Passing through the long corridor, although still dilapidated, the deeper [Firefly] went, the stronger the life force he could feel.
Finally, at the end of the underground factory, the silver-haired girl stopped.
Reflected in her blue and violet eyes was the strange insect body. Barely the size of a person, it was vastly different from the Starcrusher Swarm King Jiang Qiao had once seen, but undoubtedly... this faint oppressive aura indeed belonged to an Emanator, testifying to its identity as a Swarm King.
Like the Swarm King's Guard waiting outside, it didn't belong to any of the five Swarm Kings recorded by the Intelligentsia Guild.
But looking at the unfamiliar Swarm King before her, [Firefly], despite having no knowledge of it, thought of a certain existence and murmured:
"Mercy's Bane... Swarm King."
A crisp chirp seemed to affirm the correctness of this title.
In the past, the Swarm Disaster affected two-thirds of the universe. Starcrusher, Afterglow, Broodmother, Phantasm, and World-Pester—the five great Propagation Emanators, the five Swarm Kings—sparked countless crusades from various factions across the cosmos.
But few knew that there weren't just five Propagation Emanators... hidden beyond the known five, there was another kind.
Its name: Mercy's Bane Swarm King.
The abilities and specialties of the Swarm Kings were reflected in their names. Starcrusher was responsible for destruction and conquering territory; Broodmother for producing vast numbers of Swarm; Afterglow commanded the reanimated; Phantasm transmitted information and intelligence; World-Pester specialized in confusing enemies.
And what Mercy's Bane Swarm King excelled at was... evolution.
It wasn't a Propagation Emanator created solely for invasion like the other five major swarms; its true purpose lay in survival.
The Aeon of Propagation, Tayzzyronth, ascended to godhood the moment its kin were wiped out. Precisely because of this, although Tayzzyronth, as Aha might say, wasn't exceptionally intelligent, it absolutely did not want to see what happened to it occur again.
Thus, the Mercy's Bane Swarm King came into being.
Its duty was to help the Swarm adapt and evolve to better survive in different environments.
Because of this responsibility, Tayzzyronth granted Mercy's Bane Swarm King immense power, making it the strongest Propagation Emanator, surpassing the other five.
But this power wasn't fully unleashed during the Swarm Disaster.
Aside from its influence being visible in the Swarm's adaptive armor and functionalities developed to meet challenges, for all other purposes... Mercy's Bane Swarm King seemed almost non-existent.
Because of this, the various factions in the universe never discovered it and thus never launched a crusade against this sixth Swarm King.
"You're injured?"
[Firefly] was slightly wary, but after noticing the heavily scarred marks on Mercy's Bane Swarm King, she raised an eyebrow slightly.
The Swarm King before her, even by Emanator standards, could be considered extremely powerful.
Yet the injuries it bore... its wings were torn and tattered, its carapace fragmented, and especially the 'lantern'—the organ capable of emitting light and heat—was long extinguished.
Calling it injured was putting it mildly; frankly, this thing... looked like it was dying.
Jiang Qiao found it hard to imagine who or what could have beaten Mercy's Bane Swarm King to this state.
As the embodiment of the Swarm's 'survival,' it was inherently the most powerful Propagation Emanator. Even after the Aeon War severely weakened the Path of Propagation and its Emanators suffered a significant drop in power, Mercy's Bane remained a top-tier Emanator.
Furthermore, because its duty was 'survival,' unlike other Emanators, Mercy's Bane wouldn't typically fight to the death. Its principle was 'when in doubt, run.' Yet... the strongest Propagation Emanator, a top-tier escape artist, was beaten into this state...
Although Jiang Qiao held no particular feelings for the Swarm, the cause of this situation made him curious. He cautiously approached, and seeing no signs of hostility from the creature, slowly placed a hand on it...
"This is... an arrow of the Hunt?!"
Feeling that familiar power of a Path, [Firefly], through its sheer purity, instantly understood the origin of this power.
It was the Aeon of the Hunt, Lan!
Mercy's Bane Swarm King let out a dull chirp... then faint, iridescent scale-like powder drifted up.
As the 'survival' aspect of the Swarm, it possessed abilities derived from all the other five Swarm Kings. Though not specialized to the same degree in any single area, it could use the abilities of all five branches.
And this was an ability of the Phantasm Swarm King lineage... using pheromones, it could transmit the memories of individual insects to others.
Under the influence of the pheromones, Jiang Qiao witnessed Mercy's Bane Swarm King's memories.
Originally, it wasn't on this planet.
It resided on another, equally desolate and remote planet. Having sensed the departure of the Swarm Emperor (Tayzzyronth), Mercy's Bane, as the embodiment of survival, planned to lie dormant until the Emperor's return someday.
However... one day, followers of Abundance visited that planet.
An incredibly benevolent power descended.
...It was Yaoshi, the Aeon of Abundance!
THEY bestowed blessings upon the Abundance followers who craved them.
Normally, this would be fine, perhaps even beneficial, as the Swarm could potentially benefit from Yaoshi's miracle.
However...
This 'benefit' turned into a catastrophe.
Because soon after, the celestial centaur pulling THEIR chariot appeared among the stars and discovered the situation.
The Swarm, the notorious followers of Abundance...
Undoubtedly, Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt, upon seeing the composition of this planet, must have thought... 'Well now, this combination? Definitely a high-priority target.'
And so, the arrows of the Hunt rained down upon that remote and desolate planet.
The Abundance followers, who hadn't even had time to celebrate their blessings by going off to burn, kill, and plunder elsewhere, and the Swarm, planning to freeload on the blessings and perhaps grab a quick meal, ended up signing for a 'special delivery'—cash on delivery, no less!
The consequences of taking Lan's Divine Arrows head-on were undoubtedly grim.
The Abundance followers were wiped out instantly.
Mercy's Bane Swarm King, realizing things had gone terribly wrong, wanted to run but didn't quite have time. It didn't dare flee openly either, because... what if the Hunt noticed?
It would likely end up in a race against Lan.
Or, more accurately, a race against Lan's arrows.
Mercy's Bane knew exactly what would happen if it tried that kind of suicidal escape, so it chose to endure the onslaught.
It tried to play dead... and got blasted half to death by the cleansing arrows that saturated the area.
"So it was Lan..." Witnessing the memory, Jiang Qiao couldn't help but let out an unkind chuckle.
Seriously, what terrible luck.
Normally, Lan rarely bothered initiating trouble.
Unless you had a specific grudge with Lan, or were a clearly hostile force like the followers of Abundance.
As for the Swarm... while Lan was certainly hostile towards them, after the Aeon of Propagation went offline, Lan generally didn't bother with these bugs unless caught red-handed causing destruction.
But being lumped together with Abundance followers, right after Yaoshi herself had visited... it was pure, unadulterated collateral damage.
"Wait a minute..." [Firefly] looked puzzled at the Swarm King's injuries. "Lan's attacks shouldn't have caused this much damage... And this power hindering your regeneration..."
Undoubtedly, while Lan's arrows certainly wiped out all of Mercy's Bane's brood and the Abundance followers on that planet, the somewhat scattered attack, faced with Mercy's Bane's full defense, ultimately didn't kill it.
But the injuries Mercy's Bane currently bore were clearly worse than immediately after that attack... More importantly, another familiar power was actively preventing it from healing.
Lan's attacks are like thunderstorms—swift, decisive, leaving no lingering effects.
But this power hindering recovery... even penetrating deep within, its very essence of annihilation... was unmistakable.
This is the power of [Destruction]!
"...Don't tell me this guy ran into Nanook too?" After hearing the incredible previous experience, Jiang Qiao couldn't help but have this thought.
After all, encountering an Aeon is extremely rare, especially meeting both Yaoshi and Lan, those cosmic wanderers often seen flitting about. Encountering them is purely up to fate.
In response, Mercy's Bane simply showed the continuation of its memory.
The arrows destroyed the planet, leaving it homeless.
Fortunately, Mercy's Bane survived.
Though heavily injured, as the Swarm King with the strongest vitality, it could eventually recover if it found a place to rest and recuperate.
However.
The Hunt's arrows had fractured the space in that star region.
Heavily wounded, it fell directly into Imaginary turbulence.
By the time Mercy's Bane escaped the Imaginary turbulence, it happened to arrive near another planet. Although that planet was somewhat desolate with scarce nutrients, unsuitable for breeding offspring, Mercy's Bane was too injured to move on and decided to land there temporarily, planning to relocate after recovering.
Then...
The accident happened.
Indeed, this time Mercy's Bane wasn't 'lucky' enough to encounter another Aeon. If it had met Nanook, it wouldn't be alive before Jiang Qiao now. The Aeon of Destruction isn't as merciful as Lan; bugs appearing before Nanook basically have only one path: death.
But...
While Nanook wasn't there, this time it encountered an Emanator of Destruction.
Lord Ravager [Zephyro].
Recorded by the Interastral Peace Corporation as a terrifying entity that instantly destroyed an entire star system, vitrifying it completely.
Undoubtedly, They is also the strongest among Nanook's Lord Ravagers... the strongest Emanator of Destruction.
Although slightly better than running into Nanook himself, it wasn't much better.
Against other Lord Ravagers, some negotiation or deal might have been possible. After all, the Swarm that once devastated two-thirds of the universe could be a powerful asset if incorporated into the Antimatter Legion.
Of course, Mercy's Bane would never submit.
As the symbol of the Swarm's survival, while the Swarm had poor relations with most factions in the universe, the Antimatter Legion, seeking the destruction of everything, was undoubtedly an enemy of [Propagation]. It could never accept submitting to Destruction, nor allow the Swarm to become mindless, zombie-like husks like the Antimatter Legion.
Of course... encountering [Zephyro] simplified matters considerably.
After all, Zephyro, who revered the aesthetics of violence, wouldn't even consider recruiting lackeys. Compared to taking on underlings, They was far more interested in beating an enemy while they were already down.
Thus, with no possibility of communication, the two sides immediately clashed.
The strongest Propagation Emanator and the strongest Destruction Emanator collided.
But Mercy's Bane wasn't inherently suited for combat, especially since the Path of Propagation isn't primarily a combat-oriented Path, and it was already heavily injured. Facing Zephyro, who excelled at combat and destruction, its situation was perilous.
To survive, it could only desperately unleash all its remaining power, using the force of their clash to once again plunge into the resulting Imaginary turbulence.
Finally, it drifted near this planet, somehow drawn to it, and crashed here in Wolsong.
At this point, the memory-transmitting pheromones dissipated.
Having received this memory, [Firefly]'s expression was rather complex.
...This luck... Jiang Qiao didn't even know what to say.
"Why did you call me here?"
While feeling some sympathy for Mercy's Bane Swarm King's plight, Jiang Qiao was more concerned about the bloodline resonance he'd felt almost constantly since arriving on the planet. It was now clear the creature had been calling him. He didn't believe it called him just to share its tragic backstory.
Mercy's Bane Swarm King pulsed slightly, and then... like the guard outside, its voice resonated within Jiang Qiao's mind.
"Oh, Emperor... I sensed your arrival..."
The voice was extremely soft, weak... yet that familiar quality struck Jiang Qiao as familiar. However, it didn't seem to originate from this body's memories... Come to think of it, the Swarm King's Guard earlier sounded similar too.
"Emperor?" [Firefly] asked. "Are you referring to me?"
"Mm."
"I'm no bug."
"Form... is not important."
"You are... kin."
The gentle mental voice held absolute conviction.
"You are... the new Emperor."
For the Swarm, form isn't everything. At least, not for Mercy's Bane Swarm King, the one responsible for 'evolution.' What does shedding a carapace matter? What does losing wings matter? The true bond connecting the Swarm is bloodline.
"You should know what I am, right?" [Firefly] stated. "I'm Glamoth Iron Cavalry, the Swarm's mortal enemy."
"Understood."
"But... you are also kin."
With that, Mercy's Bane released pheromones again, but this time, it wasn't the ability of Phantasm, but its own power, the power unique to the [Mercy's Bane] Swarm King lineage.
"This is..."
[Firefly] received the information, somewhat surprised.
This was information directly related to the Glamoth Iron Cavalry.
What Mercy's Bane said was not false.
In the past, to fight the Swarm, the people of Glamoth developed the Iron Cavalry. At their peak, the Glamoth Iron Cavalry could swarm like locusts, matching the Swarm itself in sheer numbers.
The reason for this was... the technology for the Glamoth Iron Cavalry itself was derived from analyzing Swarm materials.
And the source of that material was a Swarm King's Guard from Mercy's Bane's own lineage.
[Mercy's Bane] possessed abilities derived from all five major Swarm branches. The Glamoth people analyzed and implemented the Brood aspect (derived from the Broodmother lineage), achieving the mass 'propagation' of the Iron Cavalry. And the so-called Firefly SAM armor... wasn't purely technological. Its prototype was the [Mercy's Bane Carapace], a form evolved by [Mercy's Bane] itself during the Swarm's adaptation process.
The name 'Firefly' wasn't chosen for any complex reason; it was simply because the source of the armor's concept, the [Mercy's Bane Swarm King] lineage, were firefly-type insects.
The Glamoth Iron Cavalry are, in fact, clones infused with Swarm genes.
Or perhaps more accurately, they are the result of the Glamoth people applying [Mercy's Bane]'s principles of evolution, creating 'humans evolved from insects' tailored to their needs.
Therefore.
The Swarm and the Glamoth Iron Cavalry... are actually kin.