Evolution begins with an ant colony

Gideon, assuming a battle stance with a serious look in his eyes, fixed his intense gaze upon the colossal being before him. The dragon woman's enormity was awe-inspiring; her massive figure cast a looming shadow that sprawled across nearly half of the Velora tribe. The air seemed to crackle with anticipation as the two formidable forces confronted each other in the moonlit night.

The Velora tribesmen involved in the construction in other areas in the snowy mountains quickly rushed over to the direction they heard the massive roar.

"What is that?" One of them pointed to the massive dragon they could see in the distance, looming over their tribe. Its green scales seemed to glint in the moonlight; its horns on its head and the sword-like scale at the tip of its tail were signatures of its royal blood.

The Velora experienced a wave of mixed emotions as they gazed at the green dragon: confusion about how a dragon was still alive, happiness because, according to legends, they were once the rulers of the races in this forest, leading with kindness and grace, uncertainty because they didn't understand why it destroyed the structures they spent hours building, protectiveness as they wanted to shield their loved ones in case a battle was inevitable, and fear because their opponent was a dragon.

The dragon woman's voice echoed as she said, "Child, I'll give you a chance to apologize to me. If you go on your knees and beg for my forgiveness, once you do, I'll forgive you. Then, you will take me to see this 'liege' of yours."

Her tone seemed to slightly irritate Gideon; a vein throbbed at the edge of his forehead. He tightened his grip on his twin short swords and said, "I don't know how a dragon, a creature of legend, is here alive and breathing before me, but it doesn't matter. The fact is, you have become a thorn in my liege's plans by destroying the structures he instructed me to lead the construction of.
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So, I will defeat you here and take you to meet him, but it will be for you to receive punishment."

The dragon woman suddenly let out a massive laugh as she added, "You plan on defeating me and taking me to receive punishment? How hilarious! The audacity! It seems I can no longer spare your life. I shall end you and find this ruler of yours myself."

Gideon then added as he narrowed his gaze, "I would love to see you try."

Unbeknownst to them, the Velora had already begun evacuating from their homes. As a tribe accustomed to roaming in those icy mountains, they had little to no attachment to their homes and only took what they needed. All knew a battle between a dragon and one of the ten ant guardians would be a battle of epic proportions.

As such, any of them could be easily killed in the clash, and they wanted to avoid that, hence their swift decision to evacuate.

Gideon also silently knew this fact, and that was why he decided to stall for time earlier by engaging in a rather short conversation with the dragon woman who had emerged from the portal.

"Is that everyone?" Vaelon, the Velora tribe leader's voice echoed as he demanded to know the state of the evacuation from his guards.

"My lord, all of the evacuations have been completed. The city is now simply one big empty ice structure."

Vaelon's voice was calm and relieved as he responded, saying, "Good, it seems my people are now all out of harm's way."

He gazed into the distance and mused, "Guess all that is left now is for Sir Gideon to get to the bottom of things. Although, according to the legends, the different dragon tribes led with kindness, I am not very certain about this dragon, nor their origin. The aura they give off is mixed with thick anger, frustration, and regret.

Whenever someone is driven by such emotions, they tend to get lost in their own minds, letting their emotions consume their sense of reason. We can't possibly try to reason with a mighty dragon when they are in such a state. The best course of action is the one we have already taken, and that is to run."

The dragon woman then said, "It's a pity; you also seemed strong. I was hoping to make you serve under me once all this was done with. But since you have been disrespectful and had the audacity to go against me, then you shall be punished by death."

Gideon then yelled back in response, "Alright, bring it, you overgrown lizard! Or are you all just talk and no action?"

In that moment, a series of green magic circles appeared all around in the air. All crackled with the dragon woman's green mana. In that moment, although her jaws were closed, her voice seemed to echo from the very fabric of reality, saying, "Green Dragon Magic! Concentrated miasma rain!"

The numerous magic circles began firing out powerful green liquids that seemed to dissolve the ground upon impact. As Gideon dodged the first attack and saw what was left of the ground, he mused inwardly, time seemed to slow down as he did, "It seems to be some sort of concentrated acid attack.

I wonder if it can harm me despite my 'Shadow Escape' skill." He grinned, then muttered, "No time like the present. Although I don't think it's a good idea to be doing such an experiment, especially given the fact that my opponent is a dragon, but..."

He chuckled slightly, his gray eyes turning purple, and then added, "Who gives a damn whether they are a dragon or not? I am one of the ten ant guardians of the ruler of this entire forest; I should easily overpower my opponent."

In that moment, Gideon stopped evading the attacks and simply stood in one spot with a smug grin on his face as he stared at the endless attacks raining from the sky. Moments later, they all rained down on him, and a massive snow cloud billowed into the air.