IMPERIUM INSECTUM

The eye glared at me. Sizing me up. My instincts were in overdrive. It was hard to think, let alone focus on escaping. Dammit, am I gonna die here? DAMMIT! ALL OF THIS IS ALL MY FAULT I SHOULD'VE-

Suddenly, the ground trembled as this beast moved, its eye growing closer to me like a predator finally catching its prey.

“What an interesting construct you are.” The creature boomed

“Why would Mom make something like you. Why would she risk so much….. could it be…."

The eye grew closer and closer.

“I must learn more about you…”

The eye pulsed, and suddenly, I felt the world around me get swallowed in a deep darkness. A darkness so dark that it overcame my senses and pushed into my mind. Taking everything over before I knew it. It swallowed me whole.

……..

“EUAGHAA!” I screamed as my eyes snapped, my heart raced like a horse, like I had just run 16 marathons back to back.

“Just what did that …thing do to me!” I tried to stand up, but a wave of dizziness hit me. However, I held firm and fought through it and rose to my feet. I looked around and found myself in the middle of nowhere. And I mean that in the literal sense. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but a white void as far as the eye could see. This place felt similar, not too dissimilar to that space I go to when I speak to Cindi.

“Where am I?” I spoke aloud.

“Where you are isn't important, puny one,” a voice deeper than hell boomed, and suddenly a powerful gust of wind hit my body, almost pushing me to the ground again. I looked up just in time to catch a set of jet black, scared wings, a long slinking tail…. It couldn’t be right…

The creature flapped its wings once more as it settled in front of me

“This has to be a hallucination.”

“It is not Whelp. I am the Jet dragon of Erasure. King of nothing! Ruler of nothing! And servenat to the one true god of this world!”The dragon bellowed, letting out a thick black wave of mana towards me.

“No, that’s-“

It hit me fast. Instinctively, a shroud of thick mana left my body, covering every part of my body as the wave collided with me. The 2 manas collided and clashed with each other as mine pushed and erased his. As quick as it came, the mana faded.

“Interesting,, the dragon boomed “It's as I thought…. Finally, the time has-“

“What was that for! Asshole!” I yelled. I dropped the mana shroud and met the eyes of the dragon. His golden eyes stared back at me. Thankfully, wherever this place is, it has made the feeling I had before disappear.

“Bite your tongue, puny creature. We may have the same creator, but we are not equals. ”

“So what! You may be a queen, but I am queen in my own right! So show a modicum of respect to my title and I will do the same!” I snapped. The dragon and I glared at each other for a few moments before letting out a grunt and dropping its head onto its arms.

“The whelps of today. However, calling you by your title is the least I can do for you, your highness."

“Thank you, your highness”, I replied. “Now, why am I here?”

“I want to understand why mom would make a creature like you”

“Mom… is this the same 'One true god' you follow?”

The dragon nodded. “She has many names. But I believe you know her as Cindi” My eyes bulged. This dragon knew Cindi?

The dragon let out a long sigh “Long do I miss the days of my creator, and I wher shaping the land beneath our feet.”

“You helped Cindi make this world?”

“Helped is an over exaggeration of what I did, No. I assisted in the easier parts, but mostly I was good company for her. I miss those…..Nice days. Everything was well….Until…..untill”

His face suddenly turned sour as if the memory itself was rotten.

“I'll never forgive them. All of them. If I had the power, I would wear the heads as a necklace”

I rushed up to the dragon. “What happened?! Tell me!” I demanded.

“Do not demand anything of me!” the dragon snapped “You who barely even know how to wield the world-shaping power bestowed upon her has no authority to address me. Be grateful I'm even entertaining you!”

The ground trembled as the dragon yelled, sending another wave of null mana towards me. My shroud activated, pushing his blast to the side.

“Stop doing that!” I yelled. Mana surged out of my body to my fingertips as an arrow of null mana formed.

“I too can also play this game, asshol-“

“Stop!” the dragon commanded. I felt my body freeze in place. Arrow in hand.

The dragon moved its head closer. “Inspecting the arrow.”

“You’re control is awful, your mental space all over the place. The Raw power is there. But power without control is meaningless.”

I strained against whatever power he was using. But no matter what I did. My body didn’t respond. It felt like every muscle in my body had been impaled with a stake of ice. Keeping me frozen. Dammit. This guy is the real deal.

“Hmmm,” He mumbled as he rested his head back on the ground. The dragon closed its eyes as if it were thinking. All the while, I tried to escape.

“Enough!” the dragon yelled. Dismissing its power. Immediately, my body collapsed to the ground. “Your grunts are annoying”

“Well, don’t freeze people next time!”

The dragon snorted as it glared towards me “I've decided.” The dragon said, raising its head, “I will train you. As payment for this, I will ask of you a favour.”

“No chance! Like I would help you”

“You have no choice. Right now, you exist at my mercy. You may not have realised this, but this place isn't real. Your real body is sitting undefended right in front of me. I could end you right now if I wanted to.

“Then why train me! If you have so much control, why not just make me do it!”

“Because as you are. You are too weak even to attempt it. It's embarrassing that we share the same creator, yet you are hilariously weak, but she gave you a lot of potent power. Enough to do the task I need you to do. All you need is a little breaking down and refining into something useful.

I growled. Dammit! I really can't do anything as long as I am in this place. I have no choice but to play ball until I find a way to break out of this damn place.

“When do I start?”

“Now.” My body suddenly froze like before. But this time it was much weaker. The dragon opened its maw, revealing a jet-black void that was its mouth. As I stared into the abyss, an orange light flared up.

“You can't be serious.”

A booming voice echoed in my mind. “Your first lessons will involve you drastically improving your general ability. I've seen baby dragons who are more capable than you. Try to erase this fireball.”

“WHAT! That’s…. UNFREEZE ME NOW,” the dragon laughed as the fireball grew and grew.

“To be able to master your abilities, you must be able to manifest your mana anywhere and everywhere. I imagine every time you've used your magic, you've used your body as the source. You will never be able to do what I need you to do without this ability”

“That doesn't!......I NEED MORE GUIDANCE THAN THAT YOU STUPID DRAGON!”

........

Apollinaris Pov:

< It's gotten quite busy around here, hasn't it.....> I said as I walked down the stairs towards the Foyer.

Dozens of workers, warriors and nurses buzzed around the place. Going to and fro, learning the layout of the house. It's been a hectic few days. I don't know what happened back at the original hive, but everyone here was very agitated, including me. I had to stop some of the combat units from trying to return home.

I let out a deep sigh <I hope you're okay diva>, my instincts were telling me she was fine, but I couldn't help but worry.

<Big sis apolliinaris. Is everything okay?>

(Huh….yeah..err…Yes, I'm fine> I spat out as my mind returned to reality. The nurse put one of its antenae against my head.

<Your temperature is normal. Try to rest. You did give birth to many in such a short amount of time>

That's an understatement. Thanks to my high heat womb and diva's use of growth accelerant. These eggs grew quickly.

<I must speak to mother. Putting so many eggs in one host is not good for them>

I chuckled. <i think she got caught up in the heat of the moment. I'm fine, really. A bit tender and sore in places. But my body was strangely resilient to it>

<If you say so. I'm just concerned>

<Your concern is valued. But trust me, I'm fi->

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

My head snapped towards the door. In a flash, everyone disappeared, leaving me alone in the main Foyer.

I let out a small chuckle as I walked towards the door. The knocks got louder and louder as I approached.

“Im coming, I'm coming!” I yelled as I arrived at the door. I peeked through the eye hole and was met with what looked like a woman in a suit.

“Is this the Kusamure. Household.” A voice boomed through the door. Who is this- wait. That suit. It's the secretary from the tournament.

“I am here to relay to you the information you requested.”

“One second!” I quickly scrambled upstairs, grabbed my mask, and then ran back downstairs. In a flash, I was back at the door. I put my hand around the wooden doorknob and pulled the door.

“That was quick”, I said.

She nodded, pushing up her glasses and raising a large, overflowing briefcase. “Do you have somewhere quiet? We have a lot to discuss”