Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Way of Survival (1)
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[Subordinates are wary of the special power dwelling in the weapon]
‘That’s the spear the orc was using. A divine spear imbued with a deity’s power.’
The ants discovered it while proudly sorting through the spoils after their victory.
I turned the screen, and there were worker ants twitching their antennae around a spear lying on the ground.
Its owner had already been torn to shreds and turned into a lump of meat for the workers, but a spear wasn’t something they could eat.
It was certainly flashier and larger than a normal spear.
Even the ants, who paid little attention to inanimate objects, couldn’t easily pass over this one, with blue power still rising from it like smoke—no matter how shiny or precious it looked.
The ants had grown too much to ignore something like that.
‘Vow of Crimson Pride. That was its name, right?’
I knew it took considerable cost for a deity to infuse part of their power into a weapon, even if it wasn’t as direct as granting power to a subordinate.
Besides, for a deity to interfere in a world, they needed subordinates and territory under their influence.
For the deities of Edelion, where development was still in its early stages, an item like that was a massive expenditure.
If it was lost without recovery, rolling around like this, it was a straight loss.
‘I hope they don’t just leave it behind. Hmm...’
I glanced to the side.
The ants were pulverizing the fallen orcs’ corpses, gathering stripped clothes and armor, then spraying venom to corrode them or burying them in the ground.
Metal scraps and cloth rags they couldn’t eat anyway—they were smart and tactical enough to destroy them thoroughly so no one else could recycle them.
But discarding a hard-won divine spear with the other weapons felt like such a waste.
Even if venom wouldn’t corrode it, if it fell into enemy hands, it could become a headache.
[Asmora orders the spear brought back to the nest]
“Hm?”
At that moment, Asmora seemed to read my mind and issued an order to retrieve the spear.
This wasn’t her acting on my will. She had judged on her own that the divine spear needed to be recovered.
‘Why?’
Watching the worker ant carry the spear in its jaws back to the nest, curiosity naturally arose.
What had Asmora seen to order it brought to her?
I couldn’t help but have some expectations.
Asmora, who received a steady investment of food every day, was still growing and evolving.
Now able to eat more and think more, what would she do next?
[Asmora orders it brought to the Great Being]
[Asmora believes the Great Being knows all knowledge they do not]
To my surprise, upon arriving at the nest, Asmora had the divine spear brought to the Great Being they were gradually coming to perceive more clearly.
In other words, to me outside the enclosure.
“So she just brought it to me because she doesn’t know.”
I chuckled at the notification.
Asmora hadn’t overthought it.
It was like a child going to a bigger, older adult with something they didn’t understand.
Since the entire colony, herself included, couldn’t figure it out, she was asking me—the one who guided them with new materials at times, warned of dangers, and led them.
‘Better than nothing.’
I was plenty satisfied with that.
It meant we were communicating more step by step.
This moment was even the first time they had initiated contact with me.
[Subordinates await the Great Being’s response]
Heading to the room with the enclosure, the worker ants dropped the divine spear on the floor and stared blankly at the sky.
Right under the lid on the transparent acrylic ceiling where I always added new materials.
“...”
I swallowed dryly and put on thick gloves for something I’d only imagined until now. I buttoned up my long sleeves tight, preparing for any unlikely mishap.
‘In it goes.’
And... I slowly reached into the enclosure.
I had no idea what the ants made of the sight.
By my standards, they just stared blankly as I pinched the tiny stick with two fingers and pulled it out.
I could understand their reaction.
If a giant hand descended from the sky and snatched something right in front of me, I’d freeze speechless too.
At least they didn’t charge in hostility or swarm it in curiosity.
“Ugh?! Gah!”
But as I fully pulled the divine spear out of the enclosure,
the tiny rod expanded in an instant and thudded down to full size before my eyes.
‘Still full of unknowns.’
I hurriedly moved the now life-sized divine spear—meant for orcs averaging two meters tall—to another room, then sighed at the gouge its blade had left in the floor.
I’d decide what to do with it later. For now, I tore open a bag of mealworms for the ants.
Rewards had to be certain. That was my creed.
Imprinting and training them like this would ensure they brought things to me without hesitation next time.
But mealworms and insect jelly weren’t cutting it anymore. Time to find new rewards.
The point was symbolism, but the ants had outgrown being satisfied with my mealworms.
“The orcs have been defeated.”
“No way... Didn’t you say all the orc tribes of the great plains had united their strength?”
“New variants kept appearing, and they lost in the final moments when victory seemed at hand.”
The orcs’ deity Urmark had broadcast the entire process on the Divine Community, so Goddess Henes warned her subordinates in real time via oracle.
Thanks to that, Count Merlen and Seira learned immediately of the bloody battle and its outcome on the distant plains, right from their seats.
“The ones that appeared at the last moment were definitely the same as those from the group you defined as the first colony not long ago.”
“That means...”
“One of your hypotheses was wrong. They’re not split. Both colonies move as one body.”
Deity subordinates didn’t always unite perfectly.
In fact, some deities pitted theirs against each other.
Based on that, Seira had thought the wandering colony on the western plains was a splinter from the existing one.
If true, the ants’ forces at the barrier might be somewhat divided.
But it wasn’t.
Her heart sank, and she clenched her fist without realizing.
“Flying monstrosities larger than Screaming Wings... We’ll need to devise new countermeasures.”
“That’s important, but how about slowing the pace a bit?”
Count Merlen shifted the topic with a serious expression as she forced the words out.
“Most people might accept it, but everyone in the mage academies knows you were behind the recent reforms.”
Seira was pushing every method to combat the ants alongside the Golden Mandate Society.
That naturally included overhauling deep-rooted customs and orders.
The monsters proliferating beyond the barrier couldn’t be stopped with old ways.
“Some stubborn, radical ones still call you the Witch of the Demonic Path and curse you. For corrupting the great, traditional essence of magic.”
“I understand. But I only did what had to be done. They can understand, but I won’t compromise.”
“...It’s not just them. Some noble houses already in the Golden Mandate Society dislike you too. Because you pushed to establish the academy and accept talent regardless of birth or status.”
No matter the absolute evil of the ants, Seira’s role inevitably created enemies.
“It’s fine. Keep using me. You can push forward with peace of mind because I’m here, right?”
Still, she was resolved to embrace it.
Count Merlen fell silent at her offer to be used.
In truth, sharing her views, he could deflect some arrows thanks to her as the executor.
‘I’ve already lost everything. All that remains is this body and my life. If that’s the price to stop them, I’ll do anything.’
Leaving the count’s office and riding her carriage through the capital’s streets, she gazed at the rapidly changing scenery.
The ants’ emergence was surely the start, but Seira’s influence in driving and designing the changes was far from small.
Her words—fueled by the sole mission to stop the ants—were amplified through Count Merlen, who recognized her talent and ability, shaping the Golden Mandate Society’s kingdom-wide efforts.
“You really quitting adventuring?”
“Guys like me who only skimmed mana basics are getting drafted anyway. Better to go to the academy properly.”
The biggest change in Karmion Kingdom, now building barriers and standing at the forefront against the ants:
the extinction of adventurers.
Mercenaries born with mana talent but held back by lowly status or weak gifts, forced mainly into monster hunting—they were compelled by the Golden Mandate Society’s push for combat strength to quit.
In exchange, they got a chance to learn properly at the academy.
No status or money required.
Just repay the invested power by fighting ants at the barrier.
“This new magic circle—isn’t it from the Romon school’s secret manual?”
“Yeah. What’s it matter now? All schools’ secrets were forcibly released. Even street magicians can use them freely.”
The second change: mages.
The Golden Mandate Society, monopolizing power, forced the kingdom’s venerable mage schools—cherished for centuries or decades—to publicize their secret manuals.
“Honestly, I kinda like it. Look at all the new theories and spells dumped in just a month.”
“Ahem, well, it’s a chance for bottom-feeders like us.”
Even now, backlash raged, but some were quietly welcoming the new wave.
‘They grow without rest for even a moment. We must do the same.’
Witnessing it all, Seira hardened her resolve further.
The plains’ orcs had fallen, and the ants’ horde kept swelling.
The enemies heading for the barrier would be stronger, so allies had to match them—requiring much change and sacrifice.
“How’s it going? Results?”
“Special Agent, you’re here.”
Seira’s carriage arrived at a massive workshop near the capital.
Artisans once crafting for adventurers worked here nonstop, smoke and noise constant as they produced something new.
“We agonized over it many times, but it’s finally usable. Take a look.”
The workshop head, following her orders, grinned proudly and showed her.
“Their venom and poison keep strengthening; normal armor can’t protect the soldiers much longer. But once these roll out, it’ll be fine.”
“Good. This should do.”
It was armor made from ant exoskeletons gathered at the barrier—black plate naturally immune to their venom.
And it wasn’t just armor.
Variants grown on demonic power and mana naturally carried those forces.
Ants desperately scavenged their dead on the field, but unclaimed ones reached human hands and were reborn as weapons.
“Forty years handling monster corpses, but I’ve never seen purity like these.”
The artisan marveled at the black blade Seira examined.
A light flame enchantment she cast enveloped it in fire, its power visibly potent.
‘There’s still hope.’
Her lips curved faintly.
The blazing flames before her seemed like the unquenched fire of resistance.