Chapter 143
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Another Queen (2)
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“Ugh...”
“Don’t push yourself too hard. Your life comes first!”
While Ji Ye-eun, who had been fighting with sword in hand, staggered to dodge a flying, half-destroyed car.
In his urgency, Jin-hyuk connected through the hive mind via Baek Jin-seong and told her to fall back and preserve herself.
She was the core of the human hive—the queen.
The death of just one like her could lead to the downfall of the entire hive.
“But the people...!”
Ji Ye-eun gazed at the civilians caught up in the disaster without even a chance to evacuate.
Unable to flee to shelters, they were being swept away by the monsters pouring from the hole torn in the sky, falling victim to the monsters’ attacks and the aftermath of the battle.
“...”
Jin-hyuk, who had raised ants and witnessed countless wars and slaughters, also fell silent at the sight.
After all, this world was his homeland—his main base—that he was determined to protect by any means necessary.
Even if no one had yet realized he was the sole deity of unique Earth, as a deity, he couldn’t help but rage at this blatant invasion by enemies.
He was even considering heading to America himself and wiping out the gates and monsters with his own power if things got dire.
“Just buy us some time! I’ll try to seal the enemies’ dimensional gate for now!”
At that moment, Luianna, who had been with the hunters, paled as she drew up her mana and activated her magic.
Unlike her public image as a victim sealed in a dungeon by monsters, Luianna—a subordinate carefully dispatched by her deity—recognized the crisis and revealed her full power.
It wasn’t part of the original plan, but the situation was too dire; she had received orders from her deity and unleashed her strength.
“Protect her!”
The Silvergrove hunters focused their attention and strength beside Luianna, guarding her as she concentrated.
Factions and alliances meant nothing now.
The multinational hunters gathered in the area rushed to rescue those who hadn’t evacuated and to shield Luianna.
“---...!”
Nezah el’s subordinates, including the “off-spec” enemies that hadn’t fully crossed the gate, launched a total assault to kill Luianna.
Ignoring everyone else, the horrific creations of the outer god charged from land and sky, met by the unleashed power of the armed hunters, turning the area into a fierce battlefield.
“The gate’s closing! Keep filming?!”
Once her concentration was complete, Luianna, emanating blue mana from her entire body, fired a pillar of light toward the sky.
The beam struck true, and the massive tentacles that had been ravaging the city began to shrink as the dimensional gate’s size slowly diminished.
Not only those on site but the entire world watching the life-risking footage they shared gasped in shock.
After all, closing a gate with the power of a single individual was an unprecedented concept.
“Huh...?”
“Aaaah!”
But before the gate fully narrowed, the tentacles lashed out in a final spasm.
The massive tentacle was sliced off by the constricting gate and plummeted to the ground, while the area around Luianna and the hunters was devastated—earth shattering, buildings collapsing under the attack.
“Ah...”
If only I’d had a little more time.
Luianna, flung dozens of meters away and crashing onto the hard ground, grimaced as she panted.
No matter how strong she was, the impact was unavoidable.
Writhing amid the shattered asphalt that had collided with her body, she peered through the thick dust at the gate that still hadn’t fully closed.
Within the black vortex, a single gleaming eye fixed on her.
Only someone of her caliber could meet that gaze head-on and stay sane.
[Seed of Selfiriel...]
The outer god Nezahel recognized Luianna—and more precisely, the faction of the deity she served—through the eye of the observer he had dispatched.
After ages of interference not just on Earth but across other worlds, how could he not know them?
“Kuh?!”
The monsters swarmed to kill her.
The remaining ones seemed cute compared to the off-spec tentacle from moments ago, but the problem was that Luianna was drained of power, with no hunters left to protect her.
Panicking, she stared at the sticky black tentacle coiling around her arm.
And just as the monsters lunged from all sides, baring fangs and claws to finish her—
Dozens of swords flew in from somewhere, slicing through the monsters in a single stroke.
“You’re...!”
Luianna was startled to see Ji Ye-eun.
Clad in what looked like a hunter bodysuit, Ji Ye-eun kicked off the ground in an instant, her red-tinged eyes gleaming as she swung her sword.
“---!”
At the same time, the dozens of swords she had summoned moved as one.
The monsters charging again were shredded en masse, and amid them, Ji Ye-eun danced her swordplay, cutting down every subordinate of the outer god racing toward Luianna alone.
“Hoo...”
Even amid the choking dust and swarming enemies, Luianna’s green eyes sparkled.
Part of her mission involved scouting talent with far sharper eyes than Earth’s hunters.
Though Luianna had no intel and couldn’t even guess, Ji Ye-eun—fully fused with the shellback ant Tyrant—had long surpassed A-rank.
“You’re strong... and beautiful.”
“I know my role, but this isn’t the time.”
“Ah, as expected.”
Luianna sighed in regret, confirming that Ji Ye-eun was already a subordinate of another deity—and one trusted enough to receive “secrets” from them.
“The noise is dying down, so let’s fall back to safety first.”
Sheathing her sword, Ji Ye-eun scooped up Luianna.
From Luianna’s perspective, this was a precarious moment. In such an unexpected crisis, eliminating a rival’s key piece wouldn’t be strange. Her deity might rage and retaliate, but that was just part of the competition.
Yet Ji Ye-eun didn’t.
She simply carried Luianna to safety.
“Saving people comes first.”
Ji Ye-eun gave that curt reply to Luianna.
It even drew a smirk from Luianna—and the being watching through her.
“...”
Of course, they didn’t know Ji Ye-eun had already gotten everything she wanted.
After rescuing Luianna.
As Ji Ye-eun headed back to the scene, she glanced down at her hands, smeared with Luianna’s fresh blood.
The blood from her scraped wounds trickled into the body of the shellback ant disguised as her suit.
This blood, stored within the shellback ant, would be delivered straight to Jin-hyuk once she returned to Korea.
What will she do once she learns the truth?
The small vial left by Ji Ye-eun upon her return home contained a bit of fresh, bright red blood, as if just spilled.
Jin-hyuk stared at it, momentarily frozen.
This blood, saved at the cost of Ji Ye-eun’s life—fused with the shellback ant—would now go to another queen.
And that queen would conquer a world, just as before, spilling blood beyond measure compared to this vial.
Blood for blood. The only difference was whose blood it was.
It was no easy burden.
Jin-hyuk wanted to shoulder it alone, if possible, since it was already too late for him.
[Asmora shows interest]
As Jin-hyuk placed the vial of blood into the breeding ground, Asmora glanced over with interest.
Still sulking, she sat with arms crossed and legs folded as usual.
But the moment a worker ant on the breeding ground spotted Jin-hyuk’s action, Asmora couldn’t keep her gaze from drifting upward.
Her body twitched, and her legs—reacting in place of antennae—shook violently.
“A gift.”
The moment Jin-hyuk smirked and said that.
Unable to hold back, Asmora unfolded her legs and swiftly crawled out of her nest once more.
“Ah...”
Asmora aimed the butterfly mouth from her palm at the vial of blood.
The instant she slurped up the elf blood through it, she understood Jin-hyuk’s gift and was moved.
Is she apologizing?
Jin-hyuk chuckled dryly at Asmora’s flustered, sidelong glances afterward.
Beyond simple like or dislike, she had grown to the point where past misunderstandings and her own tantrums kept her from enjoying it fully.
Jin-hyuk stroked the head of the awkwardly prostrated Asmora, begging forgiveness, with his finger.
He wasn’t really angry, nor did he plan to scold her over this.
[Asmora vows victory]
Having received mercy and regained her spirit, Asmora showed renewed zeal.
To produce results satisfying Jin-hyuk, based on his gift.
Jin-hyuk watched Asmora’s resolve to slaughter even more enemies with a bitter smile.
It was too late to turn back.
All he could do was cheer her on to avoid a half-hearted end.
“If the great one has given the queen the blood of the elfkin, does that mean something elf-like will emerge from the hive...?”
“Not certain yet.”
Seira shook her head at Arie’s words.
Providing genes and Asmora fully assimilating them were separate matters.
Besides, Asmora had no intention of simply replicating the form of intelligent beings like humans or elves after devouring their genes.
Combining only the strengths and special abilities of each creature to create chimeras was fundamental to this mutant ant hive since its birth.
Asmora merely used portions of the elf genes she had actually devoured and absorbed, blending them with other creatures to birth entirely new monstrosities.
One example was modifying existing Askaron specimens to wield the elves’ Full Bloom Technique.
Though infused with elf genes, these variants—crafted solely from practical extracts—still looked like grotesque synthetic beasts.
The elf-like form Arie imagined was limited to how Asmora had tweaked her own appearance to better suit Jin-hyuk’s tastes.
But that was the crucial starting point.
Full Bloom Technique was a civilization born from spirits, magic, and machinery.
With elven power in hand, the ants had now reached the realm to wield it properly.
“Elder Spine...!”
Arie’s eyes widened.
One such was the Elder Spine—the most powerful artillery on this land until recently.
The ants had reinterpreted and modified it in their own way.
The new soldier bursting from its cocoon was enormous, rivaling a heavy-armored ant in size.
A massive crayfish body clad in chitinous legs, its backplate split open to reveal a detached spine that locked into place with metallic clicks, rising like a howitzer barrel.
This bio-weapon, drawing vast energy from the mana core within, far surpassed mere gas-explosion bio-bombs.
An ant-style Elder Spine, substituting bomb ants Tyrant for artificial spirits called Kyre, with mana-core-equipped mana hearts.
Vaporizing bomb ants Tyrant and amplifying through the barrel, a high-output beam cannon fired from the spine tip, slicing through the sky.
“Now, it’s ours.”
Asmora grinned at the sight.
Devouring something new was always a thrill. And using it to smash and devour yet another foe? Even better.