Lord of Annihilation

In the center of the Formician swarm floated a large, spherical, golden-colored ship. The exterior of the ship was precisely cut from an unknown material and was covered in runic arrays. 

The runic arrays pulsed with power, faintly distorting the space around them. Of the most noticeable runes were that of; deflection, strengthening, telepathic booster, and dimensional travel.

This vessel titled the 'Hive Mind' by the Formicians was one of the twenty-four motherships possessed by the species. Its defense of this vessel was so great that it could block an all-out attack from a Peak-Level Stage 3 being.

Compared to it extravagant outside, the inside of the Hive Mind was relatively simple. At its very core, floated a hexagonal crystal which rippled with unfathomable power. This was its source of power.

The power crystal was protected by a gold-tinted glass sphere, in front of which floated a feet-less chair. Apart from this crystal and chair, the insides were filled with flashing light screens.

Seated within the chair was the only inhabitant of this vessel. An exquisitely-shaped female figure dressed in light gold robes. The robes emphasized the curves of her body, which in a word could be described as, heavenly.

The skin exposed under the robes was a dark tan, that was both smooth and flawless. The robes traced her figure up to her neck, beyond which a large, cylindrical contraption was fixed onto her head, hiding her face.

Connected to this cylindrical contraption, were multiple cables that extended to touch the light screens inside the vessel. Whenever a light screen flashed with light, the cable attached to that screen would glow and information would be transferred into this figure.

This figure possessing an almost-human-like body, was one of the three Greater Mothers of the Formicians.

After the initial battles with the humans, the Formicians had come to realize the ingeniousness of human technology and were thoroughly amazed by its ability.

To defeat an enemy, one must first understand them completely. Under this logic, the Formicians spent day and night studying Mankind's technology.

And the result of this study was… amazement and respect.

In their history, the Formicians had only ever come in contact with two other species, each one stronger than the other. Although they had eventually won, it was a phyrric victory.

As such the Formicans never underestimated their opponents and willingly learned from them. They never stopped learning and as a result, grew tremendously from each battle.

Starting from a point of wielding sticks, they had come to the point of crafting runes, even possessing a Sigiler amongst their ranks. Through war, they had grown at a pace that was simply…terrifying.

Meeting Mankind's technology that was not based on soul power, seemed to flip their understanding of the Universe onto its head. However, almost immediately they were filled with an unquenchable thirst to learn, create and eventually surpass this race.

Having already deciphered the bombs, guns, mechs, and spaceships, having created their own variations, the Formicians had moved onto the large, metallic behemoths floating in space.

Dismantling the BS-Lawson and studying its components, the Formicans were struck with an itch that could not be scratched, unless they could fully understand it and create their own.

Just imagining their race possessing these large, mobile behemoths that acted as bases of war, the entire race was extremely exciting. As such, the Greater Queens came together and decided to prematurely attack the humans.

The benefits they would obtain far surpassed the losses they would sustain in this unprepared battle.

In order to ensure the success of this mission, a Greater Queen had personally arrived to participate in the battle.

As for how the battle went…

It had proceeded all according to the Greater Queen's plans. 

Although the start had caught her slightly surprised, it did not fundamentally affect the predicted outcome of the battle.

The Greater Queens plan was simple, she wanted to use the superior numbers of the Formicians to draw out and slaughter the strength of the humans.

She had also sealed off the uses of any trump cards, and only used the weakest, most basic troops to fight. She did not want to use their superior strength to scare off the opponent, or force them into suicide and destroying the large ships.

After all, the battlecruisers were the reason for her coming here today. The lesser damaged they were, the more valuable it was for the Formician's study.

As a result, she had deliberately hidden her strength and used only a portion of the troops to fight. She wanted the opponents to have a hope of winning and did not want to push them into desperation.

After all, 'A cornered prey was the most fierce.' There was no shortage of insane people in the Universe, who wouldn't hesitate to drag everyone down with them in death.

Currently, the Greater Queen was in a very joyous mood.

'Everything is on schedule. The prey has taken the bait and is slowly moving away from the ships.'

'Hmmm. Reinforce Sector 119. Perfect, balance has been achieved.'

'Oh, this side is being a little too fierce. Stand down Sector 241, do not kill those remaining humans.' 

'Ah, this one female is too fierce. Wind-type? Assassins head to Sector 081 and kill that female awakened.'

Using [Telepathy] the Formicians were able to connect their minds and share their senses. In order to view and command the battle, The Greater Queen connected her mind with the Formician Observers, present in select places, and instructed the Formician Thinkers to command the battle.

'At this rate, the humans will fall in 3 or so hours. We can burst forth at the last hour with the entirety of our strength and catch them off guard.'

'Counting the time, the ships will enter 'hyperdrive' in approximately 5 hours. Plenty of time is available for errors.' 

Just as the Greater Queen was feeling greatly satisfied with their performance, one of the light screens flashed with red light, following which a stream of data entered her mind.

Suddenly, the Greater Queens body froze. A mixture of fear and shock occupied her mind.

'Impossible!' seeing this information, her first instinct was to vehemently reject it. 

The rational side of her mind said that such an action was impossible for this inferior species. However, there existed the 'what if'. 

'Th-this is [Time Reversal] or [Cause Rewrite]!! How is this possible?!' she soundlessly screamed.

The Rule of Time or the Rule of Cause was something that was in the realm of Gods, something that mortals like them could never come into contact with.

Her mind continuously replayed the scene of the Formician assassin killing Alex and the latter recovering mysteriously. The more she watched, the more she believed the 'what if'.

'There is no mistake. It is indeed [Time Reversal] or a spell of that type. But how can this be possible? How can mortals wield the power of the Gods?' having calmed down a little, she thought.

'For now...All units immediately retreat.' She was very decisive in her commands.

Losing was fine. But losing without understanding how they lost, was unacceptable. 

After ordering the Formician's to retreat, the Greater Queen devoted all her processing power to analyze the situation. She even connected her mind with the two other Greater Queens and asked for their counsel.

The runic arrays on the surface of the ships glimmered with radiance. The hexagonal crystal brightened limitlessly, flooding the interiors with overwhelming light.

'Dimension was stable. No breaches were detected.'

'No cosmic activity either. There was no interference from a higher realm.'

'It wasn't a superior entity. This region cannot handle any Stage 4 and greater existences!'

'All observers expand your senses to the greatest extent possible. Cover Sector 115 through Sector 310. Do not miss a single detail!'

A barrage of new information assaulted the Greater Queen's mind. She then quickly transmitted the new information to the other Queens for analysis. 

The analytical prowess of all the three Greater Queens combined coupled with the runic arrays far surpassed the calculation capability of the fastest human quantum supercomputer.

In but a few dozen seconds they immediately discovered the source of this incident.

'Located it's human in Sector 211. All units resume battle. Squad 12, capture this human. Target Priority: Extremely High!' instructions were immediately sent to their respective places.

Flashing within the minds of this 'Squad 12' was an image of Zaine.

'Let me see what secret you behold!' 

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Within the human side, Alex approached a pale-faced, coughing young man seated within a Rifleman Mech and hesitantly asked.

"Are you the one who saved me?" Alex politely asked Zaine.