Happy New Year!
Anyway, sorry for the delay, here's the chapter
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How the Hive came to be… The answers are unknown even to the most ancient of the Norn Queens…
But one thing they always know, ingrained to the deepest part of their core….
Their sole purpose….
The reason why they are blessed with endless proliferation and growth yet cursed with insatiable urge to devour…
The one goal they must fulfill no matter what even if their annihilation is the cost they must pay….
That is the decimation of those who dared to lay their filthy touches upon the vast expanse of their home, their Great Mother…
No matter how little the offenses of those dwellers of the orbs floating amidst the merciful embrace of their Mother, the word cruel wouldn't be enough to describe the horrid retribution delivered upon them. None are spared as even the younglings of those defilers were turned into nourishments for the voracious swarms.
Resistances… sometimes they faced them….
Although all of them were futile as either the untold waves of the swarms drowned them or when the tools used by the resisting defilers were no longer working against the ever evolving hordes of the Hive.
Still, albeit having been decimated by the endlessly expanding swarms time and time again, those trying to defile the sacred domain of their Great Mother were unceasingly growing whether in numbers or strength, something that even the wisest of The Queens couldn't fathom.
Even so, their Great Mother once again granted them her wisdom and blessings. By her guidance, The Ancient Norn Queens split their Great Hive into three sister hives, each blessed with different paths of evolutions, tuning them into specialized slaughter machines capable of massacring any kinds of defilers.
The first of the Hive Sisters' proliferating ability evolved, enhancing their capability to give birth to more offspring over a thousand folds albeit having to sacrifice their quality. Even then, it still made them an excellent choice to counter the endlessly growing number of defilers, especially the weaker ones.
The second of the sisters evolved in terms of quality and adaptability, making the offsprings born from this Hive the most formidable out of the three. Alas, there are some drawbacks from this evolution path, such as the sky high price to produce and nurture the newborns and the growth speed of the offspring which is considerably slower than the other Hives.
And the last of the three sisters is the one with the most traits resembling the original Great Hive before the split with some tiny improvements in terms of quality and proliferation, yet they got something which their Hive sisters didn't. Their Hivemind ascended and their star gate creation ability improved, making them able to almost cover the vast cosmos of their Great Mother thoroughly with relative ease, turning them into a perfect bridge of communication and transportation for their fellow Hive Sisters.
Thus, with the three working in unison, no defilers could revel in their filthy achievements for long as none of their heresy escaped the eyes of the third sister for their judgements were already underway to turn them into nourishments for the Hives.
None could outlast their judgment for The Great Hive is endless. No technological advancements could outmatch them for their Great Mother blessing of evolution is unparalleled. And for eons, the pure skies of their Great Mother laid untarnished.
Until one day….
THUMP!
They heard it, the heartbeat of the unknown… Reverberating from beyond the vast reach of their Hivemind….
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Every single one of them, from the smallest of the hive workers until the Mighty Hive Queens became petrified by the foreign sensations that was the sudden urge to escape into the farthest edge of the cosmos in order to hide from the source of the deafening pulse. Since time immemorial, never had they felt something like this. The feeling of utter helplessness against an impending doom.
Nevertheless…..
Ǎ̶̛̦̠̀A̶̹̼̲̦͇͕͙̞͐Ä̸̧̢̧̛̙͈̟̞̖́̅̀̀͛̓̐̂̚A̸̩̹͎̦͙̝͐̂̄̍͛̌͗͝A̷̡̘̦̟͈̲̖̋̎͜À̴͕͇̦̪͊͒Ḁ̵͉̹͈̂̌̈́́̍̐̽̂̓̚A̴̤̱̓̍͐͝A̶̪̞͓̣̱͇̒͜Ą̵̧̪͇͈̬̀̒̆̀̾A̶̧̼͎͔̬͇͇̲̖͗ͅÄ̸͎͓̙́͋̃Ą̸̢̠͙̞̬̳̬͂͗̃̈́̔̍͆͒A̵̧͍̟̹̝̱̻͖̬̱͗́̉̀̕Á̸̢̧͇̘͓̟͎͆A̴̩̥̓́̋̋͝A̷̻̩͓̼͓̬̍̏͝͝͝Å̶̲͓̽̓̑͆̌̑͌͝͝A̸̧̯͎͔͎͇̪̦͌̓̎͛͆̃̚͠A̵͈͗̓́͆̍̊̇̈́̕͘Ả̶͕͔̰̗͕͎͓̞̤̃͑A̶͓͎͔͂̎̎̆̑͆̇͐Ą̸̜̫̖̦͎́̒̄Ą̴̝͇͆̈́Ą̸͖̜̖͙̬̭̲̊̈́̂͝ͅȂ̷̪̥͕̾͌͑A̷̭̬̹̬̦̿̀̅̉͐̐̑͗͗͜ͅA̶̮̤̗̼̙̘̩̫̠͒͋̒̑͝͝Ǎ̶̧̫̼̾
The hateful woe of their Great Mother quenched their desperate desire to flee and filled their whole being with unwavering courage laced with unbridled hatred towards the source of the pulse.
Their Great Mother had been enraged and they would absolutely deliver her wrath upon whatever the thing which dared to challenge her supremacy!
Moving on...
They finally saw it, the true form of the loathsome thing which threatened their Great Mother…..
A colossal green crystal construct the size of a star with such terrifying amounts of energy they had never felt before from every living being they had encountered in their countless years of life in their quest to protect their Great Mother contained within.
And surrounding the crystal was its entourage of guardians. Mechanical constructs of various forms and sizes, some resembling the ones made by the defilers they had slaughtered yet more were unknown to them.
Their numbers were massive and judging from their energy readings, even the weakest in their ranks outclassed their Hive Tyrants and Bio Titans by leaps and bounds.
Though it didn't deter them from advancing, instead it just made them even more excited for if they successfully consumed the energy contained inside that hateful crystal, they could evolve into above and beyond!
Still, it turned out this threat was way more prepared than the other defilers they had encountered because they couldn't create Stargates right in front of it like they usually did against their other prey's home planet. But no matter, it would only delay their advance for a little.
So after observing their adversaries for a while, they decided to finally launch their attacks using their trademark tactics, that is using the First and Third Hive Sisters' armies to gather more information regarding those threats. And using that information, they would then produce offsprings with more suitable genetic structures to better handle their enemies.
And as the first stargate was opened a distance away from the colossal crystal followed by countless others, their conquest against the greatest defilers had truly begun.
...…..
...…..
...…..
...…..
So…. Why did their adversary only send a single unit while countless others from another five regions just stayed in their formations??
And while that unit was faster than anything they had ever seen and had one of the most outstanding energy output among their adversary armies of mechanical constructs, what could it do against their cosmic scaled encirclement?
Then was their adversary underestimating them? Very well, the swarm would teach it a lesson by tearing this unit into pieces and devouring it as a whole!
That was what they thought at first…
But that thing… that little mechanical construct! No matter what their brethren fired at it, none hit their marks!
Whether they were salvos of the slower scatter worm torpedoes, traps of ravening limpet minefields, barrages of the exceedingly corrosive giant bio-plasma balls and rains of pyro-acid from their main batteries, and more was all for naught as the white mechanical construct with size not bigger than their bio-titans evaded each and every single one of their assaults with impossibly nimble and agile maneuvers, even their swarm of hive crones, defensive spores, and aerial bio titans guarding their ships weren't able to halt its advance as the white mechanical construct smoothly weaved through all of them.
Strangely, the white mechanical construct only flew deeper and deeper through their layers of formations without launching any counter offensives since their first clash. Its intention was unknown but they could predict what it truly was, their biggest Hive-Ship containing one of the Queens acting as their commander for this assault.
Nevertheless, it brought forth a precious opportunity to end this annoyance once and for all using one of their most potent weapons proven to be capable of turning many formidable defilers' civilizations into ruins.
And when the little white machine almost reached their queen's hive ship….
Ŗ̷̛̛̛̹͓̘͓͖̒̂̇͋̎͊͌͑̀̐̓͘Ơ̸̡̡̧̡͕̜̲̞̟̹̬̣̣̤͓̥̘̩̞͔̻͔̘̬̤̒̊̂͜͜Ȃ̴͎̝̜̳́͛͒̈́̈́̄̿̎͑͆̕͝͠Ȃ̷̛̲̞̙̘̪̞͎̣̮̥̪͔͚̝͓͈̤̈́̋̑̈́Ą̵̘̱͈̟̗̹͈̮̞͎̩̝̖̗̜̊͑̈́͗̍̓͜ͅA̷̞̚A̶̧̢̱̜̦̳̭͕̟͈͓̖̮̗̭͇̰͐̑̾̀̈́́͐̓̆͋͊͊̒̈́͜͜͠͝ͅͅA̶͙͚͑̅̀̐́̿̽͒̂̀̈́͆͌̿̈́͛̒͋̿̆͗̚͝͝ͅA̵̙̯̮̼͆̈̉́̎͐̊͝A̶̢̨̧̢͙̗̳̦͕̥̭͎̣̳̯̟̝̣̰̬̼̜͍̘͕̭͙̾̍̅̊̂͒̽̄̓́̏͗̕̕͜͠͝Ă̶̢̛̛̛͕̘̬̼̘͓͚̠̹͚͔̯̹̈́̃̅̈͊̓̏̍͑̾̿̔̈́̋͛͑̓́̿̿͂̋͘͘͜͝͝Ą̶̢̻͇̩̲͖̪͓̼̱̗̝̲̪̻͒̒̉̅̄́̍̀͗̕̚̕͜͝͠͝͝Ą̵̛̊̀͑̀̏̾́́͛͑̈́͗̽̇̀̉̈̈́̄̋́͘͝͝͝R̷̡̧̢͍͎͕̥̦̳͇͈̗̳̞͒̊̇͐̎̈̓͒̅̈́́̽̀̎̎̈̅̊͂͑͗́̑͘͠Ṛ̵̡̧͎̮̺͔͎̬̬̓̔͂̃̈́̀̄͝R̴̨̧̧͇̩̳͓̣̮̼̭̠̟͍͖̻̲̲̖̪̙͈̫̼͖̦͉̩̊͑͌̅̓͊̈̈́̏͊̓̑̈́̐̎͐̍̌̔̚͘̚͝͠
A psychic roar resounded as the shard of The Will of The Hive terribly monstrous psychic might was manifested by the queen itself and its countless surrounding brethren.
The roar was silent for the others as there was no medium to deliver the sound inside this void of space, yet agonizingly deafening to the white mechanical construct as the maleficent psychic tsunami rampaged directly inside its mind in a struggle to destroy its thought and soul.
Indeed, they could oddly feel the presence of a soul inside this machine and this would be a key to its demise for the Will of the Hive exceedingly powerful psychic power rendered the toughest of shells and armors useless!
And their ensnarement was proven to be effective because the white machine finally halted its advance as it trembled in place, attempting to resist their psychic torment. Still, this moment was enough to seal its fate for the all out barrages from their brethren encircling it from all directions were already on its way to devour it whole to the bone.
No more could it escape, no more could it struggle….
BOOM!!I
But they knew that the white machine hadn't fallen yet as they could still feel its energy reaction. Furthermore, the already massive energy reading of the white machine was intensifying as if their fatal blow from before just stimulated something inside of it.
BOOM!!
And without waiting for the mechanical construct to recover and become even more threatening, they bombarded it again, again, and again. Unleashing all of their bio weapons and psychic might without relenting for a single moment until it was reduced into nothing.
Then amidst their endless apocalyptic bombardment, from their psychic connection as a relay, they heard it…..
Haha…. AHAHAHAHAHAHA
The voice of the white machine, resembling the voice of females from one race of defilers they had already decimated long ago, humans…
When they deciphered the voice using human standards, the white menace seemed to be laughing, something which generally conveyed happiness and joy according to the humans and it made them confused…
BOOM!
Why was that thing happy when getting assaulted by their weapons?
BOOM!
Didn't it know any sense of self preservation?
BOOM!
Or were their attacks actually served as its growth stimulus? This case seemed to be the most probable one, so their bombardments stopped simultaneously while devising way more effective countermeasures against this thing.
AHAHAHAHA…..
The residual energies and debris from their bombardments began to dissipate, but not with its laughter as it rang incessantly throughout their psychic relay, triggering their survival instincts to the peak as they immediately changed their advancing formations to let their queen's hive ship to evade sideways.
Ha…..
And true to their premonitions, a giant stream of cold energy burst out beyond the horizon from the epicenter of their bombardments and slashed vertically. Not even the toughest and the most adaptive shells of their specially bred strains of hive fleets could stop the torrent of light from erasing everything from its path before flickering out of existence soon after.
Yet this wasn't the most terrifying part of the mechanical construct counter attack for mere energy attacks were regularly encountered by them and they could just analyze it and give birth to brethren which had been tuned with more resistance against that energy. It was the potent corrosion encroaching upon their Hive Mind psychic tendrils which controlled the brethren that suffered even the slightest graze from the light stream, signifying that this white machine had a powerful soul attack of its own that could threaten the Great Hive as a whole.
Though their Hive Mind's biggest relay for this region, which was the Queen's Hive Ship, managed to evade in time without suffering any contact with the light blade. Fortunately it wasn't hit because the damage to their Great Hive would be catastrophic if it did.
Hahahaha~ You guys are quite decent for mere bugs…
Once again they heard its voice as it emerged from the remains of their bombardments. Their all out assaults were completely useless as no signs of damage could be found on the white machine's body.
But now it's my turn!
Then as the white machine spoke, a pair of gigantic light torrents equaling the one from before emerged from the machine's two upper appendages.
Perish!
And when the white machine swung its blades of demise, the Hive finally knew that this zone was truly forbidden to be trudged upon…
....
Meanwhile, on the other advancement regions….
The other advancing Norn Queens and their countless brethren felt the disappearance of many of their fellows in the first battlefield from the Great Hive. The Will of The Hive had swiftly cut off the psychic link with the Queen leading the advance from that region after knowing that the enemy guarding it had the capabilities to endanger the whole Hive Mind. And the sacrificed Queen accepted its fate and would try its best to hold the threat down until its sisters successfully took down their ultimate enemy.
It was truly a significant loss for the Hive. Nevertheless, they still needed to fulfill their purpose of annihilating their Great Mother's enemy once and for all. The sacrifice of their brethren wouldn't be in vain.
So they keep pushing forward towards the armies of their nemesis, readying up all of their weaponries for the first clash. The radiant glow they saw emanating from their nemesis's guardians side signified that their enemies had the same thought as them.
And from that light, they could predict what type of attacks they might encounter so prepare they did. Thick clouds of spores specialized in dispersing energy based attacks were released from every Hive Ships inside the colossal fleet advancing towards the gigantic crystal and using the experience they got from the first battlefield, the Will of the Hive was already prepared to cut off its psychic link for it wouldn't be caught off guard with the same trick twice.
Alas, the light…. was a nightmare even worse than the white machine….
Their coating of anti-energy spore clouds dissipated into space dust when the storm of emerald rays hit them. The spores' energy dispersing properties were proven to be useless for they didn't have enough time to disperse the light because their whole dna structure was already collapsing rapidly.
The ones which fell victim to the light weren't just the spores, the hive ships formerly coated by the spore clouds, their countless escorts, and the worker strains inside them too felt the light's wrath as they writhed in utter agony while their corporeal forms were crumbling with unbelievable speed….
Thus, the advance of the Hive Fleets was finally concluded with their complete wipe-out. And ironically, their brethren who were abandoned to hold down the white machine still survived.
—----------------------------
["AHAHAHAHAHA!"]
Esdeath was having one of the best times in her life….
["DIE!!"]
With every single stroke of her cold energy blades, the numbers on her kill counter increased by leaps and bounds. The amount of zeros inside her kill counter were so staggering that it could make the numbers of her former planet populations seem like a drop in the ocean.
["DIE BUGS! DIE! AHAHAHAHAHA!!"]
Even in her wildest of dreams she couldn't revel in such a glorious slaughterfest and it was all thanks to her beloved husband, he made such an impossible thing a reality. If not for him, she might still be rotting inside that over glorified husk called The Empire.
Furthermore, the purpose of her massacre this time was to protect her dearest one, something she never thought would be possible because previously, she killed only to satisfy her bloodlust and nothing more, making this slaughterfest gave her not only the rush of thrilling excitement like usual, it too filled her heart with some kind of warmth and sweetness and it made her love for him grow with every single life she reaped in this battle.
It was an odd yet intriguing way to make one's love grow, yet it truly happened for this madwoman….
Countless lives slaughtered later….
["My dear Harvester, me and Housekeeper are done with the First Wave. How about you?"]
While Esdeath was still enjoying her grandest slaughterfest to boot, the voice of her husband rang through her communication channel and snapped her from her trance.
["Ara? How fast…"]
And with a hint of surprise in her voice, she replied while triggering a full powered boost to avoid another salvoes of vile bio weapons. Then with a slash, the ocean of insectoids was split apart just like how Moses split the red sea and using this chance, she dashed through the gap which was beginning to rapidly close up.
Then she saw it, the works of her husband and his damned maid….
["Phew~"]
The innumerable hordes of gigantic bugs filling up the entire outer rim of the dead solar system were gone like they had never been there, only faint emerald hues could be seen painting up the formerly dark regions of space.
["Oh well, it seems like I need to step up my game too~"] After cleaning up the hordes of bugs chasing behind her, she nonchalantly dived into the portal she created right below her feet. Her destination, back to the center of the ocean of bugs.
It was fun but, it was time to end this because it was getting quite boring and the next wave of stronger foes to massacre should be already on their way.
Ŗ̷̛̛̛̹͓̘͓͖̒̂̇͋̎͊͌͑̀̐̓͘Ơ̸̡̡̧̡͕̜̲̞̟̹̬̣̣̤͓̥̘̩̞͔̻͔̘̬̤̒̊̂͜͜Ȃ̴͎̝̜̳́͛͒̈́̈́̄̿̎͑͆̕͝͠Ȃ̷̛̲̞̙̘̪̞͎̣̮̥̪͔͚̝͓͈̤̈́̋̑̈́Ą̵̘̱͈̟̗̹͈̮̞͎̩̝̖̗̜̊͑̈́͗̍̓͜ͅA̷̞̚A̶̧̢̱̜̦̳̭͕̟͈͓̖̮̗̭͇̰͐̑̾̀̈́́͐̓̆͋͊͊̒̈́͜͜͠͝ͅͅA̶͙͚͑̅̀̐́̿̽͒̂̀̈́͆͌̿̈́͛̒͋̿̆͗̚͝͝ͅA̵̙̯̮̼͆̈̉́̎͐̊͝A̶̢̨̧̢͙̗̳̦͕̥̭͎̣̳̯̟̝̣̰̬̼̜͍̘͕̭͙̾̍̅̊̂͒̽̄̓́̏͗̕̕͜͠͝Ă̶̢̛̛̛͕̘̬̼̘͓͚̠̹͚͔̯̹̈́̃̅̈͊̓̏̍͑̾̿̔̈́̋͛͑̓́̿̿͂̋͘͘͜͝͝Ą̶̢̻͇̩̲͖̪͓̼̱̗̝̲̪̻͒̒̉̅̄́̍̀͗̕̚̕͜͝͠͝͝Ą̵̛̊̀͑̀̏̾́́͛͑̈́͗̽̇̀̉̈̈́̄̋́͘͝͝͝R̷̡̧̢͍͎͕̥̦̳͇͈̗̳̞͒̊̇͐̎̈̓͒̅̈́́̽̀̎̎̈̅̊͂͑͗́̑͘͠Ṛ̵̡̧͎̮̺͔͎̬̬̓̔͂̃̈́̀̄͝R̴̨̧̧͇̩̳͓̣̮̼̭̠̟͍͖̻̲̲̖̪̙͈̫̼͖̦͉̩̊͑͌̅̓͊̈̈́̏͊̓̑̈́̐̎͐̍̌̔̚͘̚͝͠
And seeing the return of the escaping white machine, the abandoned hive fleet once again unleashed their everything with much more fervor and they wouldn't stop until the machine had been annihilated once and for all.
But….
["Farewell bugs, you have done well in entertaining me…"]
The Hive fast approaching sea of brethren and bio weapons weren't able to reach Esdeath closer than arm's reach as hazy white aura began to permeate around her mechanical body.
It instantly froze the Hive's brethren and their launched bio weapons while rapidly corroding them into space dust, even though they were supposed to be extremely resilient against near absolute zero temperature and potent corrosion.
["Limiter Release…."]
Then as she commanded, parts of her mechanical armor began to unfold.
Chest, arms, waist, and legs, their white outer layer opened, revealing inner frames as dark as the night sky with engravings of primordial runes shining in cold white gleam, and her four wings detached themselves then formed a cross shaped halo floating behind her back.
Ŗ̷̛̛̛̹͓̘͓͖̒̂̇͋̎͊͌͑̀̐̓͘Ơ̸̡̡̧̡͕̜̲̞̟̹̬̣̣̤͓̥̘̩̞͔̻͔̘̬̤̒̊̂͜͜Ȃ̴͎̝̜̳́͛͒̈́̈́̄̿̎͑͆̕͝͠Ȃ̷̛̲̞̙̘̪̞͎̣̮̥̪͔͚̝͓͈̤̈́̋̑̈́Ą̵̘̱͈̟̗̹͈̮̞͎̩̝̖̗̜̊͑̈́͗̍̓͜ͅA̷̞̚A̶̧̢̱̜̦̳̭͕̟͈͓̖̮̗̭͇̰͐̑̾̀̈́́͐̓̆͋͊͊̒̈́͜͜͠͝ͅͅA̶͙͚͑̅̀̐́̿̽͒̂̀̈́͆͌̿̈́͛̒͋̿̆͗̚͝͝ͅA̵̙̯̮̼͆̈̉́̎͐̊͝A̶̢̨̧̢͙̗̳̦͕̥̭͎̣̳̯̟̝̣̰̬̼̜͍̘͕̭͙̾̍̅̊̂͒̽̄̓́̏͗̕̕͜͠͝Ă̶̢̛̛̛͕̘̬̼̘͓͚̠̹͚͔̯̹̈́̃̅̈͊̓̏̍͑̾̿̔̈́̋͛͑̓́̿̿͂̋͘͘͜͝͝Ą̶̢̻͇̩̲͖̪͓̼̱̗̝̲̪̻͒̒̉̅̄́̍̀͗̕̚̕͜͝͠͝͝Ą̵̛̊̀͑̀̏̾́́͛͑̈́͗̽̇̀̉̈̈́̄̋́͘͝͝͝R̷̡̧̢͍͎͕̥̦̳͇͈̗̳̞͒̊̇͐̎̈̓͒̅̈́́̽̀̎̎̈̅̊͂͑͗́̑͘͠Ṛ̵̡̧͎̮̺͔͎̬̬̓̔͂̃̈́̀̄͝R̴̨̧̧͇̩̳͓̣̮̼̭̠̟͍͖̻̲̲̖̪̙͈̫̼͖̦͉̩̊͑͌̅̓͊̈̈́̏͊̓̑̈́̐̎͐̍̌̔̚͘̚͝͠
The Hive, once they saw the strange occurrence, began to unleash their everything against the white machine in utter desperation as they felt the dread which was sent throughout their existence as a whole upon glancing at the patterns on the white machine's body. And whatever the white machine was doing, they wouldn't let it come into fruition.
Alas…. All was futile….
As the Goddess of Death had begun her descent….
And her inviolability was absolute except for her one and only Emperor....
["RGK: Helheim!"]
Thus, as the Goddess of Death decreed…..
Her divine domain was imposed upon the region of cosmos still tainted by the filthy ocean of bugs and purged every single one of them in its cold corroding embrace….
["My dear Devourer, I'm done with the first wave too, so what shall we do next?~"]
With a smirk, the Goddess of Death teleported back to her Ice Throne in Zone B and waited for her dearest Emperor's command.
And this concluded the first wave of The Universe's attempt of Survival!
Complete Annihilation!