Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Absolute Evil (4)
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The Queen Ant has discerned that the power embedded in the food she consumed is a different type from her existing powers. Instinctively, she absorbs and utilizes that power.
The Predation ability that the ants gained upon awakening as subordinates.
It didn't end with simply devouring prey.
They could fully absorb and analyze what they ate, then turn it against their enemies.
Even I had to admit it was a pretty overpowered ability, and they were wielding it on pure instinct.
The Queen Ant has confirmed that the newly absorbed power possesses the ability to amplify other powers, and she has used it to accelerate her own growth.
"Amplification, huh..."
Suddenly, I recalled the priests of the Golden Mandate Society using Holy Power to buff soldiers and knights.
The Queen Ant had instinctively used that power to strengthen herself.
Thanks to it, she shed her skin once more, evolving into a new form.
Her body had grown even larger, and her appearance was starting to break free from the limits of an ant.
Now, at the bottom of the breeding pen in the Queen's chamber, her size rivaled a hamster compared to the plain mealworms I fed her.
The Queen Ant has discovered a formula for mixing the newly absorbed power with her existing ones in optimal proportions, allowing her to produce stronger individuals more efficiently.
Having advanced another step, the Queen Ant now demonstrated the ability to freely mix and adjust her existing powers.
This meant that if worker ants fed larvae the precise ratios designed by the Queen, each individual could grow faster and stronger.
'Demonic Power: explosive but unstable. Mana: stable and versatile, but lower destructive power. Holy Power: highly expansive and counters Demonic Power.'
I opened my memo file, adding new details and refining the old ones to organize the data.
Thanks to the ants rummaging everywhere—both voluntarily and under orders—collecting vast amounts of information, I was quickly learning about that world.
Especially as the intelligence of the first Queen Ant, now evolved into the Swarm Lord, increased, the system notifications grew more detailed and frequent.
Combining that with the chatter from those fighting the ants, I could learn even more from my seat.
'Could these be the same powers I know?'
Something that had been nagging at me prompted me to play a video on TV.
It featured Korea's most famous man discussing Demonic Power and Mana in countless interviews and media appearances.
"How can I figure this out?"
Staring blankly at the screen, my interest piqued, and the corners of my mouth turned up involuntarily.
I already knew other worlds existed in this universe, thanks to the monster invasions starting twenty years ago.
With the ants' activities in that world and the existence of the Divine Net deity system, such events were becoming commonplace.
So naturally, there had to be overlaps.
I believed the Divine Net's automatic translations weren't coincidence.
Uncovering that secret would give me another tool to offer the ants.
The Queen Ant is instinctively demanding a wider variety of food.
Bloodline Adjustment Lv. 2
Utilizing information obtained through Predation, production units can be adjusted and new classes recreated.
*Currently acquirable data: Insects only
Of course, more pressing matters took priority right now.
After several evolutions, the Queen Ant had finally shed the limitations confined to ant species, preparing to prey on new lifeforms.
She was on the verge of truly transcending the boundaries of ants.
Whether she could acquire the traits and abilities of vastly different—calling them other races—remained to be seen.
'Time to experiment.'
This was worth testing through trial and error.
Unfortunately, it was already late night, the sun long set.
To get serious, I'd have to wait until tomorrow morning.
With my aid pushing the ants to further evolution, my heart raced with anticipation.
Was I always the type to enjoy this?
Honestly, setting aside the ruthlessness of devouring humans without mercy, watching them was far more engaging than ordinary ants bumbling around in a breeding pen.
"Vanguard annihilated...? Impossible. That can't be right!"
"I-it's true, sir. Fewer than ten escaped alive."
As the ants' master celebrated the victory and envisioned a bright future, using it as a springboard for further self-evolution.
On the opposite end, shock rippled through others.
The subjugation army's main force, upon hearing of the vanguard's total annihilation, buzzed in disbelief as they prepared to invade the ants' territory.
"I can't believe it. Monsters immune to Holy Power?!"
Baron Radion of the Golden Mandate Society—a priest ordained by the Goddess's blessing—shook his head in denial.
The survivors' reports on the blade ants were that shocking.
Not even a sudden swarm tens of times their number should have wiped them out.
Especially the Golden Mandate Society members wielding Holy Power—they should have at least carved an escape route.
"Does this even make sense? Those wicked subordinates of an Outer God are supposed to be born from Demonic Power."
Baron Radion turned to Daniel, who sat silently in disbelief.
By their calculations—or rather, by the 'oracle' they trusted above all—ants rooted in Demonic Power like the monsters should be vulnerable to Holy Power.
The loss of their greatest weapon's elemental advantage left them reeling.
The ants were formidable in combat, with meticulously organized tactics bordering on ruthless.
Without Holy Power to counter that, it was a grueling fight.
'What's going on? Has something major gone wrong?'
Seira gauged the tense atmosphere.
She had joined despite the fear etched in her memory, to witness the Golden Mandate Society purging the world-ending Heralds of Doom.
Seeing their Holy Power repel the ants firsthand, she had begun wondering if they truly were the saviors of the world.
"We can't rule it out. For now, halt the subjugation and retreat to investigate properly."
"We can't do that. Come with me a moment."
Daniel rose at the Baron's call to pause the operation, pulling him aside.
"...Go listen in."
Seira discreetly summoned her familiar.
A tiny flying squirrel emerged from her bosom and sneaked toward their tent.
"The Goddess hasn't issued any new commands yet, so retreat isn't an option. Besides, we're not here just to kill those monsters, are we?"
Daniel insisted they couldn't withdraw. Politics heavily factored into his reasoning.
"We must seize this region entirely through this incident. Retreating now will derail the plan."
"Have you lost your mind? One misstep, and we're all wiped out!"
"Most of them are conscripts and mercenaries from the area anyway. Factoring that in, total annihilation might be preferable to retreat."
The Baron's eyes widened, but Daniel only smirked.
Annihilation? No big deal. The key was whether they could bring these northern territories under their control later.
What mattered was a strong pretext—enough for the locals to beg for their protection in tears.
'Whatever She desires, I'll make it happen.'
To Daniel, the Goddess's will was paramount.
For the one who chose him, he could sacrifice lives or anything else as offerings.
And that Goddess had clearly conveyed her strong intent to Daniel and the Golden Mandate Society.
Seize regional hegemony now, building toward continental—and eventually world—domination.
"Emergency! The enemy is advancing!"
"See? They're handing us the perfect justification since they can't let us flee. You get it? The Outer God's minions will keep coming relentlessly."
Urgent reports of the ants launching a full assault arrived then.
Daniel chuckled, patted the Baron's shoulder, and strode out of the tent.
The subordinates hunt their prey before it can flee.
"Dragging this out gains us nothing. Even if the Holy Power-immune ones aren't numerous yet, more will come, putting us at a disadvantage."
The two forces shared the same thought.
The ants sought to hunt the massive prey before it scattered.
The subjugation army wanted to fight before the ants grew in number and strength.
"Reports say those special monsters look like this."
The subjugation force's top priority was naturally the ants immune to Holy Power—those raised purely on Mana.
Daniel ordered them blocked first.
He believed neutralizing them would secure victory.
The subordinates commence their planned operation.
"...Wait, why are there so many?"
One fact the subjugation army overlooked: they'd already given the ants too much time.
Not long ago, when they first encountered the ants in the north, their numbers weren't this vast. But the moment the swarm deemed more troops necessary against the enemy, they exploded in size during that short window.
Lower queens focused on laying eggs nonstop, and the real-time growing horde had claimed the entire vast undeveloped forest as territory while the south route was blocked.
Plus the first Queen's even more efficient feed formulas.
The result: an army in the tens of thousands now descending.
"Ants' essence is sheer numbers, after all."
Jin-hyuk murmured in quiet admiration at the sight.
The vast plain swarmed with a massive ant legion, spreading like paint soaking a canvas.
By individual count alone, the head-on assaulting ants already outnumbered the subjugation army fivefold.
'Who told you to get complacent?'
To Jin-hyuk, their master, the Golden Mandate Society had been too fixated on distant futures.
Even with the absolute evil they labeled right before them, their political maneuvering was now backfiring—threatening not just them, but all human forces in the region.
"No choice now. Dig in and fight. If we don't stop them here, the whole area falls."
Peering through binoculars at the varied mutant ants interspersed among them, Daniel broke into a cold sweat.
No time for future plans.
If that many ants scattered toward territories and locales, most would crumble like sandcastles before a wave.
What value would northern lands have later if ants slaughtered everything larger than a certain size?
"Ahh..."
Among the mages, Seira gripped her staff, her large blue eyes trembling with her body.
The ant horde surging like a tidal wave rekindled memories of her homeland razed by bandits that fateful day.