Ch.6565. Secret Weapon

    At first glance, one might not understand why this is a problem.

    Sure, if the entire Legion shares the same soul, they could not only surpass mortals intellectually and mentally, but also demonstrate a connection so perfect that they’re practically—no, literally—one body.

    Well, from the purely hive mind perspective of collective intelligence, that might be true.

    But that’s missing the point.

    From an individual’s perspective, anyone would have nothing but harsh criticism for such an act of unification.

    And if you want to know why I’m being so sensitive about this, you first need to understand how horrifying it is for individuals to merge souls.

    The soul. Classified as semi-psychic immaterial substance, it’s both a storage device where one’s life experiences are recorded and a means of proving one’s existence in the world.

    Moreover, while it might not have mattered in the world before possession, in this current world, it’s the most important component among the three elements that constitute the self: body (physical)-mind-soul.

    To put it extremely, even if the other two elements were completely destroyed, they could be restored through the records engraved in the soul. But if the soul perishes, the self disappears instantly, and the body becomes nothing more than an empty shell with mere life responses.

    Therefore, merging two completely different souls is… well, it’s called fusion, but in reality, it’s no different from creating a new soul using the two souls as materials.

    Of course, when there’s a significant gap between two souls, the smaller one is often absorbed into the larger one—like when I absorbed the souls of the monsters I devoured—

    But in my personal opinion, when it comes to the souls of seven Grade 1 Hive Queens merging into one Hive Mind, there probably wasn’t any hierarchy among them.

    Anyway, once their souls fused and became one, they completely lost their individuality.

    No, beyond that level, this entity, according to my guess, probably has an extremely abnormal mental state.

    Monsters are creatures that, from the moment of birth, are injected with knowledge necessary for survival at an instinctual level and hatred toward humans, and it’s impossible to even imagine how twisted they’ve become after living in such a state for extended periods.

    And now, a Hive Mind—which receives even stronger injections of survival knowledge and continuous injections of hatred through collective intelligence—has formed from the fusion of seven Grade 1 Hive Queens.

    Naturally, the self would become distorted in this process, and I dare predict that the current mental state of the Pyongyang Hive Mind is severely warped.

    It has never experienced a society of different intelligent beings coming together, and its only interactions with others have been giving orders to subordinate entities and struggling for survival.

    ‘What… am I going to do about this?’

    The fact that it felt the emotion of anger is surprising enough, and I found myself deeply troubled about my future plans.

    When it comes to a direct psychic confrontation between me and that creature, that pig-like entity, which has insanely devoured souls to grow larger, clearly has the upper hand.

    Therefore, I—

    ‘…Is there really no other way?’

    After deep contemplation, I decided to deploy one of my secret trump cards to the battlefield.

    ※ ※ ※

    Meanwhile, at the same time.

    “Hup!”

    Whoosh—CRASH!

    Charge!

    Seri, who had been fighting on the front lines, deployed her subordinate Griffin Cavalry toward the enemy monsters’ formation that she had disrupted with Anitheus.

    “”””SCREEEEEECH—!!!!””””

    “”””””——!!!!!!”””””

    CRUNCH!

    The Hive Riders mounted on fierce griffins, each wielding a cavalry lance, ambushed the enemy lines from the sky as if they were dropping from above. With the added momentum from the griffins’ wind, they crushed hundreds of mid-tier monsters with their accelerated speed.

    And immediately after landing, the Hive Riders discarded their broken lances and began attacking surrounding enemies with close-combat weapons.

    No matter how supernaturally coordinated the enemy monsters’ attacks were based on their super-intelligence, the overwhelming specs of the cavalry and Seri’s combination, which exerted the power of three high-tier entities, was truly formidable.

    Thus, the Griffin Cavalry emerged victorious.

    “Regroup!”

    It was an incredible achievement—defeating enemy forces composed of more than five times as many mid-tier monsters with minimal losses: just a few injured griffins and two dead riders.

    Of course, since they had consumed quite a lot of psychic energy to achieve this result, they decided to rest briefly and recover energy until Lance was transferred.

    But then.

    ‘—What?!’

    Seri was shocked by the alarming news relayed through communication from the reconnaissance team (composed of Hive Flights).

    “A Grade 1 is coming this way?!”

    The news was that one of the enemy’s Grade 1 monsters, perhaps annoyed by her and the Griffin Cavalry’s role in supporting weak points in the front line, was heading toward them, leading its subordinate entities.

    And here lies the problem—currently, none of Seri’s Grade 1 monsters are available.

    Theseus is serving as the northern front commander while simultaneously marking one of the high-tier monsters from the Pyongyang Hive Mind’s side, who is also a commander and general.

    Theo needs to intercept flying monsters attacking the base, so he’s busy reinforcing the air defense network with a large number of subordinate Hive Starlights.

    As for Teio… well, being a tree-form monster, he can’t move, so we should be satisfied with him providing ultra-long-range psychic bombardment measured in kilometers.

    Mountain Lord is in charge of the southern front, and he has the crucial role of suppressing the famous named monster “Ghost of Pyongyang,” so moving him carelessly could lead to disaster.

    Additionally, all the other high-tier monsters, including captured Grade 2-3 monsters and the completed Royal Guard, have their own responsibilities. Ultimately, Seri and the Griffin Cavalry must face a high-tier—specifically a Grade 1 monster—and its royal guard without external support.

    Of course, it’s not that they have no chance of winning.

    Seri herself is evaluated to have combat power comparable to a Grade 2 monster when fully armed, and she also has two Grade 3 monsters with her.

    Anitheus, a Grade 3 monster in the form of a sword, is not only an excellent weapon but also a superior B-rank top-tier versatile psychic user. Her mount, Steelbreaker, is evaluated as an excellent animal-type monster with well-balanced capabilities.

    Therefore, theoretically, combining the combat power of these three should be sufficient to face a Grade 1 monster… but whether that will actually be the case is questionable, according to the prevailing opinion within the Hive Mind.

    According to them, the idea that each specializing in different areas to create stronger combat power is merely theoretical. In reality, they might end up as awkward all-rounders who can’t defeat a Grade 1 but can crush a Grade 2, essentially becoming gatekeepers… but.

    ‘That doesn’t matter to me right now!’

    To Seri, who was currently facing the prospect of fighting a Grade 1 monster, these concerns sounded like meaningless echoes.

    But what could she do?

    “Enemy approaching! Everyone… prepare for battle!”

    All she could do now was somehow confront it, minimize damage, and repel it.

    Following Seri’s orders, the Griffin Cavalry checked their equipment, and during this time, the silhouettes of enemies charging across the plain gradually became visible.

    “That’s…”

    Leading the charge was a large, grotesque monster that looked like a mix of various arthropods, an Ultralisk, a Bio-Titan, and an Alien Queen.

    A large larva-like body covered in carapace, eight pairs of large, pointed antennae serving as legs, four pairs of scorpion-tail-like stingers functioning as arms, and dozens of milky-white tentacles hanging like hair.

    This enormous monster (estimated to be about 10 meters tall) with a nightmarish appearance was charging forward, raising dust, while the monsters following it, though smaller in size, had equally terrifying forms resembling the Grade 1 monster.

    According to intelligence, there were estimated to be at least 1,000 mid-tier monsters, and from what she could see with her naked eye, the number seemed to be around that figure.

    “Prepare to fire!”

    Anyway, back to the main point. Seeing the monsters charging from the distance, Seri confirmed they were entering firing range and gave instructions to the cavalry.

    But then.

    [Seri, withdraw.]

    “What?!”

    Suddenly, through the Hive Mind connection, her… captain, the Hive God, gave her that instruction.

    “Why, Captain?”

    [I’m sending a secret weapon. Get out of the way immediately so you don’t get caught up in it!]

    “What? Yes, yes!”

    Though she expressed doubt, she followed her captain’s cold command and gave orders to her forces—

    WHOOSH—CRASH!!!

    Simultaneously, something flew from the east where the base was located, cutting through the wind, and landed amidst the charging monsters.


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