Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 905: Karmic Reckoning (I)

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There had been no warnings, no alerts…not even the faintest sense of foreboding or crisis alarm when they arrived.

They just appeared accompanied by explosions, and all of a sudden, the Bug Empress felt the Hive Mind screaming in pain and blood.

The very first thing that Nicholas did as soon as this operation began was to take down Hive Mind.

With a single snap of his fingers, the Hive Mind—the very pride and joy and one of the main strengths of the Horde—was destroyed thoroughly. It couldn’t even muster a lick of resistance against Nick’s absolute command over the element of destruction.

Without the Hive Mind, the Horde suddenly found themselves blind and lost. The loss of the Hive Mind affected them greatly. Everyone who’s connected to it felt its disappearance through a sheer, severing pain in their heads. It even drove some to insanity straight away.

The loss of this connection was grievous to the bugs. The only reason why they were even able to create a functioning society and show some semblance of order and discipline was because of the Hive Mind in the first place. Without it, the bugs were reduced to what they’re originally supposed to be.

Simple-minded, instinct-driven creatures that had no clue what social norms were. The illuminating light of wisdom that their empress constantly imparts them with was suddenly snuffed, making their world dim and terrifying. And the terror of it all is what drove most of the bugs insane.

Additionally, many of the functioning structures within the Crimson Womb Chaos Realm rely on the Hive Mind being active; without it, those structures were expected to collapse, and collapse they certainly did.

Most of the explosions that happened within the chaos realm originated from those structures, not from the invaders themselves.

For the smarter bugs, the disappearance of the hive mind was jarring. Not only did they suddenly find their minds surprisingly quiet and empty, but they also felt some semblance of freedom—a concept that completely eluded most of them but felt good nonetheless.

But freedom wasn’t always a good thing, especially for simple-minded creatures like these bugs. Without the direction and wisdom of their empress, they reverted to their most simplistic form despite their advanced forms. Unable to think how to move forward without the guidance of their empress, whatever’s left of their intelligence was soon devoured by their overwhelming instincts.

And those instincts told them to do whatever the hell they want. The Bug Empress, great as she is, no longer controls their thoughts and actions. They could do whatever it is that they wanted to do and won’t be punished by the Bug Empress.

Once they acted upon their instincts and felt great about what they did, regardless of how horrible the outcome was, every lick of discipline they were able to cultivate through their entire lives vanished without a trace.

Soon, madness and destruction swarmed the entire chaos realm.

It’s like someone suddenly awakened a lot of sleeper agents within the Horde and ordered them to cause as much chaos as they possibly can.

The destruction seen within all corners of the Crimson Womb Chaos Realm almost sounded like a symphony to Nicholas’ ears. He’s actually fighting off a grin from forming on his face as he watches.

Patricia, standing beside him, wasn’t so idle either.

With how much destruction that’s happening around them, there will be, of course, many deaths too. And with many deaths, many souls are liberated. And as humanity’s first and foremost expert in souls, Patricia was having a field day here.

Souls are typically invisible to people’s senses. Not to her, though. She could see them even without the targets perishing. Of course they are even more visible when they’re without a body anymore.

Originally, the souls of the bugs return to the Bug Empress. They are transported through the weave of the Hive Mind and placed into a cocoon where they could regenerate a body through the Bug Empress’ assistance.

Within this crimson womb of hers, rebirth was guaranteed. She could endlessly regurgitate her children and create more variants by absorbing their experiences. It’s the main reason why she’s so formidable.

But this whole process leans on the hive mind being there to facilitate it. The reconstruction and rebirth of her children relies on the Hive Mind being there in the first place.

Since Nick just destroyed the hive mind, where do the souls go now?

Well, originally, they would just dissipate without a body. The Bug Empress might be able to do something with them if she’s given time. But with Patricia here watching? How could she ever let that happen?

So, the souls of the deceased bugs come to Patricia, who is now stripping them of their identities and their root origins and converting them into nothing but pure soul force, one that is neutral, void of taint or identity, just a pure energy form that anybody and everybody could use.

Turning garbage into treasure, not bad if she would say so herself.

And throughout all of this, the Bug Empress remained locked into her own chambers, unable to do anything to help them.

She could hear her people, her precious children, panic and cry out for her, asking, begging for help. They want her to appear and make the problem go away; they want her to interfere and save them from whatever it is that’s happening.

They were terrified. Their comrades—fellow bugs they used to get along with, their friends, relatives, family, and so on—are now fighting each other. They are tearing each other apart, one bloody limb at a time.

They couldn’t recognize each other all of a sudden. Friends suddenly turned into mortal enemies, or worse, food. The larger bugs preyed on the smaller ones; the little ones hid behind walls, under the rubble, watching in horror as everything they knew and loved went mad after their instincts took over.

She wanted to help. She really does.

The hive mind was lost, yes, but she’s not deaf. She could hear them; she could sense them. She could feel everything falling apart.

She knew that her utopia, the small corner of the world she carved with her own bloody hands for her and her children, was falling apart piece by piece. And it pained her so much to be unable to do anything about it.

The Bug Empress ruthlessly pounded her fists and legs and used all of her power to break the seal that prevented her from coming out of her chambers.

She didn’t even sense when it happened. She only found out that she was sealed here when it was already too late. The barrier that kept her in was so strong, and she couldn’t break it.

Her voice was already hoarse from screaming; her anxiety shot to the moon when she thought about what would happen with her own family—her husband and their children, especially the youngest one.

Oh, he must be so terrified right now. He probably doesn’t understand anything that’s happening.

What if his loyal guards suddenly turned on him? What if the soldiers that used to accompany him suddenly succumb to their instincts and start preying on the little one?

The Bug Empress felt extremely desperate when her thoughts went this way. So she used all of her strength once more to break the seal that’s keeping her imprisoned in her own chambers.

But no matter what she did, nothing happened. The barrier kept firm, sealing her inside. Nothing she did made it budge. As she went increasingly desperate, she started begging.

’Not my husband! ’

’Not my children! ’

’Please, anything but them! ’

’Please, spare them! ’

She screamed until her throat was almost ruptured. She kicked, screamed, punched, and kept uselessly attacking the barrier while begging whoever was responsible to spare her husband and her family.

Deep down, she knew what this was.

Karma finally caught up to her for everything that she did. She managed to outpace it for a bit, but she could never really get away. It’s always been there, and now, it’s here.

With karma comes the repetition. The nightmare of the day when she first lost her family was happening all over again.

And once again, she was rendered completely helpless to stop it.

It’s so unfair. Why was heaven so unfair to her?

The primitive universe was so big; why doesn’t it have a place for her and her loved ones?

Why can’t they just leave her and her family alone?

Why must everybody take away everything from her again and again? Why? This was so unfair!

As her thoughts spiraled downwards and she felt her heart and her soul falling endlessly into the abyss, time passed.

She had no idea how much. Was it days? Weeks? Months? She honestly couldn’t tell, but eventually, the noise outside died down. The only thing she could hear now was her cries, her screams, her pathetic begging, and her ceaseless attacks on the barrier that separated her from the outside.

Just as she noticed that it’s been quiet, the barrier suddenly lost its luster. And with one punch, she broke and frantically ran outside.

Only to find her husband using his body as a shield to protect their children from two humans standing indifferently before them.