Chapter 119
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Humiliation (5)
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“What in the world...!”
Central Council Chairman Saruel bolted out the moment he heard the news.
And upon seeing the scene before him, he froze in disbelief.
All that remained were utterly destroyed facilities and the shriveled, mummified corpses of goblins, every last one of them dead.
He knew full well the immense resources and time poured into this place, which only amplified his shock.
‘How could this happen?!’
By his common sense, none of it made any sense.
How the ants even knew about this place to launch an assault, how they breached the defenses, how they annihilated the guards and demolished everything in one fell swoop—none of it added up.
If he learned that this was the elves mimicking the blow Asmodra had taken from the enemy and returning it in kind—not to the orc kingdom responsible, but to innocent elves—he might have clutched the back of his neck in sheer absurdity.
“This is divine punishment.”
“Arie, you managed to survive somehow.”
Such was the mocking voice that greeted Saruel.
He turned at the chuckling sound and furrowed his brow at the golden-haired female elf bound by tree roots.
“Don’t be stubborn. You saw it yourself. The Outer God’s monsters seek to destroy this world and slaughter every living being upon it. Only we elves can stop them.”
“How... how can you be so arrogant?”
Called Arie, she muttered weakly, as if the words were too ridiculous to fathom.
In truth, the two had been debating this topic for quite some time.
The problem was that Saruel and the New Elves’ increasingly extreme actions had turned their conversations from parallel lines into outright opposition.
“If you won’t change your mind, you’ll spend the next few hundred years of your remaining lifespan bound there, unable to move.”
“Don’t play the hypocrite! You’re already a kinslayer who murdered many of our kin, including the elders. The only reason you haven’t killed me is because you... mmph!?”
“This facility is now closed until the World Tree issues its next directive.”
Saruel’s face hardened as he flicked his hand, manipulating the roots to silence her any further. A gag formed over her mouth, muffling the grating voice that always came from those unforgettable, beautiful lips. With that, he turned away.
“Are you really going to leave her abandoned here?”
“Yes. Until that stubborn spirit breaks.”
The atmosphere around him was sharp enough to make even his subordinates wary, yet his expression remained stern.
‘Even you won’t hold out forever. We live long lives, but opportunities to change our minds are just as finite.’
Saruel didn’t deny his own feelings.
Sparing the revolutionary refuser Arie, believing she’d eventually break and come around—it was all to possess her body and soul, which he’d coveted since ancient times.
‘I’m not sure exactly how much damage they took. It must have been pretty severe, though.’
While Saruel and the elves reeled from the sudden raid...
Kim Jin-hyuk was already assessing the aftermath.
However, since the elves involved weren’t active on the Divine Community, gauging the precise damage was impossible.
All he could confirm was that the elves had invested heavily, based on the reactions from other deities—including the goblin deity Stragus, one of the parties involved—who provided vivid on-site commentary.
“Sacred treasures... Can I make those too?”
The deities, Stragus included, were buzzing that the elves—who’d exploited goblins to plunder sacred treasures—must have suffered major losses.
The treasures’ value was far beyond what he’d imagined, leaving him muttering blankly.
Right now, though, their power was packed tightly in the bellies of returning ant flyers, mixed with goblin bodily fluids.
[Asmodra urges you to hurry and bring the new power to devour]
Asmodra, gripped by intense greed for it, was desperate to devour it as soon as possible.
‘I’ll leave that to Asmodra for now. Right now, I need to make the most of Seira, who’s proven her worth.’
Trusting the capable Asmodra to handle it, he shifted his focus elsewhere.
Seira’s raids—capturing both stealthy maneuvers and heavy firepower—had been so effective that they could even reshape the ants’ overall tactics, making them worth repeating.
“I agree. Elves are crafting powerful weapons to check our allies and procuring vast supplies from various regions. Disrupting that alone will push back their front lines.”
Seira was positive about her new role.
Attacking key supply lines and facilities to weaken them before a decisive push would result in far fewer sacrifices than a prolonged war of attrition.
‘...A two-front war is just too much, no matter how I look at it. If possible, I need to wrap up one side quickly.’
The orc kingdom and dwarf alliance had paused due to supply and troop loss issues, but once reorganized, the western front—now leaderless after losing their queen—could collapse entirely under the nomadic horde.
Jin-hyuk judged the current two-front bind as too disadvantageous.
At minimum, they needed to pin down one side firmly to focus on the other.
Seira would handle that.
Just like the previous success, she planned to raid and bombard key facilities and warehouses deep in the elf empire, then retreat to sow chaos.
“...What’s that sound?”
Zeke, a guard at a massive warehouse storing requisitioned supplies under elf orders, flinched at the fierce wind howling late at night and scanned his surroundings.
But he wasn’t too worried.
This was a safe rear position, protected nonstop by elf-made detection and defense magic arrays, plus mechanized tree giants.
The watchtower loomed like a lighthouse, casting faint light everywhere under strict surveillance—an ally that felt utterly reliable.
That’s why Zeke had jumped for joy when assigned here.
Though opportunities for glory were few, he was content as a commoner securing second-class citizen status through elf collaboration.
“Huh...?”
But then, something plunged from the sky before him, spreading wings with a massive impact.
Small enough to evade the expanded aerial detection magic against flying foes, yet packing firepower that shattered invisible barriers in one strike.
Zeke collapsed to the ground in terror at the overwhelming figure rippling with dark blue mana and the crimson glow piercing from its black mask.
“---!”
Only then did the alarm magic trigger, blaring sirens everywhere as patrolling tree giants charged with roars.
“Eek!”
Zeke curled up beside a massive foot slamming down next to him.
But Seira silently aimed her staff at the oncoming giants.
“---...”
Explosive magic shattered their bodies in one hit, setting them ablaze.
Her flames, unquenchable, engulfed the warehouse, incinerating all war supplies inside.
‘What in the...’
Zeke blankly watched her soar back into the sky just before confused reinforcements arrived.
This marked the moment Seira—who’d only operated on forward fronts—began terrorizing the elf empire’s rear with minimal forces, ingraining fear even among civilians.
“The 3rd Legion will deploy all forces to rear defenses, deviating from the original plan.”
“Damn that witch!”
Naturally, the elf empire quickly adapted amid the panic, bolstering rear guards and troops to counter Seira.
Of course, that weakening alone meant the ants had achieved their goal.
Poorly placed defenders would just feed Seira victories without protecting facilities.
Exactly like now.
“Gaaah!”
True to form, Seira struck another 3rd Legion supply site, unleashing a powerful lightning bolt at an elf knight charging with drawn sword.
Bound by chains from magic arrays, the knight couldn’t withstand the strike and burned to death, plummeting to the ground.
With their strongest knight felled in mere exchanges, the others had no choice but to watch Seira destroy the facility and depart.
The ants could swiftly reorganize under Asmodra even if Bellona fell, thanks to their hive mind.
But elves, lacking such unity, descended into chaos upon losing command-rank individuals, wasting time on pursuits or cleanup.
“...”
And besides deity Kim Jin-hyuk blankly watching the scene, there was one other.
[Asmodra asks if you feel anything from it]
In the dim hive mind space, Asmodra emerged from the shadows to address Bellona, who lingered alone watching Seira.
[Bellona says she understands why you made that choice]
Surprisingly, Bellona acknowledged Asmodra’s grotesque, human-mimicking form.
Desire and obsession were essential for hive queens. Only intense personal motivation allowed a queen to awaken ego, sustain the hive, and grow alongside it.
A queen’s growth intertwined with the hive’s.
Bellona had finally understood her sister Asmodra’s path—realizing it first and staying true to it.
‘Then tell me. What you truly desire.’
Asmodra extended a hand to Bellona.
If Bellona proved worthy, Asmodra would gladly aid her little sister.
‘What I... desire.’
Bellona’s resolve wavered.
Until now, she’d thought fighting and killing sufficed.
But that was only half a desire.
Killing and fighting weren’t enough.
She needed to awaken her true want.
Watching orc hero Scrumm’s might—who slew her—and Seira’s solo rampages fulfilling key roles, Bellona grasped it.
“This is...”
Jin-hyuk’s eyes widened in shock at the screen.
Asmodra, in the nest, had gulped down the goblin fluids via worker ants delivered by ant flyers, fully absorbing the power within and undergoing massive change.
Extracting dignity embedded in sacred treasures already fused into subordinates’ bodies was exceedingly difficult.
No wonder the elves invested so heavily.
Without proper tech, it demanded vast time and resources—but ants innately absorbed power via predation since awakening as subordinates.
A compensation for their primal, unthinking insect nature, unable to comprehend his words or will.
Now, that power partially absorbed a deity’s dignity, revealing its true worth.
「Bloodline Adjustment-8:Utilizes predation-acquired info to regulate produced individuals and create new castes」
「Omnicells-4:Hive mind influence extends to cellular level」
「Energy Conversion Formula-4:Transmutes absorbed energy into other types」
「*Partial sapient predation possible」
Though only a fraction, partially absorbing deity dignity brought Asmodra monumental change.
Long stagnant, deemed unable to evolve further by mere mass consumption, her next-stage evolution began.
[Asmodra awaits the great one’s grace]
Jin-hyuk’s eyes trembled.
The moment had finally arrived.
The very instant he’d imagined since becoming one with the ants’ fate.