Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking - Chapter 891: Oh, Reina!

Chapter 891: Oh, Reina!

—

The Bug Empress refused to step out of her seclusion chambers after that…

She hid inside, biting her nails, fuming mad, and had long since run out of words to curse Nicholas’ entire existence and bloodline.

The humiliation he forced upon her burned through her soul. She wanted to scream, to rage, to destroy everything within her reach, and more importantly, to retaliate as much as she could.

But in the end, she couldn’t do anything but endure.

As much as she was angry, ashamed, and humiliated at what happened to her, she hadn’t completely lost her sanity just yet.

If anything, her mind was astoundingly very clear despite all of this.

She checked her seclusion chambers a total of three times after he left, and there was nothing there; not even a trace of Nick was left behind, and no traces of his intrusion or interference either. Everything was placed accordingly to how she left them. There’s nothing there that could be used as evidence that he was ever here.

Furthermore, she also checked her children, their work, and their patrols. Every move they made was clear and left a footprint on the hive mind. None of them slacked off, and nobody ever saw how Nick came in. Everything was as usual, with no signs of intrusion there either.

What does this mean? It means that either humans progressed immensely again and discovered a way to successfully render the security measures of the Horde useless, or that Nick had gone way beyond after all the years she left humans alone.

Either outcome was bad news for her and her children.

The worst part though? Is that she could do nothing about this.

Yes, she could order her children to innovate, to discover, and to progress their civilization by pooling all their efforts together, forming it into a single machine that would propel their progress way ahead.

He could copy humanity’s tactics in this way. She could endure the shame of doing so if it means protecting everybody she cared about.

The problem with this is that they’re too late to do so. Getting used to the idea of educating everybody itself would take decades, centuries, even, given how stiff and simple-minded the Horde was.

It’s almost guaranteed that they won’t produce anything worthwhile after millennia. And even then, was it really a good idea to cultivate smart bugs? Wouldn’t that risk destabilizing her own position? Intelligence, after all, breeds ambition. What happens when a bug is born with so much intelligence that it decides that she is a problem? A relic of the past that needed to be removed?

Could she ever allow that to happen? Would she be willing to step aside just for the sake of progress?

No. That’s the straight and simple answer to that. But again, that’s far ahead into the future. She’s not even sure if their current environment will allow a bug like that to prosper.

If it’s somehow the other way, that Nick had indeed gone past her in terms of progress and reached that mythical stage, the Primal Origin Lifeform Realm, then she might as well kill everybody else, including her own children, and then kill herself afterwards.

Why? It’s simply because there’s no way that Nick would let him live while he exists. The enmity between the Horde and Humanity has stretched for millions of years. They’re way past the point of expecting the other to show mercy. It’s either the other side becomes extinct or nothing.

And the Bug Empress would very much rather commit the sin of killing her kind herself rather than watch as their mortal enemies trample upon their corpses as they march to her home.

At the very least, they would understand her for doing this. Maybe they’d even find peace, and she could make it painless for them. Humans won’t give them that satisfaction, that’s for sure.

The Bug Empress surprised herself with how drastic her thoughts had become. But she reasoned that anybody in her place would probably think the same.

If Nick truly did reach the Primal Origin Lifeform Realm, then this war was over. The only reason why The Horde still exists is because of Nick’s generosity, because he allows them to continue existing. Their survival was no longer their own; it now depended on the whims of a human.

And there is no worse insult than that.

Regardless though, one thing’s clear: for the first time ever, she lost, utterly and completely, against Nick. She was so thoroughly defeated that she was unable to muster even the slightest bit of resistance.

And knowing humanity’s track record, it’ll only get worse from here on out.

’What the fuck am I supposed to do? ’

**

While the Bug Empress bit her nails in anxiety about Nick’s very sudden move. The culprit was back at the council HQ and is now with his friends in a tense discussion.

“I know you’re strong, but what you did was very reckless! You could’ve said something at least!” Patricia heatedly scolded him while slapping his arm.

Nick flinched but didn’t fight back. He really had nothing to say; he too realized that what he did was indeed reckless and stupid. The worst part is that he’s making a habit of moving alone.

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should! Have you already forgotten this lesson?! Argh, you!!”

Patricia’s slap had turned into a punch at some point. Nick winced in pain but still didn’t fight back. He accepted her rage because it was, indeed, his fault this time.

But he didn’t apologize either. And he didn’t feel like doing so either. Sure, he admits that it’s his fault for being so reckless, but he refuses to believe that they’d be any better if they were in his shoes.

Urek, Berk, and Gibson just pursed their lips. They didn’t stop Patricia from hitting him because he deserved it, but they also couldn’t truly blame him for taking action. They’ve known Nick for so long, they understand why.

Patricia was no different really. She’s only truly upset that he went alone. Had he told them about his plan, at the very least, they would’ve offered support and company.

She just didn’t like it when he did something reckless without consulting them first. She’s hitting him to beat the habit out of him.

At some point, she stopped. Afterwards, she shifted her gaze to the impressively preserved corpse of Nick’s wife.

She felt complicated. She could still remember the day when they learned that the Bug Empress hijacked this corpse and started wearing it just to spite Nick.

It was difficult to raise their hand against this face, because her gentleness and kindness still lingered fresh in their memories. The number of times the Bug Empress fooled them with the innocence of this face was, frankly, too much for them to admit. There were times when they even nearly died because this face was just too disarming.

The one who suffered the most from this was, obviously, Nick. Just looking at this face worn by their mortal enemy turned him useless because of his overwhelming guilt and shame.

But that was a distant past. Patricia herself had learned to rewrite her psyche’s reaction to this face. She started hating it, hating the Bug Empress for stooping this low.

Since then, she started associating this face with the Bug Empress, and that made it easier to fight her. The pain never really subsided, though.

But now, here she is again. This time, Nick himself confirmed that he personally went to the Crimson Womb Chaos Realm to retrieve the corpse of his wife.

He brought it back here, to her, in hopes that she could find a way to resurrect her.

Patricia wanted to say no. That it’s impossible. She wanted to tell him that it’s already too late. Any residual spirituality that might’ve been left by the original owner of this body should’ve faded long ago.

Too much time has passed already. There should be no way for her to ever bring her back or even find traces of her.

But she couldn’t bring herself to outright tell Nick that.

As one of his best friends who knew him the best, Patricia knew just how much grief Nick felt at the passing of his wife. She knew how badly the two of them wanted to start their own family and live until the natural end of their lifespans.

It was one of Nick’s greatest wishes—which was, frankly, a little too mundane for a person of his caliber. But it’s also his sincerest wish.

But maybe…

Patricia herself was, admittedly, too weak back then. Maybe it’s different now that she’s stronger and more knowledgeable about this world.

Nick didn’t need to tell her anything. She knows why he brought her here, to her.

So, she knelt down and inspected the very well-preserved corpse of someone who used to be her bosom sister.

Patricia didn’t hold to any high hopes. It’s been too long, after all. If she could even see a single speck of her soul remaining in this body, that would already be a miracle in itself.

So, imagine her surprise when she discovered something rather shocking…

“Oh! Oh, Reina!”

Patricia promptly burst into tears.