Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Fusion Body (1)
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[136 - Fusion Body (1)]
136 - Fusion Body (1)
'That must have been the real goal.'
Seira had sought a comrade with whom she could share a sense of kinship to keep her own heart from crumbling. But Queen Asmora's acceptance of Arie's corruption ploy and her alignment with it wasn't just about gaining one slightly stronger individual.
Drawing from her experience of leading Seira to dismantle the magic civilization and then absorbing it, Asmora intended to use the elf Arie as a starting point to probe the weaknesses in the enemy's techniques and civilization, and ultimately to mimic and master them for herself.
Jin-hyuk had clearly grasped Asmora's intentions.
There was no need to overthink it.
Unlike before, when they had desperately tried to destroy the Elder Spire at all costs, this time the ants were doing everything possible to preserve it intact and claim it for themselves.
"The, the Guardian has fallen!"
Following the unexpected death of Belphein, the Second Legion fell into utter chaos.
Arie, who had pierced the spirit barrier to assassinate Belphein, had already vanished from the scene. But with the elven empire's forces plunged into command disarray, they momentarily lost their bearings, milling about in panic.
The deputy—second only to the Guardian in rank within the legion—rushed to regroup the troops, but a fleeting gap was inevitable.
The ants didn't miss that opening.
Troops that had been hunkered down in deep tunnels in hibernation or retreated all the way to the sea suddenly awakened en masse and surged toward them once more.
"Aaaargh! Retreat! Hurry!"
"You idiots... Destroy the Elder Spire! Do it now!"
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, they panicked. Especially the vanguard troops, many of whom crumbled under the weight of confusion and terror.
With the order to destroy the Elder Spire going unheeded and the forces disintegrating, the ants dispatched elite units led by Arie to secure the Elder Spire completely intact.
"Including the Elder Spire, all the legacy the elves have accumulated since ancient times, and the apex civilization arts bestowed by that vile deity... I offer it all to the horde."
Having slain Belphein and seized the Elder Spire wholesale as her first major achievement, Arie bowed her head toward the Primordial Nest where Asmora resided.
She pledged to offer everything Asmora desired and to serve as her vanguard in doing so.
In truth, if it were just for Asmora's ears, she could have spoken directly through the hive mind.
But by deliberately removing her mask to reveal her bare face and prostrating herself right in the midst of the ants, she was following Seira's advice to appeal to Jin-hyuk, the deity watching over them from the heavens.
"In return, please show mercy to those who remain."
Gazing skyward in prayer, what Arie sought in exchange was fundamentally no different from Seira's wish.
Spare the innocent elves after executing the traitors.
'Not a hard request.'
Watching through the screen, Jin-hyuk had no intention of refusing Arie's plea from the start.
It was simply a continuation of what he'd been doing all along.
[Asmora laughs, as if she knew the great being would react that way]
Of course, Asmora had picked up on Jin-hyuk's unconscious reaction—one he himself hadn't fully noticed—and acted as if she'd expected it.
'Sigh.'
Jin-hyuk was dumbfounded and at a loss for words, but he gave up on explaining.
Elven beauty was undeniably top-tier even in his eyes, and reacting instinctively to it was beyond his control.
"Arie...!"
"What is the meaning of this? A descendant of the great priest siding with demons!"
With Jin-hyuk's permission, Arie sought out a few elves whom the ants had captured alive.
Bound tightly in spider silk, unlike the other slain elves, these had not undergone divine blessings like reinforcement rituals or implantations. They were mere followers dragged along or incited by the sin-elves, still with potential for redemption.
Of course, Asmora had proven she could sever an enemy deity's link and hijack subordinates if she wished, but even for her, it was quite 'bothersome.' For anyone less valuable than Arie, killing them outright was far quicker than converting.
"I believe this is truly the best path for our elves."
They recoiled in horror at the sight of Arie, now clad in hardened shell-armor ants and fully integrated with a parasitic worm fused into her body, one with the ant horde. She shook her head with a wistful expression.
"The entity known as the World Tree's spirit is merely another wicked god seeking to enslave us and exploit this world. So please, help us execute the true traitors and drive out this evil deity."
Arie pleaded with them so earnestly that tears welled in her eyes.
Alone, she couldn't fully transmit all the intelligence and data from within the elven forces to the ant horde.
She needed active cooperation from her kin to provide everything Asmora desired.
"Following Arie's words is the only way for the elves to continue surviving on this land."
Behind Arie, Seira gripped her staff and pressured them with a cold expression.
In truth, if the elves failed to prove their worth, even Seira, Arie, and Jin-hyuk would lack justification to keep them alive.
"Damn it..."
The captives despaired, splitting into two factions.
Those who trusted Arie, blamed the sin-elves, and pledged cooperation; and those who refused to ally with demons no matter what.
"We should give them one last chance too. If they see the truth with their own eyes, their hearts might change."
"The Queen won't refuse outright. But Belzahad doesn't coddle the worthless."
"...I know. I'll handle their care myself."
Arie requested that even those holdouts be spared and given time, keeping them imprisoned but alive.
In the end, securing a handful of collaborators and prisoners, the ants tossed the captives into a corner of the nest and dove into full-scale study of the apex civilization arts.
"..."
Using the hive mind to hammer vast influxes of acquired data into her massive brain, Asmora twitched her coiled legs, lost in deep thought.
It was one of the habits she'd developed since losing her antennae.
'Acquired techniques: currently irreproducible.'
The reason for her contemplation lay in the unique nature of the elves' apex civilization arts.
Just as the Lukadia Empire's forces, dreaming of victory through magitech suited to human bodies, had to devour human genes to create the Askalon specimens and wield proper magic...
The apex arts fused the elves' spirit magic, mana, and mechanical devices into a complex whole.
True fusion was a realm unattainable without mastery of every component.
Thus, to fully usurp the Elder Spire and its capabilities that Asmora coveted, her current abilities fell short.
'But what to do? I can't provide elven genes...'
Jin-hyuk, aware of her dilemma, let out a small sigh.
His presence was essential, as they could only analyze prey infused with his intervention energy.
The problem was that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't supply genes nonexistent on Earth.
[Asmora searches for an alternative method]
Instead, Asmora decided to focus on what she could achieve right now.
Among the subjects the elves had modified using their apex arts were humans— to them.
"This is the incantation ritual for implanting magic stones into humans."
"...I see."
Arie nodded as she eyed the ritual formula the technician described.
Naturally, she understood none of it.
But the moment Asmora saw it through her eyes and memorized it instantly, she possessed the knowledge and ability to comprehend and apply it.
"Additional armament: feasible."
"Our allies already have superior tech with mana hearts refined via cardiac fusion worms. The magic stone reinforcement rituals won't fully replace mana hearts... but merging them could yield even better results."
Asmora saw potential there.
Seira was equally convinced that applying the elves' prime enticement—their reinforcement rituals—to the ant horde would synergize powerfully with their existing mana hearts.
"A second cardiac fusion worm for that, huh? These ones make much smaller versions, so beta strain fits."
Jin-hyuk gave a faint smile at the massive new larvae sprouting under Asmora's orders.
Spawned to produce far smaller reinforcement stones than mana hearts from the large magic stones he supplied to the breeding pens.
Once they devoured, fragmented, and processed them internally into tiny reinforcement stones, those would serve as external power sources for tyrant-class and higher specimens.
"Th-then, is that all?"
"No, unfortunately, that's not everything the Queen wants from us."
The elves instructing the ants on the apex arts were taken aback by Arie's words.
"Heavens..."
Following her outside, they froze in shock at the distant sight.
Beyond the vast ant nest, a colossal turtle-ant·tyrant lumbered along, bearing something massive on its broad, sturdy carapace.
The Elder Spire, plundered from the elves.
Too underdeveloped to disassemble and claim its tech fully, it embodied Asmora's resolve to wield the enemy's weapon as-is.
'Sariel, was this truly the future you desired?'
Arie landed lightly before the Elder Spire, folding her wings, and gazed with conflicted eyes at the approaching Great Primeval Forest.
Memories of years spent there flashed rapidly through her mind.
Memories she could never return to, yet must preserve even in part.
"The Great Primeval Forest is in danger...!"
"We must muster the entire legion at once."
News of Belphein's death, her legion's collapse, and the ant hordes—Elder Spire in the lead—marching straight through the old Vanest Kingdom toward the Great Primeval Forest rocked the elven empire.
The central council, horrified, mobilized urgently to defend their homeland and the World Tree, even at the cost of abandoning their northward push.
Naturally, the ants seized that gap for a massive counterattack.
'This might be it.'
Jin-hyuk instinctively sensed that the protracted struggle with the elven empire was nearing its end.
They were already squeezing out power beyond their limits.
Forcing Arie into a holy warrior and treating her as expendable was something they'd never have done with any leeway.
'After the elves, the orc and dwarf forces in the northwest will be the last.'
Thanks to Asmora's reconnaissance scouts probing every corner out of curiosity about the world, he knew what the planet Edellion was like.
Once the elves' southern continental empire crumbled, nothing major remained.
Just a few remote indigenous tribes scraping by in small groups.
No need to bother with folk oblivious to the world's workings.
'Then what next?'
That was why he couldn't smile contentedly.
The ants needed foes to fight and devour. Learning through battle and absorbing enemies was their essence.
He had to find a solution before they eliminated every threat on this land.
[136 - Fusion Body (1)] End