⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Your subordinates revel in their great victory and the bounty of spoils.
"...That should do it."
The razed city was now devoid of any living souls.
The ants took no slaves or prisoners.
Whether people wept and begged for mercy, threw down their weapons in surrender, or fought to the bitter end, it made no difference—they were all just fodder, future sustenance.
They showed no interest whatsoever in glittering jewels or what looked like magic scrolls.
They didn't even bother setting the city ablaze.
Instead, they ransacked homes and barns, methodically stripping away only the most efficient foodstuffs.
Heralds of Doom—the panicked cries of terror-stricken people still rang clear in my ears.
If the ants were the Heralds of Doom, then the "doom" they spoke of was none other than their deity: me.
'I wonder how much they'll evolve this time?'
The countless chunks of meat they hauled away had once been living humans.
This human force the ants had wiped out was no pushover, by all accounts.
From their demeanor and chatter, it seemed they'd been caught off-guard, thrust into battle without preparation—yet even against our vastly strengthened ants compared to before, they'd put up a respectable fight.
They'd held the walls tenaciously, deploying mages and superhuman fighters much like the goblins had with their shamans and warriors.
But... in the end, the overall power gap was simply too wide.
In my eyes, those ants were a swarm optimized entirely for war.
From eggs to larvae to pupae, they matured at breakneck speed, becoming combat-ready the instant they emerged as adults.
The colony as a whole possessed inherently superior combat prowess compared to any human force, which—even at equal numbers—had to weed out the elderly, children, and untrained civilians.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙They sort the food, feeding the finest rations to the Queen.
Excluding the escapees, the ants had slaughtered hundreds and converted them into rations, which they now fed first to the Queen and larvae waiting in the nest.
They possessed an innate ability to detect food infused with special powers like mana.
Using that sense, they graded their haul: the best for the Queen, then the larvae.
Ordinary meat without any power went to the worker ants.
Just like the insect jelly or mealworms I tossed into the enclosure.
'The Queen will evolve again.'
And the Queen, reaping the rewards of that investment, shed her skin once more, proving her worth.
Hive Core: A sufficiently evolved Queen also serves as the colony's central brain, enhancing the overall computational power.
Stage 2 evolution complete, the Queen had grown even larger, her exoskeleton subtly reshaped.
But for a Queen sequestered in the deepest, safest chamber—the ovipositor room—appearance mattered little.
What counted was her brain. Already the largest of the ants, she was evolving from mere egg-laying machine into a true sovereign.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The Queen thinks.
Proof positive floated before me in that notification: the Queen was the first in the colony to awaken a sense of self.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The Queen realizes the changes befalling them are unnatural. Yet unable to pinpoint the cause, she discerns only one clue: the being in the heavens who watches over them.
They had been mere instinct-driven vermin.
Sudden environmental shifts or changes in prey elicited only limited responses.
But as the Queen developed higher cognition, that was beginning to change.
The clearest evidence? Her awareness of me.
"...What?"
Stepping out of the enclosure, I looked up and chuckled at a few worker ants staring endlessly at the sky.
Tossing them some mealworms, they devoured them ravenously—yet still occasionally craned their necks skyward.
Their latest evolutionary step: curiosity about me.
What on earth are they thinking? I can't help but wonder.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The colony demands the Queen produce a new Queen.
Of course, with spoils like these, the Queen's growth—receiving the lion's share—wasn't the whole story.
The colony as a whole had leveled up.
I watched the nest's interior with keen interest.
The colony was demanding the Queen birth a new egg-layer.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The colony judges it can sustain more individuals.
The ants, having carved out territory in that other world—with its vast lands and novel elements—were gearing up to expand.
By adding another Queen.
Queens were part of the colony, after all. Ant kingdoms with multiple Queens existed in reality too; nothing strange there.
'Well, now...'
But the Queen, receiving the colony's demand, made an unexpected choice.
She tampered with the genes of the new successor Queen.
Growth Impairment: Genetic defect delays brain development.
Activating Insight on the unusually large new egg, I stared at the debuff in disbelief, letting out a hollow laugh.
The Queen had left the successor's reproductive functions intact but hobbled everything else.
Ensuring her "clone," reduced to an egg-laying drone, could never threaten her throne.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The Queen believes concentrating investments on herself will advance the colony further.
"Already?"
Instinct for survival, or desire born of her evolved brain? Hard to say.
Even humans would admire such ruthless self-interest—nature was full of it.
But for now, I hoped it was the latter.
That it wasn't mere instinct, but proof her intelligence had risen enough to scheme with ambition.
'I hope the day comes soon when you can truly understand me.'
I eagerly awaited the day we'd communicate. Odds were, the first would be this founding Queen.
They probably craved it too.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The new Queen's egg has been safely transferred to a fresh nest. And soldiers of a new class emerge.
The ants prepared their next leap without respite.
Fresh ants bursting from pupae were key players.
Having devoured the fire ants I supplied and absorbed their traits, the Queen birthed a new class: acid-spitters, like formic acid ants but with venomous spray.
Small swarms of minor ants and massive soldier ants as living battering rams had proven their worth.
Against goblins, once melee devolved into chaos, the ants overwhelmed.
But ranged barrages cost them dearly in numbers.
From what I'd observed, most casualties came from tanking those attacks head-on.
These new ants would patch that weakness.
Plus, if the new Queen hatched and began laying, war losses would recover in a flash.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Your subordinates crave venom-infused food to brew stronger poison.
"Poison... they want?"
But my ants hungered for more.
A few venomous beasts among the hunted weren't enough.
To mass-produce venom ant squads quickly, they needed bulk venom—and they sought ways to strengthen the colony.
Left alone, venom ants would grow slowly.
'Maybe I should just get them some formic acid.'
I knew what "ant acid" was—a chemical reagent.
A mad idea crossed my mind: supply it directly.
If they were ordinary ants, I'd call myself insane.
But they were boundary-breaking monsters, evolving even now.
Their limits? Unknown to me or them.
'Worst case, it flops.'
With light resolve, I ordered the solution online.
By now, I trusted they'd handle experiments fine.
They were already dubbed Heralds of Doom over there.
"Jin-hyuk, send me the updated warehouse inventory file."
"Need it now?"
"Yeah. Heard Team 3's dungeon this time is special."
Glancing between the Divine System popup and my order confirmation on the monitor, I hurriedly switched screens at Manager Park Dong-jin's voice.
'Just in case. Could it actually work?'
Even in this changed world of the last 20 years, what a time to be alive—ordering this from my desk.
My hands moved lightly unpacking the delivery.
Holding the vial, I cautiously placed a tiny glass dish in the enclosure and added a minuscule dose.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Your subordinates panic.
First change to the enclosure since their awakening as subordinates.
Even accustomed to my feed and samples, they showed clear fluster now.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙They instinctively sense it as deadly poison but muster courage. For it comes from the heavenly guardian who cares for them.
Undeterred, the ants acted.
Solely on boundless faith in me, they began imbibing the unknown toxin.
My heart raced.
Tiny as my fingernail, yet their fervent trust felt... good.
"Ah..."
The first brave sippers convulsed, collapsing dead in unison.
Sighing—too crude a method, even for them?—that's when...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙The colony learns from the deadly poison, adjusting intake concentration.
Without hesitation, they deployed the second wave.
Calibrating tolerable doses through trial and error—body counts be damned.
Many perished, but the venom ants and colony pressed on for evolution.
Anticipation swelled: their growth, the outcomes...
A whirlwind of emotions.