The demigods began to realize a lot of things. First, they are not strong. It only looked that way because the royal guards were acting weak. Second, they didn't push the royal guards back. It only looked that way because the royal guards wanted them in the ant mound. And three, nothing was holding up the reinforcements for the royal guards. It only looked that way because the ants were waiting to ambush and trap them.
But these realizations only brought more questions about why the royal guards are so strong and how they were able to hide from them. It is all too late now to get answers to those questions anyway. The six royal guards pressed them from all sides and culled their numbers one by one. Their approach was careful and methodical almost like pruning shrubs. They cut down everything in front of them and made sure it is dead before moving on.
Tanya realized something odd as the walls of brute force cornered them. All 8 of the demigods are alive. The royal guards didn't kill any demigods. They might have chopped off limbs or given deep cuts that reached the bones but no demigod was fatally wounded. They were all bunched at the center of the intersection after a fight that took less than 10 minutes, there were no more priests.
The five priests that belong to the church of the sun and were supposed to be part of Helios's team also died. They shouldn't have entered this death trap and they died with that knowledge accompanied by an unhealthy dose of regret. It doesn't matter that regret in such an amount is bad for one's health because they don't have to worry about their health anymore.
"That should be it." Number 3 said.
"Not all of them are here. One of them isn't here." Number 4 added.
"This much is enough. It will have to do." Number 9 joined in.
The six of them were discussing while they towered above the demigods who are clustered between them like a bunch of frightened chickens or a group of mistreated war prisoners which is what they are. Their clothes have been shredded, blood has been spilled all over their bodies probably from the numerous wounds on said bodies or from the mangled body of others. Then there is the look of fright on their terror-stricken faces. It is not a wonder why they will be compared to frightened chickens. It is safe to say that they have seen better days.
They are helpless and won't even be able to escape the ant mound even if the royal guards are not present. They have lost all their priests so they don't have their force domain to push back the smaller ants. The tunnels are filled with worker and soldier ants in every direction. It is the instruction of the queen that is keeping them at bay from pouncing on the helpless demigods. Without their domains, the demigods don't stand a chance against the worker ants who will swarm them like a bug blanket and rip them to shreds.
"You can't kill us. Our parents will have your heads if you kill anyone of us." Tanya shouted at the royal guards.
She has taken on more injuries apart from the arm that was lobbed off. There's a cut on the side of her face that just missed an eye by a few inches.
It felt beneath her to succumb to threatening others with the might of her father so as to secure her life, but she loves her life and is also sure that the god of the sky won't sit still while something bad happens to her. Unlike the others who are probably here for entertainment, she is important to her divine father. She is currently the only demigod of the sky god and he doesn't have a divine lord yet. So she is very important to her father. The fact that the royal guards haven't killed any demigods also gave her hope.
Number 9, the royal guard that killed her teammates replied scornfully, "Stupid girl. You're threatening us with death when you were sent here to kill us. What could be worse than death?"
Tanya couldn't answer that question. There's punishment in the afterlife but according to their culture, non-giant races don't have an afterlife. So she can't scare the royal guard into involuntary servitude. She slumped down dejectedly.
Number 3 joined in the conversation. "As you might have noticed, we didn't kill any demigod. That's because we are kidnapping all of you."
It looked around into space for a while before continuing. "I'm sure the gods can see and hear us. The pantheon will need a representative to negotiate with us. We will inform you of who we want in a few days. As of now, the gods should call off the hunt of our colony and they shouldn't try anything. We will notice."
Then he turned to the demigods, "As for you guys. Start moving. We are going down to the center of the ant mound. Move it."
The demigods had to move when the royal guards threatened them with more cuts from the blades on their limbs. All eight of them were herded like cattle to the center of the ant mound where the ant queen will see them before being sent to a jail where they will be imprisoned and probably tortured.
The situation made the demigods have mixed emotions. The fact that they are being kidnapped means that they have a chance of survival. Their heroic quest can be considered a bust. They may be going to the central room of the ant mound to see the queen, but they won't be going as her vanquishers as they planned. They will be prisoners of conquest to be displayed for the queen's amusement or worse.
Back to Harkam.
He had to switch the display of his screen to the tunnel so that he can follow Tanya's progress. This is why he didn't see the ant horde retreat from the front lines en mass as soon as the strike team entered the ant mound. Other gods who were watching alone and don't have a demigod in the heroic quest saw this bizarre and sudden retreat. But they didn't care.
The reason why they saw the retreat is that they couldn't watch the fight within the ant mound. They don't have any person with their divine power within the tunnels to extend their divine vision to the tunnels. The fact that they don't have any person within the tunnels with their divine power also means they don't have any vested interest in the heroic quest. So they didn't care.
The fact that they aren't watching with those with vested interests in the heroic quest means they probably don't get along with them or they don't move in the same circle. So it is even less reason for them to care. The ones that cared rationalized the behavior as the ants rushing back to protect their home from the invaders.
Those ones mocked the ants, "Stupid ants. It is too late now. They have entered your home."
The tunnel structure means that the ant horde won't be able to use their numbers advantage to overwhelm the strike team. As long as the team has their force domain to support themselves, then they will be fine. It would have been useless even if they cared and warned the others. It would also be useless if Harkam noticed the odd behavior and suspected foul play. He can't interfere with the heroic quest. Even if he could, things had gone too far to be stopped.
"That's a good idea. Go your own way. You'll stand a better chance of winning this thing that way." Harkam was in agreement with Tanya's decision to separate.
He needs her to win the heroic quest and gain a heroic feat. 11 more heroic feats and she will be a guaranteed divine lord. So he is in support of her separating.
Tanya separated and they happened to run into an invisible barrier.
"What the fuck is this?" Harkam asked in confusion.
The sight of the royal guard confused him as much as the priests. He may be a god, but he was struck with the same perplexing confusion of the mortal priests.
"Could a god be on the ant's side?"
He had seen the use of observation spells and they came back negative for royal guards. But unlike the priests, he has a method to make sure. He went through the feedback of divine power he has experienced recently. His mind bypassed prayers whether they be prayers for help or thanksgiving and focused on the use of divine spells that occurred with his divine power. He found his answer. The divine power that fooled the scouting spells is much stronger than his. It can only mean one thing.
"This can't be. What game is the Celestial god of Order playing?" He asked slowly with fury evident in his voice.
