Cordyceps

“Is it still not over yet?”

Calian, who had purged most of Astaroth's forces, including Chancellor Schuber, and become the true master of the Empire, looked at the mountain of reports and let out a deep sigh.

These reports all detailed the Empire's current plight and the various losses it had suffered.

Though he had finally reclaimed the throne he had dreamed of, the challenges laid out before Calian were incredibly cruel.

With even a single misstep, this hard-won throne could once again be in jeopardy.

The war with the Great Devourer had cost the Empire a portion of its territory, and in the southern region, the entrenched elves were still locked in fierce combat with the Great Devourer, but the problems went far beyond that.

“Those shameless traitors ruined the very foundation of the nation just to offer it to a God of Knowledge they knew nothing about, and not a single person could stop them.”

To execute Astaroth's orders, the Chancellor had systematically seized and dismantled various high-level positions and systems, from central authority to local administration, causing incalculable damage.

The overextended finances were already riddled with holes, and the resources and manpower that should have been used where they were needed most had all fallen into their hands to be diverted elsewhere, causing countless fields to regress or stagnate.

They did not commit these absurdities out of stupidity or incompetence.

From the sole objective of “offering the entire nation to a deity,” they were as evil as they were meticulous, which was exactly why things had reached this point.

To those traitors executing divine orders, the Lucadia Empire was nothing more than a disposable pawn, and the countless citizens living on this land were mere sacrifices, worth even less than pawns.

“Your Majesty, if this continues, it won't be long before a massive famine breaks out, leaving corpses of the starved scattered everywhere.”

“I don't know what to do either. Right now, we can't even gather food from the surrounding areas...”

Hearing the words of his butler, Albert, Calian furrowed his brows and fell into silence.

The ambition and sharp resolve he had possessed when he personally went to Celia to join forces and overthrow the God of Knowledge's faction had long since vanished without a trace.

Young blood, ambition, and resolve alone were completely powerless to shake the high wall of reality.

As a normal emperor, however much power one enjoyed, one had to bear an equal amount of responsibility.

Facing this responsibility that far exceeded his capabilities, Calian only felt a wave of nausea.

“Your Majesty, I hear you have been deeply worried lately.”

Just then, Celia paid an official visit to the imperial palace.

She did not use her disguise ability to sneak into his bedchamber under the cover of night like last time.

Instead, she strode in proudly before the panicked palace attendants and Royal Guards, walking straight up to Calian, who sat on the throne.

Her intention was more than obvious.

The current Lucadia Empire was, in the end, still in the hands of the Great Devourer.

The faces of everyone present, including Calian, turned pale.

Calian frowned and spoke, “I don't understand. Since you've already walked in so openly, why do you still demand a private conversation?”

Celia calmly looked up and replied, “This is the most basic consideration. If others were to hear Your Majesty openly conspiring with me, it would cause you a lot of trouble. It is better to let them think I threatened you or something of the sort inside; that would be better for you.”

Celia demanded a private audience, and no one present, including Calian, had the power to refuse.

As an emperor left in the grand hall with her without a single guard, Calian stared at Celia with an uneasy gaze.

Unable to see through Celia's mind, Calian always felt she was the incarnation of destruction, the mouthpiece and spokesperson of the Great Devourer.

Celia spoke with a solemn expression, “The Great Devourer wants to make a deal with you—or more accurately, with the human population you rule.”

Calian showed a look of surprise and pressed, “What do you mean by that? A deal?”

Celia nodded slowly and continued to explain, “As you surely know, this world has long been controlled by numerous evil gods. And those deities are now gathering here, aiming to once again ravage this land, your Empire, and your subjects.”

Celia raised her staff, projecting a flickering image.

This was a high-tier magic left behind by Astaroth, a common method used by the mages under his command, which Celia had learned perfectly.

Not only that, but Celia had also successfully modified it to project the memories she saw through the hive mind onto the screen.

The unfolding images were too horrific to look at. The beastkin and dwarves approaching from the west, and the elves from the south.

As well as how they abused and exploited humans in the lands they occupied.

Celia displayed all the memories the Great Devourer had seen and stored in the hive mind to Calian, the ruler of the largest remaining human population in this world.

“How could this be...”

Calian sat slumped on his throne, his mind in a daze.

He had paid a terrible price to eradicate Astaroth's forces.

Because he firmly believed those people were enemies of the royal family who plagued this land and its subjects, as well as his own enemies.

But the world outside the Empire was even darker.

Those enemies, who would not even leave behind the name of the Empire, were eyeing this plump prey with greedy eyes.

And the current Lucadia Empire no longer possessed any power to resist those enemies who had grown strong under divine protection.

Celia softened her tone slightly and offered comfort, “Fortunately, their targets are not yet fully pointed at this Empire. We still have a chance.”

With drooping eyes, Calian retorted in utter dejection, “Are you suggesting we fight alongside you? But we have no strength left. Right now, even putting food on the table is a massive problem.”

At this, Celia curled her lips into an understanding smile, “Food is not a big problem at all. The master of the great Great Devourer will provide assistance.”

When the master of the Great Devourer was mentioned, Calian's eyes suddenly widened.

...

“It is just food for people to eat; it is no difficult task.”

Lin Miao smiled as he looked at the rice poured into the terrarium.

Countless worker ants were busy transporting the rice.

The transported grains of rice quickly traversed the land, crossing rivers, lakes, and seas via the thoroughfares constructed by the Great Devourer, continuously shipped to the Lucadia Empire.

Though it was just a single grain of rice, to the ants, it was already quite a massive object.

In this world where even the smallest worker ants grew to the size of a large dog, a single grain of rice was enough to serve as a substantial amount of food.

This was a miracle that could only be achieved by utilizing interference force.

Unlike other deities who used their interference force to spread upper-world technology or create heroes, Lin Miao merely used his interference force to distribute food, allowing him to mobilize a far greater quantity.

“Look! It's so huge!”

“Th-this single grain of rice is enough to feed a whole family until they're full, right?!”

The grains of rice regurgitated by the worker ants quickly piled up into small mountains.

The citizens of the Lucadia Empire bustled with chatter as they held grains of rice as large as their own faces.

Although they were initially nervous because the food was sent by the Great Devourer, they overcame their fear in order to fill their bellies, and this gamble proved to be well worth it.

“To allocate it reasonably and distribute it throughout the entire Empire is Your Majesty's duty. You can do that, right?”

“O-of course. But this is truly...”

Standing beside Celia and witnessing all this, Calian's voice trembled, his face filled with disbelief.

For Calian, this was the first time he had witnessed with his own eyes a miracle that a deity could perform, and his entire body froze.

Overwhelming futuristic technology, heroes born under divine protection.

At this very moment, none of those were as real as the mountain of food piled up before him.

“Now, it is Your Majesty's turn to pay the price.”

Celia pulled the dazed Calian back to reality.

This was a transaction. Since the Great Devourer provided food that could save countless lives, Calian had to pay the corresponding price.

Meeting Celia's heterochromatic red and blue eyes, Calian nodded helplessly.

【Elise ordered the gathering of all humans】

“Your Majesty! Spare our lives!”

“We beg of you! Just give us a swift death instead! Please do not offer us to those monsters!”

“No!”

A group of suspects was being dragged out of the prison and escorted to a certain location.

Most of them were mages who had not actively sought to do so, but had reluctantly assisted Astaroth's forces.

These were people whose guilt even the Great Devourer found difficult to determine; originally, as long as they surrendered and begged for mercy of their own accord, they would be deemed unrelated to the deity and spared.

Just like Celia's acquaintance, Count Merlin, who had once been a high-ranking official of the Holy Kingdom but managed to survive.

But these people, whom even the Great Devourer had spared, had been kept imprisoned by Calian.

After all, in a chaotic period where the situation was not yet stable, it was not impossible for them to band together and launch another rebellion.

More importantly, Calian could not convince his supporters, who harbored intense anger toward the deity and the Chancellor.

“Do you want to use them as combat forces?”

Looking at the people who were screaming incessantly because they thought they were going to be eaten by the Great Devourer, Calian glanced at Celia and asked.

“The enemies believe we cannot use magic, which is the perfect opportunity to catch them off guard.”

Celia nodded. Her plan was to organize these people into a magic legion for her own use.

Due to various issues in body structure and biology, the Great Devourer could currently only use a few techniques reinterpreted by itself, such as psionic barriers and explosion magic.

They were unable to use the magic knowledge they had absorbed and learned.

All forces fighting against the Great Devourer, including the elves, now knew this.

Therefore, their defense against magic had naturally grown lax, and Celia intended to seize this vulnerability to break the balance of the battlefield.

“There is no need to be so afraid. As long as you go to the battlefield to atone and establish military merits, you can reclaim your honor.”

Celia, having removed the lower half of her mask, spoke to the gathered mages.

The hundreds of mages brought to the open ground merely trembled in fear, staring at the densely packed Great Devourers surrounding them.

In Celia's eyes, this was already the best approach.

As long as they achieved military merits on the battlefield, Calian would also have a reason to pardon them.

“Th-then, do we only need to go to the battlefield and use magic?”

“That is correct. And this is not a war that has nothing to do with you. Even if the Great Devourer disappears from this land, once those incoming enemies occupy this place, they will only treat you as slaves.”

Celia explained the situation to them and began to recruit them as her own.

Just as when she convinced Calian, they actually had no other choice, so this task proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

“Hmm?”

“Wh-what is this? Ahhh!”

If everything had gone according to the original plan.

Suddenly, the bombardier ants lying in ambush around them simultaneously sprayed a certain liquid onto them.

This was not the ultra-high-temperature acidic venom that bombardier ants normally sprayed.

The mages drenched in the liquid did not melt; they merely coughed and staggered continuously.

But Celia turned pale with fright and hurriedly contacted Elise through the hive mind.

Celia knew absolutely nothing about this.

This meant that all of this was ordered by the only existence whose status was above Celia's—the Queen Ant of the main nest colony.

【Elise was very happy】

In the hive mind, Celia was completely dumbfounded upon seeing Elise's actions.

Elise was using her two hands to stretch her jaw wide open, mimicking the expression of a human laughing heartily, and she truly found it incredibly amusing right now.

‘Make the humans disappear!’

In accordance with Elise's will, something began to grow on the bodies of the mages drenched in the liquid, causing them to let out shrill screams.

“H-help...”

Sprouting from both inside and outside the mages' bodies were tentacle-like things. It was a terrifying sight that would leave anyone dumbstruck.

“Cordyceps.”

Facing this sudden turn of events, Lin Miao, who had frozen in place, recognized the thing and let out a soft sigh.