Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Great Invasion (4)
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"..."
Seira was gauging the mood right now.
After their victory in defending the magic stone mine, while en route with her forces to another target, she had picked up on Asmora's foul disposition.
Even Asmora herself was still wavering uncertainly about that emotion, but Seira—linked through the hive mind—knew exactly what it was.
It was jealousy. And obsession.
"P-Please don't worry too much. His Majesty still holds the Queen above all else."
To be precise, Seira—currently just a parasite riding the hive mind—had no real clue what Asmora, who was one with Jin-hyuk, had seen to spark this reaction.
Still, she offered soothing words in hopes of calming the mood.
Thankfully, her efforts seemed to work. Asmora soon shook off her funk and turned her attention elsewhere.
"Hold your ground firm! If we let our guard down, those bastards will swarm over the barrier in an instant!"
"Raise alert levels to maximum! And urgently request reinforcements from Central Command and the reserves!"
Asmora watched the clashes unfolding at the barrier.
With massive ant swarms openly assaulting the barrier, the Empire's main forces—who had seemed ready to rush inland reinforcements—were now pinned down at the barrier and nearby fortresses.
Thanks to that, the infiltration unit under Seira's command could move with far greater freedom.
[Asmora says your goal is to drag this out as long as possible while inflicting maximum damage.]
"I know. Especially since their magitech civilization hinges on those magic stone mines and scattered research facilities. And beyond that, their military bases... and the production sites churning out rations and stockpiled food..."
Seira's words caught in her throat. She was duty-bound to follow Asmora's orders.
In any war, starving the enemy by destroying their nests and stockpiles was basic tactics—even a lone ant would know that.
The problem was that raiding cities and torching fields would devastate civilian lives too.
The Holy Kingdom had fallen so swiftly there'd been no chance for such measures, but battling an Empire several times its size meant it was inevitable.
Countless people will starve and sicken to death. We need... we need this war to end as quickly as possible.
Her mind flashed to visions of barren wastelands where multitudes perished from famine and plague.
It was a catastrophe that must never come to pass.
And for Seira—now bound in shared fate with the ants—the only way to avert it was simple: ensure the ants claimed swift victory, minimizing the scorched earth.
"...Everyone, prepare for battle. Smash their defensive forces and burn the research lab."
Gritting her teeth, Seira donned her mask and stared at the distant cluster of Imperial troops.
It was an army gathered to guard a magic research facility at the heart of mana flows.
After multiple units had been shattered trying to repel the ants, the Empire's survivors had hunkered down defensively, desperate to protect at least the lab.
The nomadic horde ants, destined to roam and fight endlessly, prepared to stake their lives without hesitation or complaint.
All for the hive. All for the One.
[Asmora detects the enemy's fear and sneers at them.]
On the Empire's side, repeated defeats and the spreading infamy of the ants had them cowering in terror.
Spotting it through scout eyes, Asmora openly mocked them.
"This won't do. We need to pull troops and equipment from the barrier. Otherwise, we'll lose several times more people and resources than we already have!"
In the Empire's heart, the capital's imperial palace.
Shouts echoed endlessly within.
Even these hastily conscripted levies numbered in the tens of thousands, yet they'd blown themselves up defending the mines—and collapsed the mines in the process.
Count Leonict's sacrificial stand had wiped out the ants, but somehow they'd instantly rebuilt their forces and rampaged across the region. Now even a key southern research lab lay in ruins.
"Those things are a plague. Left unchecked, they'll keep spreading until they rot this great Empire from the inside."
"True enough. But the horde camped beyond the barrier, waiting for an opening? That's no mere plague—it's a blade at our throat."
Foreign Minister's words drew a scowl from Schuber.
They were already dancing to the ants' tune.
With so much to protect and so many assets at stake, the moment the ants crossed the sea and hit land, the Empire had started at a disadvantage.
"And they're still ferrying fresh troops across the sea nonstop. We need to seal off the sea routes first!"
"What, and just let the infiltrators rampage inside unchecked?"
"We're getting nonstop pleas for mercy even now!"
The council chamber descended into chaos. The ministers sided with Schuber, but each had their own agendas.
Some believed his path served the future. Others chased the vast gold and power he'd promised. Still others followed because they saw him as the rising center of authority.
And the infiltrating ants' threat to their own power bases back home had everyone on edge.
"Any new edict from His Greatness?"
"None that I know of, sir."
Schuber sighed as he slipped away with his aides. No directive from the deity Astragon.
If there'd been one, he could've ignored everything else and followed it blindly. But since the Great Invasion began, Astragon had only ordered them to safeguard key magitech assets—then gone silent.
Damn it, what now? Our tech isn't enough. We need more resources. More time.
And there was a reason Astragon—usually so bombastic—had clammed up.
Gazing at split screens showing his crumbling subordinates in stark detail, his mind had frozen, unsure how to salvage this.
Astragon had always triumphed by optimizing his subordinates' systems and the rapid civilization they'd built around them.
Unlike war-specialized predecessors, he'd focused on knowledge transmission and system development. Now, facing ants immune to his designs and commands, his winning formula had shattered.
Even overwhelming tech superiority was futile—the ants had seen it coming, dispatching infiltrators to dismantle the Empire's grotesquely advanced magitech from its vital facilities onward.
"Halt equipment shipments to the barrier for now. Arm the assembled forces with our latest gear and prioritize clearing internal threats."
"And the coastline?"
"Impossible to cover that whole expanse. Deploy every warship to defend major cities. Above all, order them to hold river mouths where rivers meet the sea. If the ants swim upstream, we're done."
In the end, subordinate Schuber had to rack his brains for the best suboptimal fix.
It wasn't hopeless yet. The barrier held firm. Chaos gripped only the south—central and northern regions were intact.
"I heard trying to hold the mines too hard led to failed early suppression and escalated things."
"Your Majesty..."
Amid it all, Calian appeared and approached Schuber.
Schuber's eyes twitched at the uninvited prince's arrival.
And Calian, as if expecting it, openly grated on his nerves.
"Belzahar's minions possess tenacious vitality and cunning intellect as Outer God subordinates. They're not easily eradicated. Especially with that witch—who knows humans all too well—at their side."
"So we just trust and wait? What if those monsters reach the capital soon?"
"That won't happen."
Their glaring standoff dragged on.
Schuber had lost face after the battlefield defeat. Calian saw his chance to reclaim power.
"The Prime Minister's as shameless as ever. Even if those demons breach the capital, he'll never admit failure."
"Your Majesty, it's not time yet."
"I know. But the longer this drags, the more people die..."
Calian sighed, watching Schuber's retreating robe-flap.
Schuber had blocked Calian's eyes and ears, but loyal informants still fed him news.
And the latest was all grim.
"Some rumors even claim Belzahar spares the innocent who worship no gods, appearing to purge wicked deities infiltrating this land in disguise—along with their forces."
"Your Majesty, that's just vicious lies from a witch who's forsaken her humanity."
"But that witch... I hear she speaks human tongue just fine."
The imperial steward flustered, but Calian's eyes gleamed.
Rumors of Seira had hooked the boy-emperor's interest.
No matter how he pondered, the 'wicked deity' and minions 'infiltrating the land' screamed obvious culprits.
[Asmora orders the execution of Infiltration Nesting within Imperial territory.]
"Ahh... in the end."
At that moment, receiving Asmora's directive, Seira squeezed her eyes shut.
Asmora intended to entrench her forces fully within Imperial lands.
"Infiltration Nesting?"
Jin-hyuk, unlinked from the hive mind, puzzled over the term briefly.
But he soon grasped its meaning.
The infiltration forces, once roving like nomad hordes, suddenly dispersed—building nests in every suitable spot in all directions.
Already-ravaged villages and cities, wild forest caves, deep ravines, and more.
But these weren't the burrows Asmora dug in her territory, piling stone and earth.
If anything, they resembled provisional nests.
Using decomposition parasites' digestive juices to melt everything atop the ground, they'd embed all sustenance into nutrient pools—then erect basic pupa storage and other facilities around them.
Scattering such nests everywhere, spreading stickily like cancer cells to claim the land itself—that was Asmora's strategy.
A deathless legion that respawns endlessly from nests somewhere, no matter how many you kill. Impossible to eradicate from this soil.
Jin-hyuk let out a quiet sigh of admiration.
She knew that without battlefield victory, simply seizing the living land itself would drive outcompeted humans to extinction.
It was perfect for an infiltration unit that could harass the Empire indefinitely just by surviving—and a prime invasion tactic for ants going forward.
End of Chapter 90 - Great Invasion (4)