"What is this?"
Gron felt the sudden surge of immense power and struggled to adjust to it.
Even by a rough estimate, he felt at least several times stronger than he had been mere minutes ago.
The warriors around him saw the sudden change in their chief and began shouting.
"The chief has gained power! The Sunfire God has bestowed power upon him!"
The sight filled the clan's insects with confidence. In their eyes, with their chief aided by a god, victory was assured.
Isara was sincerely happy for her chief,
but at the same time, she silently told herself that she had to work harder to become the next insect blessed by their god.
Feeling his body return to its prime, Gron raised his shield and spear and challenged the monster before him, just as the previous chief had done.
The Counterattack Fly roared and charged forward again.
Instead of the evenly matched clash they had expected, Gron sent the Husk Bully King flying with a single blow.
The tremendous force embedded the Husk Bully King deep in the wall, and the resulting tremors shook the entire corridor.
Feeling the impact through his shield, Gron could hardly believe he had suddenly become so strong.
Next came speed. Gron raised his spear and leaped.
Whenever he struck a Counterattack Fly, he used the force of the impact to propel himself toward the next one.
"Not just my speed. My balance and endurance have improved too."
Having gained a rough understanding of his new strength, Gron decided to test a full-power strike.
Facing the Husk Bully King, Gron gripped his spear and hurled it with all his might. The immense force sent dust spraying from the ground beneath his feet.
The insects saw only a sudden streak of light flash before their eyes.
An instant later, that light violently pierced the Counterattack Fly, and the spear continued flying forward without losing any force.
The spear burst through the Husk Bully King's back, scattering fragments of his body.
Only when the Husk Bully King's corpse fell to the ground did the insects come to their senses.
Stepping over the Husk Bully King's corpse, Gron easily pulled his spear from deep within the wall and let out a war cry.
"Raaah!!!"
The insects shouted along with him, celebrating this glorious moment.
Lin Jin had watched the entire battle from the air, nodding in satisfaction from time to time.
This divine blessing had been not only a reward, but also an experiment.
Just as he had expected, he could use divine blessings to elevate the insects' level of existence. Although the increase was modest, the effect was immediate.
Of course, to be safe, Lin Jin had chosen to focus this blessing on pure physical strength.
The result was clear. After his enhancement, Gron had reached the level of a high-ranking warrior.
The reason he was high-ranking rather than top-tier was that, although Gron's body had reached the limits of what an insect could attain,
his combat awareness was still lacking. His shortage of combat experience had lowered Lin Jin's assessment of him.
"Still, that's only a matter of time. At least I have a suitable chosen one now."
Lin Jin smiled with satisfaction.
After slaying the Husk Bully King, Gron led the remaining insects onward with unstoppable momentum, finally reclaiming the entire corridor behind the temple.
Once his followers had cleared the area, Lin Jin felt his range of movement expand to encompass the whole corridor.
"Because this area has been occupied? Interesting."
Lin Jin made a mental note of this detail. Watching the insects cheer and leap about in celebration of their victory, he placed even greater importance on having followers.
After completing the trial their god had assigned them, Gron led the clan's insects in kneeling before Lin Jin once more.
The clan had suffered no casualties throughout the battle, something that would have been unimaginable in the past.
"Sunfire God, please accept our clan's loyalty and offerings once more."
Gron knelt on one knee, his body bearing hardly any wounds. The markings on his face looked more like badges of honor than scars.
The other insects in the clan looked at their chief mainly with envy.
"Our clan will serve you and make offerings to you for generations to come, as followers of the Sunfire God."
"Good. I accept." Lin Jin nodded.
"Congratulations, my followers. You have won a splendid victory in this battle for the corridor. Simply calling you 'the clan' feels rather plain now."
"I shall bestow a new name upon you: the Ashen Clan! It symbolizes destruction and finality, as well as sacrifices made for great things. Take pride in it!"
"Just as your name signifies, you shall bring destruction and finality to my enemies!"
"Thank you for bestowing this name upon us, Sunfire God!" Gron immediately replied. "The Ashen Clan will brave fire and boiling water for you without hesitation."
"The Ashen Clan!"
"The Ashen Clan!"
"The Ashen Clan!"
The insects shouted. Having received their new name, the Ashen Clan, they had now truly been reborn.
A sharp crack rang out.
Lin Jin felt a faint connection form between himself and the insects before him.
To his delighted surprise, he discovered that all this had happened after he named the insects.
"So in this world, gods and their followers aren't connected by faith alone, but by a more unusual symbiotic relationship?"
The feeling resembled a burning flame fed by an ever-growing supply of firewood. The more wood there was, the brighter the flame burned.
That description was still too crude and one-sided, however. For now, Lin Jin decided to focus on increasing the number of his followers.
Notably, the moisture and soil in the corridor occupied by the Ashen Clan were clearly better suited to growing crops than those of the wasteland outside.
During their migrations, the Ashen Clan also gathered seeds from edible plants, though they ate them rather than actually intending to sow them.
Now things had worked out perfectly. If they used this corridor as temporary farmland, they would have no shortage of food for some time.
Food won't be a concern in the short term, Lin Jin thought. That means I can pick up the pace a little.
A few days later.
The wasteland.
Around the temple.
The wasteland was enjoying a rare calm spell, with neither violent sandstorms nor beasts prowling for food.
In the past, the clan would have migrated immediately during such a rare lull.
But the Ashen Clan did not leave.
Things were different now. Under the protection of the Sunfire God, they had decided to settle here.
At the once-empty opening that served as the temple entrance, two enormous stone doors now stood.
Several torches had also been mounted on the walls on either side of the doors.
Not long ago, Gron had chosen fire as the Ashen Clan's totem, so a flame pattern had been painted in the center of the massive stone doors.
A small chamber had also been deliberately carved out above the cave for the insects to watch the outside world. For safety, it had only a few tiny peepholes.
Seen from a distance, the cave had clearly been transformed into a well-defended bunker.
Yet this was only the most ordinary of the changes.
Now that they finally had a place they could call home, the eggs the females had laid earlier had at last hatched. Their clear cries announced that the Ashen Clan's numbers had multiplied several times over.
With sufficient nourishment, these insects would soon grow into capable warriors.
This was an advantage unique to insects. They took far less time to mature than mammals did.
Once it was decided that the clan would put down roots here, Isara sent insects to repair the cave leading to the altar, and it now looked quite respectable.
The deity worshipped by the Ashen Clan appeared in the form of fire.
Their decorations therefore consisted largely of torches and flame patterns.
Moreover, the Ashen Clan's current temporary quarters lay midway between the cave and the temple.
The doors had thus been specially reinforced. At the very least, ordinary weapons could not hack them open.
As for how they were supposed to open these sturdy stone doors?
Isara had stopped worrying about that after their chief received the god's blessing.
Such sturdy defenses were enough to intimidate any insects who came here and discourage them from acting rashly.
Today, however, a strange knocking came from the doors.
The clan warrior on guard immediately looked outside through a peephole. Seeing an unfamiliar clan of several dozen insects standing beyond the doors, he instantly tensed.
But then he noticed that they did not seem to be invaders.
Their weary expressions and emaciated bodies made them look just like the Ashen Clan before they had encountered the Sunfire God.
Enemies?
Or refugees?
Not daring to make a hasty judgment, the Ashen Clan warrior on guard immediately ran toward the temple to seek their god's instructions.
Before you continue