Apostles

The low-ranking knights, who had been stationed at the living wall and were now even expected to march with the army, grumbled and complained as they packed their gear.

“Damn it, another war? The battle at the wall only just ended...”

A stocky knight slammed his worn leather armor onto the ground and cursed gruffly.

“What else can we do? It's not like those things will stop attacking just because we keep guarding the wall. Besides, haven't you heard? The Great Devourer only grows more numerous and powerful as time goes on.”

A gray-haired veteran knight nearby sighed, wiping down a nicked longsword with a rag as he responded in a low voice.

“I know that. But this is too much! We just finished a battle, barely got a moment to recover, and now we're going to war again. I feel like we're just repeating the same thing over and over, staring at the same endless cycle.”

The knight who had spoken first punched a wooden crate, his voice thick with a lingering exhaustion and numbness.

Celia was walking through the camp pitched directly in front of the wall, and she heard every single word of the complaints leaking from the tents.

“Ahem.”

The regional commander beside her cleared his throat awkwardly, repeatedly gesturing to her with his eyes.

Even without explicit orders, the low-ranking knights who had just been complaining would undoubtedly receive a harsh tongue-lashing from their direct superiors tonight.

Celia started walking again, biting her lip. She didn't dispute what she had just heard.

What was happening now was, in essence, a brutal struggle for survival between the invading ant colony and the original powers of this land.

Unless one side was completely wiped out or some new variable emerged, this tragic tug-of-war would only continue indefinitely.

In the process, with Lin Miao's assistance, the colony would constantly create new mutated species, accelerating the evolution of the Queen Ant, who served as the colony's brain.

Yet today, no faction—including the Kingdom of Karmi, where Celia was—would simply sit back and wait for death.

With the help of the deities, they were also doing everything they could, pushing themselves to grow alongside the colony's rising strength.

This endless competition for survival was destined to repeat itself until a victor was finally decided.

“We're here.”

The place Celia eventually reached was a meeting room set up on one side of the camp.

Although some buildings had gradually been erected here, most were still temporary facilities like tents. This stone building was the first to be completed and was a reasonably decent structure.

Considering the status of today's visitors, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this facility was far too crude.

After all, these were distinguished guests who had traveled across the ocean from the Empire.

By the time the proposal from the Lucadia Empire to send reinforcements and join forces to wipe out the colony reached Celia's ears, she was already up to her neck in various administrative tasks.

This plan, forged between the Goddess of Light Association—which monopolized power in the kingdom—and the Imperial Prime Minister Schuber, had proceeded rapidly without any regard for Celia's wishes from beginning to end.

All of this was because the deities, colluding secretly on the Divine Net forum, had reached a consensus.

As servants of the deities, they could never ignore the oracles handed down to them.

Furthermore, even if Celia had known about this in advance, she had absolutely no right to intervene or object.

“Celia!”

Just as Celia was about to step into the meeting room, someone recognized her and called out.

Celia turned around, a hint of fluster appearing on her face.

This was because the person who had walked up to her grabbed her hand without any hesitation.

This woman, who had bright pink short hair, was named Marianne Lumiere.

She was one of the Apostles of the goddess Hestia. During the previous battle at the wall, she had saved Celia, who had almost been caught up in the chaotic fighting.

At that time, Marianne had swung her signature giant hammer, wiping out a massive number of ants in an instant and earning great merit in defending the wall.

“Celia, you're here too! It must be for the meeting, right?”

“Yes. But please let go of my hand first... There are too many eyes watching here...”

“What is there to fear? We're both women. This is nothing.”

Instead of letting go, Marianne pulled Celia closer, linking arms with her and even leaning her head against Celia's shoulder.

They looked like close childhood friends.

Yet, even though they were of similar age, Marianne came from a top aristocratic family in the capital, while Celia was from a minor northern lord's family. They had only known each other for a few days.

Celia had no way to shake off Marianne, who was clinging to her like glue.

This woman was a core figure whose innate talent had caught the eye of the goddess Hestia. Hestia had spared no expense, using a massive amount of interference force to bestow a holy blessing upon her. Marianne's status was even higher than that of the Church's Inquisitors; she was the Church's new secret weapon.

There were even rumors that she would ascend to a position higher than an Apostle in the future, becoming the Saintess.

Marianne was now one of the rising cores of power within the Church.

Though Celia had mentioned too many eyes watching, who among those present would dare criticize the current Marianne?

To Celia, she was truly an incredibly troublesome individual.

Celia tried to drop a subtle hint: “Lady Marianne, as a noble individual recognized by the Goddess, standing so close to someone like me might spark unfavorable rumors.”

Marianne paid no heed at all. Instead, she giggled and pointed a finger at her own head. “If anyone dares to wag their tongue, I'll personally use my fists to smash their decorative heads. Who would dare gossip about us? Setting me aside, you are also a core figure of our Church, Celia.”

Then, Marianne leaned close to Celia's ear and whispered, “Those fools call you a witch who desecrates tradition and order, but I'm different. I know your value.”

In the end, Celia was unable to shake off Marianne, who clung to her like a plaster, all the way into the meeting room.

“The beastkin have stated they will not participate directly. They will be responsible for containing those creatures running rampant on the plains.”

“It can't be helped. After all, that migratory colony has recovered almost all of its combat strength.”

The delegation sent by the Empire and the Goddess of Light Association, which had reorganized the Kingdom of Karmi into the Holy Kingdom, were in the middle of a heated meeting, discussing a counteroffensive plan against the ants.

Celia sat at the very end of the table, quietly listening to the proceedings.

Meanwhile, on the Divine Net forum, the deities were also chatting animatedly.

[Goddess of Light: Those beastkin clearly won't show up. They're blocked in the middle by another ant colony. If they dare withdraw their forces, those monsters will attack immediately.]

[God of Knowledge: Just admit it. To put it bluntly, isn't it just that if the beastkin are wiped out, the Empire's northern border will be threatened? Stop pretending.]

Compared to the polite and protocol-abiding conversations of their servants on the surface, the exchange among the deities was far more direct.

To put it nicely, it was unvarnished; to put it harshly, it was downright vulgar.

Lin Miao, who was eavesdropping on all of this, already knew that the other deities had joined forces once again to launch an attack against him. He was closely monitoring the development of the situation.

One of the pieces of information was about the combat golems, which the reinforcements sent by the Empire relied upon the most.

“Please look, everyone. These newly improved golems embody the essence of Lucadia's peak magical civilization.”

The members of the imperial delegation showed the appearance of the golems to the Church officials.

They were on a completely different level compared to the golems sent earlier to assist in building the wall.

Although they still used the surrounding earth and stone as materials, these golems, specially modified for combat, had achieved a qualitative leap in both form and capability.

“Ohh...”

“So fast! They can even pick up weapons!”

Under the commands of the mages, the golems moved, throwing punches, stomping their feet, and even wielding weapons made of giant logs with their somewhat flexible fingers.

The long-standing weaknesses of golems—sluggish movement and massive magic power consumption—had also been significantly improved.

Most of the reasons why golems had vanished from the battlefields of Terra for so long had been resolved.

As a mage, Celia recognized at a glance just how astonishing the standard of these golems was.

Just looking at this speed of development and its results, it was incredibly similar to their own rapid progress after forcing the secret teachings of various magic schools to be made public.

“What's so great about this? I feel like even I could beat them.”

But Marianne, sitting beside her, yawned with a look of indifference.

Of course, this exquisite technology was by no means developed by the Empire's mages alone.

Just like the Church's paladins and priests led by Marianne, this was the result of high-tier deities skilled in magic lending their power to interfere.

“We plan to use these golems as a vanguard to capture a city that can serve as a base. Then, centering around this base, we will reclaim the lands occupied by those monsters step by step.”

Count Louis, who had come as the representative of the Empire, spoke with a face full of confidence.

The goal of this newly formed joint coalition army was to capture a city on the stolen lands beyond the wall and establish a new base.

If the base operated successfully, it would not only disperse the colony's offensive currently concentrated at the wall, but also establish a bridgehead for a steady stream of imperial troops to be brought in.

“How should I convey this to them?”

Thanks to the "God of Knowledge," the deity rooted in the Empire who had been bragging loudly on the forum, Lin Miao had learned about the capabilities of these new golems.

At this moment, Lin Miao stood before the terrarium, lost in thought.

Currently, the only thing he could transmit to the colony was the most primitive signals sent through Elise.

He could send signals to warn the colony and draw their attention, but he could not yet tell them specifically what kind of threat was approaching.

【The brand-new mutated species have finally broken out of their cocoons. Elise believes that these mutated species, into which an unprecedented amount of resources has been invested, will surely become an existence that strikes terror into the hearts of their enemies.】

Of course, Lin Miao had already provided assistance to the colony long ago.

Elise, having devoured large foreign beetles and transplanted their abilities into the colony, had created a brand-new mutated species. At this moment, they were tearing through their cocoons and stepping out, revealing overwhelmingly massive bodies.

“Wow.”

Watching the screen, Lin Miao couldn't help but let out an exclamation of awe.

Their appearance had almost completely lost any trace of an ant's original form.

Their colossal bodies were encased in layer upon layer of thick, heavy armor. On their massive heads, they either bore the iconic giant horn of a Hercules beetle or the unique, saw-like mandibles of a stag beetle. The bodies of these behemoths could even carry dozens of worker ants.

They had resolutely discarded the wings that should have grown beneath their carapaces.

To become the absolute rulers of the land, they poured all of their power into other areas.

To support these massive, heavy bodies, their legs had grown incredibly thick and robust, lined with giant, sharp spikes that could completely crush a target the instant they slammed down.

It was no wonder the colony had built separate nests in the wild specifically for them.

The golem parameters that a deity had been bragging about on the forum just moments ago now seemed utterly pale and powerless. Lin Miao let out a soft chuckle.

In truth, even if those golems charged forward, they would likely be completely unable to stop these mutated heavy-armored ants and saw-jawed ants, which had received a mountain of resources and shattered biological limits.

【Elise is determined to completely annihilate the new enemy forces who dare to invade her territory.】

The imperial army and golems, who had begun their advance, happened to be the perfect subjects for a live combat test of these newborn mutated species.

Entering a state of combat once more, the colony mobilized a massive number of forces from hibernation to meet the steadily approaching enemy, beginning their march.