Chapter 268

Could you not shoot?

Xing was about to speak when the gun in his hand suddenly fired with a bang, and the female leader vanished like a wisp of cloud in the gunfire.

That's pretty clearly impossible. Heita said calmly, "You're playing the last bounty hunter of this swarm, and after you fired, you left Du Xing."

I have a question. Xing gazed at the collapsing scene around him, "The female leader's bounty hunters used insect powder sorcery, so why can the hunter I'm playing still stay conscious?"

Who knows? Probably because of love. Heita shrugged, "Alright, alright, don't worry about such details. Anyway, after you killed the female leader, this means the bounty hunters have completely ended on Du Xing, and from now on this place belongs to the Iliadisina army."

The scene shifted, and Xing returned to the Iliadisina army's camp. The camp reeked of insects, the sticky mud mixed with glowing green insect blood, and each step drew out thin strands of slime.

A few soldiers sat around a burning pile of insect shells, incinerating mountain-like heaps of insect corpses, the crackling of the flames like a dense drumbeat.

After the bounty hunters withdrew completely, the Iliadisina people's slaughter of the Du Xing insect tribe only increased, never decreased.

Amidst the slaughter, a beetle silently spread its wings and shot into the sky through blood, broken shells, and slime, leaving behind all chaos, carnage, and endless smoke.

Its ascent had nothing heroic about it; the viscous blood of its kin trailed thin threads from its wingtips, like an infant's uncut umbilical cord. Occasionally, fragments of its shell peeled off, like tears falling into a sea of fire.

Heita, you wouldn't say that little bug is the Propagation Star God, would you? Xing lowered his telescope and said to the air beside him.

Otherwise, what do you think a Star God's ascension looks like? Thunder parting the way? Starlight greeting?

Ugh... Xing couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Xing, you also know that before becoming a Star God, the Machine Head was merely a stellar computer made by Zandar for solving everything, right? Heita suddenly changed the topic, saying they were all quite ordinary before ascending—so ordinary you could hardly notice them.

What did they go through in the transition from ordinary to Star God?

Good question, Xing. If I could answer it, would I still need you to help me test the simulated universe?

Xing scratched his head embarrassedly.

Hey, you guys, come take a look!

In the distance, a soldier let out a surprised cry, calling everyone over. Xing followed that soldier through the camp, and after opening a protective barrier, the sight before them made all the soldiers present gasp in unison.

Countless swarms of insects suddenly froze, their compound eyes all turning toward the horizon as if seeing something invisible to humans. Immediately after, they began to gather and cluster, mating and reproducing in place in an unimaginable way.

The antennae of a certain giant Du Xing bug and a flying insect intertwined, sticking together in a bizarre posture; even if someone burned them with flames, they would still perform mating motions in their final second before becoming ash.

How disgusting... Xing felt his stomach churn.

It seems 【Propagation】 has already been born. Heita sighed, "The locust plague that will sweep half the universe is about to begin."

「——」 - no content.

「overlord。」 - This line is English? It's just "overlord." Probably a term. Might be a title. Could be a named entity? It's a word. Might be a title of something. Since it's English, we keep as is. It might be a name. We'll include "overlord". However glossary says list named entities appearing in these lines. "overlord" appears as a line. It's likely a term. We'll include.

Has the Star God been born?

But he didn't see it at all.

Ainz, who also heard Heita's voice, used some kind of magic to enhance the guardians' sight, trying to find any trace of 【Propagation】 in the dark red sky of Du Xing.

A... Lord Ainz!

His thoughts were first called back by Mare's terrified voice.

Averting his gaze, Kosesutes painfully knelt on the ground. His teeth kept trembling, his six limbs twisted in an extremely uncoordinated posture, even crushing his outer armor, emitting a grating sound that made one's teeth ache.

That thought… Lord Ainz, I...

His usual low voice also became hoarse, as if he were struggling with something for control of his body.

(Kosesutes's condition is clearly under the influence of mind-affecting magic… Could the Great Tomb have been attacked?)

(Demiurge had already set up domains and barriers beforehand; logically, any magic affecting the Great Tomb should have warned them. So what's going on?)

In an instant, a situation beyond common sense occurred, leaving Ainz momentarily flustered.

But he quickly calmed down, observing that not all the guardians had been mysteriously attacked like Kosesutes—only he had.

Assuming a mental attack could affect a level 100 Kosesutes, and even be strong enough to ignore pre-set barriers, then everyone in the Throne Room—including Ainz himself—should be unable to escape.

Could it be… that only he is special?

Lord Ainz, if it's a mental attack, it shouldn't be targeting only Kosesutes. Demiurge beside him also noticed the clue, saying, "I think we should send someone to inspect the interior of the Great Tomb."

Hmm.

Ainz was about to designate a guardian to move out when he suddenly received a warning about an enemy attack.

—from the Ninth Layer of the Nazarick Underground Great Tomb.

Eh?! The, the Ninth Layer?! Yaeberd instantly widened her eyes.

Their Throne Room is on the Ninth Layer!

Moreover, the Ninth Layer is the level she personally guards; how could anyone dare cause trouble right under her nose?!

Furthermore, while it's understandable that someone would want to attack the Great Tomb, to reach the Ninth Layer one must pass through Layers One to Eight, yet all the guardians of those layers are here, and not a single one received an attack alert!

Heh, the attack came from the Mercenary Room… interesting. Ainz let out a low chuckle, "All guardians except Kosesutes, come with me."

Via teleportation, everyone arrived at the Mercenary Room in the blink of an eye.

But then——

The sight before them almost froze everyone present.

Among the battle maids, Aiduoma (spider person) was selflessly engaging in 'intimate communication' with the Terrible Lord (giant cockroach), her wide maid's long sleeves brushed over the newly formed spiracles on the insect's shell, those apertures instantly sprayed out a warm mist carrying pheromones. In an instant, the whole room was filled with an unpleasant and nauseating smell.