Chapter 132
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 132
Chapter Title: A Worthless Endeavor (2)
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The expedition force attempting to cross the plains, reclaim the steppe orcs' homeland, and eradicate the ants' nests had suffered a crushing defeat against Bellona's nomadic horde, spearheaded by her overwhelming might.
At that very moment, Urmark, the deity of the steppe orcs, stormed into the community where deities gathering to pioneer Edelion congregated, demanding vengeance.
He cited sunk costs as his rationale, but in truth, it was his blazing fury and unquenchable thirst for battle that drove him.
Of course we need to invest more. Are we just going to let everything we've spent so far go down the drain?
A deity born from war could not tolerate defeat. To him, fighting on like a true warrior until the bitter end was the epitome of virtue.
Of course, he was not merely a warrior—he was also a deity commanding countless subordinates tied to his essence and his pioneer territory.
Posting in the community to rally other deities who could become his rivals stemmed from his battle lust, but more importantly, he had realized he couldn't stop the ants on his own.
Idiot. You gonna get stuck on sunk costs and pay an even bigger price? That Outer God is toying with us. Better to abandon the pioneer zone and let some greedy fool bring their main force to tackle it.
You lost and got chased out? Then shut up and scram!
Astregon, who had been lurking in the community, left a snide comment, and Urmark fired back in a rage.
The fierce debates among the deities raged on endlessly in the community afterward, but in the end, only one fact became clear.
They needed far more investment to stand against the current ants.
To keep pace with the ants—who devoured the genes Jin-hyuk provided to forge supreme physiques and mimicked and learned their foes' techniques to fill even their voids in skill—required massive interference from the deities.
'...At this rate, I might have to root for them too. If the pioneer zone falls now, that's a disaster for me.'
Jin-hyuk, who had been quietly observing it all, was slightly taken aback by the new information he'd uncovered.
Pioneer Zone: A new nascent zone designated by the Divine Net. Deities may engage in fair competition within a designated pioneer zone.
The pioneer zone, as described by the Divine Net, was a set of rules structured much like Earth's hunter system.
The Divine Net, which automatically sought out newly born deities, was a mix of top-tier deities and freshly awakened lesser ones.
Fair competition was impossible between high-ranking deities ruling countless planets alone and those beneath them, so the Divine Net guaranteed minimal conditions.
Specifically, within a designated pioneer zone, deities could draw no power beyond the interference provided by their subordinates there.
That was why the deities, even as they were stripped bare in Edelion overrun by the ants mistaken for the Outer God's minions, couldn't bring their main forces.
'We're not ready yet. Even after the pioneer zone ends, there's a grace period, but is it enough? The ants... they stop growing without something to fight.'
Jin-hyuk pondered gravely.
Unlike other deities, he couldn't impart advanced techniques to his ants.
Yet the ants never ceased evolving and growing because, from the start, they had endlessly battled, warred, and learned from their foes.
"For now, I need to squeeze every last drop out of the remaining enemies."
Muttering anxiously, he gazed at the battles unfolding on his screen.
The worst outcome would be winning the war only to be trapped in Edelion, twiddling their thumbs until the grace period ended.
The moment the pioneer zone's protection lifted, foes would swarm to purge the Outer God's minions and expand their own domains.
Before then, the ants needed to unify Edelion and acquire the means to advance to 'other worlds.'
For now, however, those means were severely limited.
The subordinates of the few remaining deities still battling the ants on this land.
'No idea how much they've invested, but the elves' deity isn't backing out yet either.'
Jin-hyuk confirmed Urmark's resolve through the community.
And the elves' deity, absent from the community, demonstrated equal determination by deploying new weapons to the battlefield.
This meant the ants still had room to grow further.
"Doesn't seem like an ordinary elf. Those markings on her body... could they be incantation formulas?"
Seira was flustered upon receiving reports of what had transpired while she was briefly away.
The modified elf holy warrior was that powerful.
It was a product befitting the power of an advanced civilization deity well-versed in elvenkind.
With scant data, she couldn't be certain, but even at full strength, Seira lacked confidence she could overwhelm her.
Moreover, over five such specimens had already appeared, tipping the scales back from the ants' advantage and restoring balance to the front lines.
"..."
Asmora, sitting silently, was understandably in a foul mood.
Her face behind the ant mask, propped on an arm draped over the armrest, was rigidly set, swallowing cold rage.
Asmora wasn't a pure war maniac who enjoyed battle for its own sake.
War was fun only because she won.
Losing was not just boring—it was utterly repulsive.
"Your Majesty, if they lead with the Elder Spine guarded by those holy warriors, no amount of troops will breach it. We should withdraw for now."
"I know that."
Seira offered her cautious opinion, but Asmora snapped back peevishly.
Realizing the queen's ire, Seira fell silent.
There wasn't much else to say anyway, and speaking further might invite repercussions.
'One great enough to discipline the queen wouldn't waver over this... but I...'
Seira felt a twinge of fatigue.
Not from this incident, but from the burdens piling up since she was semi-forcibly recruited into the horde.
Knowing Jin-hyuk wouldn't easily abandon her and trusted her had eased the pressure somewhat, but this wasn't mere pressure.
'Lonely.'
Loneliness—it was unmistakably isolation.
Since joining the horde, Seira had essentially been alone.
Ordinary ants possessed such feeble egos that communication was impossible, and even the queens capable of speech didn't view her as an equal.
Modified bodies aside, from Seira's perspective—her mind still largely human—the queens seemed childish in many ways.
Occasional visits to old ties like Count Merlen or Emperor Karian of the Lukadia Empire, whom she'd cultivated, were her only outlets for conversation.
And even those were strictly formal, leaving her feeling like an outsider in the horde.
It was natural for her to crave a 'comrade'—someone in the same boat to confide in, even unconsciously.
"Perfect. With this, we can avenge ourselves against those ants and achieve the feat of unifying this world!"
As the ant swarm momentarily recoiled like a receding wave,
Belphein, guardian of the 2nd Legion, had merged the remnants of the fallen 3rd Legion—whose commander had perished—into a new force, grinning ear to ear.
Burning with vengeance for his nephew Silian's gruesome death and the defeat, he had bided his time in the backlines, sharpening his blade for this very moment.
The moment he could personally battle the ants and exact revenge.
"Victory or death. I won't leave a single one of those horrific demons on this land."
Ordered to eliminate the encroaching horde's nest within the former Vanest Kingdom—where the 3rd Legion had failed—he smirked.
The encroaching horde's nest, integrated into the city under Seira's lead, was infamous for its ferocious defenses, but now he wielded the Elder Spine.
A weapon capable of obliterating the nest and the surrounding area with distant barrages.
"Guardian, thes express concerns. If the Elder Spine scorches the earth, rebuilding the occupied territory will demand immense time and resources..."
"Shut it. That's not what matters now. To wipe them from existence—how could there be no sacrifices?"
A subordinate ventured the concern timidly, but Belphein exploded in fury.
To him, the troops were consumables from the start.
With his nephew Silian dead in battle, even other elves were mere tools for his revenge now.
"Disgusting, Belphein. What makes you any different from those monsters? Dragging this world into chaos and slaughtering countless lives—is that truly the 'great feat' you seek?"
"Arié, after being recognized by the spirits as a holy warrior, you're still spouting this nonsense?"
Only one dared hurl such genuine contempt at Belphein.
Belphein twisted his lips at Arié's scorn, assigned to escort the Elder Spine.
"We must become the pinnacle race of this world. Otherwise, your end will be like that boy Silian—or like you!"
"Ugh..."
Belphein slapped her cheek, mocking her fully modified body.
Arié glared but couldn't resist further. For now, Belphein was her master.
Seeing the madness gleaming in his vengeance-fueled eyes, she abandoned further talk.
'I wish someone would just end him.'
Stepping outside alone, Arié rubbed her cheek and bowed her head.
The peaceful life amid the great forest she craved, her simple daily routines—all shattered by the kin she trusted.
Now even her body violated, unable to end her own life, exhaustion was inevitable.
She didn't want to fight anymore. She wanted to give up on living.
"Enemies...! Velzahad's witch is in their nest!!"
"Prepare the Elder Spine, quickly!"
Before such an Arié appeared a colossal ant nest fused with the city—and a black-masked woman.
As those around scrambled into battle preparations,
Arié took to the skies on fairy wings sprouting from her back, spotting her distant foe—a speck ascending with membranous wings like her own.
'I've heard you're a human witch who sold body and soul to demons.'
Drawing her sword to intercept Seira's approach with the flying unit and halt the Elder Spine barrage,
"Why?"
As the distant fly swarm morphed into a horde of massive beasts before her eyes, Arié cleaved Seira's lightning bolt in half with a golden slash, voicing her question.
To Arié, forcibly dragged and exploited, Seira's voluntary loyalty to the monsters made no sense.
Arié, clad in pristine white armor alongside the elf wingguard, faced Seira amid her variant ants in black exoskeletons.
At last, the two women locked eyes at close range.
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