⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Your subordinates have produced their first soldiers, raised with careful attention to the composition of that power.
After uncovering the secret behind the enemies' power, the ants excluded Demonic Power-infused food and fed their larvae only Mana-rich prey. The larvae then tore through their cocoons, emerging as adults.
The worker ants had carefully gathered and relocated only the cocoons—especially those invested in for potential growth into exceptional individuals—to this hatching chamber.
The newly awakened ants here didn't look drastically different on the surface.
Unlike the existing ones, which had a very dark, almost black exoskeleton, these had a slightly lighter hue, making them easy to distinguish when mixed in.
If my theory and the ants' hypothesis were correct, the enemies' new power wouldn't work on these.
'So they decided to maximize their numbers, huh.'
There were no massive, bulky soldier ants, but every one of them was larger than a worker ant. Their jaws gleamed like blades, unmistakably inherited from the samurai ants deployed earlier.
Their builds were sleek, their legs long—perfect for high mobility.
Those jaws, in particular, were distinctly different from the grinding, chewing type of the existing ants.
With jaws that sharp, like actual blades, they could slice clean through anything in one bite.
"...But there don't seem to be that many."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙With the food currently stockpiled by your subordinates, they can't produce enough individuals to satisfy them. They desire more food supplies.
I tilted my head after scanning the hatching chamber by rotating the view, and right on cue, a notification popped up to resolve my doubt.
The total number of these new 'Mana-specialized variants' seemed to be around a hundred.
My rough count might be off, but it was definitely not a large number.
Most of the food they'd hunted and stockpiled so far had been infused with Demonic Power.
In the vast unexplored forest they'd claimed as their territory, the main prey were magic beasts carrying Demonic Power.
They'd only started sourcing Mana-infused food after seriously invading human territories. No wonder the numbers were low.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Your subordinates have staked everything on this war.
If these newly created troops were wiped out, the ants might not be able to hold back the advancing enemies anymore.
To find a way forward, they had to win the war, consume the spoils, and produce even more soldiers.
The ants knew this, so they prepared for war more thoroughly than ever.
"Alright, move out to exterminate those wicked magic beasts! Eradicating them from this land is our duty."
And their opponents knew this was merely the calm before the storm on the eve of full-scale war.
With the ants pausing their offensives to focus on preparations and falling back, those who'd been hunkered down in fortresses and cities for defense now gathered their forces and launched a counterattack.
'One thing's for sure—they're not the same force we've been fighting before.'
I wasn't the only one diligently recording info on the ants.
I'd tried to document and analyze their enemies—my enemies—as much as possible.
Fortunately, the ants instinctively prioritized reconnaissance on their foes, deploying numerous scouts busily to gather as much intel as they could.
From that, I'd learned these people—who invoked the goddess to rout the ants and wreaked havoc on locals without hesitation—were outsiders.
Their home base was far south of the targets the ants were after now.
'That place might be another deity's domain like mine.'
I wasn't certain, but I was convinced some unknown deity backed them.
The locals' reactions and their oddly familiar attitude toward the ants gave me constant déjà vu.
Moreover, that deity had cunningly expanded its influence by using me.
It painted my ant subordinates—who saw all humans as identical food, regardless of allegiance—as mindless, irrational invaders, branding us the absolute evil to rally human forces to its side.
From the ants' perspective, it wasn't entirely wrong, but it still pissed me off.
It felt just like when the goblins had tried to pit the ants against the human faction as rivals in the past.
"Guess the only way is to crush them decisively and shove it in their faces?"
I gave a wry smile as I watched the enemies steadily approaching the ants' territory and the ant colony mobilizing in response.
In my view, the most effective way to shatter their schemes was for us to win the war.
They strutted with confidence because their power had secured victories against the ants in prior battles.
Having risen as the humans' hope, they used that as justification for their actions, making it impossible for other locals to refuse them.
If the ants led with these new individuals immune to their boasted Holy Power, they could break that arrogance and halt their faction's expansion.
Letting the colony claim spoils and grow was just a bonus.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"According to reports, the goblins mentioned those monsters and suggested fighting together, right?"
Defense had succeeded, so now it was time to exterminate the cowering ants.
At the very moment Jin-hyuk was observing the ants, the scattered units—which had been blocking the ants' hunting parties everywhere—regrouped into a full extermination army.
And within that army, a vanguard detachment had been formed from select troops.
Leading this vanguard was Viscount Lupern, a holy knight of the Golden Mandate Society who had visited Count Dyke alongside Daniel.
With a smirk, he brought up the goblins to the knight of Baron Gramore, who held local lands and rode beside him.
"Yes. They said the monsters' nest is deep in the forest, endlessly spawning more, so let's join forces."
"Ha! And you just brushed off a bunch of goblins like that without a second thought?"
"Y-yes, that's right."
The knight nodded, then flinched as the viscount's hearty laugh suddenly turned to a stony glare.
Those eyes burned with deep contempt.
"Those weren't ordinary goblins to begin with. Does that make sense? Lowly magical beasts like goblins trying to build a civilization and ally with humans?"
The viscount mentioned how goblins elsewhere had already formed massive forces, attacking and toppling nearby powers.
"It's the blessing of the Demon God."
To the knight's question of how that was possible, he shook his head.
Just as Goddess Henes had blessed them, the goblins had received a blessing too.
From their perspective, it was from a thoroughly evil Demon God.
"Then those monsters are also that Demon God's subordinates?"
"At least the Demon God's minions can be reasoned with."
The viscount snorted at the knight's dumbfounded question.
The Demon God's minions—enemies yet rivals—were fundamentally different from the ant colony ravaging the area.
"Those are beings outside order, pursuing only the world's destruction: subordinates of an Outer God. I'm telling you this specially, Sir Knight."
The viscount revealed the ants' true nature to the knight, who had shown interest in the Golden Mandate Society.
An uncompromising absolute evil.
Fighting and winning was their only option.
"I'll send out my familiar here."
The vanguard led by Viscount Lupern aimed to pinpoint the ants' nest.
Passing through barren lands where residents had fled the ants, leaving villages and fields abandoned, they reached the forest proper—the heart of the ants' territory.
There, a mage released a wild pigeon familiar into the sky.
The intent was to scout the area via the familiar, which shared senses with the mage, and locate the nest.
"I-it's visible. Unbelievable!"
No way the massive ant kingdom wouldn't show in the high-flying pigeon's view.
Jin-hyuk's subordinates, incorporating traits from every ant species, had built enormous nests both underground and aboveground.
The devastated surroundings sprouted giant mushrooms—larger than humans—fed not by leaves but by worker ants shredding colossal trees, turning them into food stores.
"That big...?"
Even Viscount Lupern's eyes widened at the mage's report.
The vast northeastern unexplored forest had long been fully under ant control.
"Hurry and relay this to the main force. And set up camp nearby immediately!"
Had the nest looked insignificant, Lupern would've pressed ahead as planned to test the waters.
But it was massive at a glance.
They'd need the entire waiting main force—and be prepared to burn the whole forest.
"Viscount! The monsters are emerging from the forest! About five hundred of them!"
"Five hundred...! Everyone, prepare for battle! They're going all out to stop us!"
Yet the ants responded instantly, as if forewarned.
Five hundred was about two hunting parties combined—twice the vanguard's size. Still, Lupern opted for battle.
He believed his holy knights' and priests' Holy Power could triumph even against double that.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙As your subordinates intended, the enemies are preparing for battle instead of fleeing.
"...It was for fighting from the start, after all."
Jin-hyuk could see the vanguard readying for combat.
The ants were charging, battle imminent, but he stood calmly before the breeding pen, staring at the flickering screen without tension or anxiety.
'We need food. To get food, we fight.'
Unlike Viscount Lupern's assumption, the ants weren't moving to block them.
They'd deliberately limited their numbers for a specific reason—not to defend the nest, but to hunt the 'food walking right to their doorstep.'
"Kill the monsters!"
Before his eyes unfolded the raw scene: ants swarming from all sides, humans holding formation in fierce combat.
'You watching too?'
Jin-hyuk thought of another deity using the same system as him.
Probably holding their breath, observing the battle just like him.
"We're the ones attacking."
However, only he—the ants' master—could see hundreds more ants stealthily trailing the vanguard.