A Race Against Time

‘It is a race against time.’

Lin Miao knew this all too well as he watched the screen. Having devoured the new materials he had provided and absorbed their corresponding abilities, Elise was now leading the main nest colony to create an entirely new mutation.

The new mutations needed time to be bred, and it would take at least several days for the main nest's reinforcement unit—which included these new mutations—to reach the migratory colony's location.

Furthermore, transporting the prey captured by the migratory colony back to the main nest had already consumed a significant amount of time.

Naturally, Uria's beastkin forces would be able to locate the remnants of the migratory colony in a much shorter time.

【Elise orders the migratory colony to prioritize evacuation before they can restore their strength】

Having instinctively sensed the danger long ago, Elise had already ordered the migratory colony to prioritize evacuation to make up for this time gap.

During the few days the migratory colony bought by constantly fleeing and engaging in a game of cat-and-mouse with the beastkin, the newly hatched larvae devoured suitable prey, completed their metamorphosis within their pupae, and emerged from their cocoons as entirely new mutations.

【Elise determines that the highest priority is to reinforce them at maximum speed】

“...They are massive.”

Lin Miao looked at these new mutations and could not help but marvel in a low voice.

In terms of body length alone, they had already surpassed the tiger hornet ants, becoming the largest mutation in the ant colony.

Their heads still retained a typical ant-like appearance.

Atop their massive heads, which looked as though they were wearing spiked helmets, grew a pair of sharp, powerful mandibles.

Their robust thoraxes were encased in hard exoskeletons, bearing wings and legs, while the tip of their long abdomens sported a venomous stinger like that of a hornet.

But the most eye-catching feature was the pair of wings, which were even larger than their bodies.

Abundant magic power and mana flowed through the veins stretching across their wings.

These mutations, which had been cared for individually in special hatcheries since their larval stage, had ultimately inherited the ability to fly perfectly.

‘Are they planning to fly over first to buy time?’

While the ground forces marched in tandem, these massive mutations unfurled their giant wings ahead of them and took to the sky en masse.

Despite having bodies comparable in size to small airplanes, the abundant magic power they obtained from devouring beastkin allowed them to perfectly unleash the full flight capabilities of a dragonfly.

“Th-there are monsters in the sky!”

Just like that, dozens of massive monsters crossed the clearing sky after the rain at an astonishing speed, ultimately appearing before the beastkin who had barely managed to break through the ant barrier, bringing them a whole new level of despair.

“What is this... Argh!”

“Something is falling from the sky!”

The appearance of the enemy was too shocking, but the beastkin had no time to stand dazed and look up at the sky.

The flying monsters lowered their altitude, yet they remained at a height unreachable by the beastkin's throwing spears and bows, raining down dense clusters of objects from the air.

What was even more terrifying was that these objects were not things they could simply dodge to stay safe.

“Poison! It's poison gas... cough!”

The objects dropped from the sky exploded violently the moment they hit the ground, instantly dispersing highly acidic venom and toxic gas in all directions.

The venom corroded and blistered the skin of any beastkin it touched, while those who inhaled the toxic gas suffocated and collapsed instantly.

These living bombs were the ultimate evolved version of the honeypot ant's ability that Lin Miao had invested in.

Inside their bloated, swollen abdomens was not sweet nectar, but the deadly venom of bombardier ants.

Although dropping these “venom-pot ants” meant they would die on the spot due to their bodies bursting, this was of no consequence to the colony.

As long as they could self-detonate and kill the enemy, it was enough.

And their broken corpses would eventually be recycled and turned into nutrients for the colony.

The beastkin, who could previously barely withstand the onslaught of bombardier ants and venomous ants with their shields and earth spells, had absolutely no way to deal with the living bombs dropped from the sky.

Amidst a continuous chorus of agonizing screams, the beastkin fell one after another.

“No! It cannot end like this!”

Seeing the hard-won advantage instantly collapse due to the large-scale airstrike, Ironclaw shouted, his heart wrenching in pain.

Victory was right before his eyes.

Although he was startled by the Queen Ant's combat capabilities, as long as he increased the output power of the holy spear once more, he could completely sever her body and head.

Having come this far, he could not allow the mission to fail.

However, after one of the new mutations finished dropping its venom-pot ants in the air, it spread its massive wings and pounced toward Ironclaw to rescue the Queen Ant.

“A... a dragon?”

Ironclaw muttered to himself involuntarily.

The phantasmal beasts of legend had long since vanished from this land, leaving behind only some similarly shaped magical beasts.

Of course, they could not compare to real dragons, but to the beastkin Ironclaw, who was facing them for the first time, they brought an immense sense of oppression.

“Dragon ants... Dragon Ants, that's a good name.”

Lin Miao muttered quietly as he watched the scene.

Just as the mutated Dragon Ant grabbed Ironclaw's body with its powerful legs and yanked him into the sky in an instant—

“Retreat... Retreat quickly!”

“No! Their Queen Ant is right ahead!”

“Even the High Chief has been defeated! There is nothing we can do!”

The tide of the battle reversed in an instant.

The beastkin camp fell into utter chaos, completely losing their previous high morale and valiant charging momentum.

Ironclaw had personally led the charge, instantly wiping out countless ants with the power of the holy spear and breaking through the defensive barrier.

At that moment, the beastkin had been certain that victory was within their grasp.

However, when Ironclaw failed to kill the Queen Ant in a single blow and the mutated Dragon Ants descending from the sky began their airstrike, everything changed.

【The servants yearn to utterly annihilate the enemy】

The more the remaining beastkin failed to make correct decisions, the tighter the ant colony choked them.

The Dragon Ants were merely an aerial reinforcement unit deployed in an emergency.

The ground forces dispatched by the main nest colony had already been marching for days along tunnels dug specifically for the ants.

They would soon appear behind the beastkin, completely surrounding and hunting down the caught-off-guard beastkin.

Meanwhile, Ironclaw, who should have been commanding the beastkin to stop all of this, had gone missing after grappling with a Dragon Ant in the sky.

Although one of Ironclaw's arms was clamped by the Dragon Ant's armor-crushing mandibles, he used his other hand to grip the holy spear, shattering and piercing through the Dragon Ant's chest.

However, during the struggle, the Dragon Ant had already ascended to a high altitude, and the ground seemed incredibly distant.

With a miserable cry, Ironclaw plummeted to the ground, his fate unknown.

‘How tragic.’

Watching the Dragon Ants fight—gliding down, grabbing two or three beastkin with their robust legs, crushing their heads with their mandibles, or dropping them to their deaths—Lin Miao zoomed out the screen and sighed.

Even though they were another race, such brutality was still brutality.

Since both their coordination and morale had been shattered, what awaited the beastkin next was nothing but indiscriminate slaughter and hunting once the ant colony launched its grand counteroffensive.

The beastkin army, which had originally clustered together for defense, broke formation and began to flee in droves.

Besieged by the migratory colony and the main nest colony's ants appearing from behind, they were like cornered prey, collapsing completely.

【Abundant food, Elise is very satisfied】

This outcome was equivalent to obtaining another massive cache of resources.

It was enough to fully restore the colony and seek greater development on top of that.

...

‘The reaction is just as expected.’

Victory was practically assured.

Lin Miao watched the pursuit squad of mutated Dragon Ants relentlessly hunt down the fleeing remnants of the beastkin, while checking the Divine Net forum at the same time.

Unsurprisingly, it was already in utter chaos.

This was a common occurrence whenever the ant colony, aided by Lin Miao, created and showcased a new mutation.

【Elise orders half of the food to be handed over. The migratory colony's Queen Ant attempts to refuse on the grounds of her large numbers, but unable to ignore the main nest colony's support, she ultimately hands over half of the acquired food to the main nest colony】

“What an interesting bunch of little guys.”

Lin Miao chuckled softly as he looked at the pop-up notification.

Although still faint, both Queen Ants were continuously strengthening their respective senses of self, allowing him to witness such a novel sight.

That was, the two Queen Ants arguing over what they each believed to be right.

Of course, Elise's Divine Status was much higher, her evolutionary stage was far ahead, and she was the superior colony queen of the migratory colony. Most importantly, she was the first individual to be bestowed a name by Lin Miao.

【Taking this event as an opportunity, the migratory colony's Queen Ant has awakened something new: personally killing and hunting enemies】

However, the migratory colony's Queen Ant was evolving in a completely different direction from Elise.

As a Queen Ant, she personally armed herself to fight enemies.

Unlike Elise, who built a massive nest and stayed in the safest place, this was a decision she made as an entity endlessly wandering the brutal wilderness with her kin.

In fact, had she not armed herself back then, she would have likely been killed instantly by the enemy wielding that cheat-like holy spear.

According to the current notification, the Queen Ant had actually developed an interest in it instead.

【The furious Second Queen Ant ignores the colony's discouragement and goes on a rampage】

In fact, the moment the Dragon Ant killed the enemy commander, the migratory colony's Queen Ant could not contain her anger and excitement. She charged straight out, swinging the claws on her back, and slaughtered a large number of bewildered beastkin.

The beastkin had similarly not expected the Queen Ant to go on a rampage herself, and those who watched in shock were trampled under her feet just like that.

After rampaging like this for quite a while, perhaps having tasted the true flavor of combat, although she was now quietly laying eggs, she was still constantly thinking about it.

Lin Miao guessed that the migratory colony's Queen Ant would soon pass on her egg-laying duties to the fake queens used for laying eggs.

Because the stronger one's sense of self, the more impossible it was to endure a life as an egg-laying machine.

But Lin Miao had a hunch that the freedom she obtained at such a cost would develop in a completely different direction from Elise.

‘At least that region is in an era of great cataclysm, just like we were over twenty years ago.’

Since the appearance of the ant colony, too many changes had occurred in a short period of time.

The undeveloped massive forest where magical beasts ran rampant and scattered goblin tribes lived had now become the ant colony's base, transformed into a land filled with giant nests and mushroom farms.

The northern lands where the southern human forces and the beastkin fought each other had also been occupied by the ant colony and were being turned into nests.

The human forces who lost their settlements retreated further south, building high walls to barely hold on within their territories.

The beastkin, who lived in tribal units, had part of their lands ravaged by the ant colony, forcing them to unite around their deity.

That form and appearance were incredibly familiar.

It was just like back then, when monsters first appeared on Earth; everything that happened was so similar.

‘It is no wonder we would be called Outer Gods.’

Now, Lin Miao knew the hidden truth of the universe.

The otherworld monsters invading through rifts were servants created by the Outer God named Abhoth.

Meanwhile, the Awakened who had sprouted like mushrooms along with the system were the result of the Divine Net deities' intervention to stop the Outer Gods and choose a master for Earth.

As an existence outside of order, what the Outer God Abhoth did was no different from what Lin Miao's ants were doing in Terra.

The Era of Great Cataclysm.

This was an era where too much was lost and too much was changed.

That was what Earthlings called those twenty years of time.

Just as Abhoth's servants were changing the rules and face of the world, the ant colony was slowly changing that world.

‘...First, I must use the ant colony to continuously raise my Divine Status so that I can make the entire Earth mine.’

Earth currently did not have a deity who claimed the planet as their domain and ruled as its master.

It was clearly a high-tier world where billions of intelligent beings had grown through an independent civilization without any help from deities.

It was only natural that the deities who constantly complained on the deity forum about having to lead primitive humans to develop worlds would go mad with envy.

However, if it was managed by Lin Miao, who was born and raised on Earth, then unlike those external existences, he was confident he could claim the long-vacant position of Earth's master.

‘And I must make the ant colony stronger than they are now, so they can turn around, attack, and drive out the Outer God Abhoth.’

The ant colony craved battle; devouring and evolving were their reasons for existence.

Perhaps it would always be so, which made it right to let them continue.

But as long as he was around, he could not let them endlessly repeat indiscriminate destruction.

Instead, Lin Miao intended to show them another path.

A path of endlessly fighting and devouring other deities.

“Well, there is only this path anyway.”

With such a concrete goal, it was much easier to organize his thoughts.

Just like that, Lin Miao, who had been an ordinary person just a few months ago, was also gradually changing.