IMPERIUM INSECTUM

Sally pov:

I took a right turn, which led me down another tunnel. The enemy resistance in this section is practically zero. However, part of me thinks it’s a trap, but another part wants me to be wrong. Either way, it doesn’t matter; my guard will be up at all times. Behind me, I could hear the footsteps of multiple skirmishers. I've told the majority of the hive to stay above and prepare for a counterattack, though I doubt there will be one. But it pays to be cautious.

We took another left instead of a right before finally arriving at a thick silk wall. I put my hand against it. still warm, fresh. This was just put here, meaning she must be close. I bit my finger, causing a small trickle of blood to run down my finger tip. I placed my finger on the silk and took a few steps back. Okay, Sally, just a tiny explosion enough to bring down this silk wall, and that’s it.

I took a few steps back and snapped my fingers. There was a small bang and a flash the size of a penny. It didn’t look like a lot, but it was enough for the silk wall.

<Perfect. follow me and be ready for a potential ambush>

We started moving the tunnel very quickly, widening and widening some more until it opened into a large, perfectly circular room made of silk and in the centre of the room was our target. The silk-writh queen, the top part of her body looked human, she had pale white hair and blazing red eyes with a black dot. Her body was sort of hourglass-shaped with a subtle six-pack. She would be a beauty if it wasn’t for her bottom half. As you got to the bottom, her skin darkened and hardened, slowly morphing into that of a spider, but instead of 8 legs, she had 4 large, pointed legs that held her high.

“I take it you are the queen”

“BITE YOUR TONGUE! BUGS LIKE YOU SHOULDN’T EVEN LOOK AT MY FEET, LET ALONE TALK TO ME”

My eyes rolled so hard that Eupharn himself probably felt it. Hasn’t she realised that she basically lost? Most people would beg for mercy, let alone insult others.

“You do know you’ve lost, right?” I stated bluntly, her eyes squinted at me with vicious venom. You would think I murdered her children or something….

“ LOST! Hahahah, the likes of you could never beat me! I'll lose when I'm dead!”

“That can be easily arranged.” A familiar voice rang out from behind me. I felt a reassuring wave wash over me. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. Mother had arrived.

“You! false queen!” she spat out with venom. The sapider queen's body rose in anger. Her already blazing red eyes grew a deeper red with anger. Is mothers prescence really that aggravating? Suddenly, I felt mothers arm wrap around my shoulder. I looked up towards her. She glanced towards me and gave me a warm smile

<Good work with the commander, you’ve really outdone yourself today>

She leaned down towards me and whispered into my ear

<When we're done here, head straight to my bedroom. I'll give you your reward there.>

Before I could react, she was gone, heading towards the spider queen. I could feel my heart race in anticipation. I can't wait…

Diva Pov:

She is a very pitiful creature, isn't she? I stepped away from Sally. At the same time, I signalled the skirmishers to follow me.

“So, spider queen, let me ask you a question: why? Why attack me for no reason?”

“Like I need a reason!” she snapped! “Bugs like you are food for us spiders. I will never recognise you as my queen ever! I submit to no one, no human, no god and ESPECIALLY NOT YOU!”

I let out a sigh and gave a signal for the skirmishers to hold their position.

I looked back towards Sally, who had a concerned look on her face. But I sent her a reassuring wave through the weave. There is no way I'll lose to her.

“Is that your final answer, spider?”

“I'll gut you where you stand!” She said with enough venom to kill a city. “COME HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

“I chuckled, the younger version of me would have probably taken you up on that offer, but I've grown since then and besides. You are not worth the effort.” I snapped my fingers, and suddenly there was an explosion of rubble followed by an incredibly loud roar. The tunneler burst through the walls to my left like a freight train going straight towards the spider queen. However, she was fast, and she quickly launched a thread of silk towards the ceiling, pulling herself up.

<great I'm fighting Spiderman….>

I gave the order through the weave. And suddenly a torrent of alvearix came through the fresh tunnel. The spider queen's eyes bulged as she saw the mass of my children.

“So many! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! YOU CAN'T I WONT-“

The spider queen's eyes snapped towards me. In that moment, I had closed the gap between us; the fool had forgotten that I could fly. With one swing of my claws, I cut the strand of silk holding her, and she fell to the ground. The queen tried to escape, but before she could react, she was swarmed by dozens of insects.

“DAMN YOU BUGS! GET OFF ME! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!”

<Ignore her children swarm her to your heart's content!> I said with a chuckle. I slowly started to descend to the ground when something caught my attention.

<Is that what I think it is…>

I landed next to the object, and yes, it was. In front of me was a large, elaborate chair made of silk. a throne to be exact. I brushed a hand against the silk; it was soft yet strong at the same time. Impressive craftsmanship, a shame it was used on her.

<Don’t worry, you're in good hands now.>

I took a seat on my throne as a wave of relief washed over me, and strangely, a feeling of purpose did to. Sitting here on this throne felt right and relieving, hell, this whole thing has felt relieving. I don’t know why. Is it my genetics, or am I a natural-born conqueror? Would it explain my desire to always expand and keep expanding? It’s a question I will probably never get an answer to, but it is something fun to think about. However, it's not nearly as fun as listening to her scream and hurl insults towards my children. She continued to fight the torrent of basic combat units and warriors. Seeing this reminded me of something I watched a long time ago.

A while back, when I was still a human detective, I remembered watching a documentary on bees. And in this documentary, a pack of wasps were attacking a hive. The wasps themselves were stronger than a single bee, but what the bees lacked in strength they made up for in numbers, which they used heavily to their advantage. One of the worker bees would sacrifice itself to lure the wasp into the hive. Once it was inside, all the bees in the hive would pile onto the wasp. The wasp obviously tried to escape, but it couldn’t pull away from the sheer number of bees. Now, what I didn't know at the time was that the bees generate a lot of heat. And the only way to vent that heat is out of their bodies. The bees knew this and weaponised it. As the wasp got covered in more and more bees, the heat from those bees would slowly cook it until it eventually died. It was a very interesting documentary that stuck with me to this date.

I looked down towards the spider queen; she had completely stopped moving. However, judging by the lack of a system prompt, she isn’t dead.

I rose from my throne and started walking towards her, my children slowly dispersed to the sides of the hall, leaving me with her. Her once pale white skin was now bright pink, and she was covered head to abdomen in bruises.

<How uneventful>

I heard footsteps running towards me; it was Sally. She slowly approached me, being very wary of the spider queen

<Don’t worry. It's over, she’s unconscious. From my guess, she had some sort of heat stroke…>

She glared a bit apprehensively. < do you want me to finish the job> she said with her poisoned arm blades dropping out. I shook my head.

<No, I'll do that in time. First, however, she needs to pay back the damage she caused>

Sally looked at me, but then towards my tail. Where my tailpositer was out and ready to go.

A smile crept across her face. <Of course, mother. Can I watch?>

I shook my head.

<this is personal to me. I want her all alone.>

She frowned but didn’t argue. I signalled to Sally's group of skirmishers to take the queen back to our hive towards the special room I had azuura make just for her with the help of Penn.

<what will we do with the spider's nest?> Sally asked

<We will absorb it into our nest, and this will become part of our hive>

Sally nodded and started getting to work as I went and sat back on my throne. I watched as the hive dispersed back towards home, like nothing even happened. Maybe to my children it was nothing; however, to me this was a big step. I just conquered an enemy. For the 1^st time since walking into the forsaken world, I've done the thing I set out to do, and it feels good. Really good, actually.

Sitting here in the heart of the enemy's territory is something that I had not thought I would do, and yet here I am. Sure, the spiders were a disappointing pushover, but it has made me realise something. I have been playing this game wrong. Fucking around with criminals and trying to stay hidden is all good, but that’s not going to enable us to conquer this world. No, if I want this world bent over my lap, the best way to do that would be through force. And besides, there is another problem.

As I sit here and look at the hundreds of children I've fucked into this world, it's clear to me that eventually we will be found at this point; it is a given. So the time for quiet and stealth is over. Going forward, the strategy for survival for the alvearix will be more aggressive from now on if we want to survive no, thrive in this world. Nothing is off the table, no matter how deprived and how sick it is. If it benefits the hive, so be it. This small disagreement with the spiders was our first step. Our first step in irreversibly changing this world, and I have plans big plans, you mark my-

<Mother?>

My head snapped towards Sally. She was standing a few steps away from me, sweating like a dog. < What's wrong?>

<Nothing, it's…right now, it was like your aura changed. It feels darker now.>

<Is that so? And how did it make you feel?>

<It felt… good. I don’t know what you have planned, Mother, but. I'll follow you till the day I die.> a smirk appeared on my face

<Good because I have a mission for you.>

<Ill do anything, mother.>

<Good, here's your mission>

Meanwhile in doonvatel…

“Finally! We get to leave for this damn mission.” I yelled as the stone gates of Doonvatel raised open. I've been waiting to go on this mission for a while, but the Ashdowns have been a thorn in everybody's side. Only essential missions allowed?! I know you lost your son in that explosion, but why must all of us suffer for it?!

“Joshua!”

My mind snapped towards the guild master Ristran. He looked even more tired than usual. Unfortunately for him, he’s been having to deal with the anger of us adventurers due to the lack of missions available

“I’m listening, boss”, I replied. He glared at me before turning his attention to the other people next to me

“And are you guys listening!”

“Yep!”

“Roger”

“Let's get it over with already.”

Ristran nodded. “I'll go over the mission again. There has been a report of disappearances, and we suspect it to be goblins. Your mission is to investigate and eliminate the threat. Usually, the doonvatel public authority will send out kill teams into the forest to hunt the goblins. That isn't the case due to recent events. And only now are the Ashdowns starting to lift the lockdown on missions for adventures. You all understand that?”

We all nodded in unison.

“Good. Now introduce yourselves.”

Suddenly, an awkward air fell around us. Aint no way im going fir-

“ Fuck it, I'll start. Names Ashwin, Hunter rogue, tracking, infiltration and long-range archery. Are my speciality. If it breathes, I can find it.”

“Im gwiynn, mage. Mainly crowd control and negative effect spells. Do please look after me.”

“Gordon, Tank.”

A deafening silence fell as we waited for him to elaborate, but that was it. I like short and sweet, but that’s a bit much.

I looked away from him towards Ristran, whose eyes were staring directly at my soul

“fine…Names joshua, Spell sword, offensive magic and swordsman ship”

Ristran nodded.

“Good. A fairly well-rounded team. One other thing. If you are out there and you see a bunny demi-human, bring him or what's left of him back to me. I'll reward you personally. The demi-human's name is Thaylen.”

We all nodded.

“Good, now off you go, there is a carriage outside that is ready to take you into the forest, it’s a 3-day trip from here.”

We all nodded and started moving. Hopefully this will be an uneventful trip…