Chapter 1102 - Swarm Queen Undead

The two Threefold Macrocosm life forms stood face to face.

Despite not yet making a move, the mere collision of their pressure and will caused the surrounding walls to crumble. The Jade Dragon Emperor and the others hurried behind the Nine-Faced Dragon God to avoid the Swarm Queen’s mental assault.

As the Swarm Queen was ultimately a life form focused on reproduction, it was no match for the Nine-Faced Dragon God in terms of actual combat power, and before long its pressure pressed the Swarm Queen to the ground.

Only then did the Nine-Faced Dragon God notice the faint line of an unhealed gash on the Swarm Queen’s belly. Sensing something was amiss, it probed the Swarm Queen with its perception and discovered that it had already burned through most of its Life Energy.

It had only held out this long against the Nine-Faced Dragon God out of sheer desperation.

That raised a critical question. What was the Swarm Queen willing to die to protect?

The Nine-Faced Dragon God quickly detected a Macrocosm life form at the edge of its sealed zone, struggling against the barrier and trying to escape.

“Romantis, an insect is trying to flee. Stop it!” the Nine-Faced Dragon God ordered.

The Swarm Queen couldn’t let that happen. Burning its remaining Life Energy, it flooded the surroundings with its will, forbidding any living creature from leaving. It was sacrificing its life to create an opening for the fleeing Phantom Butterfly and the future Insect God.

The Nine-Faced Dragon God finally understood. “You sent nearly every insect to attack us because you wanted to overwhelm my perception. That way, I wouldn’t notice a single creature fleeing towards the edge. And now, you’re sacrificing your life to buy time. I’m curious. Who exactly is trying to escape?”

A maternal smile spread across the Swarm Queen’s face. “It’s our future—the being that will one day destroy the entire Great Dragon race.”

“Destroy my Great Dragon race? How dare a mere insect harbor such ambitions!” the Nine-Faced Dragon God growled. Pulling back all of its Dragon Fear and will, it concentrated everything on the Swarm Queen.

As long as the Swarm Queen lived, they couldn’t pursue the escaping creature. The Macrocosm insect couldn’t possibly shatter the Nine-Faced Dragon God’s barrier, but punching a small hole at a far-off edge was well within its means, and it was only a matter of time before it succeeded. With the Swarm Queen stalling them, that creature would escape.

So, the Nine-Faced Dragon God gave up the chase. That insect could flee if it so pleased. All it cared about was destroying the Swarm Queen.

Terrifying Dragon Fear crushed down on the Swarm Queen. The Nine-Faced Dragon God’s monstrous will invaded its mind, crushing its spirit and dismantling its body. It was going to erase it completely from existence.

The Swarm Queen fought desperately, burning its Life Energy and soul in an attempt to delay the inevitable. Once it sensed that the Phantom Butterfly had escaped the nest, a look of liberation crossed the Swarm Queen’s face.

“One day, the Great Dragon race will kneel before my offspring!” the Swarm Queen exclaimed with joy.

Those were its last words.

The Nine-Faced Dragon God’s pressure materialized into an enormous dragon projection. Its claw came crashing down, smashing the Swarm Queen into paste as its Life Energy finally ran out. The remnants of its unburned soul scattered into the air.

By this point, Han Wu had received treatment and rested enough to have regained some strength. When he saw the Swarm Queen’s body being crushed and its soul dispersing, he acted without hesitation.

He activated his Netherworld Jurisdiction at full power, which drained his internal energy almost instantly. He then fed in the remaining Divine Essence from his account, but it ran out quickly as he’d spent most of it absorbing insect corpses earlier.

“Lend me a hand!” Han Wu urged the Dragon Emperors and the Nine-Faced Dragon God.

They recognized what Han Wu was doing and poured their energy into him without question.

The dead Swarm Queen’s remains were partially reassembled as fragments of its soul were recalled, allowing it to be reborn as an undead that carried a portion of the Swarm Queen’s consciousness and memories.

The Netherworld Jurisdiction pushed two tiers beyond Han Wu’s level for this summoning and fully developed, but Han Wu declined the opportunity to become the Netherworld God King. He was becoming a little too good at turning down being a God King.

His gaze fell on his new undead, the Swarm Queen. The Swarm Queen's mangled corpse and shattered soul meant its strength as an undead had dropped drastically. It only retained the aura of an early Macrocosm life form, which translated to roughly Mesocosm combat strength at best.

Spending massive amounts of energy and exhausting three Dragon Emperors to summon an undead of this caliber seemed like a terrible deal by every measure, but after reading the undead Swarm Queen’s information, Han Wu’s weary face broke into a broad grin.

The undead Swarm Queen’s combat power was laughable, but it possessed one incredibly powerful ability. It could nurture its offspring to the highest degree and help them grow at incredible speed.

Han Wu’s divine realm had no offspring of the Swarm Queen. His Slaughter Barrier, on the other hand, was bursting with them. The Slaughter Barrier, being an effect of Slaughter Jurisdiction, was also far more portable than the divine realm and could skirt the problem of being locked out of spatial access.

Han Wu tossed the undead Swarm Queen straight into the Slaughter Barrier and ordered it to nurture its offspring.

Though the Swarm Queen retained some of its memories as an undead, it couldn’t disobey Han Wu’s commands. Besides, the insects inside the Slaughter Barrier truly were its children. Its maternal instinct wouldn’t let it abandon them. So, in the end, the undead Swarm Queen obeyed.

The Nine-Faced Dragon God didn’t object to Han Wu claiming the Swarm Queen’s corpse. A Threefold Macrocosm life form’s corpse was undeniably valuable, but with the Great Dragon’s level of craftsmanship, the Swarm Queen’s body could only be consumed. At best, it could help produce a few more Dragon Kings.

It was much more beneficial to give it to Han Wu as a favor. Han Wu’s potential was limitless, and a favor from him was worth more than a handful of Dragon Kings.

With the Swarm Queen dead, the three Dragon Emperors and the Nine-Faced Dragon God rushed out to chase down the escaped insect, but they couldn’t sense it outside the nest.

The Nine-Faced Dragon God used Dragon Fear to detect residual Spatial Energy fluctuations, but still couldn’t determine where the creature had gone. It seemed the Phantom Butterfly had used a special method to mask its spatial signature.

The trail had gone cold. Though frustrated, there was nothing the Nine-Faced Dragon God could do. It would simply have to plan for the long term.

Ultimately, this battle had ended in victory for the Great Dragon race. There were losses, but compared to the near-total annihilation of the insects, it was a resounding triumph. The entire Great Dragon race celebrated.

Vast stockpiles of resources discovered in the insect nest were hauled back as provisions. With Primalize spreading among the population, the Great Dragon race’s numbers would undoubtedly surge in the coming years, and the demand for food would only grow.

After the victory feast, the Nine-Faced Dragon God summoned all five Dragon Emperors to discuss the long-term problem of food.

Han Wu ended up volunteering to take on the task.

With the Divine Civilization’s abundant resources and vast trade networks, he could keep the Great Dragons fed for a hundred years without issue.

The Nine-Faced Dragon God’s opinion of Han Wu rose even higher. It awarded Han Wu the greatest prize from the war against the insects: the nest itself.

After claiming the nest, Han Wu started weaving in his Divine Authority to slowly refine it. He was shocked to discover that the nest wasn’t merely a world on its own—it could also be considered an extraordinarily powerful Sacred Object aggregate!