Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Heaven's Will (1)
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“The Heralds of Doom are coming!”
“Even now, calamity is descending from the north. Those monsters kill and devour every living thing they encounter!”
Rumors about the ants had already been spreading for some time.
But as more and more refugees from the north began pouring in, the rumors gained unstoppable momentum. They were no longer idle gossip or distant tales to be dismissed with a click of the tongue.
“There are tens of thousands of them, swarming like a single organism. Even when soldiers tried to hold them back, the ants charged regardless of spears, tearing limbs apart!”
“The giant ones are covered in thorns dripping with poison, smashing through city gates with their immense strength!”
“Those massive brutes, bigger than oxen, with wings that shrug off direct hits from 3rd-circle magic unscathed—they're insane monsters!”
Those who had clashed directly with the ants or suffered losses at their hands shouted desperately to the panicked southerners, drawing from their own harrowing experiences.
They described just how horrifying and terrifying the ants proliferating in the north truly were.
Lords had abandoned their family territories, and refugees had fled their homes and possessions, arriving in tattered rags with barely their lives intact.
From nobles to common folk, the southerners couldn't simply ignore the sight. Gradually, fear of the ants began to spread among them as well.
“Aren't the rumors about the Outer God's minions a bit exaggerated? If fear spreads too wildly, it could backfire. I think we should keep it in check.”
Duke Rubert, the leader of the Golden Mandate Society—which sought to rebuild the royal family of the Karmion Kingdom under another name and unite the land under the Goddess Henes—mentioned the rapidly spreading ant rumors during a meeting with his close aides.
As a leader guiding the masses, he saw it as hardly a positive development.
“No, Your Grace. This is precisely the time for shock and awe.”
However, Count Merlen, who had recently returned from the north, stepped forward to contradict the duke.
“Fear... sometimes it's exactly what's needed. And now is that time. The local lords who still refuse to submit to us will crumble under that terror—they won't be able to hold out any longer.”
Far from agreeing, Count Merlen, who had been dispatched to the north and witnessed it all firsthand, insisted on scattering the refugees far and wide to amplify the fear.
The more they spread vivid testimonies about the ants everywhere, the harder it would become for local lords opposing the Golden Mandate Society to resist.
“To stand against them, we must first unite all our strength. Surely the Goddess desires this as well.”
“Hmm...”
The duke let out a low hum at his words.
He was the leader, true enough, but even he could not defy the will of Goddess Henes.
They were, after all, her Deities' subordinates, and it was thanks to her that they held their current positions with all their power.
No one there wished to reject the Goddess or lose her favor.
“Your Grace, time is short. Now that those wicked beasts have set their sights on us instead of the western orcs, we must prepare to the utmost. And to do that, our first priority is to place everyone in this land under the Goddess's banner.”
“Very well. You are right.”
Glancing cautiously at the composed Count Merlen, the duke finally nodded.
If they strayed from the true path, the Goddess would intervene as she had before.
Her silence now meant she approved of Count Merlen's proposal.
In the end, the duke decided to implement the count's plan.
“Are these the proud holy knights and priests of our order?”
“Yes, Your Grace. Even now, many more are being swayed by the Goddess's power and seeking to join us.”
But Count Merlen's plan, born from his defeat in the north and his own eyes witnessing the ants' might, didn't end there.
Having earned the duke's high regard for that experience, he had been granted partial authority. Now, he gathered the holy knights and priests who had joined the order and gazed upon them.
“Indeed, even excluding those gathered here, far more have joined since I left.”
He nodded approvingly.
Goddess Henes, compelled to rapidly expand her influence as a Deity amid fierce competition, showed no regard for birth, occupation, or origin.
She lent her power solely based on ability.
Even a lowly commoner adventurer or a blocked flat knight could rise to become a holy knight or priest—and attain high status—if they proved capable.
This disregard for traditional hierarchies was one reason local lords so vehemently opposed the Golden Mandate Society.
“Yet there are still many who reject us. Fools, ignorant and shortsighted, who see the opportunities the Goddess offers as threats to themselves.”
“That is...”
“We can no longer tolerate it. The black tide surging from the north will swallow everything in its path.”
He smirked, curling only the corner of his mouth.
The chill in that cynical smile made those around him shrink back.
“We must prepare for war from this moment. The designated defense lines will have received the communication spells by now and begun moving against those monsters. But we have a different task. A great purge.”
What he had resolved upon was nothing less than a grand purge.
Discarding all previous attempts at grace periods or persuasion, it would force every soul: join the Golden Mandate Society and serve the Goddess, or die.
'It can't be helped.'
Standing at the railing, he bit his lip as he watched the crowd below cheer fervently at his declaration of judging the heretics.
These were the ones specially selected for their deep faith—those saved by the Goddess, those who had risen through her grace.
Of course, Count Merlen knew this was a double-edged sword.
But their options and time were far too limited.
No one knew when the nest-building ants in the north might strike again.
Scout reports arriving periodically indicated they were already constructing new nests in abandoned lands, with even stranger new variants appearing.
In such an unprecedented crisis, playing nice as in the past was a luxury they couldn't afford.
“Depart now! In this perilous time for the world, judge the traitors who dare reject the Goddess and ally with demons!”
With his declaration, the grand purge began in earnest.
The holy knights and priests here served as squad leaders of sorts.
Dispersing to various regions, they would command the other believers assembled there and launch full operations.
“Heretics who not only reject the Goddess but collude with the wicked beasts of the Outer God!”
“Seize them all!”
The Golden Mandate Society's relentless advance, swords drawn, erupted across the entire kingdom.
It resembled the fanaticism Daniel the inquisitor had unleashed unchecked in the north—now replicated in villages and towns everywhere.
But this purge wasn't the rampage of isolated zealots; it was orchestrated directly by the order itself, with clear goals of internal unity and reorganization.
There was no escape.
Those still refusing to cooperate with the order faced two choices: be purged or be forced to join.
“What are their crimes?”
“They refused to join and tried to rally villagers to flee.”
“Not fleeing alone, but inciting others? Vile traitors. Hang them.”
Unlike before, the holy knights and priests leading soldiers gave no grace periods.
They announced immediate execution for any who didn't join on the spot, mercilessly hanging the defiant or fleeing as examples.
“N-no! Spare the children at least! I was shortsighted!”
“Monstrous beasts threatening the world are growing right at our kingdom's doorstep. When all must unite to fight, you refuse? You're not mere traitors—you betray all humanity.”
The priest shook his head firmly, ignoring the piteous screams of a dragged man.
Such scenes weren't isolated.
Wherever the order's hand reached, countless hung from gallows.
To the kingdom's people, the order's roaming inquisitors were yet another terror.
“Unite our strength to fight the wicked beasts!”
“The Goddess will bless us! Uphold justice!”
Thus, brutal purges merged with the swelling evil rumors of the ants.
Cries from those fanatically invoking the Goddess piled on.
Refugees especially swelled their ranks.
Terror of the ants drove them to cling to any bastion of faith.
Calls to unite against the ants fit them perfectly as righteous justice.
Before long, the Golden Mandate Society seized control across the Karmion Kingdom, wielding unprecedented dominance.
“What is the meaning of this, Count Merlen? Our house has laid down our arms and agreed to cooperate fully!”
“I didn't want this either. Had you accepted the Goddess's choice and awakened Holy Power, we'd have forgotten the past and become true comrades, sharing all.”
Yet the process wasn't purely about rallying against the ants.
Count Merlen gazed at the bound nobles dragged before him and sighed with apparent regret.
They were local nobles who had surrendered unconditionally, regardless of age or gender.
“How can I trust you? The uneducated rabble are manageable enough. But you? Who knows when disloyal seeds might sprout.”
His reason for purging even the surrendered nobles boiled down to one: concentrating all power in the Golden Mandate Society.
He knew full well this was less about grand ideals or justice—more a pragmatic move to preempt threats and ensure convenience.
“...This is heaven's will.”
To the very end, he gazed skyward, but Goddess Henes did not intervene.
Finally closing his eyes, Count Merlen began chanting the incantation himself.
As the captives sensed the great magic that could slay them all in one blow, screams and chaos erupted—but his spell activated fully.
“Don't worry about it. I approved it, I ordered it, I carried it out. History will record it as such. If any future generations remain to read it, that is.”
Gazing at the corpses charred black to ash in an instant, Count Merlen turned away with a mutter.
“...!”
In the spot he passed without a glance, Seira Redenverk—grinding her teeth as she watched—finally collapsed as if broken.
'I... I had to do it... I...'
Clamping her mouth shut, she trembled before the countless heaps of ash that had once been people.
Strengthening internal bonds first to stop the ants. Drawing swords for it. Purging nobles obstructing power consolidation.
All of it had been Seira's own proposals, which Merlen had embraced without hesitation.
“No, I... I did what had to be done. This was all necessary... to stop them...”
For a time, visions of the ants from the battlefield flashed through her mind again.
Just recalling them made her jolt in terror, falling flat on her rear. Shaking, she struggled to her feet.
Tears streamed endlessly, but her blue eyes still burned with fierce resolve.
'This is my mission. For that, I'll do anything.'
She had been driven by one sole purpose for quite some time: stop the ants. And that conviction only deepened with each passing day.
“The bastards... the bastards are moving!”
Word arrived days later that the ant hordes had resumed their halted invasion.