Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Two Saintesses (2)
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'...What do I do?'
I froze in place. Honestly, I hadn't anticipated this in the slightest.
Unlike in the past, when my limited authority forced me to just watch from the sidelines, it was great that I could now openly use the Divine Net's functions as one of its members.
But I knew full well that I still couldn't hold a conversation on equal footing with the other deities.
Above all, knowing about the covert war among deities over Earth, I hadn't made a single move for fear of being discovered. I hadn't even posted anything or left a single comment.
I figured if I just lurked quietly, no one would notice my presence.
But now, my assumption had been proven wrong.
No need to be so on guard. New evil gods are a rare sight these days.
As I stared without replying, another message arrived.
Fortunately, it wasn't suspicious or interrogating me.
You'll learn soon enough anyway. What these repulsive hypocrites' actions are like, and the rotten order created by their factions. When that time comes, feel free to contact me first.
"Got it."
Leaving those cryptic words—and an invitation to reach out anytime first—the sender vanished.
I replied that I'd keep it in mind and blankly stared at the screen.
Would there ever come a time when I'd contact this unknown deity first?
'Doubtful.'
Being a deity wasn't easy. The more I learned, the more I realized that.
And I had far too much at stake right now.
My ants, my life tied to those ants, and everything related to Earth, where I currently lived.
For a half-baked deity who had awakened unintentionally, everything felt like walking on thin ice that could shatter at any moment.
But were all newbie deities in a similar position?
No, not at all.
Heard there's been a rebellion in Carnesis.
They're hunting down freshly awakened lesser deities and forcibly enslaving them. Of course there's backlash.
Didn't they used to do this before? Hilarious. Survive that, and you can do whatever.
Higher deities who had formed factions or built up forces frequently invaded the worlds of newly awakened lesser deities, taking those worlds or their subordinates hostage and enslaving them.
Peering into the Divine Community revealed the raw savagery beneath the guise of order.
I was better off—Edelion had been designated a contested zone by the Divine Net, barring unrestricted intervention by higher deities, and I was mistaken for an outer god with a separate base thanks to my ants.
'Mountains beyond mountains.'
In the end, even among these grand deities, power was everything.
Power was justice, power was order—a truth no amount of packaging could deny.
That was why I could never settle for just a scrap of land in Edelion's northern frontier.
"The great goddess acknowledges your strength and merits, and seeks to bestow greater blessings and grace upon you."
"I am simply grateful."
After the Holy Kingdom's counteroffensive—blazing through the north while the ants' forces were away, burning numerous nests—and the final battle that dismantled them as if planned from the start, successfully eliminating Seira...
Nearly two months had passed since the main force, trapped in an ambush, had barely returned.
Now, hunkered behind their walls in pure defense once more, the Holy Kingdom witnessed a hero's birth amid radiant light.
"Saintess Erianne. May you become not the last hope, but the greatest."
Duke Rubert placed a tiara upon Erianne's head as she knelt on one knee.
Infused with Goddess Henes's power, the tiara merged instantly with the holy power within her, amplifying it more than twofold.
The saintess appointment ceremony, held in the capital's central square before countless citizens and church officials alike...
Tens of thousands cheered and celebrated the hero's emergence.
Erianne couldn't suppress a smile, her lips subtly curving despite her solemn expression.
'Damn it, no other choice.'
Of course, unlike the fervent reactions, Goddess Henes—who had appointed Erianne as a saintess, a subordinate rank above apostle, and invested even more power in her—didn't look pleased.
Henes knew Erianne's true nature all too well.
She had seen Erianne betray and abandon Seira at the last moment.
But there was simply no one better than Erianne right now.
And trivial human squabbles held little interest for her anyway.
"Must sting. If Seira were alive, she'd have celebrated you more than anyone."
"Of course. So please, spare me her name on a day like this? It just makes me sad."
Count Merlin addressed the boldly descending Erianne with loaded eyes.
Even as he deliberately brought up Seira, Erianne didn't flinch.
"We must avenge Seira, no matter what."
She even boldly declared her intent to avenge Seira, slain after slaughtering ants.
'Even this is the goddess's will?'
Having pieced together what happened, Count Merlin held his tongue.
The goddess stood behind Erianne.
He himself was a believer who acknowledged and trusted in her power.
Denying Erianne was denying the goddess.
"...Did she really die so pointlessly?"
Yet reason and heart don't always align.
Watching Erianne wave smilingly to the cheering crowds, he murmured blankly.
Asmora judges that the colony's restoration and expansion are complete.
During those two months, the ants had been bustling.
Having devoured planarians and awakened yet another ability—totipotent cells—on top of their accumulated gains, Asmora rapidly restored all depleted forces through newly produced bodies.
"This isn't just restoration? The western front's still at war, but this many..."
Like Jin-hyuk's startled report, the northern lands were now blanketed by legions far beyond mere recovery.
Most of the main ant forces remained on the western front.
In other words, combining all forces meant they'd effectively doubled.
Asmora judges that new lands and food must be secured.
Colony numbers couldn't be increased recklessly. They required matching resources and leeway.
Ant colonies could defy this artificially, but the backlash would follow.
Thus, they needed results before it hit.
Countless variants, each with unique abilities for diverse tasks, led the charge.
The ant legions surged forth in unison.
"The great existence decrees that the Holy Kingdom can no longer serve as a poison stinger's role. Demolish it and sweep away the goddess's forces within."
And now, another presence mingled among the ants.
"Moreover, devouring the goddess's forces as food will grant sufficient strength to conquer elsewhere."
Asmora directs the entire army to breach the walls and annihilate everything inside.
Majestically emerging from a nest vast as a cavern atop a heavy armored ant...
Someone sat there, utterly unlike other ants.
Her black exoskeleton, fully enclosing her body, resembled the ants' but featured two arms and legs, with long silver hair trailing to her waist, fluttering in the wind.
The curves of her exposed form marked her as female.
"...The Holy Kingdom's saintess, Erianne."
One of her blue eyes, staring blankly into space, glowed red, gazing not ahead but elsewhere.
Through the linked hive mind, she saw a scout ant soaring overhead, watching the Holy Kingdom's walls.
There, a pink bob-haired woman in ornate silver armor and a glittering tiara smiled.
While she had endured horrors captured by ants, this woman returned boldly, acting as if nothing happened.
Fleeing was one thing—back then, Seira might have sacrificed herself if Erianne were in mortal peril. But realizing every whisper Erianne had fed her was a lie fueled Seira's deepest rage.
'She'll handle herself.'
Jin-hyuk sighed softly, glimpsing her fury and resentment. It was good for him—the angrier at Erianne, the fiercer she'd fight on her own.
Forcing someone paled against self-motivation; results were always better.
"Th-the enemies are approaching!"
"Their numbers have grown. At least double what we saw before!"
The ants marched as a massive wave; the Holy Kingdom's forces couldn't miss it.
Short peace over, alarms blared as walls bristled with armed troops and defenses activated.
"Sir Gilbert! What of the saintess..."
"Word's been sent to the capital; she'll rush here soon."
One of the apostles, Gilbert, bit his lip at the sector commander's query about Saintess Erianne.
His former comrade had risen above him with the goddess's recognition.
Despite the unavoidable retreat, Gilbert had cleared nests alongside the main force and earned merits, leaving a bitter taste.
'I'll make up for it here. The goddess is always watching.'
Gilbert aimed to outshine Erianne in this wall battle.
Fortunately, supplies and troops were in top shape—enough to hold against even a massive ant invasion.
All legacies maximized by Seira before departing.
"Wh-what's with all those..."
A fresh recruit trembled.
The horizon brimmed with a black tide of writhing ants, intertwined into one mass.
Their awkward-seeming gait belied flawless precision, evoking eerie unease in the uninitiated.
"Steady! Aerial inbound first!!"
But the ants gave no time for fear.
Countless flying types swooped over the ground forces, wings beating.
Dragon ants clutching honeypot ants, or hornet ants with drawn venom stings.
"Ignore the bombing. Holy barrier's active."
Gilbert eyed the magic slowly blanketing the sky, tense.
This massive holy barrier, conjured via intricate arrays by numerous mages and priests, was their trump card—absorbing a set shock amount.
It wouldn't last long, but enduring one bombing volley fulfilled its role.
Asmora is displeased with the failed aerial assault.
Asmora wasn't satisfied with honeypot ants detonating harmlessly against the barrier.
Cracks showed, but by full breach, losses would be too great—it calculated instantly.
"...I'll handle it."
Seira, watching silently, rose with staff in hand.
To her mage's eyes, a fatal flaw in the holy barrier stood out.
It was designed purely against melee-rushing ants.
End of Chapter 70 - Two Saintesses (2)