The Art of Proof (4)

"It does seem like a lot has changed..."

"Your avatar’s rank has risen, but your units are bodies connected to the avatar as one. Naturally, they can’t help but change as well."

"Looks that way."

Once I’d settled in properly, I organized the phone screen. The things that were lighting up all over it were indirect clues, telling me just how much had changed and in what ways.

The overall increase in stats was exactly what I’d expected, but there was no way that was all there was to it.

"There it is."

And just as my instincts had told me, the real changes were beginning now. Changes that would make up for the weaknesses that had always left me, in one way or another, wanting.

"Take a good look. A rise in rank is a kind of transcendence. It means overcoming your flaws and being born again as something new."

Agares’ words confirmed it for me.

Personally, the weakness I’d felt in our side until now was that we were awkwardly half-finished.

In particular, the process of obtaining nutrients and replenishing minions had always felt frustratingly clumsy. The fact that we could infuse essence into living beings and turn them into allies was certainly a strength, but its limits were just as obvious.

In that sense, the new Grand Lord skill I’d gained this time was capable of addressing that problem to some extent.

"Skill Incubation! The Ascalas communication network centered on the Grand Lord contains the information of every minion you’ve created so far. From now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on, you can select one of them and ‘mass-produce’ it."

"About time."

Incubation. It was something I’d thought we absolutely needed as our growth continued and our identity grew ever more solid.

In the end, we were a horde of monsters that could never mix with the local inhabitants. We had to survive by opposing everyone and devouring everyone. And for that, I needed a way to expand our own numbers.

Incubation... For us, who lacked reproductive capacity in most units, this skill would be our way of breeding.

"Though... is it really such a good method? If you use Incubation, the number of foot soldiers will certainly increase rapidly, but how do you plan to obtain the nutrients to keep them moving?"

"Then I’ll regulate it appropriately. And it’s not a huge issue either. We’ll keep growing anyway, so I figure that’ll sort itself out in time."

Agares had tossed out a needless objection, but I’d built up enough experience by now to read between the lines.

I didn’t know whether it had already been decided or not. Still, I thought that if we just kept growing, even the problems right in front of us would eventually solve themselves.

And there was proof for that too. The newly obtainable skill that had appeared alongside Incubation: Psychic Remodeling.

This was Karin’s skill, that is, the Priestess’s skill.

Its effect was to remodel the target’s mind and raise their compatibility by as much as ten percent. In other words, I’d gained another key that could raise a minion to a warrior, and a warrior to a High-ranking Species.

"There are dozens of units whose compatibility can be raised enough to push them past the threshold of sixty percent, the minimum requirement. Can all of them awaken their egos and become High-ranking Species?"

"Who knows. It’s only giving the losers a chance, that’s all. Just as Lena and Karin and the others eventually chose this path for themselves..."

"That’s enough."

Agares trailed off, but the fact remained that this would make us unimaginably stronger. All from simply raising rank by a thousand points.

At this point, there was no reason for me to pour my stats into anything else. The Grand Lord’s Martial Power was already sufficient, so it made sense to focus on rank and raise the level of the hive as a whole.

That was when rumors from far-off northern lands, which we’d never really expected to hear about, finally reached us.

***

"P-please, spare me... gghk!"

Near the edge of the Brant Barony, in a dim forest, someone was dragged roughly along and thrown to the hard earth.

"H-hahh..."

He looked like nothing so much as a peddler—neither a spy nor a mercenary—and he trembled violently as he looked around. He had indeed taken the risk of traveling the road, but the ones who’d captured him were certainly no common thieves.

"I was watching, and He gave me an order. Catch this one no matter what."

"Good work, Lark."

The one who had grabbed him was a boy who still looked unfinished, not yet fully grown. But the red-haired boy’s face was hidden behind a spiked mask that resembled a stag beetle’s helmet, and within that mask, his eyes burned with a fierce red light.

And the being who welcomed the boy with a smile was a woman with enormous butterfly wings.

Th-those rumors were true?!

He suddenly remembered a rumor he’d recently heard about the Black Beetles that had been rampaging through the Brant Barony, and horror seized him.

They said some of the Black Beetles wore human faces, spoke human language, and could communicate perfectly well—though most who saw them were killed.

And now he was seeing the truth of those rumors with his own eyes.

"Aaaah!"

"I don’t know who you are, or why you were captured. But He ordered me to find out what information you have, so I’m only obeying that great command."

With a gesture from Karin, black tentacles burst from the ground and wrapped around his body. Then she lifted him upside down, dragged his face close to hers, and smiled sweetly as she spoke.

"I-I’m just a merchant trying to sell my wares, ma’am."

"We did give certain outsiders room to breathe so they wouldn’t suspect anything, but the fact that you came here knowing about us means you were blinded by money and threw yourself into a gamble. So there’s no need to feel wronged. Now tell me everything you heard."

As he trembled like a leaf, she lightly stroked his bloodless, red face, then her brow twitched and she growled.

"Kraaaagh!"

At once, with the breath of her newly elevated rank, a faint black poison ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠began to seep out. That alone was enough to scorch the skin of his face and leave him badly burned, and he screamed as though the world were ending.

"The orcs! The orcs broke through the defenses and are pillaging and setting fire deep inland! There are rumors they’re kidnapping people too! Hiiiii..."

"Orcs."

Karin repeated the testimony he’d babbled out in a daze. In truth, even hearing it like that, she didn’t really know what it meant. As a village girl by origin, she had no idea what exactly the orcs of the Demon Realm even were.

...I think I get it.

But that didn’t matter. Her role was to gather information, after all. It was the being watching over all of this who made the judgments, and that being possessed insight sharp enough to see through the truth with only a little information.

In fact, just from the rumors she’d heard from him, Karin could figure out nearly everything she needed to know.

"Y-you’re going to spare me?"

"Of course."

Meanwhile, he clenched his teeth against the pain and forced a smile, begging her for mercy. Karin looked at him for a moment, then righted him after having him upside down all that time.

"Th-thank you..."

"Your inner core is a little lacking. Is it because you’re too timid? Still, don’t worry too much. His Excellency has just granted me a new power."

But Karin still didn’t let him go. On the contrary, her eyes glittered.

"N-no! Don’t—"

"Accept it. I’ll make it happen for you, whatever you want."

Spreading her wings as far as they would go, Karin pressed both hands—each tipped with sharp black claws—against his horrified face and activated her newly awakened ability.

The instant she did, the eye-shaped pattern drawn on her wings began to glow, mesmerizing his fixed gaze. A flood of light burst forth and continued until the man, foam gathering at his lips, lost consciousness and collapsed.

This was the skill Psychic Remodeling that she, as a Priestess, had awakened.

"Then... what are we supposed to do now?"

"Can’t you hear the order He’s given us? Just follow that, and we’ll keep doing what we’ve always done."

Having infused the pitiful man sprawled on the ground with essence taken from the Grand Lord, Karin smiled as she answered Lark, who had been watching the entire scene.

"You know as well as I do that His power is like a miracle impossible to put into words. And while that happens, this world’s storms grow ever fiercer, and we grow stronger still. In that chaos... we’ll ride on His grace and cover this world with our own justice."

She had suffered under the irrational cruelty and helplessness of being weak, and in response had come to desire with fierce intensity the toppling of the old order and the creation of a new board altogether—a grand revolution of sorts. Karin truly wanted that, and as her wish seemed to be coming true little by little, she felt deeply satisfied.

"Let’s move. The Brant Barony has already been weakened enough that we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could twist it out of shape if we wanted to, so now it’s time to invade Baron Bout’s territory."

Karin and Lark moved out with a large force. Their goal was to cross the borders between territories and seize a new land.

It was a familiar task, one they had already carried out many times. And now they were even stronger than before—so much stronger that, even at this very moment, they were still growing.

---