As she slowly but surely devoured the soul of the young child, Beatrice's face couldn't help but slowly begin to morph, as a large smile appeared on it.
Although Beatrice did not realize it before, as she felt the pure terror that the soul of the child sent into her mind, Beatrice finally realized it.
This was what she was missing, this was the final piece of the puzzle, the thing that pushed Beatrice that little tiny bit forward.
That feeling of sheer terror, which nor Beatrice, nor Kiara, nor Ben had ever felt throughout their lives, that was the final thing that Beatrice needed, that would be the thing that would Bring Beatrice to perfection.
Merely a moment later, Beatrice's flesh and organs suddenly began falling off her body, which began rejecting the imperfect things that tried to tie her down.
The speed at which Beatrice's body was being destroyed was astonishing, every single moment, a large piece of Beatrice's flesh disappeared, far surpassing her regeneration speed.
But even though this was the case, Beatrice felt no fear and no pain.
In the most basic sense, pain was just the soul indicating a certain kind of danger instinctually.
Usually, although Beatrice was aware of the absence of danger, pain still persisted, but right now even Beatrice's subconscious became fully aware of her state.
After all, how could the ascendance to perfection be any kind of danger.
...
In the end, Beatrice's most subconscious instinct turned out to be true, as even though nearly every single part of her body was destroyed, Beatrice continued feeling better and better.
Even as Beatrice's brain was fully destroyed, and turned into mush, Beatrice's mind become clearer and clearer, as insights into darkness continued pouring into it.
At this moment, Beatrice's skeleton, which was being held together by the mana still remaining in it, began disappearing, as it was quickly swallowed up by flesh, which began emerging from it at a rapid speed.
In what seemed like just a few moments, but were in truth, five minutes, Beatrice swallowed up all of her remaining elemental stones, as well as most of the elemental energy that existed in the surroundings, giving her body more than enough energy to regenerate.
As such, after just five minutes, Beatrice's mind, which was still sunk deep into darkness, suddenly regained control of her body.
Of course, Beatrice did not pay any attention to something as minor as this, as the entirety of her attention was placed on something else.
...
As she looked at the endless sea before her, her soul, which was currently extremely calm, much calmer than it had ever been, Beatrice couldn't help but breathe out a small amount of air, and turn her attention onto her mortal body.
"Perfection..., as expected, while still contained by the boundaries of flesh and blood, true perfection can never be achieved..." mumbled Beatrice as she stretched out her hand and touched her face.
Although Beatrice's skin was not only was smoother than before, but also much more resilient and strong, Beatrice could now feel what she could not before.
If the current Beatrice were to stand in front of past Beatrice, before reaching perfection, and allow the latter to investigate her as much as she wanted to, past Beatrice could only come to a single conclusion.
Current, Beatrice's body was perfect.
But even though this was the case, current Beatrice, whose powers had gone up to another level compared to the past, could sense imperfections, still present within her body even now.
Although Beatrice was aware of these imperfections, Beatrice knew that trying to fix them would be pointless, after all, being that were made of flesh of blood could never be perfect.
Right now, although Beatrice had never learned of the process to become an Archmage, Beatrice knew her path.
Strengthen her still weak soul, that could not bear the power of a truly perfect body, and ascend beyond her mortal body.
To a being comprised fully of energy.
Although in the end, Beatrice knew that even such a being was not truly perfect, and that there was even another ceiling above that, Beatrice would pursue this goal for now.
...
The moment Antonia, who wielded the power of the entire colony, gazed into the eyes her Mistress, she froze.
A moment later, a small, yet tenacious soul suddenly emerged from Antonia's body, before arriving in the palm of Beatrice.
"You are very obedient, but some extra insurance wouldn't hurt..." mumbled Beatrice as she suddenly kissed the soul, leaving behind an obvious hickey, infused with both mana and Beatrice's own will.
After casting the Dark Kiss spell onto Antonia, Beatrice then placed the soul of the ant back into her body, satisfied with her obedience.
As soon as the soul of the Ant Queen returned to her body, the latter then immediately moved next to Beatrice, happiness clearly visible on her ant face.
...
As soon as Antonia gazed into the eyes of her mistress, she immediately realized what had happened.
Beatrice had become more powerful.
On its own, this was not a very surprising thing, as Beatrice constantly become more powerful, every time Antonia saw her mistress, the latter would become even more powerful.
This time, though, it was different.
The moment Antonia gazed into the eyes of her mistress, she immediately knew something.
Her mistress could kill her, instantly.
Even if Antonia used the entire power of the colony, of all the now 1.3 million ants, the ant queen could not struggle at all in front of her mistress.
Right now, Antonia felt as though she had returned to the times when the colony had just a few hundred ants, and her mistress could crush all of them with a single finger.
But even though this was the case Antonia did not feel sad, in fact, a sense of happiness couldn't help but emerge from within the ant.
No matter what, as long as the power of the colony continued to grow, Antonia was happy.
In the end, although Beatrice was not an Earth Ant, she was the mother of every single ant in the colony, including Antonia herself, and as such, a member of the Colony.
How could a child not feel happy that her mother had become more powerful?