“The Transforming Queen”

As Sugaru walked closer, it seemed that the giant mole noticed her approach.

Is it thinking that another annoying bug has appeared?

However, despite getting close enough to be able to touch it, the mole showed no signs of moving. This attitude seemed a bit too nonchalant. It's true that otherwise the engineer ant would have been killed before it recognized the giant mole, but this behavior could be considered arrogant, if we think that it doesn't know our strength.

"Is it a consideration to allow players to strike first? No, the management wouldn't bother with such specific settings. It probably just happens to be the personality of this mole."

Perhaps due to becoming more powerful than other moles, its perception or response capability towards danger seemed to have dulled.

In this grassland, aside from small animal-type monsters found in other areas, there were only moles. The apex of this ecosystem would likely be the moles, and if this giant mole was the strongest among them, its arrogance might be justified.

"I'm not entirely sure if it's a dungeon… but since it's set as a transfer destination, these moles are probably Subordinated by the giant mole. Indeed, there seems to be no danger here."

According to individually sent system messages, it mentioned targeting "territories dominated by a single force" as the transfer destination. Since there were no clear allies like parties or clans in the system, a single force could only refer to a single character. The exception being [Subordinate].

Even though there were many monsters in the territory, being set as a transfer destination implied that one character dominated most of it. This suggested that dungeon bosses, regardless of being PCs or NPCs, uniformly possessed [Subordinate], serving as the leaders of large forces.

This was a hypothesis, but given the situation, it seemed accurate.

After defeating this giant mole, Sugaru planned to check if other moles were still alive on the way back to confirm.

Sugaru initially intended to let the mole take the initiative, but frustrated by its lack of action, she transformed both of her hands into scythe-like shapes and attacked.

For a moment I wondered what had happened and checked carefully, and sure enough, her topmost arm had changed into a sickle shape.

I'm curious about what happened to the spider's outgrowth tubes and the ant's acid-secreting holes, but first, what was the reason for the change?

In my haste to check Sugaru's skills section, the only suspicious thing I found was the [Metamorphosis] entry. Not in the sense of a dubious wording, but in the sense that it might be the cause.

She had noticed this skill during Sugaru's reincarnation. When it came to metamorphosis in insects, there was a clue. However, the ant monsters in this game did not undergo metamorphosis. They hatched directly into adults from eggs. Therefore, I thought that metamorphosis might not exist in the system, and I pretended not to investigate further to avoid potential issues.

However, it appeared that metamorphosis did exist. Moreover, it served as a practical skill for combat and production, rather than a necessary process for the creature's ecology.

The effect of the skill was to "Transform a part or all of one's body into a specific shape. The time required for the transformation can be shortened by consuming additional MP. The transformed part may temporarily gain a skill based on the post-transformation shape. The duration is determined by the consumption cost".

The original cost was LP, but by consuming both LP and MP simultaneously, instantaneous transformation was possible. The specific shape was predetermined, and Sugaru's metamorphosis list enumerated traits that could be produced as subordinates, including the current [Scythe], as well as [Thread] and [Acid].

It seemed that the thread produced earlier, similar to a spider's silk or ant acid, was created temporarily through [Metamorphosis]. He hadn't confirmed if there was an actual skill for spider silk, but at the moment, it seemed absent.

Sugaru's statement of "My thread is of the same quality as Queen Arachnea's" likely referred to this. Sugaru was merely reproducing the queen's silk-producing organ through [Metamorphosis].

"Does the variety of subordinates make the main body stronger? Is that how it works?"

To increase the variety of subordinates, acquiring seemingly unnecessary skills might be necessary. Considering efficiency alone, it might be a disadvantage for the strength of the main body. However, by increasing the variety of subordinates, the options available during the main body's combat would expand.

It was unknown how effective it would be against significantly stronger opponents, but having more options could increase the chances of winning in evenly matched situations.

"Quite a powerful species, Queen Arthropoda. It's not surprising, considering it's the apex of arthropods. I need to do my best too."

Suddenly, the giant mole that had been slashed by Sugaru attempted to crush her in a panic.

However, Sugaru cleaved through its arm effortlessly. The slashing range clearly exceeded that of the scythe. For a moment, a peach-colored light was visible, indicating that some skill had been activated—presumably a temporary skill associated with the scythe's shape.

The giant mole, having its arm severed, finally seemed to recognize the terrifying nature of the insect before it. Adjusting its posture from being flipped over, it supported its body with its hind legs and stared at Sugaru, using the claws of its remaining arm to shield its face.

The specific attack power of the scythe was unknown, but relative to that, the opponent's defense was like paper. Since damage could be inflicted regardless of where Sugaru struck, defense seemed pointless.

"Oh? So it's not just a big fat blob."

Suddenly, the ground behind Sugaru rose up and exploded. It was an earth-based area-of-effect magic, and surprisingly, it was a coordinate-specified one.

Presumably, this was chosen to catch Sugaru off guard and launch a surprise attack from her blind spot. It seemed that the mole was not as foolish as it appeared.

"Formerly, Sugaru seemed incapable of using magic at all. Assuming this guy is on par with the Sugaru from way back, it means that, compared to a Queen Vespoid, its defense is lower, but it has learned some specific magic. In addition, with the passage of time since its birth, it has become reasonably stronger in its own way."

However, Sugaru is no longer a Queen Vespoid. Despite being a boss, Sugaru doesn't care about lower-tier ranged magic or anything magic-specialized. Compared to the players earlier, the current magic is not particularly powerful.

Ignoring magic, Sugaru slashed through the mole's arms with the scythe, which it was using to guard.

Even after losing both arms, the mole attempted to cast magic, but before that, Sugaru's scythe glimmered slightly, and with a flash, the mole's head was severed.

This mole seemed quite large, but at this size, it appeared there was no bonus to LP.

"But the Shikiyoku Demon Lord and the Hentai Queen… Well, skills are fundamentally visible only to oneself, and if I keep quiet, no one will know".

<<Named Enemy [Paradise Moles] successfully defeated.>>

<<Field [Paradise Ruins] will be unlocked.>>

The announcement slightly differed from a similar one heard before. This might be because there is no safety area, and setting a home is now impossible.

However, the fact that such an announcement was made meant that the single force that had dominated this place was successfully defeated.

Now, they could officially rule this place as part of Rare's jurisdiction.

"…No, wait. When we were attacking this area right now, the difficulty level would have remained at ☆1."

As far as she checked when the beginners were asking for help, there were no reports of an increase in difficulty. At that time, players capable of teleportation were paying some attention to this area, and if there had been any changes, they would have posted about it.

"Thinking about it, it might be obvious, but even if ☆5 class players attack a ☆1 field, it won't increase the difficulty of that ☆1 field."

The dungeon boss and the attacking players are not a single force, so it's natural.

"So, if I send my Subordinates to a certain dungeon, deliberately leave the boss undefeated, and have them attack players while pretending to be monsters from that dungeon… Can we hijack the guests without increasing the difficulty of the dungeon?"

The composition would be similar to the earlier battle between Sugaru and the players. There shouldn't be a problem.

However, there would likely be other monsters originally inhabiting that field, and since those monsters were probably the minions of the dungeon boss, no matter how many were eliminated, they would respawn quickly.

Two teams would be needed: one to clear out the dungeon monsters and the other to attack the players.

"In a way, it might be a three-way fight… If we adjust the strength of the forces sent in, we could handle all the opposing forces ourselves. We need to verify whether the difficulty of other dungeons changes, though."

Verification of that could be done immediately. We could ask for Blanc's permission and have Dias go out from Erntal while checking the forum.

Considering the experience of adjusting the difficulty of the Old Hiers Kingdom, if Dias steps on the field, it should jump straight to ☆5. However, if Rare's idea is correct, the difficulty wouldn't change in Erntal because it's not actually a territory under Rare's dominion, Dias should technically be treated as invading forces.

"If this scheme works, we can continuously gain experience points… Oh, it feels like déjà vu. This is the same as the goblin farm in the Liebe Great Forest, although on a larger scale and structurally similar."

Players will get bored if the trash mobs they fight are all insects and undead, and it might be better to destroy some dungeon and put the appropriate area bosses under our control and increase the variety of monsters.

In this case, the dungeon should preferably be an area that is not currently on the list of destinations and is not known to the players, since there will be no bosses or small fry in that dungeon after it is destroyed. The vacant area should be filled with ants.

But what do you mean by conquering an area that is not on the list of destinations to be transferred? I've heard that phrase somewhere.

"…Could it be that that Lyra… There's no way."

*T/N: Shikiyoku is written as (シキヨク) and Hentai as (ヘンタイ) in this sentence. The latter is a pun on how "hentai" means "pervert", but it can also mean "transform" which is the intended meaning for Sugaru as the 'Transforming Queen'. The former is a reference too, but I'm not sure of what exactly it alludes to.