'What the hell is that?'
Jin-hyuk stared blankly at the orcs.
It was because the technique they used to chase the retreating ants was something he'd never seen before.
Using their shamans' spells, the orcs carved up the hard ground and slid toward the ants like they were surfing on boards, catching up to them in an instant.
With a dozen or so warriors riding each board, they swarmed the ants in a flash and swung their hefty weapons.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Subordinates panic and hurriedly switch to combat]
The ants were just as flustered by the orcs' unfamiliar shamanism.
They hurriedly turned their bodies to fight back, but the ants, already retreating after an intense battle, couldn't push back against the wildly rampaging orcs.
"That's the orcs' signature move, the Waves of the Earth. If you're facing them as enemies on open plains or grasslands, it's a nightmare of a spell."
On the other hand, the locals watching the scene knew exactly what trick the orcs were using.
After all, they had been fighting those very orcs not long ago.
"I know you hate helping the orc bastards, but this is our chance. Wipe out the monsters!"
Count Merlen ordered his recovered troops to join the orcs in attacking the ants.
The orcs were ancient enemies they'd bickered with for centuries over regional dominance, but the ants rampaging through the area lately were enemies that made their teeth grind just as much.
In the end, they reorganized their lines once more and charged into the fray.
"Human scum, who said you could butt in?!"
"Calm down. Let's take out these ones first!"
Of course, the orcs didn't look kindly on the intruders either, but for now, both forces temporarily allied against their common enemy—the ants—and began their final showdown.
The ants, repeatedly growing stronger, were now a major threat even to the naturally warlike orcs, but in this battle, the momentum had clearly shifted.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[To inflict maximum damage on the enemy, the subordinates decide to fight to the end]
The ants, who had been desperately fleeing, suddenly turned aggressive again, charging in with suicidal ferocity for their last stand.
Any living, moving creature should naturally possess survival instincts.
And it was precisely because those instincts could be suppressed by will that orcs and humans recognized each other as intelligent beings.
"These bastards...!?"
But the ants were the same.
The only difference was that their actions stemmed not from blazing fighting spirit or boiling emotions, but from the cold, calculated will of the hive.
If anything, it was one instinct overriding another even stronger one.
Once the order was given, the ants wouldn't stop fighting until the last one remained.
Even if their heads were severed or legs broken, they'd keep moving as long as they could.
Even if it meant their death, they'd hurl themselves forward without hesitation if it meant landing a wound.
Those who had fought ants head-on weren't just shuddering and clicking their tongues in awe at that relentless obsession for no reason.
"Ugh, what kind of monsters are these...?"
In the midst of it all, Tuks—the young chieftain leading the orcs—was stunned to see an ant with its head half-cleaved by his axe still thrusting its stinger at him.
Unlike the human forces they were somewhat familiar with, most of these orcs were fighting these mutant ants for the first time.
Their innate ferocity and grit kept them from being overwhelmed in spirit, but their lack of knowledge led to frequent counterattacks from the ants.
"Watch out for the stingers. Even the toughest warrior will be crippled by the pain and potency of that venom."
What saved Tuks was a blazing fire spear that flew in from behind.
He turned his head and smirked at Seira, who held her staff.
"You seem to know these monsters well, human mage."
"If we don't stop them, the world ends."
Seira swallowed dryly, unnecessarily tense.
This was her first real conversation with an orc.
Having grown up in the north, she'd heard enough gruesome rumors and tales of their atrocities to make her ears calloused.
Standing face-to-face with their massive, muscular frames—so unlike humans—the intimidation was inevitable.
More than that, orcs were much like goblins in one key way.
They wouldn't hesitate to violate human women.
"The Great Chieftain ordered me to learn how to talk and cooperate with humans. Since we've become allies fighting these monsters for the time being, that knowledge of yours will be useful right now."
Unlike Seira, Tuks seemed indifferent to the encounter. Instead of commenting on her attitude, he pointed at another ant.
It was a mutant thorn ant covered head to toe in spines.
"Does that one have venom too?"
"...No, the smaller specimens among the spiny ones don't have venom."
"Damn it, then you take out the one behind it, mage!"
Their cooperation kicked off right then and there.
Not just sharing Seira's knowledge of the ants, but syncing up as a fundamental warrior-mage combo.
"Kill them all!"
"N-No! We need to capture some alive for research!"
After that, with no major crises, the two fought together in sync until the battle's end.
By the finish, Seira was even frantically stopping an excited Tuks from yelling to slaughter them all.
"You fight better than expected."
"We didn't think you'd charge in first either."
Afterward, starting with representatives Tuks and Count Merlen, the two groups' meeting proceeded in a much more relaxed and bonded atmosphere.
The fact that they'd staked their lives together as comrades in battle weighed heavily.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Wiped out. One hunting unit is annihilated]
"Hmm..."
The orcs' and humans' cooperation. Its destructive power exceeded my expectations.
Especially eye-catching was that silver-haired female mage teaming up with an orc warrior—I watched that with keen interest.
The orcs, floundering without knowledge of ant countermeasures, quickly got the hang of it thanks to the knowledge sharing from those who'd faced ants before.
The ants in the hunting unit put up a desperate fight, but they were ultimately wiped out.
Not a single one left alive.
Ants have no concept of prisoners to begin with.
They don't take them, nor do they surrender as one.
Some enemies apparently tried capturing ants on the fly, but even bound, the ants thrashed until their bodies tore apart and died.
'It was a battle we started at a disadvantage anyway.'
No particular emotions stirred. Reality is always full of variables.
This was just one such variable within my expected range.
Of course. Me, who's openly watched ants tear people apart and devour them—why would I be shaken by a few hundred deaths out of tens of thousands multiplied ants?
"Am I finally going mad...?"
I lowered the screen for a moment, and my face reflected back from the phone where I was logging the ants' observations.
Every time, I console myself that I'm an innocent victim swept into an unavoidable mess, but reality doesn't change.
The ants will keep driving that world toward ruin, I'll help them for my own sake, and this war for survival won't end.
Becoming a Deity meant shouldering that massive karma from the start.
The moment the Divine Net first appeared before me, it warned that this was my fate—a reality I'd have to accept whether I wanted to or not.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Subordinates are convinced it's not a major loss]
'Yeah, makes sense. It's just a partial setback, not a meaningful counterattack.'
The ants didn't react strongly to this defeat either.
Including the one just wiped out, there were already 41 scattered hunting units.
Even counting each at the minimum 300 ants, that meant over 10,000 ants sweeping across the world in all directions.
Proper counterattacks like this one were rare.
Just defending fortresses, cities, or villages without massive losses was impressive.
Human forces were crumbling fast against the ants' organic hunting method of flexibly grouping and scattering as needed.
They couldn't move or communicate as swiftly as the ants.
"No, Captain!"
"Retreat! Abandon the city! It's too late!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙[Subordinates are satisfied with the major haul]
Meanwhile, in another region, a small city actually fell amid despair and screams.
Deeming it an easy target compared to others, 11 hunting units summoned from nearby converged in a flash and struck from all sides, crumbling the castle and city defenses.
Siege warfare favored defenders, but to ants that scaled rugged cliffs without issue, walls weren't much of an obstacle.
Without ladders or siege engines, the ants swarmed up the walls in droves, eventually breaching them to infiltrate inside and slaughter resistors in their specialty—brutal close-quarters melee.
'Mana-infused prey. Taking down cities—places teeming with people—is tough, but success means a massive payout.'
The ants' favorite food right now was naturally mana, Demonic Power, Holy Power—prey brimming with special energies.
Unlike the defeated who fought valiantly only to be desecrated in loss, the victorious ants reveled in securing vast quantities of premium sustenance.
The ants' growth was currently bottlenecked by resource shortages.
Regular nutrients were easy to come by now, but the power needed for creating mutants came solely from this method.
'Saving it for a bigger war, huh.'
Having observed and analyzed them closely all this time, I came to understand their persistence and perspective in overcoming it—which explained why they hadn't deployed the mutant hornet ants they'd painstakingly made, keeping them holed up in the nest.
Right now, the ants were luring in prey.
Provoking enemies to commit larger forces to stop them.
When that moment came, they'd unleash their secret weapons like they'd been waiting and reap another massive harvest.
Sometimes, looking too far ahead can be poison.
But if controlled well... it could become a lethal blow.
The ants had already reached that point.
✨ DEITY RANK UP! ✨Lowest Deity → Low Deity Rank 5
「Deity rank rises with the growing infamy and scale of subordinates」
「Some restricted functions unlocked」
"???"
Then came something I neither expected nor wanted.
Just like when I first awakened as a Deity without knowing the ants' actions, something had happened unbeknownst to me again.
"What... what's changed?"
I absolutely did not wish for anything more than this.
Yet this world, the ants, and the system wouldn't leave me be.
'My body hasn't changed or anything.'
In shock, I rushed to the bathroom, groped myself over, and checked the mirror, but my appearance hadn't altered strangely.
「Personal messages now viewable」 「Enhanced empathy with subordinates」 「Screen splitting available」
The changes seemed mostly in the system I used, not my body.
Unlike my intact form, the system floating before me was introducing more complex and varied functions than before.
Just as it said, some restricted functions had been lifted.
「Transcendence rank unlocked」
'What's this?'
Mixed in with the intuitively understandable ones were things I couldn't make sense of.
With no knowledge, I'd need the system's help to grasp them.
「Irregular awakening detected」 「*Restricted function」
"What the fu..."
But like it had revealed just enough, the parts I was most curious about were blocked off again.
"So when's the next rank up?"
「Deity rank rises proportional to subordinates' achievements and influence」
Of course, one thing was now clear.
My fate would shift with the ants' actions, and step by step, I'd draw closer to the truth.