“We can win. Do not pursue them rashly. Hold your ground and make those monsters come to us first.”
Viscount Payne was no fool. Although he was confident they could win on their own, he still intended to play it as safe as possible to prepare for any unexpected situations.
If the ant colony chose to flee, they would absolutely not pursue them rashly.
After all, the colony had always retreated without hesitation whenever they felt the situation was unfavorable, and Viscount Payne believed this time would be no different.
“What?!”
However, the unexpected occurred the very instant the newly deployed ants charged into their tight formation like wild beasts.
The holy light lost its effect the moment it clashed with these newborn ants.
“How can this be? The holy power isn't working!”
A paladin shrieked, his face pale as he watched a mutated ant trample over the corpses of its fallen comrades, its blade-like mandibles snapping.
Blades clad in holy power clashed head-on with the ant's mandibles, yet the insect's razor-sharp jaws neither snapped nor budged.
With a violent jerk of its head, the ant deflected the paladin's sword, and its razor-sharp mandibles instantly severed the panicked knight's arm clean off at the shoulder.
The holy power swirling around the paladin, along with his armor and arm, was sheared away, sending a spray of blood into the air.
“W-Wait...”
Immediately after, the ant pinned the paladin down with its forelegs. Before anyone nearby could rush to his aid, it swung its blade-like mandibles again, decapitating him on the spot.
“This is impossible...”
Seeing this, Viscount Payne's body completely froze.
This was the very first time a paladin blessed with the Goddess's divine protection had been defeated and slain in battle against the ant colony.
“Argh! Aaahh!”
“No! Hold the line! The formation is breaking!”
“My leg! It hurts so much!”
At the same time, the screams and shouts from all directions grew louder.
The paladins who had been leading the charge to clear out the mutated ants were struck down one by one by the newly appeared gladiator ants, which were armed with blade-like mandibles and pure blood vitality. The priests' divine protection was completely shattered, and the human formation collapsed in an instant.
Just as high morale and cheers could rapidly boost a unit's momentum, fear and panic could instantly dissolve a force's spirit into nothingness.
【Your servants have secured the enemy's rear. They estimate that the enemy forces will be completely wiped out.】
“How... our retreat has been cut off! We must break through!”
Stripped of his initial confidence, Viscount Payne truly felt the shadow of death looming over him, and he roared in a trembling voice.
Only now did he realize that the initial five hundred ants had not come to stop or drive them away at all—they were merely bait.
It was a trap set to ensnare the prey and prevent them from escaping.
And the ones responsible for harvesting these trapped prey were the gladiator ants, which Lin Miao's colony had specifically evolved to counter holy power.
“It seems their attitude toward battle has changed.”
Lin Miao's expression grew solemn as he watched the tide of battle completely turn and the human forces begin to be brutally slaughtered.
To him, the colony's attitude toward this battle was nothing short of going all out, risking the very fate of their community.
To the colony, it did not matter even if the roughly five hundred ants that initially attacked the vanguard were completely wiped out.
As long as they could trap these enemies and cut off their retreat, the colony would slaughter and devour every last one of them, turning them into nutrients for their own evolution and growth.
Once the formation had completely collapsed and the chaotic melee—the colony's true specialty—was in full swing, Viscount Payne swung his sword desperately, fighting for his life against the ants.
“My Lord, get back! We can't hold them off any longer... cough...”
“Phil!”
He watched as a knight in front of him had his back pierced by the venomous stinger of a bullet ant variant. His face turned pale as paper, and his body staggered backward repeatedly.
“Ha...”
Before he knew it, numerous gladiator ants had surrounded him, their glistening mouthparts slowly closing in.
Hardly anyone was still fighting now, and the screams and shrieks gradually died down.
The colony never displayed any emotion, whether they were being killed or doing the killing.
No expressions appeared on their faces, which were completely different from humans, nor did they make any sound.
Perhaps even if they continued to evolve and grow like this, they would never possess such inefficient emotional elements.
“These demons!”
Viscount Payne let out his final, desperate sigh as he watched the ants slowly slice and tear his body apart.
【Your servants are quickly transporting the spoils of war.】
Looking at the screen, Lin Miao watched the colony chew and chop up the human corpses, turning them into piles of meat. Even though he had seen this countless times, it was still difficult to stomach.
“You know, it's okay to be a little happier. You won a complete victory in the vanguard battle.”
Lin Miao let out a wry chuckle. Seeing them immediately plunge into the transport work without a single second to enjoy the joy of victory, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.
Of course, he knew that the colony could not truly comprehend an emotion like joy, which was why he said it.
Therefore, he decided to celebrate on their behalf.
He dumped a large quantity of purchased mealworms into the terrarium.
Lately, he had been intentionally regulating the food supply, which he used to distribute indiscriminately.
He wanted to use this method to make the colony understand his intentions and appreciate the value of these rewards over time.
In any case, the colony had stopped using leaves and was now using snapped and chopped giant trees to grow mushrooms. This mushroom farm was continuously expanding and had gradually become their primary food source.
【Your servants are worshiping you.】
Surprisingly, this approach was working to some extent.
Whenever they had a successful hunt, won a battle, or bred a new tier of ants, Lin Miao would reward them with food.
The ants, who had initially been confused by the adjusted food supply, now understood that He would only distribute extra food as a “reward.”
Though it was only a small step, hope was beginning to dawn.
Lin Miao hoped that one day, this hard-to-control colony would become true followers who obeyed his every command.
As for what he would do with them, Lin Miao had not yet decided.
They came from an entirely different world. Could he take them and change the reality he currently lived in?
It was still too early to worry about whether he could accomplish such a grand feat.
It's not completely over yet, Lin Miao thought to himself.
Moreover, it was clearly not the time to fully let his guard down.
After all, he had merely managed to strike the enemy by taking advantage of their lack of preparation and brief carelessness.
【Function Restricted】
【Function Restricted】
【Function Restricted】
Yet even so, it seemed a certain existence had developed a massive grievance against Lin Miao.
“I'm quite sure someone is calling out to me. It's highly likely the Goddess Hestia behind those humans.”
Lin Miao frowned. The same thing had happened when they fought and won against the goblins.
He hadn't done anything, yet the system suddenly began spamming 【Function Restricted】 notifications.
By now, it wasn't hard for Lin Miao to deduce that the culprit behind this was the god backing the faction that had clashed with him—or rather, with his servant colony.
“Answer me. Is it absolutely necessary for gods to fight one another? Can't we just get along?” Lin Miao questioned the system in his mind.
【The Divine Net is strictly a management system and does not interfere with the private affairs of gods.】
The system provided a cold response.
Similar to the status screens used by the Awakened, this divine system was entirely just a tool.
In other words, how to use this tool depended entirely on the user's will.
“You want me to engage in diplomacy with them?”
Lin Miao finally understood that when a person was truly speechless, they could only laugh.
It was already absurd enough that he had awakened a divine authority while lounging at home doing nothing, but now he was actually expected to negotiate and consult with those high-and-mighty gods.
Of course, there was no need to consider these matters for the time being.
The fundamental problem was that the current colony couldn't understand Lin Miao's words at all, acting like an unstoppable chariot of slaughter.
The other issue was that since the system's core functions were restricted for an abnormal Awakened like him anyway, it wouldn't display any relevant information to him in the first place.
“I can only hope these gods will be a bit more lenient with me. I'm quite innocent in all of this, you know.”
Lin Miao let out a self-deprecating sigh. Watching the colony disassemble dozens of mealworms in the blink of an eye, he closed the lid of the terrarium.
Currently, he had only one path to take. He had to fight and win first; only by becoming the victor would he have the leeway to search for other methods.
【The First Generation Queen Ant has ingested food containing a new power, utilizing the nature of this power to amplify her own growth.】
The colony was already doing just that. The Queen Ant had finally consumed the corpses of the paladins and priests containing holy power, and using this strength, she successfully completed yet another evolution.
Something that was thought to be impossible had actually happened.
Lin Miao was absolutely certain... that the Goddess Hestia and her servants would forever regret rashly lending this power to the colony.
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