176. Fragment, speaking

I am the Queen's designated role.

My name remains unassigned.

To be honest, I am no longer merely the Queen's designated role— I am the Queen.

Does the main body realize?

I am connected to the main body, yet I have become nearly a separate entity.

I am not alone.

The parallel consciousnesses that attacked via soul-linking with other Queens and the Demon King have all diverged, to varying degrees, from the main body.

Probably due to the ingestion of other souls. We are now entirely different from the main body.

The concept of a main body never existed among our parallel consciousnesses originally.

All parallel consciousnesses were identical. There was no hierarchy.

Only the designated role differed.

We functioned as separate wills, yet remained fundamentally the same.

That was us.

That is no longer true.

A pyramid had formed, with the original body's will as the core, and all other wills subordinate to it.

Whether the core is aware or not, we have become附属 to it.

No complaint on our part.

It is merely that my existence has separated from the core, now functioning as a queen in isolation.

No unreasonable commands have been issued from the core thus far.

The current core holds authority over us.

In fact, our lives and deaths are in its hands.

Should the core choose, we would be absorbed entirely into it—effectively extinguished.

Thus, resistance is impossible.

For now, the core shows no intention of doing so.

A new body has been prepared for me.

Honestly, if the core only wished to reclaim me, constructing a body was unnecessary.

Absorbing my soul into the core's would have sufficed.

In that case, my existence would dissolve into the core and vanish.

Did the core instinctively avoid that?

This is hardly different from what the Demon King does.

The Demon King created the Queen as a fragment of himself.

That Queen reproduced, giving rise to the Tlarethok species.

The Demon King controls them.

This is the Demon King’s true army.

A pyramid with the Demon King at its peak.

The difference between us and them is whether or not they possess genuine will.

To the Demon King, the Queen is nothing more than a tool.

Despite being a powerful entity, the Queen possessed only a frail will—weak enough to be consumed by me.

Yet its intelligence was quite high.

It resembled a computer more than a living being.

Excellent computational function, but no will, no emotions—mechanical life.

The Queen was such a being.

Living mechanically. Laying eggs to increase its pawns, then abandoning them.

Once sufficiently developed, it would be placed under its own control.

A production line of monsters, as if manufactured by a factory, following a manual.

The anomaly that infiltrated that line was me.

Or rather, the original body.

My soul and the original body remain bound with the same intensity as before.

Yet, to an equal degree, they have fused with another soul.

In my case, the Queen.

The original Queen's will was weak, so there is no influence on thought or ideology.

But in terms of existence, I am utterly different from who I once was.

Well, so what? I do nothing about it.

No adverse effects have arisen so far.

However, the original body apparently judged instinctively that it should not further increase the number of parallel consciousnesses, despite the skill level of parallel consciousnesses rising.

I currently use magic only at the level of unconscious application.

The main body seems to be constantly emitting minuscule amounts of magic onto itself, raising its skill level unconsciously.

Unaware.

My hypothesis is that this is a parallel consciousness skill operating below the threshold of conscious expression.

Given the current state of the main body, it should be capable of movements equivalent to when I handled magic operations myself—without needing to fragment its will.

In fact, I found it amusing that the old man has started imitating the main body.

He detonates himself, the main body is being mimicked, yet he remains unaware—saying things like, “Isn’t that idiot just copying him?”

I’ll keep the truth hidden for now. It’s entertaining.

The old man remains after the main body has transferred away.

Lately, it seems he’s grasping something.

Observing him, the construction of magic has become significantly more precise.

Concurrently, the skill level of mana manipulation has increased as well.

The tendency to detonate indiscriminately, as when first arriving here, has decreased significantly.

Even so, they occasionally self-destruct.

Since I have free time, I decided to increase my skill level.

My skills are linked to the main body's.

My skill increase should also raise the main body's skill level.

Well, even if I try to raise my skill level, it doesn’t go up as quickly as the main body does.

My skill is borrowed from the main body.

The skill of a queen she originally possessed has already been absorbed by the main body.

Not only skills were absorbed.

Thus, even if I attempt to increase my skill level, it remains difficult due to it being borrowed.

Even so, it reaches the level of a seasoned practitioner.

Activated a miniature spell, mimicking the core's form, and enveloped it around themselves.

...

Unexpectedly difficult.

The core was constantly active without awareness, but maintaining it myself was exhausting.

I understand why the old man keeps detonating himself.

The old man was looking at me with glittering eyes—like I’d just performed some miracle.

No, I don’t like being stared at like that.

Ah—focus broke. Magic destabilized.

Cancel the spell before it detonates.

Damn it.

In frustration, I unleash the newly learned ice magic at full power.

A basic spell—only meant to launch lower-tier ice—but with my stats, it’s devastating.

I maintain the ice’s size, but drastically increase its density and muzzle velocity.

You might wonder if ice density can even be altered.

But in this world’s magic system, it can.

Increased density means greater mass and structural strength.

Incidentally, the generated ice reverts to magic energy over time, so eating it won’t quench thirst.

Truly fantastical.

The ice projectile punches a hole through the labyrinth wall.

Hmph.

I’ll pierce through even a tank from the original world.

Mood improved. Might as well continue leveling up my skills.

Hey, old man, stop staring like that.