Black Beetles (4)
Warrior-class evolutions such as knights and priestesses rise to a stage where their growth branches into more detailed specialties and forms; it is a rank worthy of being called an advanced class. Unlike ordinary warriors, who fight solely on the strength of their modified bodies, they are also granted the mana they have absorbed and accumulated from their victims over time.
Mana was a mysterious force that twisted the laws of the world—something the locals themselves would call a miracle.
As a result, advanced classes naturally differed in shape and role depending on how they wielded that mana.
"A knight, as the name suggests, is the class that embodies your side's martial power. But martial power isn't a single thing, is it? Depending on which element you choose to evolve, Lena's role and abilities will change."
As Agares explained, several elements appeared on the screen. I had already used this system once before to alter Lena's body, stripping away one of Ascalas's traits—its tentacles—and strengthening her poison instead.
"Why did you get rid of the tentacles?"
"Lena's body was too small, so she had fewer tentacles and less strength than the other larger minions. Besides, fighting with tentacles wasn't something she could 'learn'."
Lena's root had been human. That meant she was more accustomed to moving her limbs than her tentacles. So instead of keeping the tentacles, I had strengthened poison, something that would be more useful in close combat.
"By your choice, Lena became a knight who could fly freely through the air and wield a spear. This time, you simply need to choose in the same way."
"...Lena suits a bee. Light on her wings, but able to strike with a fatal blow."
I continued my selection carefully. My choice would determine not only her appearance and role, but her future life as well; I couldn't treat it lightly.
[5. Ascalas Spearmanship]
"...?"
I strengthened elements that further enhanced her advantages—poison, flight, and the like—and in exchange, I removed Devour. By now, as she was becoming a fully fledged combat unit, there was no need for her to devour enemies with her own body. Nutrients could be delivered by another unit.
But the final option that appeared was spearmanship. This was the first time something other than a physical trait had come up.
"If you want to make Lena into a perfect combat knight, I recommend it. Within your forces, Lena is the only one who fights using a flexible tentacle spear. In the end, the system of your race has recognized her experience as a single element and registered it as data."
"Does that mean that future knights will be able to learn this element?"
"Indeed."
Lena, the first knight among my allies, was already becoming a path through her very existence alone. And those who came after her would walk that same path, evolving and growing faster and more easily.
That, too, was one of the characteristics we possessed.
"Selection complete."
Then there was no reason to hesitate. I chose spearmanship and completed Lena's evolution. Sealed within her cocoon, Lena had no idea how her body would change, and yet she was clearly wearing a happy expression. It showed just how much she trusted me.
"We butchered thousands of people and made some of them our allies. But not a single one had a compatibility above 60%—not one that could keep its selfhood. Does that make any sense?"
As I stared at Lena's cocoon, a thought suddenly occurred to me. The very thing required to grow beyond the warrior stage was selfhood.
And yet, even after raiding this territory so extensively and attacking so many people, we hadn't found a single compatibility above 60% that could preserve its ego.
It was in stark contrast to how we had taken much smaller regions and quickly acquired Lena, Karin, and Robinson.
"That's purely a matter of luck. The one thing I can say for certain is that this is normal. Robinson, for instance, should be understood as 'spoils of war.' Lena, you can think of as a 'beginner's privilege.' In the end, the only truly special unit you obtained by your own power was Karin."
Agares answered with blithe ease, as if it were nothing.
Beginner's privilege, spoils of war—if you put it that way, there really wasn't anything strange about it.
"Now you understand what kind of compatibility you want, don't you? Revenge, hatred, the will to survive, and so on. Only those beings who are willing to discard everything about themselves in order to achieve their desire can maintain their selfhood in Ascalas's essence. It's not something that comes easily, of course."
"Fine, I get it."
Sighing, I turned the screen. Continuous scouting through the birds I had turned into minions was one of the things I paid the most attention to.
Through one of those scouts' eyes, I saw a fortress city in utter chaos, swarming with refugees from every direction.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Lord! There are too many refugees gathering in Forum right now!"
"Send those in decent condition to another city. It's dangerous, but we can't help it!"
Brant's lordly manor in Brant Barony had become a complete madhouse. Brant himself, gaunt and sleep-deprived after not getting proper rest for days, was barking orders at reports arriving from every direction.
"What in the world are those monsters!"
With bloodshot eyes, he spat the words out in fury. All of this had been caused by the mysterious monsters that had suddenly appeared.
The creatures that emerged from the forest attacked a nearby small city and inflicted severe damage, then quickly multiplied until, in no time at all, they were assaulting most of the territory.
This remote borderland had always been far removed from the storms churning through the center of the continent, and its immunity to such disasters was pitifully weak.
"Still no reply from the other territories? What about Count Leon?"
"A-ah, still nothing, my lord."
"Those fools!"
He snapped at his steward, who could only shake his head with a troubled look.
The reply he was waiting for was support from the neighboring territories. But the lords who surely knew what was happening in Brant Barony had simply ignored the request.
"Send the message again. Tell them those horrid monsters from the Demon Realm won't be satisfied with just our land!"
Brant Barony knew why they were ignoring him.
The lords who had been subtly testing one another, their desires slowly writhing to the surface in step with the chaotic mood of the world, were now thinking only about how to expand their own power. Brant himself had been no different.
To people like that, a crisis in another territory was nothing more than an opportunity for themselves.
"We can't rashly move our troops now..."
Grinding his teeth at the cruelty of the other lords, Brant looked down at the map spread across his desk.
As if a full-scale war had broken out, the nearby population was evacuating into cities with strong walls. Even holding those cities was difficult enough, so a plan to gather all the soldiers together and launch an offensive against the enemy was impossible.
"S-still, it seems those monsters can't attack the large cities with high walls. So buy us time and somehow gather the soldiers in the rear."
"Do that. And recruit anyone you can, whether monster hunters or mercenaries!"
He decided there was still time. Based on the fact that the enemy seemed to deliberately avoid cities with strong walls, Brant agreed with the steward's suggestion to buy time, and he hurried to gather whatever force he could muster for a counterattack.
"N-no way! They're coming! The Black Beetles are swarming in!"
But at nearly the same moment, here in distant Forum, alarms were blaring as they stared at the huge army approaching from far away.
"Black Beetles...!"
The commander of Forum's garrison glared at them from atop the walls. Monsters whose identities no one could possibly decipher. After the large-scale raids, people began calling those monsters Black Beetles, insects clad in black armor.
"Bring all the refugees inside! Those monsters are man-eating beasts. They've come for the refugees!"
As a stopgap measure, he pulled in the many refugees left outside the walls. The city, already at full capacity, was crammed beyond its limit, but there was nothing else to be done.
"Give weapons to everyone who can fight. Are you going to be pushed back by a bunch of damned bugs?"
After that, he drafted everyone who was fit to fight, armed them, and made them stand and fight together. All he wanted was to hold the line somehow.
There's a wall. As long as we can endure, that's enough.
He might have sneered at them as mere bugs, but in truth he had no confidence that they could win. Their opponent was already a horrific horde that had devoured countless people, while they were nothing more than border soldiers whose morale had already sunk to the bottom.
The only thing they had going for them was the comparatively sturdy wall they had built.
"Those bastards won't show any mercy. Are you going to die miserably as bug food? Fight to the end!"
The commander did everything he could to rouse the soldiers. As he said, even if they trembled and wanted to run, the enemy would not take pity on them either way.
Thanks to that, despite their extreme fear, the people instead managed to unite and steel themselves for desperate resistance.
"High walls and fierce resistance are not exactly favorable conditions for an assault. Would you like to choose another option?"
[2. Bypass Forum and attack another city first]
But the option selected along with Agares's words had no intention of giving them the war they wanted.