Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Precious Thing (1)
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"What exactly are the conditions for this intelligent being that the system is describing?"
I asked the Divine Net, forcing myself to stay calm.
This was clearly an important situation, so it was crucial to get precise information right now.
The question about intelligent beings was the same. Until recently, the term "intelligent being" in my mind meant humans.
But watching the ants over the past while, I'd seen plenty of non-human intelligent beings—not just slightly clever beasts, but that excelled over humans in certain ways.
That's why the phrase "certain intelligent beings" rubbed me the wrong way.
If humans weren't included in that "certain," it would be a problem.
In that world over there, plenty of non-human intelligent beings appeared, but right now, there weren't any around me.
Even now, with gates opening, Outer God minions invading, and new humans called Hunters born from the system created by the Deities' united efforts—even elves, orcs, and dwarves were still just fantasy tales.
Intelligent Being: A being with intelligence above a certain threshold, as defined by the Primordial Assembly that established the Divine Net. Humans are the prime example.
"...Humans are the prime example."
It was a somewhat obvious answer, but it cleared up the most pressing concern for me.
I was curious about what the Primordial Assembly was, but this wasn't the time to chase down every rabbit hole out of curiosity.
'Either way, it means we can feed it to humans.'
I stared intently at the breeding pen.
While we were fighting elsewhere, the Goblins' Deity faced defeat in the competition and bestowed part of its own divine authority to its subordinates. That power now dwelled in the last surviving ones.
The elves had tried to defeat them and seize that authority—the sacred artifact.
Even a tiny amount of a Deity's authority could be converted into immense interference power, and it represented a massive achievement the subordinates could accomplish.
From my perspective, having seen multiple times how other Deities thriftily used their interference power to create powerful heroes and accelerate civilizations, I couldn't just stand by and watch.
In the end, As mora and the ants snatched it under my orders.
And they devoured it in one go, preparing to leap forward again with that power.
'The Divine Net confirms humans count as intelligent beings. But we don't know if humans are included in the "certain intelligent beings" that As mora can devour right now.'
It seemed an experiment was needed. If As mora couldn't accept humans, it would probably just spit it back out again.
I didn't have much aversion to feeding it humans.
From previous experiments, I'd already confirmed that As mora could perform genetic predation using just a body part that retained some freshness.
And there was no need to bring in someone else.
I picked up a sharp knife and deliberately sliced my own hand.
"Kuh..."
Insufficient current divine authority and interference power to contain Divine Blood authority.
The moment blood flowed from my finger and dropped into the breeding pen,
it met fierce resistance with a crackling sound, and the blood evaporated into mist.
Startled, I realized the Divine Net was rejecting my blood.
'Not treating me as human anymore, huh?'
I was born human, but I'd awakened as a Deity solely because I was the master of these ants.
Transcendent divine authority flowed in my blood—it was Divine Blood capable of creating sacred artifacts.
That's why, with my current divine authority and interference power, it was impossible to give my blood to As mora.
"Guess that's how it is. My blood... I'll give it later."
I muttered with a wry chuckle, instinctively convinced.
In the future ahead, the moment my blood as a non-human Deity entered As mora would surely come someday.
"Ji Ye-eun, is now a good time?"
Having grabbed my coat and finished preparing to head out, I called President Baek Jin-seong, who was diligently running the company and steadily supplying me with magic stones and funds.
Just give it blood from another human besides me.
And to be safe, preferably from one of my subordinates.
Even better if it was someone who'd successfully received a partial transplant of As mora's abilities.
-The newly born A-rank Hunter, expected to reach S-rank, announces continued affiliation with Han-geol without transfer...
While waiting at the meeting spot, I checked the news.
It was an article about Ji Ye-eun's exploits. Not long ago, she'd accepted the hive mind into her human body because of me and been reborn as a new existence.
The video attached to the article showed Ji Ye-eun floating dozens of swords around her, shredding Void Hounds—minions of the Outer God Nezahel, classified as A-rank magic beasts.
Her combat prowess was already beyond A-rank. In fact, Ji Ye-eun was now leading a Hunter team affiliated with the company, racking up achievements and skyrocketing her fame.
'Maybe I can expand my influence on Earth too.'
I saw potential in her activities.
My goal was to drive out both the Outer God minions trying to devour Earth and the Divine Net Deities aiming to turn it into a colony for future wars.
But raising ants to attack their territories might not be enough.
So I thought that growing my own forces on Earth could solve that problem.
If there'd been no way, I'd have given up early, but with Ji Ye-eun awakening to the hive mind and becoming the queen of the "human hive," if she grew even more, it wouldn't just be a disguise for procuring magic stones—I could aim for much more.
"Proxy."
She arrived while I was thinking.
I cleared my throat and dismissed the screens visible only to me.
"Team Leader, sorry to call you out of the blue."
"N-no, I've been waiting for you to call anytime."
Ji Ye-eun wasn't in casual clothes but a black bodysuit—a type of Hunter combat gear. As President Baek said, she'd rushed straight from the field.
But her eyes held anticipation rather than resentment.
Knowing the source of that anticipation, I gave a wry smile.
"I'm not here to give you something today. Quite the opposite—I'm here to take something."
"Pardon?"
"He needs your blood. Not much, just a little."
Having received the hive mind from me and reached a realm unattainable for normal Hunters, she'd probably hoped for another miracle from me. Unfortunately, I needed to extract human genes from her.
"If it's His command."
But she neither disappointed nor refused.
Instead, she willingly offered her arm for me to take her blood.
"Thanks to you, Team Leader, the company's piling up achievements and growing fast. Is there anything you need?"
To ease the awkwardness, I spoke first.
Come to think of it, being able to converse freely like this as master and subordinate Deity was pretty overpowered.
No need to spend interference power issuing oracles.
Of course, Deities could do this anyway in their main sanctuaries where their true bodies resided.
"It's not so much something I want as something unusual I need to report. I was going to tell the president so he'd relay it to you immediately, but since we're meeting, I'll tell you directly."
But what Ji Ye-eun brought up was unexpected.
Her face serious, she told me what she'd seen today.
"A watcher?"
"I first sensed a faint presence a while ago. But today was the first time it felt this clear. It definitely wasn't a normal gaze. It's some kind of surveillance ability."
She testified to a gaze watching her.
Not just during official work, but even at home during private time.
"Even coming here, I felt it following, so I deliberately zigzagged my route to shake off any tail."
"...Stalking crimes against famous Hunters are common these days."
"But is it really just a simple stalker?"
"Hard to say."
I couldn't answer easily.
In this era, Hunters—celebrities on par with idols—did attract stalkers.
But it was undeniable that Ji Ye-eun was a subordinate under a Deity, that Deities waged covert wars against each other by targeting rivals' subordinates.
"Reporting to the police is the most standard approach, but if He permits, I can investigate personally."
Ji Ye-eun requested permission for her to investigate directly.
It could lead to clashes with other Deities' subordinates.
'Ridiculous. We can't just keep avoiding confrontations.'
But I was done merely avoiding conflicts with other Deities.
Clutching a small vial of warm blood, I permitted it and ordered her to personally hunt down whoever dared watch us.
First priority was identifying them properly.
If it was an enemy too strong to handle, we'd stay on guard. But if they were insignificant, it wouldn't hurt to have Ji Ye-eun capture and devour them.
"Here, this is what you wanted."
Leaving that matter to Ji Ye-eun for now, I hurried home upon returning and tossed her blood into the breeding pen.
As mora reacts. Detecting the fishy blood scent, As mora immediately orders the worker ants to bring it to her.
I grinned at As mora's immediate reaction.
What would happen? Could As mora really become human?
I was convinced As mora's intelligence—capable of devouring countless lifeforms and maximizing or adjusting their genes—already surpassed humans.
But high intelligence alone didn't make it akin to humans.
No matter how advanced, the fundamental thought patterns and structure were different.
To truly communicate with me, whose roots were human, and think in the same way, As mora ultimately needed to incorporate part of humanity.
'Devour...'
As mora drank the blood the ants brought, predating a human.
She vomited blood midway but recovered it and forced it back into her body.
As if determined to devour it at any cost.
And the effect was immediate.
As mora gains partial enlightenment.
As mora, who'd ordered the worker ants, began transforming her body into a massive cocoon.
"...!"
The moment the giant cocoon pulsed, I felt a strong sense of dissonance and staggered.
A sensation I'd never felt before scrambled my mind.
'Is this the bond of affinity?!'
The bond connecting a Deity to special subordinates granted true names.
It was a bridge linking them.
Until now, As mora's ego had been too weak compared to mine, making it one-way traffic. But now, for the first time, a signal reached me from the other side, breaking the one-way flow.
It meant As mora's ego had grown as firm and solid as not to yield to mine, while simultaneously becoming similar enough to me that I could perceive and understand it.