "That’s quite a lot… Well, at least you’re saving me the trouble of hunting you down one by one," I sneered.

  Being encircled didn’t bother me in the slightest. In fact, I welcomed it. My strongest abilities were area-of-effect attacks, making this the perfect opportunity to wipe them all out in one go.

  I considered using my dragon’s breath, but in such a confined space, the sheer explosion could cause a cave-in, burying me alive. That option was out of the question.

  Instead, I gathered my magic, feeling the heat rise within my throat. Opening my mouth, I unleashed a torrent of fmes, engulfing the swarming ants before me. The fire devoured everything in its path, reducing them to nothing but ash.