Spore Beasts

【Elise felt a lack of firepower】

Thanks to Lin Miao, the colony had no shortage of magic stones and didn't have to laboriously mine them like others did.

Furthermore, with the hive mind sharing combat experience across all individuals, even newly born ants could perfectly master combat techniques.

Yet, in the skirmish against the Elven Empire, Elise still felt a sense of inadequacy.

This inadequacy lay in the firepower needed to break through the elves' unique defenses.

True, Elise had utilized the Tyrants' magic hearts to generate barriers, greatly boosting their combat capabilities and making them the natural enemies of the Lucadia Empire's mages.

But this defensive power was neither infinite nor omnipotent.

Elise believed that to contend with an enemy whose firepower grew by the day, she would ultimately have to upgrade the firepower of her main forces.

Moreover, this issue was not unique to the main colony facing the Elven Empire.

On the western front, Kerrigan's migratory colony, which was fighting the Beastkin Kingdom and the Dwarven Alliance, was also gradually being pushed back.

The primary reason for this was the formidable firepower displayed by the dwarves' steam-and-magic civilization.

The heavy ironclad steam tanks rumbling forward, along with the massive cannons mounted atop them, were no longer something that could be blocked by physical bodies alone.

“Charge!”

Facing the roaring, charging dwarves, Kerrigan's migratory colony—unable to wage an extreme war of attrition like the main colony—was forced to retreat.

The colony excelled at close-quarters ambushes and mobility, but their weaknesses in head-on clashes—namely, insufficient firepower and short range—were beginning to show.

As the Queen of the main colony, Elise could not sit idly by.

The colony, serving the Great One, had to eradicate all enemies in the world and ascend to the absolute peak.

Any obstacle had to be destroyed or overcome, no matter the cost.

【Elise began to design a new unit type】

“What kind of mutant are you going to create this time?”

Having delivered the daily supply of magic stones as usual, Lin Miao watched her movements blankly.

In the dimly lit nest, with the massive Cerebrum as her backdrop, Elise stood alone, her eyes gleaming.

First, Elise retrieved the sturdiest and most stable physical structure from her database.

Now capable of preying on small mammals the size of weasels and medium-sized birds like crows, Elise designed a sturdy torso that combined the characteristics of a woodlouse and a toad.

Then, she removed all non-essential organs from the torso, including the digestive system, and packed it full of another small mutated species.

Of course, while they were called "small," even the smallest individual was larger than a human head.

These small mutated species resembled pill bugs that could curl into tight balls, possessing hard carapaces and bodies filled with explosives and venom.

【Elise applied her newly acquired knowledge to this】

She also integrated some of the advanced magical civilization knowledge she had absorbed from the Silver Twilight Secret Society.

Though she could not yet replicate precise magical technology, the underlying principle was similar to how she used the energy of magic hearts to generate barriers.

Except this time, instead of "releasing" energy, she would make it "explode."

“A biological cannon?”

Realizing Elise's intention, Lin Miao couldn't help but marvel.

This time, without relying on Celia's advice or assistance, Elise had independently integrated all the genetic information, technology, and knowledge she had absorbed to create a completely new synthetic mutant.

The resulting Spore Beasts were each as massive as a large dump truck.

To test their power, resources were prioritized toward them as they spun cocoons to accelerate their growth.

Looking at the future that seemed almost within reach, the corners of Lin Miao's mouth curled upward.

This was the moment he had been anticipating ever since he learned he had awakened as a deity because of the colony.

If they could eventually communicate with him, even imperfectly, and understand his will...

Having accompanied them since they were just ordinary ants, Lin Miao's current feelings were like those of a parent watching their child grow up strong and healthy.

【Elise is delighted to receive the Great One's approval】

Of course, the current Elise was still like a child whose mood could swing wildly based on a single word of praise or a reward from Lin Miao.

But he knew this was only temporary.

With the colony's rate of growth, Elise's self-awareness would continue to evolve.

Now that he could roughly predict their evolutionary speed and direction, his heart couldn't help but beat faster.

More nutrients, more experience, and more knowledge. This was the true sustenance that nourished the growth of Elise and the entire colony.

War with other factions had always been the best way to acquire all of these at once, making it absolutely essential for the colony.

...

“They're coming again!”

“Order the vanguard to retreat and report the news to the main force!”

Upon receiving the report, Nimbus, a pure-blood elf and captain of the scouting unit, immediately acted according to protocol.

At the same time, he sighed softly as he looked at the screen that had suddenly appeared before him.

At least a hundred thousand Great Devourers were flooding in, blanketing the land.

This was an army of biological weapons composed of mutated species of all sizes.

“Retreat, quickly! The monsters are coming!”

“Damn it, leave the slow ones behind!”

They scrambled to prepare for battle, but those in the greatest panic were not actually the defenders within the defensive line.

Rather, it was the scouts of the vanguard unit.

They worked in small squads like the Great Devourer hunting squads, roaming the southern part of the Empire and sweeping through the region.

“No! Take my father too! Don't leave him behind!”

One of their tasks was to capture the Lucadia Empire refugees who had failed to escape to the central region and enslave them.

To claim credit, they had frantically hunted down innocent commoners. Now, terrified of being overtaken by the Great Devourers, they began abandoning the weak and slow captives, causing countless heartbreaking separations.

“Shut up! The monsters are already here!”

Karim, a human mage and captain of the vanguard unit, dragged the resisting captives away by force, his face pale as he beat and abused them.

Karim was also in a frantic rush. Though he had made a name for himself as a vanguard captain, he could fall back to the very bottom at any moment if he failed to meet the slave quota set by the elves.

He had seen far too many people punished or demoted for making mistakes or failing to perform.

“How can you do this to your own people? Selling your fellow humans to another race!”

A young captive being dragged along glared at him with eyes full of rage.

Karim merely sneered.

“Isn't it perfectly common for humans to enslave each other?”

To be honest, he didn't feel the slightest regret or guilt.

Karim himself had originally been a slave gladiator in his hometown.

It was the elves—who had destroyed his hometown and become the new rulers—who had liberated him. When he saw those who had once mocked and bullied him executed, their heads hung on tall poles, he felt that all of this was only natural.

“Keep moving... Urgh!”

However, Karim, who was in the middle of shouting at his subordinates, suddenly lost his voice.

A sharp venomous stinger shot down from the sky, instantly piercing through his head and pinning him to the ground.

“Activate the barrier, quickly! Crank the power to maximum before they get close!”

The Great Devourers began to sweep across the land, launching their general offensive.

Receiving some of the retreating vanguard forces, the elves immediately activated their defensive installation, the Light Barrier.

“Help!”

“We're part of the scouting unit!”

Some failed to make it inside, crying out in despair, but the elves remained indifferent.

After all, these foreign troops were mere consumables; they could find as many as they wanted in the occupied territories.

“Ah!”

Those left behind closed their eyes, waiting to be slaughtered in close combat by the Great Devourers.

“Huh? Why aren't they approaching?”

However, the massive army of Great Devourers suddenly ground to a halt just outside a certain line.

Virgil, who had expected this time to be no different from the last, was slightly stunned as he watched the Great Devourers' unusual behavior in front of the first defensive line.

“Could you be the legendary witch...”

In the chaos, the captives who had been brought near the defensive line by Karim's unit trembled in fear as they watched the corpses of Karim and his subordinates being ruthlessly decomposed by the Great Devourers.

Just then, Celia, wearing her ant mask, walked past them.

A few who mustered their courage tried to speak to Celia, but she merely cast a glance at them through her mask and walked straight past.

Surprisingly, the Great Devourers did not harm the captives at all.

Celia gazed into the distance, looking at the confrontation between the Great Devourers and the elven defensive line.

The Spore Beasts, whose appearance differed slightly from the heavy-armored ants, split open their carapaces one after another, revealing the launching ports inside.

At the same time, gas explosions within the launching ports fired the biological bombs—curled up like pill bugs—at incredible speeds toward the defensive line.

“The barrier is going to shatter!”

The elven army fell into an uproar.

Celia watched as the biological bombs flying through the air exploded one after another, unleashing power that far exceeded ordinary magic.

The dark purple glow enveloping them as they flew was not without purpose.

According to Elise's design, the psionic energy flowing from the Spore Beasts' hearts would reinforce the biological bombs awaiting launch, protecting them from damage during the violent propulsion and ensuring they detonated precisely at their impact points.

【Enemy barrier collapse confirmed. Elise orders ground forces and standby aerial units to charge】

Caught completely off guard by the Great Devourers' unprecedented long-range bombardment, the elves had no time to react the moment the barrier shattered.

Seizing this opportunity, the Great Devourers pressed forward along the entire front, following Elise's command.

Meanwhile, the Spore Beasts' bombardment continued unabated.

“These guys are getting more and more interesting.”

Virgil, his expression grave, quickly let a smile return to his face as he ordered his forces to advance.

Although the Light Barrier, used to counter close-range shield-breaking enemies, had been destroyed, the elves still held plenty of trump cards in their hands.

Cheering on his servants from behind the scenes, Lin Miao had a premonition that the war with the elves would also head toward a very familiar conclusion.