As a being that had existed for countless ages, the Will of the Hive had, at various moments throughout history, vaguely sensed the presence of a special realm beyond this universe.
However, for reasons unknown, the nature of that realm had always remained elusive.
After all, the Will of the Hive had no emotions to speak of.
And when it came to the Warp, it was like trying to connect a signal with terrible reception—it was fundamentally incompatible with that dimension.
The only reason the Will could even perceive the Warp's existence was due to its immense power.
But now, at long last, it had witnessed firsthand the very space it had only ever sensed as a blur.
From the aura radiating from it, the Will of the Hive speculated that perhaps it could one day harness that energy for its own use.
Though admittedly… that would be a long-term goal.
Something not achievable in the short term.
—
Meanwhile, Orsaga, who was currently observing the battlefield through Aeon, was somewhat surprised.
He hadn't expected that randomly picking a location would land him face-to-face with a wild endgame boss.
From his perception, the opponent's overall mass and scale were comparable to a Chaos God.
Of course, only the mass.
The direction of this entity's development was heavily biased toward the material universe, completely opposite from the Chaos Gods who primarily operated within the Warp.
And unlike the Chaos Gods, it didn't possess any innate authority over metaphysical laws. Its strength was brute-forced through its species' collective might—stacked up, layer by layer, until it reached near-divine levels.
In essence, this being and the Chaos Gods were fundamentally different types of lifeforms.
The Will of the Hive was something that could be killed.
Granted, doing so would be incredibly costly in time and energy.
But at least it wasn't like the Chaos Gods, who couldn't be truly slain at all.
This was precisely one of the main reasons the Chaos Gods had little regard for the material universe and the life within it.
They were born with privileges unfathomable to lesser beings.
VIP players with infinite retries—completely unlike the pitiful normies who died and stayed dead.
Sensing that the Will of the Hive was nothing more than a cold, emotionless hive mind made up of countless bugs—and that it had started showing interest in both himself and Aeon—Orsaga let out a soft, amused laugh.
He could already guess what was coming: the hive would soon try to capture Aeon and study it, hoping to analyze the Warp through it.
That was just how hive-mind creatures thought.
They always prioritized gains. Evolution and growth were everything to them.
And honestly, Orsaga didn't mind at all.
Aside from his personality, there were also… practical benefits.
After all, in this universe, evolution, growth, and transcendence—every concept tied to progress and advancement—was under his domain.
As long as the hive continued evolving, growing, mutating… it would be feeding power directly to him.
So in Orsaga's eyes, the Will of the Hive's ambition wasn't a threat.
It was free labor.
Self-sustaining, no less—he loved that.
—
Unaware that Orsaga was quite pleased with its ambition, the Will of the Hive, having determined that Orsaga couldn't exit the rift for now, began moving its forces.
It slowly commanded the surrounding swarms to encircle Aeon, initiating its attempt to capture this mysterious lifeform for research.
In response, and much to the Will's astonishment, Orsaga simply closed the portal and left—without lifting a finger to help.
He had never intended to babysit Aeon anyway. This whole thing was a test of growth.
So the fact that Aeon encountered a boss-level threat right out of the gate might be unlucky, sure—but it didn't change the plan.
Worst-case scenario? It dies and respawns.
Besides, the material universe was not the Warp. Here, supernatural forces were significantly restrained.
Even though the Will of the Hive was far stronger than Aeon in absolute terms, the power it could actually manifest in this universe was not much greater—especially since its true body wasn't even present.
It was precisely because the material universe suppressed metaphysical powers that it hadn't been destroyed long ago by some passing Chaos God or other cosmic being.
In the Warp, you could crush stars with a flick of the wrist. Collapsing alternate dimensions was just another Tuesday.
If those restrictions didn't exist, the material universe would've met its end eons ago.
—
Now, with Orsaga gone, the Will of the Hive felt no need to hold back.
And at that moment, Aeon—previously calm and still—underwent a change.
Its metallic face slowly twisted into a sinister grin, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs.
"RRRAAAWWWRR——!!"
A thunderous roar erupted across the void.
Accompanied by blinding crimson light, an eerie sonic wave burst out at speeds that defied reason, engulfing the surrounding area.
All insectoid creatures caught within it were instantly dissolved by Aeon's innate ability:
Life Complement—The Evolutionary Staircase
Their bodies melted into streams of pure life energy.
In zero gravity, those blood-red rivers flowed toward Aeon, feeding it, nourishing its advancement.
When it came to butchering weaklings, Aeon's ability was instant death incarnate—completely ignoring physical defenses and leaving no room for resistance.
And before the other insectoids could regroup and fill the gaps left by their fallen brethren—
Behind aeoy, the radiant halos began to shimmer.
Dozens of inverted blood-red crosses appeared from within the wheels of light.
As more and more inverted crosses manifested, beams of crimson light exploded across the battlefield, emerging even from within the living warships—ignoring energy shields entirely.
Casualties surged within the insectoid ranks.
But the Will of the Hive felt… nothing.
From its perspective, this loss meant less than nothing.
Even if every last one of the several hundred billion bugs nearby were to die, it wouldn't even flinch.
This was just a resource-gathering recon squad—not even proper combat forces.
If they were wiped out? Just eat a few resource-rich planets and they'd be replenished in no time.
In fact, it was Aeon's abilities that truly intrigued the Will of the Hive.
While it could mimic similar effects, it certainly couldn't do it with the same ease.
So with a casual thought, it ordered more swarms forward.
It wanted to observe a little longer…
—
Meanwhile, the bewildered residents of the surrounding planets had no idea what was really happening.
From their perspective, the entire scene practically screamed:
A god descending from the heavens to battle evil!
They immediately declared Aeon to be their savior.
People fell to their knees, shouting, weeping, and praying with wild devotion.
Each more zealous than the last.
After all, when disaster strikes, everyone suddenly finds religion.
Naturally, everyone was eager to prove their faith and win divine favor.
But unfortunately for them, Aeon wasn't running a missionary campaign right now.
He was here on a solo grinding quest—just leveling up.
And frankly, in this situation, he could barely guarantee his own survival.
Protecting a few planets?
That'd be insulting to the Will of the Hive—as if it were some pushover.
He'd probably get his head smashed in.
So, annoyed by the incessant prayers, Aeon casually waved his hand.
A polygonal crimson halo expanded, encasing those planets.
Ten seconds later, every ounce of value—material or biological—had been extracted.
The planets fell silent, lifeless.
Couldn't save them anyway.
So, as a generous parting gift to his temporary followers, Aeon granted them a collective, painless death.
And as a bonus?
He got himself a little dessert.
_____
T/N:
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