Starting a war might require nothing more than an incident and a burst of anger, but ending one was often beyond any individual's control.
Once a Plane War began, no one could hit the brakes until one side had completely collapsed or was at least no longer capable of fighting.
Especially with things like the Abyss Insectoids. Both the swarm and the abyss were species with aggression maxed out. Once they bordered each other, there was simply no way to stop.
"In truth, their 'reason' doesn't support stopping either. Their internal thought processes are quite simple: feeding, killing, reproducing—copying—and devouring."
"Single-celled organism" had originally been a term for individuals with simple minds, but biological Scholars had confirmed through research that they truly were quite "single-celled."
". . . I personally suspect that this is a component of their so-called collective consciousness. To unify themselves, they naturally have to erase individual awareness. If they are to operate simply and efficiently, the simpler and more straightforward their 'AI logic,' the better. In a sense, the entire species is a machine—a mechanized killing machine that executes functions."
Since they needed to be "integrated," the simpler the lower-ranking individuals, the better.
Of course, they were not completely identical. Their differences naturally varied according to unit type and strength.
Repeated confirmation in actual combat had shown that the Abyssal Swarm possessed at least five levels of authority. The higher the level, the more complex it became.
By this point, once this "subject" had been placed before Lady Lin's group of academic giants, many questions had essentially been answered.
"Stop, lower life-form."
But when a tiny golden beetle was taken out and a faint golden light covered it, no one paid it any attention.
Until it activated for the first time, and the entire battlefield was