The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns Chapter 338: Inherited Godly Power

-----

FLUOSH!

Icebloom overflowed with divinity!

It worked! 

“There’s a connection…! A connection with…! Aah!” she gasped. “With the world…!” 

Phew, I thought she was going to say the Alien God. 

RUMBLE!

The body of the previous queen vanished, burning into ashes… She had a very silent death. I guess she was already dead anyway. 

“How do you feel, Icebloom?” I asked her. 

“Woah, bro! You’ve changed…!” Coldpincers said. “Did you become a queen now?!” 

“W-What?! I don’t know! I didn’t want to do this! Bing Xue, why?!” Icebloom asked me desperately. She was clearly embarrassed by her new… erm, sexier form. 

“I didn’t do this to make you suffer or anything, if that’s what you think,” I explained. “I thought the power of your queen would go to waste if I just burned her or absorbed it… As you can tell, I’m so strong that such a tiny piece of divinity wouldn’t make any difference to me at all. In fact, I benefited more from that monster we just killed than I would have from absorbing her powers.” 

“R-Really?” Icebloom muttered. “I guess it wouldn’t have been good if that power went to waste… But this is weird. So this is what it feels like to ascend to godhood?” 

“You’re not quite there yet—more like barely starting,” I clarified. “Your existence is recognized as divine, but you’re not tied or bound to the world’s laws.” 

“Aaah… I don’t really understand anything you’re talking about,” she sighed, crossing her arms. “Ugh… I wish I could go back to how I was before. My abdomen is so big now…” 

“I mean, it looks really good, bro,” Coldpincers nodded. “Women with big abdomens are always sought after.” 

“Ugh, don’t talk like that! I prefer to act like a man most of the time… Now it’s impossible,” Icebloom groaned. “But… well, I guess it’s a small price to pay for finally being free. Did you feel it, Coldpincers? The contract we had with the queen is gone!” 

“Yeah! I mean, it was already gone for me—I died,” Coldpincers said. “But I’m glad it’s gone! We should go back to the outside world and see what we can do now… I wonder if the snow and ice are gone?” 

“They should be, or at least melting away,” I explained. “When I killed the queen and gained access to her bond with this world as its goddess, I also ‘hacked’ into the world’s foundations and imbued a bit of my Photon Energy. That should recreate the hot, tropical climate this world originally had. The sun will shine brightly outside, and it’ll finally be hot and humid, just like you people love.” 

“R-Really?!” Coldpincers beamed. “Let’s go outside then!” 

“Yeah,” Icebloom nodded. “…Wait! If the world melts, what’ll happen to us Frost Ants?!” 

“Nothing bad,” I reassured her. “You’re already strong with high stats. The sun won’t make you tired. You’ll adapt if you develop sunlight or heat resistance skills. Just persevere a little.” 

“Aah, sounds fine to me!” Icebloom said. 

“Coldpincers won’t be affected—he’s a card now,” I added. 

“I see—Wait, what do you mean he’s a card now?! What’s up with that? You didn’t even tell me! Why can’t you explain things properly?!” Icebloom complained. 

“Huh? But there’s nothing to explain, bro. I became a card,” Coldpincers said. 

“You’re not a card!” Icebloom insisted. 

“Yes, he is. Look,” I said, quickly showing her the card Coldpincers had become. It featured a “badass” drawing of him, complete with information and everything. 

“No way, he’s actually a freaking card?!” Icebloom gasped. “W-What kind of power is that?! Isn’t that way too… I don’t know, out of character? I mean… anticlimactic?!” 

“Hmm, no?” I mused. “I took this power from the Archdemon of Sloth, Belphegor, who was suddenly summoned on Mars by Egyptians from a parallel world. They stole these magical cards from another parallel Earth where people battled with magical cards in tournaments.” 

“…”

“…” 

Icebloom and Coldpincers stared at me, their big eyes twitching.

Were they still in disbelief? 

“Uuh, alright then… suuuure…” Icebloom said. “Whatever you say, Bing Xue…” 

“What?! You don’t believe me?!” I gasped. “But it’s true! It happened on Mars! A planet next to Earth, Floor 0! You know I’m not lying—you have psychic powers!” 

“…I can’t read your mind, though, so… uh, whatever you say,” Icebloom sighed. “You really have an incredible imagination, Bing Xue…” 

“I’m not lying!” I cried. 

I couldn’t believe it had come to the point where my experiences were so ridiculous that nobody believed me! 

“Let’s just say it’s magic…” Coldpincers suggested. “And move on.” 

“It’s still weird…” Icebloom muttered. 

“Hahah, well, it revived me, so it doesn’t matter,” Coldpincers shrugged, scratching his big head. 

“Haaa…” I sighed, feeling oddly insulted. 

“Oh, Master! It seems these people really didn’t believe you, huh?” 

Suddenly, a little princess popped out of nowhere, with blonde hair and a pink dress. It was Princess Pomelo. 

“Ah, yeah… What have you been doing, though?” 

“Me? I was… taking a beauty nap.” 

“Seriously?!” 

“I need my beauty nap, or I’ll get wrinkles! You know it’s hard to stay youthful and cute at my age while being a princess, right?!” 

She grabbed my dress, looking at me like a rabid dog.

What was wrong with everyone today? 

“…Okay, I understand! Calm down.” 

“A-Ah! Sorry…” 

She quickly floated away from me, looking a bit sad. 

“Oh wow, wait, where are we? This place looks beautiful.” 

“It’s a Divine Realm from the Queen of Frost… I suppose it now belongs to Icebloom.” 

I swiftly moved through the skies with Princess Pomelo, opening a portal that led outside with a punch in the empty air. 

CRASH! 

As I escaped with her, Icebloom, and Coldpincers—both ants glancing at the princess with puzzled expressions—we reached the outside world. 

-----