The flashier the bait, the more effective it is.
However, if that bait becomes too extravagant, it risks defeating its own purpose. It was no longer just an enticing offer; it was a trap so vital that the enemy couldn’t afford to ignore it, even if they knew it was a lure.
It wasn’t merely about presenting an option; the outcome was already predetermined. Even knowing it was a trap, they were forced to make that choice. Elise had long since mastered the fundamental principle of warfare through her countless experiences and wars: only fight battles you are certain to win.
“That’s right. This is a place that must be protected.”
Just as they had with Icathia, Yuno had infiltrated Tatooine, an upper territory. She watched the reinforcements from the Goddess of Light Association continue to pour in and muttered to herself.
Based on the information shared through the hive mind, the Stargate remained open, and fully armed troops and equipment were being supplied in a steady stream. Having originated from the Goddess of Light Association herself, Yuno knew exactly how precious Tatooine was to them.
After all... this was the place where Yuno was born.
“What kind of place is Tatooine? The Goddess herself told the pioneers, ‘Only by securing this land can prosperity come to all’!”
“It is rich in pure magic stones. Even the Goddess said it is of immense value and a blessing for us all. We cannot let those monsters defile it!”
As a mature, developed territory, it possessed many valuable assets. Everyone who had resolved to fight spoke of its value and clamored for its protection. Whether from a cultural, symbolic, resource, or technological standpoint, it was undoubtedly a precious domain.
“Does it not feel uncomfortable to attack your own home? If you asked the Queen, she might let you go to another planet.”
Begrun, who had been dispatched here alongside Yuno, walked up to her with heavy steps and stole a glance at her.
From Begrun’s perspective, it was only natural to assume that Yuno’s situation might be awkward. Although he knew Yuno was a bit unhinged and worked seamlessly with Kerrigan, Begrun didn’t think she could attack her own home and harm its people without a second thought.
“Home, huh?”
However, Yuno let out a disdainful sneer at Begrun’s words.
Contrary to what he thought, Yuno felt a sense of anticipation and excitement. This hypocritical and pretentious home, and the people who had pushed her to the brink of death time and time again.
‘It’s actually a bit of a shame. Our goal isn’t to destroy this place.’
Her eyes flashed with a cold light beneath her mask. Unlike Begrun’s assumptions, Yuno clicked her tongue in regret because the colony would not be putting forth its full effort to annihilate Tatooine. Instead, she needed a narrow victory.
She had to give the enemy false hope and a lethal lure, making them firmly believe they could successfully defend Tatooine.
“It can’t be helped.”
Yuno had no choice. The Great Devourer only acted for the purposes and goals of the colony. Even the Legion Commanders, who possessed self-awareness and could think and act independently, ultimately had to obey the Queens’ orders, and the Queens obeyed the orders of their god, Lin Miao.
Becoming one with the colony meant getting used to this. Therefore, Legion Commanders like Celia, Lisette, Begrun, and Yuno needed a certain knack for things.
That was to find loopholes or creative ways to fulfill their own desires while still serving the colony’s objectives. As the most senior among them, Celia was already a master of this, using such methods as naturally as breathing.
Yuno had also received advice from Celia.
‘Just make sure to kill those who deserve to be killed.’
Yuno gripped her spear and grinned, her body soaring into the air. If destroying the entire planet was difficult, destroying a region or a city where she once lived was well within her authority. She was, after all, one of the top Legion Commanders in the colony.
...
Yuno was an orphan. Of course, she wasn’t truly born without parents; more accurately, she had been abandoned at such a young age that she didn’t know who they were.
It was this abandoned Yuno who, while on the verge of death in the streets, was picked up and raised by a man named Hank, a thug in the city’s back alleys. Naturally, this didn’t mean she was raised well.
In exchange for food and shelter, Hank made Yuno a drug runner in the slums. From a young age, Yuno possessed a natural talent for such work, and she used that ability to complete her tasks brilliantly.
‘It wasn’t bad.’
As a young girl, Yuno thought that life was decent enough. She was supposed to have nothing in this life anyway, abandoned to die empty-handed on the streets. Though it was a criminal den in the low-class slums, she now had a home to return to, people who were like family, and food to eat.
“You’re here again?”
And then there was this person—Lena, a novice priestess of the order. Lena, who was ten years older than Yuno at the time, would always warmly welcome her whenever Yuno came to the relief center to collect the free food distributed to minors who were still too young for heavy labor.
“Yeah,” Yuno nodded, busy stuffing food into a bag.
Lena asked again, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Yuno froze for a moment, her eyes widening.
“Don’t think so vaguely,” Lena said, looking at her like an older sister who had seen it all. “At your age, time goes by very fast.”
Yuno scratched her head and replied casually, “I’ll probably just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
“And what is that?” Lena pressed curiously.
“Well...” Yuno trailed off, not answering directly.
In truth, Lena wasn’t really that confused; it wasn’t strange for children in the slums to start working at a very young age. Facing Lena’s question, Yuno remained silent. No matter what, she couldn’t just say she was a drug runner.
Even if Lena wouldn’t report her, she would clearly put on a stern face and lecture Yuno relentlessly until she gave it up.
“Yuno, as long as you accept the Goddess’s grace and study hard, there will be more and more things you can do.”
Lena continued to urge Yuno to attend the night school run by the church. Although she occasionally felt inconvenienced by her illiteracy, Yuno simply hated using her brain.
‘Is it this rhetoric again?’
She felt a strange sense of repulsion in her heart. Lena’s words about studying hard for a bright future sounded to her like an invitation to join those large, luxurious buildings in the distant Prosperous District.
‘Hypocrites.’
Yuno didn’t like that. While there were kind people like Lena, most people in the Prosperous District loathed and hated those from the slums. The slum area was labeled a criminal nest and considered a filthy place that needed to be purified.
What’s more, they looked at those responsible for the hard, dirty work and considered them uncivilized and lowly.
‘Why? Isn’t everyone supposed to be equal before the Goddess?’
Lena always said that the Goddess loved everyone, but Yuno couldn’t accept it. The people in the Prosperous District, and even the church personnel, didn’t seem to understand or accept that teaching very well.
‘We’re all the same people.’
It was then that the incident occurred. A criminal organization in the Slum District kidnapped the mayor’s daughter and killed the mayor. The long-suppressed hatred found an excuse to explode. Even the city’s power players joined in.
The city mobilized its forces and ordered a clearing of the Slum District. It was officially an order to search for and arrest criminals, but the angry citizens spontaneously formed vigilante groups and swarmed in alongside the security forces.
“Hank!”
In the face of anger and madness, order did not exist. There was only chaos itself. At the moment when people were legally beating others to death, Yuno discovered the bodies of Hank and her companions, who had been killed by someone. She didn’t know who the killer was, but the safe had been pried open, and the drugs that filled it were gone.
Outside, the vigilante group, their eyes bloodshot with rage, frequently beat those slum residents they deemed easy targets, killing them as if they were criminals.
“Ugh...”
Turning pale, Yuno didn’t have time to collect Hank’s body. She instinctively believed that she could only survive if she went to Lena, so she ran toward her.
Yuno arrived there gasping for breath, only to see Lena standing alone before the rampaging vigilante group, trying to protect the people. Lena had indeed said it then. Just as she told Yuno every day, this was something the Goddess would never allow.
In this place, Lena was the only one whose words and actions were consistent, and for that, she was killed by the rampaging vigilantes. In an instant, her body was pierced by a blade.
Yuno screamed and rushed forward without a second thought. That despair and rage met her latent talent, awakening her magic power and transforming the little girl into a beast.
Her first battle, her first kill.
“Why didn’t the Goddess come to save you?”
Covered in blood, Yuno looked at the bodies strewn across the ground and then at Lena, who had fallen. Was there a more loyal servant than her? There was a priestess here who truly practiced everything the Goddess preached, so why didn’t the Goddess save her?
“She hopes that we can overcome the trials...”
Lena had accepted it as if it were only natural, stroking Yuno’s cheek. It might have sounded cruel, but it was also the truth. If a god who knew and heard everything did everything for them, then they would ultimately just be puppets, not true servants.
‘But that isn’t the case.’
Yuno sneered as she rode on the back of a Brood Lord providing fire support, leading a swarm of flying species back to the home she had left decades ago. Was it to sharpen them? Was it because it was inconvenient for the Goddess to intervene?
Those words were all wrong. The Goddess simply lacked the capability.
Though she was a god, her abilities were far from the omnipotence one might imagine, and she was not all-knowing. Even if she had the power to turn mortals into angels, and the knowledge and ability to establish a massive power and civilization across worlds.
She did not have a miracle that could shine upon all living things and help everyone. Hestia presided over dozens of worlds at that time. Even if Hestia, as a goddess, opened hundreds of Divine Sights simultaneously and observed every day, there were still limits to what she could do.
The priests praying to her numbered in the tens of millions, and the notifications popping up in the Divine Net could pile up by the thousands every day. It was an impossible problem to solve from the very beginning.
So Hestia handed over proxy ruling authority to her left and right hands, governing her vast forces by managing them. Unimportant matters were left for those proxies to handle. The incident that happened here was no different.
The slaughter and massacre that occurred in one planet, one city, and one slum were, in the end, just trivial matters to the Goddess.
“Begin the attack. Kill all those who resist and those loyal to the Goddess.”
Yuno issued orders to the Assault Team that had come with her. By this time, the city was already in a panic, with people fleeing in all directions.
In contrast, the thousands of flying species circling in the air acted as a single unit, moving in perfect unison. In truth, as Yuno grew older and gained more experience, she gradually understood reality.
Even a goddess, or even a being greater than a goddess, could not look after everyone. Resources were always limited, while those who wanted them were infinite.
“With this, she should finally turn her gaze here, shouldn’t she?”
But that was not the case for the colony. The colony that Yuno had once fought against, but had now been assimilated into.
From its very inception, the Great Devourer was a race that shared a massive hive mind. Every individual could store their status and knowledge in the massive server known as the hive mind and download and use it at will.
They could see all and manage all. Every existence was strictly controlled by a single will and treated fairly. The Queens, acting as middle managers, strictly controlled all information and reported to Lin Miao, their god.
They had actually achieved it—a realm that even the great gods could not reach.
Yuno grinned and looked toward the sky. She wanted to see if the Goddess, who had failed to notice her then, would cast her gaze here now to save or help her servants.
Rate on N.U.
