Chapter 113
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Dictator (3)
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‘You never know. I should just have Asmora stay in the breeding ground from now on.’
Back when everything felt so precarious, my imagination had run wild with all sorts of possibilities.
What if Asmora led the ants in breaking out of the breeding ground? What if they grew massive the moment they escaped and turned on me?
What if they saw me—a mere human—and felt disappointed after all that hatred they’d harbored? And so on.
Separate from my affection for Asmora, the ants were still creatures brimming with unpredictable evolution, their limits unknown.
The smarter and stronger they grew, the more their curiosity was bound to swell.
Tales of humans growing arrogant enough to challenge the gods abound across countless civilizations.
In fact, the Divine Net community, where deities gathered to chat, was filled with endless complaints from gods struggling to manage rebellions or uprisings among their subordinates due to poor oversight.
It almost seemed like fate. For intelligent beings, curiosity and free will were apparently things they could never relinquish.
[Asmora gives thanks for the mercy of the great existence]
That was why I ordered Asmora to remain in the breeding ground indefinitely.
Fortunately, my intent seemed to have been conveyed perfectly through Seira. There she stood amid the reconstruction of her ruined nest, gazing up at the ceiling slowly filling with earth.
‘Glad she’s happy about it.’
Asmora appeared simply grateful that I hadn’t cast her out. She seemed pleased at the prospect of staying in the breeding ground, right by my side.
To her—even Seira wasn’t permitted re-entry—the breeding ground was a cozy nest granted solely to her, the founding queen, and a sacred, vital origin point for the hive.
Yet I couldn’t just smile innocently at her pure emotions.
The real reason I wanted to keep Asmora confined there was to hold her hostage if needed, given her immense influence over the entire hive.
Now that I’d confirmed my power to wield strong influence within the breeding ground, it had become the ants’ safest domain—and one firmly under my control.
“...Hah.”
A wry chuckle escaped my lips as my face twisted.
Two emotions clashed within me.
The first was a wish that Asmora, whose purity bordered on madness, would learn a bit more.
The second was a hope that she’d never pick up the crude human tendency to exploit and scheme, even with that purity.
[Asmora prepares an aerial assault plan using her newly secured forces]
Asmora might be pure, but she was far from stupid.
Even after getting scolded and feeling dejected, she didn’t shirk her duties as queen.
She’d already devised a plan to turn the mages into Cordyceps hordes through a surprise attack—swift and secretive enough to evade even Divine Net alerts. All the pieces were in place.
From what I could observe, she intended to deploy them first on the elven frontlines.
‘So that’s when it happened.’
I’d wondered when Asmora had preyed on Cordyceps. It must have been when she’d brought in massive quantities of various ants to feed as fodder.
One of those must have been infected.
Back then, she couldn’t analyze it even after devouring it—but now, fully matured, she could dissect and utilize it freely.
A terrifying ability, without a doubt.
The power to infect with Cordyceps, seize bodies by force, and puppet them at will surpassed even the ants’ venom thorns in scope and immediacy.
Unlike venom thorns, it seemed impossible to preserve or adjust the host’s ego—but honestly, human egos meant nothing to Asmora.
“It looks like certain conditions are needed for complete infection and control, but even so, it’s a truly frightening power.”
Seira, having somewhat calmed down, was analyzing the infected Cordyceps legion in her own way as she watched them.
From what she explained, it wasn’t quite the omnipotent ability I’d imagined.
The host needed a certain level of inner energy, spore production consumed time and resources, and above all, since it forcibly hijacked bodies Asmora hadn’t fully analyzed, none of the hive’s abilities—like super regeneration—could be applied.
“If my theory holds, just a few battles will burn out their mana circuits entirely. Their irreparably damaged bodies will be reduced to useless husks, unable to fight.”
‘Thoroughly treated as expendables, huh.’
It didn’t seem like the infected Cordyceps legion would overrun the world anytime soon.
But it was still a powerful trump card and a game-changing wildcard.
Seira, clinging to the legs of soaring hornet ants, ferried the Cordyceps legion—each latched to dragon ant legs—toward the imperial southern frontlines to maintain the elven lines in secrecy.
“Thorough, aren’t they.”
I clicked my tongue as the screen showing Seira’s journey flicked off abruptly.
A stealth scout ant, cloaking fully engaged for covert movement, had been pierced clean through by a massive arrow from an elven auto-turret.
The elves were meticulous.
Aware of reconnaissance’s importance, they blocked it desperately while cultivating anti-air capabilities against the sky-dominating ants.
That made gathering intel on them incredibly tough for me.
Moreover, their deities never stirred in the community.
I’d been feasting on free intel from gods chattering carelessly, assuming safety against an outer god outside the Divine Net. A bit disappointing now.
“The elves have bolstered their firepower to hold us back. It’s questionable to call it magic, and dubious as an elven racial trait, but that’s what they’re using.”
As Seira described, the elves had developed god-taught techniques to counter the ants.
In cannon-like devices etched with complex incantations, they unleashed devastating shells. Sometimes, glowing gems fired condensed laser beams.
Laser weapons with no reload time? Even to me, their arsenal was absurd.
And as time passed with more resources in their hands, even deadlier weapons were sure to emerge.
“Their firepower is genuinely hard for our forces to match. But they’re complacent. They think our long-range bombardment is lacking.”
[Asmora asks if that was your plan]
“Yes. I figured using the mage battalion for burst magical firepower would create gaps in their artillery, and once our forces charge, our odds of victory would skyrocket.”
I could see Seira nodding in response to Asmora’s question.
She’d always been a mage, adept at fighting with spells.
Even during her rivalry with Asmora, she’d enraged the queen with that prowess. After joining the hive, she’d shone as its sole mage, performing like a strategic weapon single-handedly.
Plus, she’d absorbed the knowledge and legacy from destroying a god’s magitech civilization.
Seira was unequivocally the hive’s top magic expert.
[Asmora says that’s an inefficient method. The limits of the hive’s newly secured forces surpass that]
But Asmora scoffed at Seira’s plan.
She exuded confidence, telling her to watch how she’d use the Cordyceps mages in battle.
“...”
Seira fell silent at her queen’s words, but her expression struck me as odd even from afar.
Her pursed lips and faintly furrowed brow seemed to swallow a retort along the lines of What the hell can magic even do?
Seira followed Asmora’s will in most things and still feared her to some degree—but pride in her magic was one thing she couldn’t easily yield.
“The demons are coming!”
“This is endless. When the hell are the reinforcements rotating us out!?”
In the imperial south, war erupted as if it were routine.
At this strategic chokepoint—one that had to be held and seized—a scorched wasteland had already seen elves and ants clash dozens of times.
I understood the enemy soldiers’ grumbling on screen.
I’d grown so accustomed that I’d ignored alerts before, but today I had multiple screens up, watching intently.
This might be the day the tedious frontline balance shattered.
‘The enemies are overextending, no doubt. A hit here tips things heavily in our favor.’
The line held firm, but I’d seen this pattern plenty. They couldn’t push against the ants, so they fortified barriers and endured.
That focus kept the walls sturdy, but the strain inside was cracking them slowly.
The massive famine gripping the Lucardia Empire stemmed from that ripple effect.
With forces already crossing seas to nest and seize a key colony, spreading further, I figured even the elves couldn’t hold out forever.
“Fire!”
One difference: they weren’t pushovers, having survived and expanded thus far.
Countless shells streaked the sky, blasting charging ants into chunks.
Turtle ants fired back ant-bombs, but the ants still lagged in firepower.
Instead, they swept sky and ground, desperate to close in.
Even up close, the foes—armed with mechanical treants and bio-enhanced soldiers—didn’t crumple like wheat... but closing distance was the bare minimum.
This cycle—ants breaching barrages, clashing, sacrificing, retreating—was the norm.
And to break it? The Cordyceps mages.
“Look. Their artillery focuses solely on offense, leaving defenses lax. A magitech battery sniping them now could neutralize every big gun...”
Seira muttered regretfully.
She was convinced her approach was optimal.
Even to me, ignorant of magic warfare, her plan seemed flawless in theory.
[Asmora emphasizes to watch closely]
But Asmora pushed her own idea.
Visibly thrilled, as if eager to wield this newfound magical power at last.
“...What the hell is that?”
“What?!”
The Cordyceps mages—practically Asmora’s limbs—rose into the sky en masse, unfurling a massive magic circle.
Not just the battling foes, but even Seira gaped in shock.