Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Queen's Arch-Nemesis (1)
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"The Imperial Army lost!?"
"They weren't satisfied with capturing Rupellin as their goal and pushed forward again, only to suffer a crushing defeat from a massive assault by giant variants!"
The unit led by Count Luon had originally agreed to seize Rupellin and link up there with the Golden Mandate Society's forces.
The ants would have no choice but to split their forces too. That way, the Imperial Army, with their golems at the forefront, could fight more easily.
But just as the Golden Mandate Society's forces set out alongside the Imperial Army and hadn't even covered half the distance past the barrier...
The news arrived that the Imperial Army, over-reliant on their golems, had been counterattacked and was in full retreat.
Tales of the new variants—heavy armored ants and saw-wing ants—came with it.
"These fucking idiots!"
In the midst of the command staff's panic, someone spat out a sharp curse in a rough voice.
It was Erianne, slamming her foot down with a boom, cracking the ground beneath her.
"Some of us are grinding our way forward day by day, and these morons fuck it all up by getting careless over nothing!?"
"Q-Quick, hold back the Apostle!"
As mana surged wildly around her body and her eyes rolled back in fury, the terrified Commander Marquis Lumiern ordered her dragged outside.
He knew his daughter well. Once she truly lost it, no one could stop her.
She'd always had that temperament, but back then, she was just a normal noble lady.
That changed after she received the Goddess's blessing, gaining superhuman strength and becoming one of the five Apostles. Now, even reining her in was no easy task.
"Fortunately, including Count Luon, a fair number of troops made it back to Rupellin to catch their breath. The Belzahard pursuing them fell back for some reason, so for now, let's proceed to Rupellin as planned."
At least the Imperial Army hadn't been annihilated. They'd barely escaped the ants and returned to their stronghold at Rupellin.
Reinforcements were due to join them soon after.
A few emphasized the importance of their alliance with the Empire and insisted on linking up at Rupellin as originally intended. They were all close to the Marquis or held high positions.
"No."
But amid that mood, one person flatly shot it down.
All eyes turned to Seira, who had been quietly listening from the back of the room.
Despite protests from Count Merlen and others, she'd insisted on coming along to witness the ants in battle firsthand.
"According to reports, new variants have appeared—house-sized behemoths strong enough to topple golems. Imagine them charging at us without any golems to protect us. We mustn't engage until we have countermeasures."
Seira never yielded when it came to the ants.
Rushing in unprepared against these new variants was suicide in her eyes.
"We've come nearly halfway! Turn back now!? With that mindset, we'll be trapped behind the barrier forever!"
"Better trapped alive than torn apart and devoured."
Viscount Bretton, Marquis Lumiern's confidant, raised his voice in anger, but Seira didn't even blink at the command from a man old enough to be her father.
"Urk..."
Viscount Bretton flinched for a moment.
Those unwavering blue eyes, deep as the ocean, weren't something just anyone possessed.
Only those who had faced the ants up close for months could have them.
They were the eyes of someone bearing a mission more precious than life itself—a blind loyalty to the Goddess that the Golden Mandate Society knew all too well.
Those who recognized it held their breath and watched her carefully.
Even if it meant death right here, her resolve wouldn't break.
"Enough. If the Imperial Army took such heavy losses, even linking up at Rupellin would tie us down for ages. This isn't a simple decision."
Marquis Lumiern stepped in to mediate. He already had enough headaches without watching petty power plays.
"Special Officer, go check on the Apostle. For some reason, she listens to you more than most—maybe it's the shared age."
"...Understood."
The Marquis sent Seira to Erianne, tasking her with calming the agitated Apostle as well.
As Seira bowed her head, the corner of her eye twitched faintly.
In truth, the past few days sticking close to Erianne during the expedition had been quite troublesome.
"Honestly, I'd love to see one up close. No matter how huge they are, they're just monsters in the end. One good smack, and that shell shatters, guts spilling out."
"If it were just one, maybe. But they'll have whole units of other variants around them. Even if you take down one, Lady Erianne, the rest will have already trampled our allies."
"Well, if you say so, it must be true. You're the expert on those things."
Erianne grinned, flashing her pearly whites.
It was a radiant smile that suited her beautiful face perfectly.
'Why on earth did the Goddess choose someone like her?'
But Seira couldn't bring herself to smile back and subtly averted her gaze.
Where her eyes landed, several soldiers lay groaning on the ground.
They were the ones Erianne had beaten for "disciplinary violations," now receiving healing from priests using holy power.
Even if they'd actually erred, most were minor infractions. Serious offenders would've been executed already.
In Seira's view, no matter how charitably she looked at it, Erianne wasn't someone with a good personality.
Truth be told, Seira had met plenty like her.
Back at the noble academy learning magic, the ladies who looked down on her as the daughter of some frontier lordlet were just like this.
To them, inferiors were mere stress relief, their arrogance and recklessness turning into brutal abuse toward the weak.
"Shall we rest? Come to my tent."
One difference from the past was that, whether she knew Seira's thoughts or not, Erianne didn't ignore her—instead, she clung excessively.
She'd barge in insisting on bathing together, even suggesting they sleep in the same tent.
Seeing Erianne giggle at Seira's flustered reactions, Seira was convinced she was enjoying it.
"Perhaps relying solely on our alliance with the Empire isn't enough. We might need more coalitions."
"Hmm. Our Holy Kingdom and the Lucadia Empire. Even including the orcs of the Great Plains... Who's left nearby? Nations beyond the Empire, or those in the western lands past the plains?"
Seira glanced sideways at Erianne, whose hand was drifting toward her waist again.
'We might really need to. The day may come when the whole world fights them. If that happens, can this place hold the barrier? What will become of me?'
Seira let out a small sigh as Erianne entered the tent first and patted the spot beside her.
Asmo is determined not to let prey advancing from the south slip away.
"Enemies! M-Multiple from the north. Coming from the east too!"
In the end, Seira's prediction proved correct.
The ants that routed the Imperial Army mobilized even larger forces and began attacking the Golden Mandate Society's troops, who had been advancing bit by bit.
Especially the forces bursting out simultaneously from the northern nests—it was a massive counteroffensive, worlds apart from the piecemeal skirmishes that had kept them pinned down so far.
Asmo's goal is to secure as much prey as possible.
With Jin-hyuk's help revealing the golems' weaknesses, Asmo had awakened an even greater greed for more, stronger prey.
To push the ant colony beyond biological limits through a grand evolution that reshaped their very constitution required vast knowledge and power.
Asmo had realized the only way to achieve that was through relentless self-growth and evolution. Its obsession with prey intensified accordingly.
"M-Move, now! With the alliance failed, if those hordes from the north catch us, we're all dead!"
Marquis Lumiern, pale after hearing the scout reports, berated his subordinates.
The ants that crushed the Imperial Army had no choice but to turn toward them next.
Their numbers reached tens of thousands—several times their own. And that might not even be all of them.
Desperate, they fled toward the barrier. Without golems, their only hope was evacuating inside.
Furious at the prey's swift retreat, Asmo orders a full-force pursuit.
Thanks to Seira's firm insistence, they hadn't ventured too deep. Now, they barely maintained distance while retreating at full speed.
Asmo was livid about it.
Humans plunging in blindly would've meant certain annihilation.
"We'll cross the river with ice magic. Before they catch up, shatter the frozen bridge to buy time. Set fires everywhere to block their path, and stick to wide roads. Rough terrain plays to their strengths."
"D-Do as the Special Officer says, now!"
Seira guided the retreat, exploiting the ants' weaknesses based on her own research.
With Marquis Lumiern's full backing, she was effectively commanding the unit.
It worked—the ants couldn't close the gap easily.
Though ants excelled at traversing rough ground, their combat-specialized variants guzzled fuel inefficiently.
Worker ants had to tag along, feeding them far more frequently.
Asmo commands that no sacrifice be spared to seize the prey's ankles.
Using data accumulated from the colony, their hunting prowess had snagged over half the Imperial Army during pursuit.
But now, the ants reaped zero satisfying harvests.
Asmo's rage meter spiked toward the heavens. Soon, it poured every ounce of effort into slaughtering them—not for food, but pure fury.
"The sky!"
"Flanking from the sides too!"
To snag their heels, aerial combat units—hornet ants and dragon ants—took flight.
Small hunting packs assembled at squad level continuously charged, blocked paths, and delayed them.
No matter how perfectly Seira picked counters, ants throwing themselves in the way inevitably slowed things physically.
"These monster bastards..."
At the vanguard with the holy knights stood a woman in silver plate armor.
Erianne swung her brutal mace—ill-suited to her slender limbs—amplifying holy power as it exploded through charging ants without mercy.
Soldier ants clad in thorny plate, executioner ants slashing with scythe-like legs—her light-wreathed massive mace shattered exoskeletons with bangs, spraying fluids from crushed innards.
"Aaaagh! M-Mercy!"
"Tch."
Then, hornet ants and dragon ants dove from above, strafing the ground and assaulting knights.
Erianne smashed a hornet ant's jaws with her fist mid-sting, then pulverized its head. But spotting a familiar knight, Russo, gripped in a dragon ant's long, sturdy forelegs nearby, she bit her lip.
"Spa..."
"No choice! You get it, right!? We have to kill the monsters!"
Just as the dragon ant prepared to soar again...
Scanning her surroundings in a flash, she swung without hesitation, smashing both Russo and the dragon ant in one devastating blow.
Russo stared in disbelief at his caved-in chest alongside the dragon ant's exploding body, flesh scattering.
"Did we get them all!?"
"No time to hesitate. I know it's tough, but push a bit farther to rest."
Erianne's feats wiped out the ants, but respite was impossible.
The main ant force pursued from behind. With the barrier nearly in sight, they resolved to squeeze out their last strength.
"Well done. But even in haste, one crucial task remains. It pains me, but... we must burn all the bodies. So they can't be eaten."
Seira zeroed in on what the ants would hate most, even now.
She insisted on torching victims and slain ants alike before leaving.
"Y-Yeah, I agree! Burn 'em quick!"
With Erianne's eager support, thick smoke from combusting organics billowed high.
Asmo has never been this enraged. Even it can't contain the emotion.
A scouting soldier flying overhead spotted Erianne walking hand-in-hand with Seira through the drifting haze.
Asmo, watching through its eyes, ground its mandibles in the nest.
Not just now, but even in the prior barrier battle—Erianne mercilessly smashing soldiers it had created, empowered by Goddess Henes's strength.
The intensity burned deep.
Among countless foes faced, the Golden Mandate Society member grating its nerves most was taking shape in Asmo's mind.
'So the Goddess's forces slipped away after all.'
Jin-hyuk, watching the scene, let out a small sigh.
Slipped away was slipped away. Still, Asmo needed some soothing.
"Here, fresh prey."
Asmo reacts to the great one's reward.
Fortunately, the rage didn't last long.
The moment he tossed new prey into the enclosure, Asmo eagerly shifted focus there.