Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Queen's Nemesis (2)
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[Asmodra seeks to hunt the enemies fleeing to the fortress of Asmora, continuously shipping in reinforcements via sea and river.]
Jin-hyuk had given them new prey—skaters—but even though they'd forgotten for a moment while devouring them, the memories piling up in the hive mind never truly vanished.
Asmodra needed a way to soothe this rage reigniting within her once more.
The sacrificial lamb she'd selected was the Imperial Army under Count Luon, who had fortified the city of Lupelin and hunkered down there.
How could ants, with their innate territorial instincts, tolerate enemies camping out on their land?
"The Velzahads are coming!"
The Imperial soldiers, who had caught their breath however briefly in the fortified city, despaired at the sight of the swarming ants.
The forces under Queen Asmodra, who had unleashed her full might, and her grand army were far beyond what a single fortress could hold back.
The fortress began to shake violently under the simultaneous assault from sky and ground.
In the air, Dragon Ants carried Honeypot Ants, bombing indiscriminately, while on the ground, Heavy Armored Ants and Buzzsaw Ants—having proven their power—didn't bother scaling the walls but instead hammered at the weakest sections with brute force.
Holding out until reinforcements arrived was next to impossible.
"They're jumping in again! Block them quick!"
"Get this thing off me!"
Yet they couldn't fend off the ants openly besieging them.
It was already overwhelming to stop those leaping straight onto the walls or those crawling up in droves.
Even Seira and the others from the Order, who had endured endless sieges at the barrier and shared every contingency tactic they knew, couldn't get Count Luon and the Imperial command to execute them properly amid the panic.
"Get the wounded to the rear... What the hell is this!?"
In the chaos, a knight swinging his sword to save his men froze in shock.
Something had flown in and wrapped stickily around his sword and arm as he raised them.
"What is th... Aaaagh!"
As he tried to peel off the sticky thread-like substance, a force several times stronger yanked him in an instant, sending him plummeting to the ant-infested base of the wall.
The ant that had reeled in the knight with thread from its rear was a new variant.
It had a massive body like a jumping spider, unusually long and flexible legs, and an abdomen hypertrophied like a Bomb Ant's.
In truth, Jin-hyuk had fed them spiders before the large armored insects.
From giant tarantulas to web-spinning spiders and those with instantly lethal venom to humans, and more.
These Spider Ant variants, born from Asmodra devouring diverse spiders, began "fishing" for valuable prey like resisting knights and mages on the walls, spitting threads in rapid succession.
"Let go, let me go! You bastards!"
Even the knight captain, with his sturdy frame and superior skill, was helpless.
He fought valiantly, wielding a mana-charged spear to slay numerous ants, but threads flying from all sides ensnared and bound him in an instant, leaving him thrashing futilely.
"Uwaaaah!!!"
Other ants swiftly latched onto the threads connected by the Spider Ants and pulled.
The mechanical precision of their collective pull rivaled dozens of oxen.
No matter how tough a captain-level knight was, he couldn't resist and was dragged screaming into the teeming mass of ants below.
[Even accounting for the difference in forces, Asmodra feels this is decidedly much easier.]
In the end, with all final resistance neutralized, the walls were breached and crumbled.
The Heavy Armored Ants entering the city streets bulldozed through the Imperials' hastily erected barricades with their massive horns and bodies, while the countless ants flooding in behind swept through like a tidal wave, crushing the last pockets of resistance.
What Asmodra sensed in that process was how low the difficulty was.
The moment the golems were neutralized, the Imperial Army—arrogant enough to charge first—fell like stalks of wheat.
Compared to the barrier battles, it was like sweeping fallen leaves before the wind.
'Isn't it because they got less divine aid?'
Jin-hyuk, observing, wondered if it was the difference in godly support.
In truth, the Imperials here had received no real help beyond the upgraded golems.
No one had been granted special powers or weapons.
[Asmodra senses a fundamental difference. The enemies' movements, attitudes, composition, tactics—they all differ from the human hives faced before.]
"No way they noticed that much?"
But Asmodra's own analysis led to a different conclusion.
It surprised Jin-hyuk enough to widen his eyes.
The ants, drawing from countless accumulated experiences, were already familiar with human behavioral patterns.
They knew humans, unlike themselves, were greatly swayed by emotions, and that each individual had its own ego, unlike their unified hive mind.
[Asmodra develops greater curiosity about humans.]
[Asmodra wants to learn more about humans.]
[Asmodra orders the capture of the humans' queen alive.]
"..."
But Asmodra didn't stop there.
Endlessly pondering, she sought to fill her knowledge gaps in her own way.
The starting point was to learn more about these beings she'd seen merely as food sources.
"No! Don't abandon me! You bastards! You filthy sons of bitches..."
Count Luon, the Imperial commander, getting caught in that net was pure coincidence.
He just happened to be wearing the flashiest armor and robe, and the ants—knowing from experience that higher-status humans favored gaudy attire—mistook the retreating man for the human hive's "queen."
"Nooooo!!!!"
Count Luon, screaming in terror at his fleeing subordinates, was seized outright by the charging ants.
He wasn't torn apart or beheaded on the spot like the others, but wrapped head to toe in sticky threads and dragged away, becoming the ants' "first prisoner"—begging for death all the while.
[Asmodra anticipates punishing the queen of another human hive that enraged her.]
Asmodra planned to analyze the captured Count Luon to learn about humans.
The reason was obvious: to better eliminate the pests irritating her.
Bloodline Adjustment - Lv. 4
Utilize information from secured prey to regulate offspring production and create new castes.
*Acquirable Information Expanded
[Asmodra molts once more.]
And she gained a new power to accelerate that evolution even further.
By devouring the spoils from wiping out the Lupelin garrison, Asmodra had advanced another stage.
She could consume more now. And learn more.
"What does the Empire say?"
"...The coastal city of Cardis, former Baron Roton's holding where ships can still dock, remains intact, so they're planning to regroup there as a base for counterattack."
"Talk is cheap. Do they think shipping troops across the sea is that easy?!"
Duke Rubert, a core executive of the Golden Mandate Society—which had seized the old Carmion Kingdom and was also called the Holy Nation—and publicly known as the Order's representative, scoffed at Count Merlen's words.
This offensive's failure was squarely the Empire's fault.
Had they curbed their greed and proceeded slowly as agreed, neither side would have suffered such a crushing defeat.
"Frankly... it worked out for us, didn't it?"
"Indeed. The monsters targeted the Empire's golem-led forces first, so our dispatched unit returned safely."
Of course, the biggest reason wasn't Imperial arrogance but the new ant variants they'd deployed.
Even united, without countermeasures, neither force could stop the massive variants pushing forward.
The operation had failed, but these two men here—as well as Goddess Henes inwardly—were relieved at preserving strength through the Empire's sacrifice.
"Still, we nearly got chased down hard, but thanks to her, we withdrew without major losses, I heard."
"Yes. Apostle Erienne and Special Agent Seira ably assisted Marquis Lumiern in ensuring a safe return."
The conversation naturally shifted to Seira and Erienne.
The rumors had already spread far and wide.
Without those two's prowess and leadership, the expedition beyond the barrier would have been annihilated.
Both were already well-known in the Holy Nation.
Tales grew: Erienne slaying hundreds alone, Seira foreseeing the future to avert crises. Their fame, already high, soared higher.
"They're essential. Especially the Special Agent. Her initiatives clashed with many at first, but in hindsight, all were necessary."
The Duke acknowledged Seira's abilities.
Despite receiving no special favor from the Goddess, she'd outshone the blessed elite within the Order to stand at the forefront of resistance.
"Th-this is bad! An attack in the capital's heart!"
But in that moment, chaos erupted in the once-peaceful capital.
Disgruntled elements from the Order and reformers had colluded for terrorism.
A targeted hit on Seira, no less.
"These filthy scum dare!"
In the blood-soaked, flesh-scorching underground interrogation chamber.
Erienne shoved past those trying to stop her with one hand and, without hesitation, smashed one bound prisoner's face to pulp with her fist, like bursting a watermelon.
"Do you even know what you've done?"
"Kuh... We did what was right."
She whipped her head around, eyes flashing, but another bound perpetrator just chuckled at his comrade's dangling jaw and exploded skull.
Their goal had been to kill Seira.
"I just got revenge. For my family, massacred by that witch's agitation."
"We know all about it, you bastard spawn. Where do you get off with that tainted blood..."
"Even if so! The Baron was my father!"
The man, claiming descent from a noble house wiped out by Seira's plans, gnashed his teeth.
Though spared as a bastard then, he'd maintained good ties and lived as family.
"Had to fight outer demons, unavoidable? To me, you're the demons."
"Oh...? Then just die."
Grinning at his glare, Erienne backhanded his face to shards.
Blood and brains splattering her face didn't faze her a bit.
"Enough. If there might be backers or accomplices, how do we find them if you kill them all?"
Someone gripped her shoulder.
Gilbert, one of the five awakened as the Goddess's apostles alongside her—a knight-turned man with a rugged face and burly build.
Whether due to him or not, Erienne didn't kill any more of the captives.
"Handle it yourself. I need to check on Seira."
"Why are you so obsessed with that woman?"
As she stormed off, dumping cleanup on him, Gilbert sighed from behind.
Her eyes widened at the obsession accusation.
"Curious?"
'Shouldn't have asked.'
Gilbert sighed softly at her playful retort, face still gore-splattered.