Chapter 253 | Swarm: I Became a Cataclysmic Disaster

“Where... where on earth did it all go wrong?”

Hestia sat in the Palace of Sacred Radiance on her home planet of Arcadia, her hand resting against her cheek, a dazed look in her eyes.

On the Divine Net screen floating before her, as many as twenty of her territories were simultaneously under attack by a single faction.

Three of them, like Icathia, were fully established territories, while the other seventeen were Pioneering Zones that still required further development.

Although none of her territories had completely fallen yet, she could feel it in her gut.

With the Great Devourer's capabilities, it would not be long before these lands fell into their hands one by one.

In truth, the forces the Great Devourer deployed to attack each Pioneering Zone were not particularly massive.

At most, they were only at the level of a strike force capable of waging localized warfare.

To fully occupy and control a massive world, one naturally required dozens of times that amount of military strength; this was precisely why deities were exceptionally cautious when deciding to wage all-out war against one another.

However, the Great Devourer possessed the ability to construct nests anywhere and rapidly multiply within a short span of time.

Like rapidly spreading cancer cells, even if they started as a tiny tumor, they could instantly devour everything around them, infecting and multiplying.

‘Why does it have to be me? Of all the people, why me, you bastards!’

Hestia gnashed her teeth in sheer frustration.

She could not comprehend why those monsters were targeting her alone, and the sheer injustice of it made her blood boil.

From her perspective, she truly had every right to feel wronged.

Her grudge with the Great Devourer should have ended the moment she withdrew from the competitive zone of Terra.

But Hestia never would have dreamed that a certain someone she had picked fights with all over the deity forum was actually the master of those Great Devourers, using that petty dispute as an excuse to tear her apart.

“Please do not worry too much, Your Grace. The elite forces of the order, including the Empyrean Star Guard, have already been fully deployed.”

Right now, that was the only thing she could rely on.

The elite forces of her home planet, whom she had painstakingly nurtured and trained over countless years.

Hestia watched the screens anxiously as her troops marched out to various locations.

Armed with absolute loyalty and faith in her, those troops moved without a single hint of disarray.

‘Will this really work?’

Yet, the unease lurking deep within Hestia's heart simply would not fade.

There were currently twenty entire Pioneering Zones—nearly half of the territories she ruled—under attack.

Even if she mobilized her entire military force, whether she could save all twenty worlds remained highly uncertain.

If she began losing her lands one by one, her Divine Status would plummet in real-time, and her power would weaken accordingly.

Conversely, on top of their innate talents, the Great Devourer possessed an insatiable greed for knowledge, allowing them to utilize existing resources to their absolute limits.

Even if they devoured just a single world, they could unleash a level of productivity that far surpassed their original scale.

Therefore, if the war dragged on and became a prolonged conflict, the situation would rapidly turn heavily against her.

...

‘There sure are... a lot of deities.’

As Lin Miao gradually grew accustomed to the Divine Net forum, he began spending time exploring it every day whenever his vassals had no urgent matters to attend to.

The very first fact he discovered was that the number of deities was far vaster than he had ever imagined.

Granted, no matter how vast the universe was, the number of deities could not compare to the internet users of Earth, but browsing through the Divine Net forum made Lin Miao certain that their numbers were beyond calculation.

[Golden Crow of the Sun: Why is mid-tier magic so hard to learn?]

[Angel of Death: You think that's the only bottleneck? Every single stage from Mid-to-High-Tier and above is a bottleneck.]

Furthermore, Lin Miao learned that among the vast number of deities, the overwhelming majority were below the Mid-Tier.

Even if one possessed a world considered to be a low-level civilization, the absolute limit they could reach was only Mid-Tier.

Because of this, entering other worlds, establishing territories, and acquiring new vassals was actually an incredibly difficult and remarkable feat.

“Looking at it this way, my progression speed is actually pretty fast, isn't it?”

Lin Miao let out a soft sigh as he gazed at the dense clusters of Great Devourers on his screen.

Ultimately, the only key was how to gain entry. Once they set foot inside, the Great Devourer displayed an incredibly powerful adaptability when it came to devouring, developing new territories, and multiplying their vassals.

Obstacles that other deities found insurmountable could be easily breached by Lin Miao through the indiscriminate charges of his Great Devourer, allowing him to push forward.

In fact, even if other deities simply expanded their territories and increased their vassals, those gains would not entirely translate into their Divine Status.

The most crucial factors were how they ruled them and how much influence the deity exerted over them.

For those deities who had barely conquered one world and wished to march into even vaster realms, the biggest headache was always the issue of governance.

Occupation was not the end; they had to govern properly and implement effective management.

Even if those populations were incorporated into their sphere of influence and counted as vassals, the deity could not realistically expect much in terms of interference force or ascension from them.

The vassals who were truly beneficial to a deity were those who 'sincerely' recognized the deity's existence and were loyal to them.

Every day, deities wracked their brains to devise more efficient methods of governance tailored to their circumstances, constantly bestowing power in an effort to increase these loyal vassals.

In this regard, holy civilizations based on faith were relatively more flexible.

Goddesses compelled their vassals to believe in them, granting corresponding rewards in return.

Unlike technology-centric civilizations such as etheric or magical civilizations, the vast majority of holy civilizations could not take a single step forward without the existence of their goddess.

The goddess was the very core of the massive collective they built, as well as a living witness to miracles.

This immense collective could not even assemble without their goddess, and the believers prayed daily, begging her to guide them onto the correct path.

Consequently, goddesses generally possessed fewer territories and vassals compared to other deities of the same Divine Status.

They could be considered elite forces of a smaller scale.

This was also true for Hestia.

Although the number of territories and vassals she possessed might be slightly small compared to her exalted High-Tier, Grade III Divine Status, all of her vassals were absolutely loyal to her, devoted followers who offered her their faith.

No, regardless of how high a deity's status was, there were limits.

Even if reliance on the deity was high, excessive dependence would restrict expansion. This was a primitive way of ruling.

Goddesses, by nature, only liked to hear pleasing flattery.

Some deities mocked or criticized such goddesses.

Although there was no shortage of criticism pointing out their narrow perspectives, lack of autonomy, and poor initiative, these censures also carried a subtle envy for those loyal vassals who were willing to lay down their lives for the deity they served.

The same held true for Hestia's vassals, the Goddess of Light Association.

A paladin clad in Holy Light Winged Armor hovered in the air with his light wings unfurled, pointing his sword toward the Great Devourer nest that was currently eroding the Pioneering Zone.

“These Great Devourers threaten the prestige of our Goddess and trample upon our lives and homes. Let the holy war begin!”

Accompanied by the voice echoing within his helmet, a massive army assembled through the Stargates.

The majority of them were elite troops dispatched from their home planet, including forces from the Empyrean Star Guard.

Colossal holy golems hummed with waves of holy power as they slowly rose to their feet, while heavily armored paladins stood on the front lines, weapons in hand.