'Yes. A reasonable choice.'
While the ants endlessly craved food and expanded their massive nest in all directions, it was only natural that they would keep sending out scouting parties and hunting squads to grow their territory.
Moreover, rather than venturing into the unknown west, turning south—where human forces had already been confirmed—was a natural and logical progression.
To them, the humans who had once waged war and conquered that 'nest' seemed far easier to deal with than the orcs, who had briefly chilled the hive's resolve.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The Queen has found a more efficient way to utilize the Venom Ant's poison, drawing on past experiences and newly devoured traits.
"As expected, poison stingers?"
The new ant breed I'd barely managed to acquire after the Leafcutter Ants and deploy was another exotic species called the Bullet Ant.
It was a fairly infamous ant that injected powerful venom through its stinger.
Now freed from the endless quagmire of forced spawning, the inaugural Queen Ant—serving as the hive's brain and specializing in evolution and bloodline refinement—didn't stop at mass-producing Bullet Ants. She relentlessly experimented with combinations to create tougher soldiers.
'Brutal as hell.'
A massive, monstrous new Soldier Ant clad in Thorn Ant armor across its entire body, with those thorns converted into poison stingers.
Ants with only the Thorn Ant's thorns replaced by poison stingers, variants with stingers on their heads instead of tails for ramming attacks, and more.
A flood of chimera-like ants in every conceivable form poured out.
I let out a hollow chuckle as I recorded them each time, jotting down their traits.
Among these newborn chimeras, the inefficient ones would surely be culled, while the promising ones underwent further refinement.
Even I, meticulously logging it all, could barely keep pace with their evolution.
Yet the inaugural Queen and the ant horde wielded it all as naturally as breathing.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Subordinates begin hunting in earnest.
And so, this bolstered force split into hunting squads numbering in the hundreds, sweeping out of the forest into the southern plains.
The victims were the humans living in villages there.
"Th-the monsters are crossing the river! Huddle up and cross the river!"
"Run, hurry!"
The screen showed the unnamed villagers facing the incoming hunting squad.
Living near the riverbank, they were hardy frontier folk with sturdy wooden palisades and basic weapons at the ready.
But my ants charging toward them now were no mere bandits or beasts.
I knew that better than anyone, since I was the one fueling their rapid proliferation and evolution.
"It's too late. Fight back!"
"To your stations! Loose arrows!"
Perhaps lulled by the river's slow current despite its width, they hadn't fled in time.
They desperately prepared to fight at the horrific sight of the ants forming living rafts with their bodies to cross.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Subordinates deem their scale and resistance insignificant.
But to the ants, seasoned by multiple wars, the villagers' resistance was laughable and futile.
No matter how fiercely they fought, the ants pressed forward without hesitation.
Even if comrades fell to arrows, they trampled the corpses; even if traps diverted their path, they built bridges with their bodies to let others pass.
Especially the variant Soldier Ants armored in full Thorn Ant plating with embedded poison stingers—they were moving siege engines now.
A mere body slam crumbled earthen walls, and spearmen trying to hold them off were sent flying, vomiting blood.
It took a single hunting squad of a few hundred ants less than two hours to annihilate the village.
The only survivors were those who fled desperately from the start.
The rest—men, women, children—were slaughtered without mercy.
Concepts like toying with or violating prey didn't exist for ants.
Fairly and squarely, anyone in their grasp became mere meat.
'Villages can't stop them.'
I watched in silence. My side had won, but I felt no joy. People died, but no sorrow either.
It was a one-sided invasion, ending in one-sided slaughter.
I could turn away or close the screen and do something else, but I didn't bother.
Avoiding it wouldn't change a thing.
"Haa..."
I stepped outside, lit a cigarette I'd quit some time ago with a deep sigh. I'd thought I'd grown numb, but no.
Ants didn't need to feel such emotions, of course. Strictly speaking, neither did I.
In the end, we were all just locked in desperate survival struggles.
But if the ants' intelligence rose further one day, enabling true communication with me...
Would they obey me fully then?
And even if I tried controlling them only after that point, the deeds they'd rack up in the meantime wouldn't vanish.
'No. That's exactly why I must make sure they heed my words later. Our fates are bound now—I can't let them act freely. They have to be my soldiers.'
There's a vast difference between failing to comprehend my orders due to ability limits and understanding but ignoring them.
It's the former now, but if it became the latter, the situation would spiral into irreversible catastrophe.
That must never happen.
"Answer this: Can beings called Deities—or more precisely, their Subordinates—exist in this world too?"
Deities, Subordinates, and Territories: Deities elevate their rank through numerous Subordinates and their territorial domains. Securing more territory is their paramount goal. A Deity without territory or Subordinates loses rank and perishes.
This system, said to have been created by primordial Deities for their descendants, was used by countless Deities across the universe.
My eyes darkened at the response.
If a Deity's duty was to secure more Subordinates and territory, what about the otherworldly monsters that one day tore open gates and invaded our world?
Just as my ants ravaged that side, those beasts had swept through this one. Could they be unrelated to Deities?
'If my guess is right, what do I do?'
Those monsters were my mortal enemies—the beasts that stole everything from me as a child.
Powerless as a civilian, I'd joined the Hunter company precisely for that reason.
Hoping even my smallest actions might one day lead to vengeance against them.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"The frontiers are already laid to waste. No villages remain intact."
"They're dispatching squads—some a hundred strong, others up to three hundred—blanketing the land in death from all sides!"
In Count Dyke's manor, a crowd clamored in panic.
They were envoys from lords now directly threatened by the southward ants.
All gripped by extreme terror from refugees' tales.
'As expected, those things weren't satisfied with mere scraps.'
Seira was there too.
Even those who'd ignored her warnings were now flailing in panic.
The ants' assaults were that shocking. Known numbers alone exceeded thousands.
And survivors' descriptions—allowing for exaggeration—depicted ants even fiercer and more monstrous than what she'd witnessed.
"How could this..."
Even Count Dyke was mired in confusion.
He'd figured maintaining balance and preserving his forces would suffice, never imagining an invader to upend the entire region.
"As I warned you. We must unite all the lords now to stop those beasts."
"Can't deny it. Their emergence now means the goblins are wiped out, right?"
"Precisely. They've exterminated their goblin rivals in the forest and now seek fresh prey southward."
"Urgh..."
Count Dyke groaned at Seira's stark words, lost for retort.
Greedy and lecherous in his old age, he wasn't foolish.
"So what do the other lords propose? From what I hear, they're barely holding their own turf—do they have troops to spare for a united extermination force?"
"That's..."
"Hire adventurers skilled in beast hunts..."
Even if Count Dyke stepped up, reality posed too many obstacles.
Shaky lords forging a peace pact to redirect forces to defense was feasible.
But going on the offensive to assault the ants' nest? An entirely different beast.
"My lord Count! Envoys from the capital have arrived!"
Then, astonishingly, the answer arrived unbidden—from the long-silent capital, no less.
'Who could they be?'
Seira flinched at the approaching blond, statuesque man.
With the royals failing as a nexus, local lords had gone lone wolf.
The capital was no different—the bloodiest battles raged there.
These newcomers had swiftly ousted rivals to claim the new power center.
"The mood here is grim, my lord Count."
"What brings His Grace's men all this way?"
"To subjugate the wicked beasts swarming from the north, naturally."
Count Dyke eyed them warily—potential future overlords—but they casually dropped a bombshell.
Even he and Seira gaped in shock.
"Al-already word has reached that far?"
"My lord, those beasts are no mere monsters. They're Subordinates dispatched by an utterly evil Demon God."
At the mention of the ants, stunned Count Dyke stammered.
The blond noble, introducing himself as Daniel Clementas, smirked knowingly.
"A evil we must unite against. His Grace pledges aid—prepare to fight."
He spoke as if intimately familiar with the ants.
With the tide turning and ants closing in, beleaguered lords had no choice but to accept.
"The capital will send reinforcements, but you'll need to fill most gaps. In return, behold something new."
Seizing control in one stroke, Daniel drew his sword, its blade gleaming radiant gold, revealing what he trusted in.
"The forces of that vile Outer God will scatter before this holy light."
A power distinct from human mana.
The crowd murmured at the lustrous, noble glow.