The Subjugation of Ultio

My arm swung toward the man with all my might. I struck his hand away hard.

Whoosh—!

'Ah...'

But my arm passed right through his hand, empty and futile. It just reminded me once again that in this spirit body state, I couldn't exert any physical force.

'...This isn't reality to begin with. It's just a mental world.'

I gritted my teeth. Even if it was just a mental world,

I couldn't just stand by and watch that Irregular get slaughtered like that. An indescribable emotion surged in my chest.

Fwaaah!

Before I could do anything, a hexagonal star pattern completed on the man's hand. It burst with brilliant light and shot toward the creature wailing at his feet.

'What?'

But the gruesome scene I imagined didn't happen. The light of the hexagon seeped into the Irregular's back.

Like a larva wrapping itself in a cocoon, threads of light extended out, enveloping its body.

'This is...'

I knew instinctively. It wasn't a spell meant to harm it.

"...A form of atonement, in my own way."

The man muttered that, and with that scene as the last, time froze.

Shaaa...

With it, everything began to turn gray. The man before me, the cocooned Irregular, the thunder tree standing tall behind—even that. Everything turned gray.

At that moment, I felt my spirit body get sucked somewhere, and my vision went black.

* * *

"...Chirrip, chiri— rip, chiririp."

—Sadness, injustice, rage.

The creature's crying hit me as soon as my mind returned.

Thanks to Empathy, I could understand it this time, unlike before.

"Chiririp... Chirip, chiriririp."

—Enemy, hatred, revenge.

It stared blankly into the void, spewing words of hatred. Deep in its resigned eyes,

I could feel anger hotter than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠molten lava.

'...Its hatred for that man has taken deep root in its heart.'

I still didn't know how it survived from that era until now. I could only guess it was due to the spell the mantis man had cast.

'Should I let it live?'

My sword ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at its neck felt heavy. Having seen that past, I couldn't bring myself to sever its head.

But letting it live felt like it would become a lingering threat.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place,

a system message appeared.

'...!'

I widened my eyes at the sudden messages. Domination? Of a primal species?

I checked the new special skill Ancient Primal Domination with tense eyes.

'...My goodness.'

My eyes trembled like there was an earthquake. Being able to dominate an ancient primal species was absurdly unrealistic—no one would believe it.

'Did a skill like this even exist?'

Even I, who could claim to be the top veteran of the Insect King's War, had never heard of it. I'd never even encountered an ancient primal species before.

The only time was facing 'Titanoptera,' sealed by Kun.

'Anyway...'

In this situation, there was no reason to hesitate. I activated Ancient Primal Domination on the creature before me.

"Chi... rip?"

—Sensation, strange.

As the skill took effect, it shuddered and looked at me. I felt the same.

At this moment, we were spiritually connected.

I was about to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠activate Ancient Primal Domination again when I paused.

'I understand your injustice and rage.'

Its wails still echoed in my ears, so I wanted to say this first.

As I conveyed that,

its demeanor suddenly changed. Ferocious and venomous.

"Chirip? Chiriririp."

—Human, understand, impossible.

As if to say, How could someone like you know my pain?

'...'

I closed my eyes and shared a fragment of my memories. Possible because we were spiritually linked.

Before regression. The brutal life I'd lived on the Abian Continent for over 20 years.

Over time, I lost precious ones one by one. Injustice, resentment, sorrow, hardship.

I endured countless wounds through it all. Yet I buried it in my heart, grew step by step, and claimed the Grail.

But in the end, it was all the Administrator's scheme. Futility, emptiness, lament, sigh, regret, grief, remorse.

Dozens of emotions raged. Until the final burning rage at the end of those memories.

"Chi... rip."

Tasting my life's emotions, it mumbled in confusion, clearly shocked.

"Chirip, chiririp."

—Human, wounds, comrade.

Its eyes softened. Showing my memory fragments had worked.

My instincts screamed it was time.

'Join me.'

I extended my hand.

"Chiriit."

—Good.

It responded.

With the system message,

white threads flowed from my chest and its chest. They connected, bursting into pure white fireworks.

Fwaaah—!

'Ah.'

Surrounded by the white light, I realized we were now fully spiritually linked.

"Chiriririp!"

—Human, captain, acknowledged.

I chuckled at its cry and opened my mouth.

"From now on, your name is Ultio."

Ultio. Latin for revenge.

Recalling its desperate wails when it lost its family, I named it hoping it would one day achieve vengeance.

"Chirip—."

—Name, Ultio, good.

Fortunately, Ultio seemed to like it. For a moment, its eyes curved like half-moons—an illusion, maybe.

With that,

golden particles gathered before my eyes.

'Oh.'

Its status window appeared. Since it was subordinated to me, I could view it intuitively.

I'd expected this. In the Insect King's War, I could check status for mounts obtained as pets.

Ding!

'Fully subordinated to me.'

I scanned its status with a satisfied smile. Especially notable were species and potential.

SSS-grade species meant its innate vessel was already overwhelming. S-grade potential was top-tier.

'When it matures into an adult and flies like that thunderwing...'

Just imagining it showed how powerful it'd be.

But there was an immediate issue...

"Chirip, chiririp—."

—Captain, me, pain, suffering, agony, torment.

"Hmm..."

I made a troubled face. No wonder.

Three of its four front legs were half-destroyed or nearly severed. Paralysis poison had fully spread, immobilizing it. And I was the cause.

'Practically half-dead?'

Left like this, some passing wild primal would devour it.

I needed to heal it. Paralysis poison aside, how to fix those legs?

Usually, molting regenerates lost limbs, but who knew when it'd molt.

'Take it to a spellcaster skilled in healing arts.'

Even Chung Hak Gwan had excellent healers. They'd fix it easily.

But

'Bringing a primal species there would cause an uproar.'

An alive ancient species? The whole continent would freak, and the Four Lords' eyes would turn to me.

"Chirip, chiririp—."

—Captain, me, heal, need, burrow, rest.

"Hm?"

While I pondered, Ultio sent its intent first. Burrow? Probably its lair.

'Self-healing?'

Checking its status again, yes—Regeneration (A) skill.

Then...

I turned around. The night insect soldiers were still out cold.

"Ultio, where's this burrow?"

I took Ultio to its burrow.

* * *

Fsssh.

"This should do it."

I muttered, looking at the sealed burrow entrance.

I'd brought Ultio here. Some paralysis had worn off, and it crawled inside to recover.

I didn't know how it'd heal, but I hoped those legs regenerated well.

"And its burrow is right here, as expected."

I turned my head.

Crackle!

There was the thunder tree, emanating blue lightning from its leaves. Smaller than the one in its memory, but definitely the same species.

'Did that ancient thunder tree from back then spawn this sapling? Then where's the massive one?'

The giant that pierced the sky—if it still stood, it'd be impossible to miss. Visible from dozens of kilometers away.

"Anyway."

I set aside the mystery and faced reality.

'Thunder tree fruit.'

My eyes gleamed. Among the fruits on the tree,

I'd grabbed one earlier, but a couple more would net more mileage.

'Won't be easy.'

I grinned at the thunder tree emitting numbing currents like a no-trespassing sign.

* * *

"Whew."

I returned to the clearing, my body scorched, looking drained.

Plucking thunder tree fruit raw was insanely dangerous, as expected. High-voltage currents everywhere.

The tree itself held explosive lightning. Get too close, and you'd fry perfectly.

'That's why it's so hard to get thunder tree fruit.'

Even approaching was tough; picking directly was like snatching stars from the sky.

'Still...'

I glanced at my hand.

A glistening blue fruit.

'Got one at least.'

My lips curved up. Mission accomplished—worth the ordeal.

Fruits were ripe, clustered low where currents were weakest. Spotting one, I trusted Transcendent Regeneration, tanked the lightning like a madman, and pelted it relentlessly.

A slightly underripe one, but I targeted the stem precisely—no damage.

My body was wrecked in the process, though.

'Would've loved to check the thunder core, but realized my current body can't handle it.'

From the lightning's intensity, it seemed to hold a full thunder core now. Tempting to try, but even fruit-picking was life-risking; touching the core was impossible.

'Opportunity will come again.'

Better to let go of regrets over what I couldn't do yet. I'd return for thunder-attribute growth someday.

'Still not awake, huh.'

Back at the clearing, the knocked-out night insect soldiers were visible.

Time to wake them and head back, but

'What about these ant corpses?'

Hundreds of lightning ant primal corpses I'd massacred filled the clearing.

'No Predation trigger?'

The moment I thought of Predation,

... ...

With those messages,

light flashed from the hundreds of lightning ant corpses.