Chapter 112
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Dictator (2)
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Why was that? Asmodra, who had begun as nothing more than an ordinary queen ant—a mere insect—didn't even know herself why she had come to hate humans.
Humans had clearly been just one among countless prey and enemies from the very start.
Even when she was wielding her abilities in the right places, leading and commanding other humans to get the better of Seira—whom she regarded as her mortal enemy—and finally exacting her revenge, her grudge against Seira personally outweighed any hatred for humanity as a whole.
If she had to pick one trait, it was that humans, unlike other races with clear strengths like combat prowess or reproductive power—and thus clear weaknesses—were a bit more well-rounded, closer to a perfect hexagon.
But as she gradually shed the limitations of an ant, her intelligence and sense of self growing stronger, and as she came to understand emotions and her learning capacity improved, humans became something slightly different from other races in her eyes.
'Why?'
The more she knew, the more she saw.
What Asmodra discovered was that humans fundamentally enjoyed 'his' favorable gaze.
In this world thrown into chaos by the quarrels of the deities, he listened to Seira's pleas and did everything in his power to save human lives, opposing the unconditional slaughter of humans.
Through their linked bond, she even sensed that every time she harmed humans, he felt an unconscious pang of guilt.
To Asmodra, who hadn't fully grasped Jin-hyuk's true nature as a human who had awakened as a deity, his sense of kinship with his own kind was an incomprehensible realm.
It was something even she lacked, despite all he had sacrificed for her, including his very name.
Asmodra, who believed she should possess everything of his, couldn't tolerate it.
Asmodra intends to infect humans with fungi, transforming their traits and forms, and turning them into troops under her control.
The liquid Asmodra sprayed on the mages was a nutrient solution mixed with fungal spores—specifically, spores of a mutant cordyceps fungus.
Far more potent than the ant thorns implanted in Seira, these mutant spores rapidly absorbed the nutrient solution and grew, burrowing into the bodies of their human hosts and seizing control.
Just as cordyceps fungi manipulate insects, these mutants remodeled the bodies to move according to the will of their queen, Asmodra, the core of the hive.
Since most of the knowledge she had acquired was tailored for human users, what she needed right now to wield magic was a human body.
However, Asmodra's predation ability was still insufficient to produce human bodies from ants.
Instead, by hijacking human bodies this way, Asmodra—with her brain far superior to any human mage—could freely unleash spells in battle.
That said, the infected lost control of their spines and brains, no longer qualifying as people.
It was obvious their sense of self would soon perish in this state.
'If humans cease to be humans.'
It was a diabolically complex biochemical attack that would leave anyone agape, yet its intent was heartbreakingly simple.
Since her progenitor, Jin-hyuk, loved humans, she believed that by turning them into non-humans, that love would turn to her—a childish, innocent notion.
"Your Majesty... He isn't doing this just because we were once human...!"
Asmodra scoffs, saying you know nothing.
Seira spoke in despair at the sight of those who had turned into monsters in an instant, but Asmodra didn't even pretend to listen.
In truth, Seira still lacked the depth of bond that Jin-hyuk and Asmodra shared.
From the moment she joined the hive as an intelligent human, she surpassed Asmodra in understanding and interpreting Jin-hyuk's oracles. But unlike Asmodra—a truly special existence whose mind was directly linked—she couldn't read his heart.
Asmodra insists this was the most efficient choice for the hive. Denying it means you're not one for the hive.
"Th-that's..."
Besides, Asmodra hadn't acted purely on whim without justification.
From the moment she gained self-awareness, the entire hive had been wary of her acting on personal feelings. Bellona, her second self, would fiercely oppose it.
The queen was ultimately part of the hive, living for it.
The hive tolerated her actions because they deemed them beneficial.
A host unit infected with fungi and under hive control would be far stronger than an ordinary mage unit commanded through Seira.
"Not wrong, are you. Clever little thing."
As Seira fell silent, at a loss for words, Jin-hyuk—who had watched it all—let out a small sigh.
Even children could think things through in their own way.
And sometimes, the results were cunning and meticulous enough to impress even adults.
Seira, logically outmaneuvered by Asmodra, had nothing left to say.
In fact, her goals included not just the hive's gain but also saving human lives.
Opening her mouth would mean appealing to emotion over logic, and Asmodra—who felt no kinship with mere humans—would dismiss such sentiments lightly.
"But that's that."
Jin-hyuk, standing before the enclosure, slipped on thick gloves and sighed.
"??!!"
Asmodra panics at the earthquake.
Asmodra, who had smugly outargued the usually sharp Seira to earn Jin-hyuk's trust, was thrown into utter panic.
Asmodra's main body was in the primordial nest—the safest place of all: inside Jin-hyuk's breeding enclosure.
Yet that enclosure was now shaking with massive vibrations, just like when Jin-hyuk had once moved house.
But unlike moving day, when careful packaging in the car meant only shaking, the nest itself was collapsing now.
'Why...'
Asmodra froze as dazzling light filtered in from the crumbling ceiling.
A massive hand smashed through the sturdy nest like tofu, casually swatting aside the mutants she'd placed there.
The glove, wrapped in divine might, carried power even the ants could scarcely approach.
Even worker ants, who should stake their lives to protect the queen, fled. Left alone in the ruined nest, Asmodra panicked.
The hive had cut her loose. The deity's will had reached all subordinates.
The deity now sought to punish the queen. Protecting her would defy the deity.
For ants prioritizing the hive's safety above all, Jin-hyuk's grace outweighed a single queen like Asmodra.
A queen was just an egg-laying machine and consumable, replaceable anytime in an ant kingdom.
'I must hold the reins. I'll overlook massacring humans to win, anything—but deceiving me is unforgivable.'
Jin-hyuk hardened his face as he looked at the panicked Asmodra.
This was no child's play. Countless lives had already fallen, and it threatened his own safety, those around him, and their lives.
Even as his own divinity rose endlessly, he always reminded himself he was only half a deity, unlike other gods.
For him, the most crucial element was his subordinates, the ants, who would make him a true deity.
The ants had to grow stronger.
Jin-hyuk was prepared to do anything for that.
They needed to grow endlessly strong—not just enough to be mistaken for an Outer God, but to stand against real ones.
Yet mere strength wasn't enough.
His plan required absolute loyalty from the ants. Their reckless rampages belonged to the far stupider past.
The core of that absolute loyalty was the first queen, Asmodra, who gripped the entire hive.
Even if only Asmodra were loyal to him, the hive would move as one under his command.
He could kill her and make a new queen, but Jin-hyuk had no such intention.
For he too had grown fond of Asmodra, who was awakening emotions and selfhood, coming to recognize him bit by bit.
Thus, disciplining her now was perfect timing.
Just as a child grows too big for discipline later.
"I believe you'll understand. It would've been great if we could've communicated properly before it came to this..."
Asmodra panics.
Asmodra eyed the returning hand warily as it approached her.
Having read the reproach in Jin-hyuk's emotions toward her, she knew this was no mere pat on the head.
"...!"
The moment a spark flared at the end of the extending electrode, accompanied by a sharp crack, Asmodra convulsed from the electric shock and collapsed to the floor.
"Kuh..."
The punishment inflicted on Asmodra transmitted faintly through the linked hive consciousness to the entire hive.
Among them, Seira—with her strong sense of self—felt it more intensely and clutched her head, dropping to one knee.
"A-are you alright?"
"I'm fine. It's the queen getting disciplined that's the issue."
As a flustered Karian approached, Seira shook her head, sweating coldly.
Even now, Asmodra writhed under repeated electric shocks.
Her screams echoed through the entire hive consciousness, but no one came to help.
Bellona sneered at her sorry state, and Seira could only watch with pity.
'The true master of the hive isn't the queen. His greatness has shown her that.'
Somewhat recovered, Seira stood with a sigh.
It was the moment Jin-hyuk removed the electric prod and withdrew his hand from the enclosure.
"So, what about the plan now? Can you restore them?"
"Restoring them is impossible, but there won't be more surprises like this. Please... keep this quiet for His Majesty's sake. For smooth cooperation between us and the human empire going forward."
Seira glanced between the mages infected with cordyceps and Karian's people staring at them in fear.
The subordinates approach the queen again.
The moment Jin-hyuk's hand returned and gently stroked Asmodra's trembling body on the floor...
The punishment ended with forgiveness.
Worker ants approached again, helping her up, feeding her nutrient solution, and aiding her recovery.
His warning against overstepping needed no Seira as intermediary; the electric shock had seared it directly into Asmodra's mind.
Seira sensed the once-arrogant queen thoroughly dejected in the hive consciousness and let out a small sigh.
Along with a vow never to defy him.