Became the Queen of the Legion

‘The Hobgoblins are still not moving. Could it be that they’re really going to act as I want? Tch, should I have left more avatars?’

In fact, the Queen was also paying attention to the actions of the Hobgoblin Lord, Ludas.

Since she had sown and carefully nurtured this situation herself, she couldn’t help but be concerned.

While the surrounding lords hoped that Ludas would participate to uphold the greater good, the Queen naturally wanted Ludas to act out of greed and avarice.

If Ludas saw this situation as an opportunity and wanted the surrounding lords to weaken, the Queen was willing to grant that wish.

‘Of course, if he thinks like that, he’ll be surrounded by us in an instant.’

If she were to capture Ludas’s territory, which had the largest domain and power in the area, the Queen and her legion would become the undisputed regional hegemon in one part of the demon realm.

By that time, even the Queen herself would find it difficult to calculate how many troops she could produce and how quickly.

“So tell me more. How do you think that Ludas will act?”

“W-well…”

The Queen, smirking, asked this question to the newly born Lamia Baron, Rosalyn, who was now under her command.

After all, as a former active lord, she should know more.

But Rosalyn was still in a state of not being properly adapted. Neither to the colony consciousness she was connected to, nor to her new body reborn cell by cell.

“A body modified to be as similar as possible to the original for quick adaptation, while being able to contain much stronger power. Don’t you like it?”

“N-n-no! I like it very much!”

Rosalyn, trembling, hastily bowed her head repeatedly.

In reality, her appearance hadn’t changed much. From her upper body being a beautiful woman to her lower body being a writhing snake, it was the same.

Instead, as a result of the modifications, all her scales were replaced with dark black carapace, and her upper body, which used to be almost naked, was now wrapped in sturdy armor.

In combat, she wore a mask like Seira, and red lights flickered inside that mask.

‘I can’t disobey. I can’t refuse.’

Having gone through all that, Rosalyn was already completely subjugated to the legion, both body and mind.

Even though she maintained her sense of self now, she knew that the Queen could destroy that self at will if she so chose.

“Ludas has always been an unpleasant fellow with inscrutable intentions. If I dare to predict, he’s someone who can change his actions at any time, so even if he doesn’t act right now, he could act again at any moment.”

“Is that so?”

Rosalyn desperately provided all the information she knew to the legion. The Queen curled up the corners of her mouth upon receiving this.

Although it wasn’t decisive evidence, it was one more piece of supporting information.

“We’ll engage in all-out war with the united lords. Rosalyn, you too will operate on the front lines with Seira.”

“M-m-me? I… mmph!?”

“You’re too scared.”

The Queen deployed Rosalyn, who had been modified with considerable resources, to the front along with Seira.

Although the self she maintained was too cowardly and pathetic to be called a lord-class demon race, that wasn’t a problem for the Queen.

“Do you have a bit more courage now? Everyone misunderstands, but emotions and the mind are nothing special. In the end, it’s just a hormone game.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The moment the forcibly raised mask covered her face, forced hormonal actions occurred in Rosalyn’s body, manipulating her emotions.

Unlike before, Rosalyn, who had become calm as if she were a different person, began to move with the legion troops, and the Queen watched this sight with satisfaction.

“Their numbers keep increasing…!”

“Fort Ivan requests support! If we don’t rescue them soon, the fort will be in danger!”

Clearly, although Rosalyn was one of only two knights in the legion, from the perspective of the entire legion, she was just a single unit.

Therefore, the war didn’t tilt just because of Rosalyn’s joining.

Even before Rosalyn joined, the lords were already fighting desperately to stop the enemies that had started appearing in their territories.

“Damn it all! Ludas, those Hobgoblin bastards, are they still not moving?!”

Naturally, everyone’s attention turned to those who were still not moving from their own land.

Even at this moment, the Hobgoblin territory remains quiet. Sometimes news would come that they were gathering troops or inspecting weapons, but while rumors were heard, their army was still just holding their own positions.

The legion troops were born in the far northern lands, joining the battlefield by passing through the occupied territories where nests were built, not touching the Hobgoblins’ land right in front of them.

“If those bastards don’t participate, it’s all over. In the end, all this land will fall into their hands. Do they think they can survive even in that situation?”

Envoys urging action were already constantly calling for them.

Those who were actually fighting felt their blood running cold as time passed, unable to understand the minds of those who remained stuck in their own territory.

* * *

“For now, we have no choice but to thoroughly monitor the movements of Ludas’s territory.”

While I had thoroughly avoided touching Ludas’s territory and left bait, it wasn’t without cost.

My domain and nests, which once started in the undeveloped land in the northern part of Ludas’s territory where wild goblin tribes lived sparsely, now half-encircle Ludas’s territory. This is because I started ignoring the Hobgoblins and sequentially attacking and capturing the weaker lords nearby.

This means that in case of emergency, we could attack Ludas’s territory from all directions at once, but conversely, it also means that my soft underbelly could be attacked as Ludas pleases.

Although I’ve created and deployed nest defense systems, I still can’t be careless. From what I’ve directly investigated using avatars, the Hobgoblin forces led by Ludas are clearly strong. They have numerous troops and weapons. If they start attacking my nests where the main forces are absent with all of that, I would suffer considerable damage.

[If the enemies bypass our main forces through Ludas’s territory and invade the empty areas, the damage will be substantial. It can’t be compared to Gargoyle units destroying a few base nests]

“I know. But if the Hobgoblins properly join the war from the start, we’ll have no choice but to fight with do-or-die determination.”

It’s frustrating that the knife handle is in Ludas’s hands, but it can’t be helped.

This is a kind of penalty given to me. Thanks to having the characteristic and strength of devouring and evolving, explosive growth and expansion are possible compared to others, but due to this characteristic, it’s extremely disadvantageous to compromise or cooperate with others, whether players or local forces.

No matter how much they’re demon races, they can’t form alliances and live together with monsters that devastate their living lands in real-time.

As a result, my diplomatic options became extremely narrow, and I deliberately complicated things like this from the beginning to prevent being attacked from all directions.

“Alright… for now, Ludas and the Hobgoblins aren’t moving immediately. As Rosalyn said, he’s watching the situation. While hoping he continues to just watch, we’ll focus on the battle in front of us.”

After releasing scout troops everywhere to monitor Ludas’s territory for days, he showed no signs of moving immediately except for gathering and training troops in various places.

It was obvious to anyone that he was watching the situation before moving. What a fence-sitter.

‘But, it’s to our advantage.’

While Ludas was watching the situation, I intended to crush the allied forces of the nearby lords as much as possible.

Currently, my main force is advancing at the edge of the former collapsed Lamia territory. Including the Gargoyle territory, there are four demon lord territories adjacent to that area.

I was fighting those four places almost simultaneously.

“Anyway, we’ve already surpassed the minimum necessary numbers. Fight without worry.”

“Yes, until the soldiers of the legion cover the entire world.”

The Sun Flowers, which can obtain nutrients through photosynthesis, are already completely covering dozens of northern areas that were previously devoured and devastated, and are gradually advancing south.

The nutrients obtained from there and the nutrients secured from occupied territories. With the massive nutrients digested, and the nests producing soldiers have increased to hundreds. As Seira said, I’ve already reached that fragment.

The state where we cover the entire world.

When that moment truly approaches, there’s no need to care about diplomacy anymore.

‘Time is now on my side.’

It’s clear enough that I don’t even need to use my auxiliary brain to think about how we can overwhelm all forces just by pushing endless quantities.