Chapter 170

Chapter 170

Chapter 170 – Expansion (2)

The commanders of the eight squads gathered from my retainers were meticulously selected according to their designated “titles.”

When it came down to claiming territory, possessing a “title” was ultimately indispensable.

In particular, because a grander title permitted the claim of a more expansive territory, this path was practically mandatory.

For this very reason, the majority of the squad commanders were veterans who had served under me for an extended period.

The initial pair chosen for these roles were Oh Eon-ju and Ha Dong-geon.

Both individuals received additional consideration due to their prior familiarity with the process of establishing territories.

Ultimately, since constructing a domain demands enduring significant physical and mental strain, assigning the duty to those with practical experience was the logical choice.

Following them, the remaining selections were Moon Byeong-ho, Kim Ga-young, Kim Geon, Kang Deok-su, Lee Jun-hyuk, and Jang Seong-jun.

This completed the group of six.

‘Every single one of them holds the rank of Baron.’

It was highly regrettable that I had to separate Ha Dong-geon’s original group, but there was no alternative.

The system governing titles was strictly tied to an individual’s accumulated contributions.

Normally, when someone with awakened powers is designated as a retainer, they start at the rank of “Knight.” However, climbing to the rank of Baron required a minimum threshold of 110,000 points.

Reaching the rank of Baron demanded 10,000 points, while ascending to a Viscount required 100,000 points.

In terms of contribution, no one else besides Ha Dong-geon’s immediate circle had amassed such figures.

‘I preferred to keep Ha Dong-geon’s team together if I could.’

To secure a massive sanctuary, however, this difficult arrangement was unavoidable.

To lay it out clearly:

Squad Commander 1: Oh Eon-ju.

Squad Commander 2: Ha Dong-geon.

Squad Commander 3: Moon Byeong-ho.

Squad Commander 4: Kim Ga-young.

Squad Commander 5: Kim Geon.

Squad Commander 6: Kang Deok-su.

Squad Commander 7: Lee Jun-hyuk.

Squad Commander 8: Jang Seong-jun.

Under these commanders, each squad would consist of ten members, meaning a grand total of eighty retainers would deploy.

Under normal circumstances, I manage roughly thirty individual feeds of the Absolute Dweller’s Eye.

Right now, however, I had restricted it to a single active feed per squad, making eight in total.

Utilizing the transmission band of the communication ring, I broadcasted the instructions to my retainers.

[As you are all aware, our primary goal for today is conducting reconnaissance.]

Squad 1 was sent to Gwangju, Squad 2 was dispatched to Daejeon, Squad 3 moved to Daegu, Squad 4 headed to Gangwon-do, Squad 5 took Incheon, and Squads 6 through 8 covered Gyeonggi-do.

These specific sectors were distributed based on local human populations and density.

The immediate task was to evaluate the combat strength of the beasts inhabiting each squad’s designated sector.

[I wish you all success.]

With that, the mission commenced.

Squad 5 was the very first group to reach their designated territory.

Their assigned zone, Incheon, was practically adjacent to the sanctuary, since an auxiliary outpost had already been set up in the vicinity of Seoul.

Consequently, they practically arrived at the scene the moment the deployment was initiated.

Furthermore, their squad leader, Kim Geon, possessed the unique capability of commanding crows.

Since Squads 5 through 8 operated closest to the main sanctuary, they could not be provided with Kellicans. Kim Geon resolved this limitation by utilizing his massive crows as aerial transports.

At this moment, they were soaring over the coastline, soaring directly toward Incheon Airport.

Just then, Kim Jae-hyun’s voice crackled through the transmission.

[We have arrived over Incheon Airport. Is everyone prepared?]

This particular sector was far better documented than the others.

Geographically speaking, it was situated right alongside Bucheon.

Because Yang Ha-young’s faction had previously set up their headquarters in Bucheon, our intelligence regarding Incheon was exceptionally thorough.

This existing familiarity was precisely why Yang Ha-young and her direct followers had been integrated into Squad 5.

The benefits of fighting on familiar terrain were immense.

With so much information on hand and the evacuation of local residents already well underway, their objective differed slightly from the other squads.

The primary target for Squad 5 was the beasts nesting at Incheon Airport.

Rather than exterminating them, their mission was to capture them alive.

[Ensure that the Queen is taken alive.]

Immediately after Kim Jae-hyun finished delivering the instruction—

A sharp, buzzing hum filled the air.

Beasts began to appear.

They possessed translucent, powerful wings.

Jagged, biting mandibles and glowing eyes that resembled polished gems.

A pair of sensory antennae twitched between their eyes.

Their outer shells were painted in alternating bands of bright orange and deep black.

The creatures were massive, insectoid monsters resembling hornets.

Each specimen was larger than the rapidly growing crows that Kim Geon commanded.

A heavy, rhythmic thumping vibrated through the air.

A swarm of these beasts flew in, casting an intimidating shadow like a fleet of approaching helicopters.

「Giant Hornet (Lv. 30)」

Equipped with rigid carapaces capable of turning away gunfire, venomous stingers, and powerful jaws that could snap a human throat effortlessly, these creatures numbered in the dozens, perhaps even hundreds, massing together as they advanced.

Despite this, not a single member of Squad 5 showed any sign of panic.

Kim Geon addressed his squad.

“Engage.”

The instant the commander’s order was uttered, the nine crows bearing the squad members dispersed in multiple directions.

One of the avian beasts sped forward.

Riding atop it was Choi Su-bin, who had offered comforting words to Yang Ha-young the previous evening.

As the wall of hornets closed in, the crow plummeted, dropping down toward the earth.

Once they had positioned themselves beneath the flying swarm—

A heavy mechanical click echoed.

Choi Su-bin raised her right arm, which instantaneously shifted into a massive block of dense metal, and unleashed a colossal column of fire upward.

A fierce roar of flames erupted.

Only three or four of the giant hornets fell directly from Choi Su-bin’s initial blast.

However—

Plop, plop—sizzle—

Dozens of hornets, their delicate wings utterly singed by the intense heat, lost their flight capability and began tumbling out of the sky.

Immediately following that—

Woo Su-hyun, one of Yang Ha-young’s direct subordinates, snapped open a folding fan he held and launched an assault of his own.

A sharp gust—and then a crash!

With a booming resonance, a fierce gale surged forward into the ranks of the hornets.

The superheated air generated by Choi Su-bin’s fire was pushed directly toward the rear ranks of the swarm, instantly melting their wings.

In an instant, hundreds of hornets lost their stability in the air.

Though they had not sustained lethal wounds, they were completely stripped of their ability to fight.

Seizing this critical window, the remaining eight squad members pressed their attack.

They charged straight toward the massive hives of the hornets.

Heavy thuds echoed through the area.

The hornets fought back with rabid ferocity to defend their nests.

Yet, they were hopelessly outmatched by their opponents.

A woman named Jeong Yesul, who stood with her fists raised in a boxing stance atop her crow’s back, threw rapid punches at any enemy that drew within a five-meter radius.

With every strike, a hornet’s head shattered like a ripe melon, killing it instantly.

“What an absolute chore.”

A man wielding a simple wooden sword swung it effortlessly toward the incoming hornets.

A clean slice!

The bodies of several hornets were instantly cleaved in half.

Every fighter in this group was exceptionally lethal.

Just then,

Heavy, thudding vibrations shook the ground.

Beasts far larger than the standard giant hornets began to emerge.

【Giant Soldier Hornet (Lv. 37)】

Yet, before these new threats could coordinate any real resistance—

“Phew.”

In the blink of an eye, Yang Ha-young had descended to the ground, pulling a massive spear crafted from solid bone out of her own body.

A sharp whistling sound echoed.

The blood-slicked bone weapon steadily expanded.

With a grinding sound—

It soon exceeded her own height of 178 cm, growing so thick that even Yang Ha-young had to grip it firmly to balance it.

This massive bone spear, a weapon far too heavy for any normal human to lift, was handled by Yang Ha-young as easily as a lightweight stick.

She adjusted her stance, settling her weight, and then—

“Hah!”

She hurled the weapon directly into the center of the hornet hive.

Simultaneously,

An explosive blast tore through the area with a deafening boom, scattering debris and shattered pieces of the nest everywhere.

[You have hunted a Giant Hornet (Lv. 29).] [You have hunted a Giant Hornet (Lv. 31).] [You have hunted a Giant Soldier Hornet (Lv. 37).] …… ……

Surveying the ruined remnants of the hive, I pondered.

‘…Is the queen still breathing?’

Fortunately, no notification indicating the demise of a queen bee appeared on the system feed, meaning she had survived the blast.

‘She is remarkably powerful.’

Yang Ha-young.

Even before she was formally bound as my retainer, she had already climbed to level 50 solely through her natural awakened talents, making her an absolute force of nature.

With the bonuses from her citizenship, her baseline statistics had multiplied, and after officially joining my ranks, her power had scaled even further.

Furthermore, from the moment she swore her loyalty, she possessed the title of [Spearswoman]. Because this specific path had already been unlocked at our job research center, she was able to undergo immediate advancement.

As a direct consequence, all her offensive capabilities utilizing spears were significantly boosted.

This rapid growth wasn’t limited to Yang Ha-young alone.

Choi Su-bin, Woo Su-hyeon, Jeong Yesul, and the others who operated alongside her were demonstrating incredible coordination and combat prowess.

‘I hadn’t anticipated such incredible synergy when they were grouped together.’

Additionally, they possessed natural reflexes that allowed them to navigate three-dimensional aerial combat with ease, despite never having fought in the sky before.

‘It seems I won’t need to intervene at all.’

Since Squad 5 was the only group currently locked in high-intensity combat with the local beasts, I had kept a close watch to step in if things went sideways, but they had managed to dismantle the entire nest without suffering a single injury.

Though the sheer volume of hornets meant the cleanup was still ongoing, the outcome was already decided.

‘At this rate, there’s no need for me to exert myself.’

During a prior strategy session with the administrative officers, an intriguing concept had been brought up.

It was a theory regarding the respawn behavior of monsters: it suggested that the rate at which new beasts are generated might be directly linked to how rapidly the existing population in that sector is wiped out.

The hypothesis proposed that each distinct zone has a fixed capacity for monsters, a theory originally derived from observing the Ice Dragon.

In the regions where that dragon had traveled, the local beast populations had been completely annihilated.

Understandably, finding any monsters near those areas was initially impossible.

However, once the deep ice began to melt, new monsters started spawning at a frequency that matched the rest of the world.

If the spawn rate in that zone had been naturally accelerated from the beginning, we would have noticed it during our initial mapping of Seoul.

But we didn’t.

This led to the conclusion that in areas where high volumes of monsters were systematically eliminated, the system compensated by accelerating the respawn rate.

‘If that theory holds true, what would happen if we purposefully spared monsters that reproduce exceptionally fast?’

This was the exact reason I wanted the hornet queen captured.

‘A species with a solid average level that multiplies rapidly.’

And they operated as a cohesive unit subservient to their queen.

What would happen if I could bring the queen of such a species under my control using a ‘Subjugation Contract’?

‘I might be able to command the entire swarm.’

At that very moment,

“Jae-hyun, we’ve located the queen.”

Peering through the shattered ruins of the hive, I spotted the massive queen hornet, shivering in absolute terror.

‘This is a coin flip. It will either succeed or fail.’

The reason I targeted a species governed by a matriarch was due to the data we gathered from Seo Ye-jin’s control over the queen ratman.

By dominating the queen ratman, Seo Ye-jin was able to exert influence over wild, unbound ratmen as well.

Though she couldn’t grant them developmental traits like evolution or physical stat boosts, she could dictate their behavior, ensuring they did not attack human settlements.

‘That is more than enough.’

A monster population that exclusively preys on other monsters.

If I could simultaneously suppress the rapid respawning of wild beasts, it would solve two major problems at once.

‘Open the North Gate.’

As I activated the North Gate, the massive form of the queen appeared before me.

【Giant Queen Hornet (Lv. 41)】

The queen herself was likely unable to perceive the gateway.

Thus, I made my presence known through a more direct method.

‘Invisible Hand.’

I had learned a valuable lesson when I brought the Kellicans under my control.

The absolute fastest way to break and domesticate wild beasts was through overwhelming terror.

‘Yield.’

A massive, unseen pressure gripped her form, radiating a cold, dark energy.

Simultaneously, I initiated the ‘Subjugation Contract’ and projected a telepathic command.

[Yield to me.]

Then,

A soft flash of light—

A brilliant glow enveloped the queen hornet.

【Tamed Queen Hornet (Lv. 43)】

‘It worked.’