Absorption

“The Silver Twilight Secret Society?”

“That’s right. It is the supreme secret organization founded by Lord Prime Minister Schuber, which currently leads the entire magical civilization of the Empire. Although everyone knows of its existence now, not just anyone can enter.”

“Then how can I get in?”

“T-That...”

In a dark alleyway of a coastal city within the Empire, a drunken mage was tightly bound by chains that had appeared out of thin air, trembling with fear.

He was a mage directly affiliated with the city hall; anyone who dared to treat him this way was absolutely audacious.

But at this moment, staring at the single red-glowing eye beneath the hood, he didn't even dare to cry out for help, let alone resist. His face was deathly pale.

“I-I heard they are constantly recruiting. Anyone with real talent will be exceptionally admitted. It is said they have dedicated interviewers inside responsible for selecting newcomers.”

“What is the interviewer's name?”

“Aaaah! It's Belial! Belial Royman!”

Under the torture of the tightening chains, he eventually confessed everything he knew.

By the time the chains were finally released and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, the mysterious person who had kidnapped and interrogated him had already vanished without a trace.

‘It seems this is the only way. I must catch the interviewer's attention and be exceptionally recruited. I will infiltrate the Silver Twilight Secret Society and learn all the knowledge bestowed by the deity.’

Celia mounted her horse and galloped once more toward the imperial capital to the northwest, making a firm resolve in her heart.

She believed that as long as she could steal their technology, she would surely be able to transplant this power to the ant colony.

“A truly heaven-sent opportunity.”

The method Celia chose to attract Belial's attention was actually very simple and crude.

That was to cast a large-scale magic spell in front of him that others would find extremely difficult to perform.

And this opportunity happened to present itself right before her.

In the forest on the outskirts of the city where Belial's mansion was located, a high-level magical beast that had strayed in from the outside was running rampant.

Watching the scene where a large number of soldiers, knights, and Awakened were deployed to capture the magical beast, a cold sneer curled up on the corner of Celia's lips as she raised her staff.

“Please grant me power. All of this is for that Lord, and for the colony.”

【Elise allows Celia to access the hive mind at a deeper level】

The spell she was about to cast was something absolutely impossible for her to achieve with her own abilities.

But now, she could draw upon the magic power of the mutated Gene Stealer parasitizing her body, as well as the terrifying processing capacity of the hive mind.

She had now become a monster capable of casting large-scale magic all by herself.

“W-What is that?!”

“I-It's a Seventh-Ring spell, Flame of the End!”

In an instant, the surrounding sky was dyed crimson. A massive firestorm swept through the entire forest, tightly enveloping the target magical beast, only slowly dispersing after burning it completely to ashes.

Everyone was stunned by this terrifying magic, including, of course, Belial, who was sitting in his carriage and had witnessed the entire scene with his own eyes.

“Quick! Find her and bring her to me immediately!”

Naturally, they had to find the person who could cast a Seventh-Ring spell.

The unit originally responsible for subjugating the magical beast instantly turned into a search party and began looking for Celia.

Celia, who had been standing in place the entire time, was discovered by them as expected and brought before Belial.

“This is impossible. How could a female mage as young as you cast that spell just now?”

“After my master passed away, I lived in seclusion. I only recently came out of seclusion and happened to encounter this rampaging magical beast. That is all.”

With events unfolding exactly as she had hoped, Celia decided to brazenly play her part to the end.

A disciple of a secluded sage emerging to reveal astonishing power was a cliché legend among mages.

Yet, being a cliché also meant it was an effective excuse that had been proven to work countless times.

Rather than Celia's background and origins, Belial cared more about the strength he had witnessed with his own eyes and the achievements it could bring him.

“Do you... want to understand the true mysteries of magic?”

He immediately extended an invitation to Celia, hoping she would join him.

Hearing this, Celia, who had been keeping her head down, let a barely perceptible smile touch the corners of her lips. “It would be my honor.”

Just like that, Celia easily obtained the opportunity to get close to her target.

“This is wonderful! To think I would find such a prize so easily after searching far and wide!”

Even the god Astaroth, who had been observing from the shadows, failed to notice anything amiss. Instead, he was ecstatic to have gained such a powerful new servant.

He recognized neither Celia's alias nor her face, which, despite her dyed hair and slight disguise, remained familiar.

In Astaroth's eyes, Celia was merely another unremarkable existence among his countless servants.

Unlike other deities, Lin Miao did not directly bestow his power upon his servants.

He was using his own method to make the ant colony continuously evolve.

And the power Celia possessed at this moment did not come from the deity Lin Miao, but rather from Elise and the entire ant colony.

‘So this is the Silver Twilight Secret Society.’

Celia's final destination was a massive underground facility.

Since Prime Minister Schuber became Astaroth's first servant, this secret research institute, which he had expanded bit by bit, had now become a core facility supported by the full strength of the Empire.

“Your strength is indeed great, but unfortunately, the magic you have mastered will soon become a relic of the old era. The great God of Knowledge is teaching us true magic. You must study this new power diligently.”

Belial took Celia to tour an archives room that resembled a massive library.

Stored here were the essences of the most advanced magical civilization that Astaroth had taught to his servants.

Already overwhelmed by the heavy burden of research, Belial naturally did not want to waste time now that he had acquired a talent like Celia. He immediately brought her into contact with the core materials.

【Elise allows Celia to use the hive mind】

Celia naturally found a seat, sat down, and began frantically reading and absorbing all the materials.

With the help of the hive mind's power, she could store this massive amount of data in its entirety.

The larger the ant colony's influence grew, the stronger the hive mind would become.

Of course, at their current level, Celia was the only one capable of understanding and applying this knowledge.

Even so, Elise had already realized the importance of knowledge, which was why she allowed her to use a portion of the hive mind's power.

As a result, the speed at which Celia's eyes scanned the materials could not even keep pace with the speed of her brain's memorization and storage.

【Elise has developed a strong interest in knowledge. She wishes to understand the human ability to preserve and pass down knowledge without the need for a hive mind】

Celia's continuous input of knowledge into the hive mind had, unexpectedly, greatly stimulated Elise's curiosity.

Elise, who was already intensely interested in magic and other advanced civilizations, viewed this as a golden opportunity to learn.

‘I see. What a meticulous and perfect system. Their deity truly intends to turn this Empire into the most powerful magical civilization in the world.’

And relying on her highly developed brain, Celia, who was rapidly absorbing all the knowledge, also raised her own knowledge reserves by several levels. She slowly closed her eyes.

‘I know what to do.’

How to transplant this power to the ant colony.

Merely a week after entering the Silver Twilight Secret Society, Celia had already found the answer.