Chapter 121
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Precious Thing (2)
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‘Too big a meal... I can’t swallow it all.’
Jin-hyuk had experimented by feeding her the easiest prey to obtain—no, the only prey he could realistically acquire at this point: a human.
However, the conclusion was clear. Human genetic information was still far too vast for Asmodra to handle.
What she truly needed right now was prey on the level of a “normal” goblin—one recognized as a sapient species but lacking divine blessings and possessing relatively low intelligence.
In normal circumstances, fully devouring a sapient being on par with a human would require Asmodra considerable growth and time.
‘No way.’
Yet Asmodra knew it was impossible. Even so, she forced it down, stubbornly gulping Ji Ye-eun’s blood despite the intense strain on her body.
This was the result of her fierce desire and obsession—the conviction that she had to devour it completely and make it her own.
She had consumed countless humans back in Edelion.
Among them were renowned powerhouses and superhumans who had transcended their limits through divine blessings.
But this offering, infused with the power of a deity like Jin-hyuk, contained something none of those humans had possessed.
‘This is the power of humans.’
In the end, through obsession beyond imagination, Asmodra broke through her physical limits and forged a new path. She absorbed a portion of human genes and began evolving once more.
[The subordinates sense a change]
As always, the entire hive—each member going about their tasks—sensed the queen’s evolution.
This was another leap beyond limits, distinct in nature from all previous evolutions.
“No way, is this...?”
Seira Redenverk, who had been taking a brief rest after wreaking havoc across the Elf Empire with the special forces, also noticed the subtle shift. A fragment of her mind was linked to the hive consciousness.
Instinctively sensing something, she spread her wings and soared into the sky in one breath.
She headed straight for the primordial nest where Asmodra resided—to witness it all with her own eyes.
“My queen! It might be better to wait a little. If you mutate too hastily, who knows what you’ll turn into!”
Seira sensed that Asmodra was pushing herself due to her obsession with humans and her longing for Jin-hyuk’s love. She tried to dissuade her.
It wouldn’t be bad for Seira herself—whose roots were human—if Asmodra grew closer to humanity. The problem was the uncertainty: an incomplete evolution without proper preparation could twist Asmodra in unpredictable ways.
Before joining the hive, Seira had devoted herself to ant research. Now, as part of it, she knew them intimately.
She had long realized that evolution wasn’t a straight path to one correct answer. It was a variable that multiplied possibilities, impossible to predict even one step ahead.
“This can’t be...”
Rushing to the primordial nest—Jin-hyuk’s breeding enclosure—Seira arrived and murmured in a daze.
Jin-hyuk’s breeding enclosure no longer functioned as a typical nest. Per his will, it had become a palace solely for the primordial queen, Asmodra, where she would remain indefinitely.
Even there, in the largest queen’s chamber, a massive pupa occupying over half the space had already split open. Only sticky mucus and bodily fluids remained.
‘Wh-where did she go?’
Seira was merely connected to the hive consciousness; she lacked the ability to manipulate it freely. Thus, she couldn’t interfere with higher-ranking queens like Asmodra.
With Asmodra concealing her presence in both the hive consciousness and reality, Seira couldn’t locate her.
Scanning around futilely, Seira cast a spell to illuminate the surroundings with magical light for a better look.
“Eek!”
In that instant, something lunged from the darkness, shoving the startled Seira to the ground.
She nearly stopped breathing in terror.
Her widened eyes reflected a stranger with long, dark black hair cascading down, straddling her fallen body.
“Queen...!”
The mask on her face dissolved smoothly, revealing the hidden visage beneath.
Seira instantly recognized her through the immense presence reappearing in the hive consciousness. This mysterious beauty was Asmodra. She gasped in shock.
Snow-white skin, long straight hair, sharp features.
Her eyes, however, were dyed abyss-black, with crimson pupils glowing faintly within the darkness.
“Se...i...ra.”
Soft pink lips parted, revealing a red tongue.
Like a child babbling, awkward yet crystalline words emerged in a voice of stunning beauty.
Asmodra, now possessing human vocal cords, had spoken language for the first time.
The faint smile curling her lips as she gazed at the flustered Seira was natural and vivid—no longer needing forced manipulation.
‘I’m happy.’
Just before breaking free from the pupa, Asmodra had checked her status and was deeply satisfied with her evolution.
Devouring and absorbing a sapient being officially recognized by the Divine Net was a paradigm shift from her prior feedings and evolutions.
For starters, her very mode of cognition had changed. Higher intelligence allowed for entirely new thought patterns.
Seeing and hearing the same things, she could now contemplate far more.
She could entertain more complex ideas on the same topics and view them from entirely novel perspectives.
She had finally gained the power of freer, vaster imagination.
It was as if she had optimized the formidable hardware of her hive consciousness and developed brain with an efficient operating system.
Asmodra felt the clarity of swapping dirty, smudged glasses for pristine ones.
“She kinda looks like... Ji Ye-eun and Seira...”
Jin-hyuk, staring blankly, murmured softly in surprise upon seeing Asmodra emerge from the pupa.
As he observed, her current face and body bore traces of both Asmodra’s original form and Ji Ye-eun’s.
Her face, especially—minus the deep black hair—was a spitting image of the naturally beautiful Seira. A stranger might mistake them for twins.
[Asmodra now believes the Great Being will bestow love upon her as well]
From the start, the primary reason Asmodra risked side effects to devour human genes immediately was appearance.
After maturing somewhat, she had vaguely sensed that the deity Jin-hyuk harbored emotions toward others different from what he gave her.
And that faint emotion wasn’t directed solely at Seira. It activated toward any woman she deemed beautiful by her standards, like Ji Ye-eun.
“Mm...”
Caught off guard, he couldn’t deny it.
Seira’s beauty had caught his eye from the first moment, and that instinctive human attraction was undeniable.
Naturally, it was an emotion he could never give Asmodra. Besides, compared to others, it was so trivial it could be ignored.
But Asmodra, who craved everything of Jin-hyuk’s, couldn’t tolerate another possessing what she lacked. Cycles of envy and jealousy led to this fateful decision to claim it.
‘Indeed.’
Perhaps it was the right call, striking at the core.
Jin-hyuk’s feelings had shifted upon seeing her transformed at this moment.
From the outset, Asmodra had evolved from a commonplace pot-bellied, six-legged queen ant, through grotesque hybrids, to something finally resembling a human.
Jin-hyuk, who had built deep bonds with her over that time, couldn’t help but feel differently.
“My queen, from what I see, your evolution isn’t fully complete yet.”
[Asmodra does not deny this]
Regaining her composure and rising, Seira swallowed dryly as she faced Asmodra.
She resembled a human in many ways, but strictly speaking, Asmodra hadn’t perfectly replicated one.
Having poured all limited resources into visible appearance, her body was profoundly alien beneath the surface—hardly human.
Her blackened eyes and the black bodysuit-like exoskeleton covering her body were the first clues.
Unlike Seira, who wore leafcutter ant armor over intact flesh, Asmodra’s exoskeleton was fused with her very body.
Her graceful curves rivaled Seira’s feminine form, but the organs beneath—reproductive, digestive, and more—differed vastly from human ones.
Even using vocal cords felt unfamiliar, so she still favored hive consciousness communication.
This was the instability Seira feared: incomplete absorption of human essence.
Yet Asmodra was content for now.
Through her sharpened connection to Jin-hyuk, she sensed his gaze had changed.
It wasn’t solely due to looks, but Asmodra didn’t grasp that yet.
She simply mistook it for “love,” as she’d once overheard, and immersed herself in the delusion.
‘If the queen absorbed only humanity’s wicked traits...’
Seira had accepted becoming one with the ants to save as many humans as possible, but she knew humans weren’t flawless.
Humans could be each other’s greatest enemies.
If Asmodra took those traits, she might become even more brutal and savage than her previously mechanical demeanor suggested.
“Magic...!”
Seira gasped as Asmodra extended an arm, unfurling a magic circle.
Fired at the nest ceiling, it blasted a massive hole through the thick rock, allowing bright light from outside to flood the dim underground cavern.
A cylindrical beam enveloped Asmodra like holy light.
Savoring it with arms outstretched, her body twisted. Cells erupted from her back and armpits, rapidly forming spider-like legs that carried her slowly up through the ceiling breach.
‘Maybe it was an unstoppable tide.’
Spreading her own wings and exiting via the passage, Seira beheld the scene and sighed softly.
A colossal finger from the sky had descended, and Asmodra clung to it blissfully.
It even stroked her head, affirming its intent.
To Seira’s eyes, Asmodra’s obsession and desire were absurdly potent—forcing repeated impossible evolutions. Thanks to it, the ant hive had grown into a force capable of confronting all other deities vying for world conquest.
This was the path they had walked—and must continue.
[All subordinates are stimulated]
The ripple spread across the entire hive.
Asmodra’s mental growth wasn’t confined to her alone.
The whole hive consciousness evolved in tandem.
Feeling the swelling vastness of it, Seira broke into a cold sweat.
She had already experienced once how it could shake her own standing.
Now, Asmodra even resembled her in appearance and wielded magic—once Seira’s exclusive domain—with ease.
Truth be told, Seira craved Jin-hyuk’s attention too.
If he ignored or denied her wishes, she couldn’t persuade Asmodra to halt a human massacre.
But she couldn’t exactly rush to that finger and shove her head forward for pets.
As Seira racked her brain, her expression gradually hardened.