Chapter 1351
Insect life
The mont chaos erupted, Edwin took command of the Golden Apple Chamber of Comrce guards. With practiced efficiency, they ford a defensive periter, locking Roderic's carriage inside a wall of steel and magic.
When the last of the creatures stopped twitching, Edwin returned to the carriage to debrief the Marquess. A look of genuine relief washed over his face.
To a veteran rchant, if it wasn't a beast tide, it wasn't a crisis.
"Do we have a casualty count?" Roderic asked, his voice tight.
Edwin blinked, his smile faltering. "My Lord?"
"How many dead? Did the protectors suffer any venomous bites? Is the cargo intact?" Roderic leaned forward, his eyes darting frantically. "And does anyone know exactly what those things were?"
The barrage of questions left Edwin stunned.
In his eyes, this was a routine skirmish—a cost of doing business. But the Marquess was reacting as if they had barely survived an apocalypse. The intensity of Roderic's focus suggested this was about far more than profit margins.
"I... I will ascertain the details imdiately, My Lord," Edwin said, recovering his composure.
He knew better than to argue. He bowed and retreated from the carriage, his mind racing. Perhaps the answers Roderic sought would explain the nobleman's uncharacteristic paranoia.
Stoneheart City, The Palace
In a high-ceilinged study usually reserved for Lilith's administrative work, the air was thick with tension and perfu.
"I don't know exactly what has shifted," Soraya purred, leaning into Lilith and linking her arm through the other woman's with exaggerated sisterly affection. "But I can feel it. There's sothing in the air of the Titanion Realm now... sothing that makes my blood sing."
"It's a scent!" Lorelia chid in from Lilith's other side. The smaller Broodmother was sniffing the air audibly, like a hound tracking a scent trail.
Orion had recalled both Broodmothers to the capital. He had sensed the shift in the world's fundantal laws—a shift that favored the insect races—and he wasn't about to let the Stoneheart Horde miss an opportunity to capitalize on it.
"The concentration is weak right now," Soraya continued, analyzing the sensation. "It might invigorate the lower-tier crawlers, but for anyone at the Hero rank or above, it's negligible."
She turned her gaze to Orion. Ever since learning of his ascension to Demigod status, her eyes hadn't left him. There was a hunger there—a mix of reverence and raw lust. If Lilith and Lorelia hadn't been in the room, she likely would have already thrown herself at him.
"Master, the environntal shift in the Titanion Realm is boring," Lorelia complained, pouting. "It's nowhere near as potent as the evolution boost we get in the Erald Dream Realm."
"It's only temporary," Orion said, addressing them both. They were sensing the surface-level changes, unaware of the grim reality behind them. "The Titanion Realm has begun to rge with another plane of existence. I suspect the invading world is dominated by insect life."
He paused, letting the weight of the words settle. "The laws of physics and magic in our world are being rewritten by the second. That scent you sll? It's only going to get stronger."
This was why he had summoned them. For the insect factions, this invasion was a potential goldmine of power.
"Whoa, whoa! Master, is it war again?" Lorelia bounced on her heels, eyes sparkling. "Is the invading world big? Is it strong? Is it a bug world?"
She clapped her hands. "It must be perfect for ! I want to be like Soraya. I want to control a Domain Authority too!"
Lorelia had tasted power during the war between the Erald Dream Realm and the Silverwood Realm, hoarding resources and evolving rapidly. Now, she was hungry for the next step. She wanted to ascend to Arch Lord. Seeing Soraya control the Godforsaken Land and hold a fragnt of the Desert's Authority had filled her with simple, naked envy.
With Lorelia, there was no subtext. She wanted what she saw.
"The war won't arrive imdiately," Orion said, analyzing the board. "rging laws takes ti. But make no mistake: our enemy will not be weak."
He walked to the window, looking out over the city. "Before I ascended, the Titanion Realm already possessed three known Demigods. The enemy launched this invasion knowing full well what our peak combat power looked like."
He turned back to them, his expression grim. "They are confident they can swallow three Demigods and their armies whole. That makes them dangerous."
The room fell silent. Even Lorelia stopped fidgeting.
Lilith, Soraya, and Lorelia were powerful, but they were still at the peak of the Legend rank. The gap between them and a Demigod was an ocean. The idea of an enemy that hunted Demigods was sobering.
"I've been monitoring the insect populations within our territory," Orion continued. "The enemy is smart. They are using the atmospheric shift to destabilize us from within before the first soldier even lands. The laws favor the bugs. Their rapid evolution will shatter the balance of power between the local factions."
"By the ti the main invasion force arrives, our world will already be in chaos."
Lilith stepped forward, breaking the silence. "Based on Orion's insights and the data from the Sentinel Corps, we've constructed a predictive model."
She handed a dossier to Soraya. Lorelia didn't bother looking; she was smart but lazy. She preferred to be pointed at a target and told to kill.
"My sister's territory in the Golden Pearl is a key observation zone," Lilith noted, offering a rare complint to smooth over Soraya's earlier clinging. "The Scorpion Tribes there have been remarkably cooperative with our data collection."
Soraya smiled, scanning the docunts.
"We believe the insect mutation will proceed in five distinct stages," Lilith explained, her voice clinical and cold.
"Stage One: Atmospheric Alteration. The fundantal environnt shifts to support insect physiology."
"Stage Two: Mass Evolution. All species are affected, but insects undergo a 'Great Leap Forward' in biological capability."
"Stage Three: Hive Cohesion." Lilith paused, her eyes darkening. "You may not have noticed yet, but insect plagues are erupting across the continent. In the shadows, we are already seeing sentient Insectoids evolving from the mindless swarms."
"If we aren't careful," Lilith warned, "entire ecosystems will face extinction before the war even begins."
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