“Regardless of the outcome, the Second Queen would be very satisfied.”
Just like the fortress Kerrigan had invaded, the battle on the Sky Island was in full swing.
Celia watched Yuno and Kerrigan flying high in the sky, utilizing their Holy Light Winged Armor and wings to constantly shift positions as they fought, and she let out a soft sigh.
It seemed she was being influenced after all.
Kerrigan was currently engaged with a powerful foe, and the pure joy and pleasure she felt were trickling in through the hive mind bit by bit.
“How can this be happening...”
Of course, the reason Celia could afford to be distracted at a time like this was largely because the battle for the Sky Island was gradually tilting in favor of the Great Devourer.
Governor Delta sank into thought as he watched his soldiers fall and his equipment being destroyed one after another.
After the aerial bombardment-type mutant Disintegration Cannons destroyed the defense barriers, the Great Devourer’s forces that had infiltrated the interior engaged them in a fierce battle. In the end, they had failed to even get within the range of the Heavenly Thunderbolt.
They had exhausted all their equipment and troops, but it still wasn't enough.
If they had possessed a sufficient number of well-equipped elite forces, the situation might have been different.
But now, all they had was the strength equivalent to a Pioneering Zone governor's office.
The turrets firing condensed holy power shells had been paralyzed by spiderwebs spat out by spider ants, while the paladins and priests who tried to resist tenaciously were defeated in frontal clashes against the Great Devourer's forces, led by those of Lictor rank.
“The holy golems have fallen!”
“Everyone, get out of the way!”
The fatal blow was that even the twelve holy golems were being defeated one by one, beginning to crumble.
These pure white golems, with holy circuits engraved on every component and infused with holy power, possessed massive bodies and immense strength. They were supposed to have been their last hope.
However, Celia had cast magic, binding the massive frames of the holy golems with countless magic chains, while Lisette spread her wings and flew up, personally destroying the golems with her sword.
The golems that were still actively swinging their weapons were hit by the fire of the Behemoth’s Disintegration Cannons the moment their holy defense barriers shattered, breaking apart directly into piles of rubble.
“So this is the Heavenly Thunderbolt. In the end, it couldn't even be fired. Well, just from the description, one can tell its principles are extremely complex.”
Celia left behind the chaotic battlefield where the Church of the Goddess of Light was still in its death throes and headed straight for the center of the Sky Island.
There, Celia easily suppressed the continuous resistance. She looked at the massive spear pointing toward the sky and the people surrounding it as if guarding it.
One of them was Governor Delta.
“You might not know this, but if you abandon the Goddess you serve and surrender to us, you can save your lives.”
Celia even gave them such an opportunity.
Hearing that they could save their lives just by abandoning their Goddess and surrendering, their faces filled with looks of displeasure.
“None among us will betray the grace bestowed by the Goddess! We will never join the likes of you, you heartless beasts!”
“...I suppose I am the only one who would feel pity for you holding onto your convictions and faith, and find you remarkable for it.”
Celia sighed as she looked at Delta, who shouted his vow of death-defying resistance.
To the Great Devourer, including Elise, their spirit and intent were nothing more than worthless, inefficient, and foolish behaviors.
This was because the Great Devourer believed that things like honor were worth nothing in the face of actual benefits.
“Kill them.”
The moment Celia's persuasion failed, Elise issued the kill order without hesitation.
Crushing all resistance from the outside of the Sky Island, the swarming Great Devourer forces rushed into the central area.
“Aaaagh!”
“Goddess, please...”
The personnel of the Goddess of Light Association could not hold out even if they persisted to the end. They were eventually submerged by the surging Great Devourer forces, dying one after another.
In this situation, Celia walked toward Delta, who had collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
“A mere... Pioneering Zone...”
Delta, whose abdomen had already been pierced by the stingers of the venom-sting Great Devourers, whispered with difficulty.
“The forces from the countless planets under the Goddess's command will not let you go. As long as there is a chance, countless troops will swarm here and completely erase you along with this land.”
He spoke to Celia, who was looking down at him from beneath her exoskeleton mask.
But these words were conveyed through Celia to Elise behind her, and even further, to the ears of Lin Miao behind Elise.
‘We know that compared to you creatures who have already extended your feelers into the vast universe, we are still very weak. That is why we must devour you bit by bit like this.’
However, Celia, Elise, and even Lin Miao were all well aware of what Delta’s warning implied.
Even though they had already taken both Terra and Cadia into their grasp, they still felt it was insufficient.
‘More prey.’
Elise did not hide the greed surging within her.
She craved prey. She craved more and stronger prey to devour.
“More power.”
Lin Miao murmured to himself, still recalling the power and technology of the high-tier deities who were ahead of him.
Looking at the Divine Net forum for even ten minutes was enough to know how powerful his competitors were.
To catch up with those who had been systemic beneficiaries for years, accumulating power and resources, he had to possess even more monstrous and overwhelming power.
The means and methods did not matter at all.
Using any means necessary to survive was a fundamental habit that was very familiar and natural to them, who had once been insignificant.
“I've lost contact with the main force. Those who are alive, answer me.”
The moment the Sky Island completely fell.
Yuno, who had been fighting fiercely with Kerrigan, temporarily landed on the ground. She looked around and called for communication, her Holy Light Winged Armor gradually reaching its limit.
“Those idiots, they died without holding out for long.”
Yuno’s face was pale as she looked at the scattered corpses of her allies.
The only ones left alive were the Great Devourer.
All the Great Devourer forces were now staring only at Yuno, keeping their distance from her.
“...I haven't cut off the life of your subordinates yet.”
Begrun spoke, showing the subordinates he had subdued.
“Monster, you can actually speak?”
Yuno couldn't help but laugh when she heard Begrun’s unexpected voice.
Having become a Legion Commander, Begrun was now a member of the hive mind and a servant of Lin Miao.
This meant he could vaguely sense Elise’s will, as well as the will of the deity Lin Miao.
“It seems that Lord has taken a liking to your power.”
Begrun sensed the craving for Yuno’s power, as it could elevate the level of the colony; at the same time, he sensed his own irritation that Yuno happened to be a female.
“What a joke. A mere monster actually trying to act like a human.”
However, Yuno was instead amused by Begrun’s words.
“The lives of my subordinates? You don't think such things can be used as hostages, do you? Didn't those guys follow me all this way just to die in battle in the end? If you're a monster, then fight like one.”
Begrun had chosen to become one with the colony to protect his people, whereas Yuno had become a paladin for the sake of slaughter. The temperaments of the two were entirely different.
They did not understand each other's situations, and their temperaments were at two extremes, so reaching an agreement through dialogue was nearly impossible.
“...I clearly gave you a chance.”
But Begrun did not feel particularly regretful; he just felt a bit of a pity.
“?!”
At that very moment, Kerrigan—despite having a large hole in her abdomen from being pierced by Yuno’s spear—flew in like lightning. She grabbed the back of Yuno’s head with one hand and used all her strength to slam her face into the ground.
With a violent impact, the ground where the face struck was smashed into a massive crater, completely shattered.
Begrun shook his head as he looked at Yuno’s bloody face with her eyes rolled back, and then at Kerrigan’s face, which was beaming with a smile through the broken part of her mask.
This was Kerrigan’s way.
She was different from Elise, who only considered efficiency and would immediately discard anything deemed useless.
Even if it was inefficient, Kerrigan would rather choose the path of repeatedly defeating her favorite targets until they yielded completely, and she found joy in doing so.
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