Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: The Queen's Arch-Nemesis (3)
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"Seira's capable and sharp. She knows exactly what's wrong and how to fix it. And for that cause, she's the type who'll ruthlessly sweep away outdated trash without a second thought."
Before Erianne awakened as an Apostle blessed by the Goddess.
Seira, who had come down from the North, was already a trusted confidante of Count Merlen, leading the purge of the Church and reshaping the kingdom's social structure.
Seira thought she'd first met Erianne in the recent wall battle, but in truth, Erianne had been watching her from afar for quite some time.
'All those loudmouths with no real skills or talent—just old fogeys clinging to their seats. To wipe them all out in one go...'
Their goals differed slightly, but Seira was practically a superhuman who had turned Erianne's long-held fantasies and ideals into reality, targeting the kingdom's high nobility.
Now, having received immense power from the Goddess and skyrocketed to one of the top positions in the Church, Erianne held Seira in even higher regard.
After all, Seira had accomplished all that without any special power or status of her own.
"We just click so well. She's my fated match, you know?"
"...Is that really the only reason?"
"Of course, her looks don't hurt either."
Erianne blushed openly at her own words.
Gilbert shut his mouth after hearing that much.
Until now, the family had done everything to cover it up, but with Erianne's power and position reaching this level, they had given up.
The fact that Erianne, the family's prized daughter, was enamored with women was already an open secret. And Erianne herself had no intention of hiding it.
Once her eccentric personality became known, no one dared point it out or try to correct her.
And the partner she had chosen was none other than Seira.
'The Goddess says nothing about it, which means She tacitly approves and accepts Erianne's behavior. Is it because of her talent? Who knows.'
Gilbert shook his head, watching Erianne's retreating figure.
If she weren't a fellow Apostle acknowledged by the Goddess, Gilbert wouldn't have let it slide—but since the Goddess permitted it, he intended to treat Erianne as a comrade.
That was his mission as one loyal to the Goddess.
"How's your body holding up?"
"I'm fine. I always knew something like this might happen someday."
Seira lay in her sickbed.
Bands wrapped her face and arms, but thanks to the priests pouring Holy Power into her, the burns and stab wounds were already mostly healed.
"Good thing we weren't too late. Your face almost got scarred."
Erianne perched lightly on the edge of the bed and gently touched Seira's cheek.
Her clothes and body had been thoroughly cleaned, so now only a faint, pleasant fragrance lingered—no trace of blood.
Seira had no idea what Erianne had been up to before coming here.
"...There are still plenty who harbor grudges. It's the karma I have to bear."
Seira couldn't push away the hand and averted her gaze with effort.
Erianne's outfit was far too revealing by Seira's standards to begin with.
The divine armor bestowed by the Goddess covered the upper body properly like a breastplate, but the lower half resembled a high-leg suit that exposed the hips and thighs.
It wasn't something a former noble lady should wear, but Erianne strolled around in it without a care, claiming it was a gift from the Goddess.
"Why's that your fault? The idiots who don't see how the world's changing are the fools. Toss them outside the wall for a day, and they'd bash their own heads in."
"Having a reason doesn't make everything justified."
Seira shook her head at Erianne's baffled tone.
The actions taken to stop the encroaching ants had inevitably included killing and ostracizing their own people.
Seira believed that was something she could never deny.
"Hmm, I don't quite get it, but if that's how you see it, fine. But you know there are always going to be those mudfish stirring up the water in any group."
Erianne sat boldly beside her, resting her head on Seira's shoulder, a faint smirk curling her lips.
"I'll protect you. Stick with me, and you can do anything in the Church. Hard to believe, I know, but even the Goddess thinks highly of you."
Whispering into Seira's ear, Erianne no longer hid her desires.
No matter how oblivious Seira was, she'd heard the rumors about Erianne and seen how she acted— she knew exactly what this offer entailed.
'If I gain Erianne's support on top of Count Merlen's... it'd be a huge boost. This body of mine... I was ready to sacrifice it for the greater good anyway.'
Seira's eyes wavered.
Not from fear of what Erianne might do, but from the greater possibilities that power opened up.
And truthfully, she was a bit worn out. It would be strange not to waver when someone offered unconditional faith and support.
"Lady Seira! Th—"
At that moment, her butler Rogers burst through the door, face flushed with excitement.
He froze instantly under Erianne's terrifying glare, not even able to squeak.
"What's the emergency?"
"I-it's a message from the wall. They've successfully captured an enemy alive!"
"Captured alive? Is that true?"
Seira stepped forward, prompting Rogers to speak.
The news he brought was indeed worth barging in like that—enough to make Seira's eyes widen and leap from her seat.
"Is that such a big deal?"
"Unbelievable. We'd concluded it was impossible to capture a Velzahard alive with conventional methods."
On the road, racing together in the carriage.
Erianne yawned nonchalantly, but Seira was more excited than she'd been in ages.
"The moment they're captured and restrained, they self-harm. Even fully bound to prevent that, they die somehow. We couldn't study a live specimen."
Researchers like Seira had naturally wanted to capture ants for study.
But the hive-minded ants ended their lives the instant they became prisoners.
There was no reason to keep useless individuals alive for the hive.
"No way. A live one...? How the hell did they catch it?"
"W-we're not sure. The scouts just... roped it up and brought it back."
Racing nonstop by carriage to the city near the wall, they stared in shock at the small worker ant caged inside.
The captured worker ant was indeed alive, its antennae twitching.
The scouting squad soldiers and zone officer, who had unwittingly earned massive credit, still looked dazed.
'Why? How?'
While Erianne chatted briefly with them, Seira blankly stared at the ant in the cage.
The moment her puzzled blue eyes met the red glow peeking from its head armor...
[Asmora identifies the enemies' true nature]
But neither Seira nor anyone else yet knew this crucial fact: even a single worker ant's hive mind was not to be underestimated.
"Aaaah... Aaaaaah!!!"
When the imperial army was completely driven out of Lupelin, which they had occupied.
Count Luon, taken prisoner, was tightly bound in spider-ant silk alongside mutilated corpses and transported somewhere.
Besides Count Luon, the ants were unusually collecting mana stones and magic tools—items they couldn't eat.
It was rare for ants to bother carrying such things.
No matter how shrilly Count Luon screamed in panic until his throat gave out, no one came to save him.
Everywhere he looked, swarming ants.
These bastards... what the hell are they planning...!
Even AStreigon, the Deity who had Count Luon as a subordinate, was in the same boat.
Thanks to the live feed from the transported Count Luon, he glimpsed part of the ants' formerly unknown territory—but that was it.
[Connection with subordinate entering another territory will soon be severed]
The alert before AStreigon's eyes declared that Count Luon could no longer serve as a living CCTV.
He was the commander who led the imperial army against the ants, but his subordinates were merely affiliated—no divine blessing.
Moreover, his mental strength, the key link to his Deity, had weakened too much to maintain the connection.
"Save me! N-no, kill me! Please, just kill me!!!"
Plunged into the heart of the horrific, writhing ants, Count Luon began entering a massive tunnel, thrashing as his mind fully shattered.
By the time he was dragged before Asmora, Count Luon had no connections left—utterly alone in this universe.
"Ugh..."
Dumped unceremoniously on the ground after being hauled along, he had no idea where he was.
In pitch darkness without a speck of light, all he knew was some colossal thing was crunching and devouring something nearby.
[Asmora shows interest in the first live human she's ever seen]
Finally, the massive monster, tended by countless worker ants, raised its body, its head armor gleaming with multiple eyes.
Count Luon realized what the behemoth—several times his size—was devouring: the bodies of his former comrades and subordinates, transported with him. He froze solid.
"You're the leader. The queen of this monster horde!"
Count Luon recognized Asmora's identity.
But his body lay defenseless in the deepest part of the ant nest.
"Hiiiaaak!?"
As Asmora thrust her enormous head close, prodding him with sharp mandibles and stiff antennae, Count Luon screamed again.
"Good lord."
What followed was so gruesome that even Jin-hyuk, who prided himself on watching the ants' actions unflinchingly as his own doing, had to retch and close his eyes.
[Asmora dissects the living human body structure]
[Asmora recognizes human language and seeks to understand it]
[Asmora realizes he is a male incapable of laying eggs, deeming him no queen. She simultaneously confirms that human hives can function without a queen]
[Asmora judges the sample and information insufficient]
Just before Count Luon arrived, Asmora had molted again after consuming more food.
In other words, her intelligence and ego had grown further.
While vivisecting and examining Count Luon with the worker ants' help to sate her curiosity, Asmora found her thirst for knowledge unquenched—in fact, more lacking than before.
If her predation ability worked on humans, none of this dissection would have been needed.
But she still had many stages left before devouring intelligent beings like humans.
'So that's why she deliberately let a worker ant get caught without self-destructing.'
Jin-hyuk realized why Asmora had handed over a worker ant to the wall's humans and let out a groan.
To see and hear more through the hive mind.
He flinched, realizing she had already learned to pull off maneuvers like this.
"For our future, we should transport this monster to the research lab for study."
"Do as you see fit. What do grunts like us know? Whatever helps the cause."
Thanks to the worker ant, Jin-hyuk—as well as Asmora—could witness it all.
Unlike Count Luon, whose Deity link severed, the worker ant retained its connection even in another Deity's territory.
The hive mind it belonged to was treated as a single massive entity, keeping the link to its Deity, Jin-hyuk.
Mental strength issues didn't apply to worker ants anyway.
'I can't predict your thoughts anymore.'
Jin-hyuk stood before the breeding pen with a troubled expression.
He had just brought fresh food for the newly grown Asmora today.