《The Swarm》


 Prologue - The Search

    Qudall, the God of Chaos, sat on his stone throne, floating around freely inside his personal dimension. All around him, as far as the eye could see, was only the vast emptiness of space. Like his name, the space was chaotic and filled with colors and strange energies. However, they all avoided Qudall, keeping their distance from him.


    ¡°Aaaah¡­ So boring!¡± Qudall said, complaining to no one particular. With an elbow on the throne¡¯s armchair, he rested his cheek on a clenched fist. His figure was quite strange. Just like his name and the space around him, his figure was also chaotic. He changed his appearance and clothes constantly, like they were not real, but instead just some kind of illusion. One moment he was a humanoid, the next he had four heads and tentacles, then he turned into a blob, only to change into a tree. It never ended. If a mortal had gazed upon this terrifying sight, they would have gone mad.


    A sighing sound came from the lone God.


    ¡°This world became boring. Such potential, but now... Not even my shapeshifting can entertain me anymore. I did not foresee this. This world peace is horrible for my entertainment. Ever since the fall of the Swarm, nothing interesting ever happens. While I did not exactly appreciate their behavior at their prime ¨C their endless slaughter and harvesting of all other living beings and all that ¨C I do kinda miss them now. Not a single Swarm member sighted since their last stronghold fell. I wonder, are they truly gone?¡± Qudall¡¯s face stabilized into a humanoid form, and this new face wore quite the telling expression ¨C sadness.


    "llo...hello¡­ Can you hear me? I am the last Queen of the Swarm, and I need your help." A sudden telepathic prayer came to Qudall. He normally ignored those things ¨C he cared little about the mortal¡¯s problems ¨C but this one sounded special...


    ¡°Hmm...what was that? Queen¡­ Queen of the Swarm?!¡± Qudall immediately sat up straight. ¡°Haha, what timing!¡± Qudall slammed down a fist onto the ancient throne, creating snake-like cracks throughout the surface.


    Grinning widely, he flew up into the air, hovering there. He closed his eyes to focus, to filter out all the countless prayers that were of no concern to him. Behind him, the throne he spent who-knows-how-long sitting on, finally succumbed to the cracks and shattered into dust, only to reform seconds later, into an exact replica ¨C like nothing ever happened.


    "Can you hear me? I am the last Queen of the Swarm, and I need your help." The prayer repeated itself.


    Qudall finally located the source of the prayer and replied: "Yes, I am here. Speak and I will listen."


    It took a few seconds until the voice, claiming to be the last Queen of the Swarm, responded again. Most likely shocked by actually getting a reply. It no longer spoke in the same monotonous tone as before, but with a voice filled with hope. "You finally answered my prayer. I had begun to lose hope. Was not even sure if these silly ''prayer'' things worked or not. Anyway, I need your help in restoring the Swarm. You are the only God I can ask for something like this."


    "Restore the Swarm, you say? Yes¡­ That might be interesting. What do you need?¡± Qudall tried hard to suppress his excitement; to act in a proper way, befitting of a God. Then again, he held the title ¡®God of Chaos¡¯. Was there even a proper way to act for someone like himself?


    "I...need a soul. One that is capable to lead and restore the Swarm to its former glory. Where or how you get it matters not, but there is only little time left until the host body is ready. Creating this body took more effort and time than I initially assumed. My Swarmlings are growing old, weaker day by day. Our numbers are dwindling. I cannot create any new larvae until this one is born. Time is running out; our very survival is at stake here! You must be swift!"


    Qudall could tell the voice was genuinely desperate. One of the many benefits of being a God and all.


    "A soul? Hmm, thought you were gonna ask for fame or fortune, or something. A pleasant surprise! Well, not like I have something better to do; the world being so peaceful and all. Will get right on it. I have high expectations from your Swarm, so will do my best to find you a suitable soul. Just make sure the vessel is ready. A soul evaporates quickly without a body. Do not disappoint me..."


    Qudall threw in a warning to make him sound more serious, more like a proper God. Qudall was, after all, the least serious of the Gods, but even he could not miss the chance to impress the, stubbornly atheist-like, Swarm.


    "No worry. You accomplish your task, and the Swarm will rise again. I guarantee it..."


    Qudall disconnected the mind link with the Queen, and began to speak to himself.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ A soul? Where will I find one to lead the Swarm? Unless I wipe its memory, but that will severely reduces its capabilities. Would be no difference from a newborn soul. No one in this world would want to lead¡­ In this world? Aha, another world! But there are so many worlds¡­ Time for a trip! No, wait. Not allowed to leave for M-¡­ Did I just screw myself?¡±


    Qudall pondered for a few minutes. He suddenly lit up and said in a slow voice, increasing in excitement with each word: ¡°I just got a brilliant idea¡­!¡±


    Qudall¡¯s stomach bulged up. It grew and grew, and the bulge moved upwards, towards the neck, and more importantly, the mouth. A normal human body would have exploded long ago, but Qudall¡¯s body extended just fine. With a vomit sound, a two meter long, thick as a leg, white snake came out.


    The snake floated in the nothingness, with no reactions, seemingly not alive. Qudall placed a hand on its head, and sent in his energy. The white snake¡¯s eyes opened, and Qudall smiled.


    ¡°This, this can work.¡±


    However, he could not wander the countless worlds as a snake. It needed his ability to transform into anything and everything. To do that, it needed his energy. The snake had no soul, and was therefore not alive. Without access to Qudall¡¯s energy, it would simply slump down and start to decay like any other corpse.


    Qudall stretched out his arms. The swirling energies in the area went berserk, trying to flee, but they were mysteriously drawn towards his fingertips. Slowly, but surely, Qudall forced his hands together. As they grew closer, the resistance increased and an actual drop of sweat fell from his forehead.


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    ¡°Me? Breaking a sweat? You¡­ STOP RESISTING, YOU BASTARDS!¡±


    With a bang, his hands clapped together. Qudall slowly opened his hands, revealing a sparkling gem. Using a fingernail, he easily created an incision in the snake''s skull, and crudely implanted the gem into the brain.


    ¡°There, that should do it.¡± Qudall carefully rattled the head of the snake, checking if the gem was stuck or not. ¡°Stay still!¡± Qudall banged the gem deeper into the brain. ¡°Uh, that looks good. Sure.¡±


    Qudall closed the wound and the snake opened its eyes. Their eyes met. ¡°So, that¡¯s what I look like now.¡± Qudall changed appearance a few more times, enjoying the strange sensation of watching himself do it.


    ¡°Right, needed to hurry. Well, off you got, snake. Change into the dominant species of the world you find.¡±


    Qudall found an odd sense of pleasure in speaking to himself. The snake flew off and Qudall sat down on his throne. ¡°Hm. Something feels off¡­ Oh well, probably nothing.¡±


    Qudall closed his eyes, observing all that the snake saw. It whirled through the void and reached a suitable world with a population in the billions. He still technically did all the work in controlling the snake, as it was not actually sentient. It was simply just more fun pretending he had a snake friend...


    A sighing sound came once more from the lone God.


    ¡°This is more trouble than I thought. No, I promised to aid the Queen! Don¡¯t get lazy yet, Qudall¡­ Well, can only check them out, one soul at a time. First¡­the planet Earth? What a boring name, but I guess most worlds got names like that if they think they are the only ones around.¡±


    ¡°A planet full of humans. No magic; instead they use technology. How foolish. Quite high population and have even visited a few nearby planets. However, seems to suffer from pollution, overpopulation and poverty in many areas. Several continents and large oceans, with countless animals in both land and water. A lot of wars in their history.¡± Qudall quickly examined the planet. Both by reading the minds of the population and their written history.


    ¡°Now to find a good match for the vessel. This one maybe¡­¡±


    ¡°Son of the leader of the most powerful country, a very high desire to lead and control. However, he only thinks about leading humans to a brighter future, so not a very good choice.¡± Qudall quickly dismissed the first candidate.


    ¡°General of the third strongest army. Joined the army at an early age and learned to follow orders. Quickly advanced in ranks, and after the death of the old general, he got offered the position, which he accepted. A well-liked general overall, but only has experience in leading humans, which is not that weird if you think about it. Hmm¡­ Maybe. Yes, a general sounds like a good idea at first, but they have followed orders and been trained for so long it might become a problem. They might lack creativity, or be too focused on the warfare. Better to just keep looking for now. No rush, no rush...¡± Qudall let out calm chuckle.


    ¡°Druglord with no problems killing for what he wants. Like him already! Leads the second largest drug cartel in the world, even built it up from the ground himself. Looking good! The Swarm has no interest in drugs or money though. Ah, seems this guy''s mind is unstable, and, ouch, he just shot one of their weak peashooters at a tiny beetle climbing on a tree¡­ Definitely not friendly to bugs. When you control countless beings with your mind, you should avoid a leader that kills just for fun. Next.¡±


    ¡°Leads the number one company in the world and is number one in wealth. A Virtual Reality MMO that over sixty percent of the population plays. A game? Hmm¡­ Are there bugs in this?" Qudall sent his mind into the people playing the game, reading their brain waves for information.


    "Yes, but as the enemy... And what good will his programming skills do him in the new world? Even basic electricity generators are not invented, and using a mage for lightning spells is not exactly a viable long-term strategy. Maybe you could hook them up and create a massive slave-mage network, but that would either require massive numbers, or willing to suck them dry, until they turn into lifeless husks. Sounds like a waste of magic to me.¡±


    Qudall quickly scanned the planet for suitable vict-, hos-...volunteers. After about thirty-three million ¡®nope¡¯, his hope began to wane.


    ¡°This is taking longer than I thought. Need a new strategy. To not just look at their accomplishments, but also their hidden potential. Ah, right; a game. Are there any bug commanding games?¡± Qudall¡¯s eyes lit up with the flames of hope once again. No, they literally lit up. Flames poured out from his eyes as he frantically scoured the world for any information.


    ¡°A few, but they all lack that real feeling and scale of controlling something like the Swarm. Anyone that played all of them? A few¡­ Most dead by now. Here is one. His desire is a proper game where you control an insect colony. Huh, this planet''s insects are quite similar to the ones back on¡­ I made fun of Earth, but now I realize my world has no name. Just for continents and countries and such. Makes little difference though, since they will never leave their world, unlike these humans.¡± Qudall chuckled to himself.


    ¡°Where was I? Oh yes, similar insects. They might look the same, but with the power of magic, the similarities are only skin deep. But this will be helpful for this person I picked. He will, at least, recognize them somewhat. Only twenty-four years old, with no notable achievements. He works in a small business, and lives alone with no living family. Good, means not many will miss him, plus he wants to rule over bugs, which is the most important thing. I think we got a winner!¡±


    Qudall decided on this person. If not, he might need to search other planets, and well, that was more effort than he cared to put in.


    ¡°However, only need his soul, not his body so¡­ Time for some fun...¡± Qudall¡¯s face changed into something diabolical; half his face splitting into a grin filled with teeth that would make even the largest sharks on Earth jealous.

 Chapter 1 - The Beginning?

    A young man in his early twenties, average build, maybe a bit skinny, with short brown hair,  stood inside his room. It was a normal room, nothing fancy. His trembling hands were clutching a wrinkly letter. If possible, his darting eyes would have already ground the ink into dust, as he read it several times each day. Every time he did, his face got covered in a huge grin. Today, like everyday, he talked with his pet, a Hercules beetle.


    ¡°I¡¯m so excited! Today, this new game called ''The Swarm'' comes out, and I won a free copy. It even includes the extremely expensive capsule! Yep, that''s right; it¡¯s a Virtual Reality MMO. My first time ever trying one out. Though, I tried searching for the game and found nothing, except some website that said it¡¯s coming out soon." He observed the beetle¡¯s reactions. Same as usual. None. He tapped the glass terrarium with a fingernail.


    "Not impressed? Well, it¡¯s about being an insect emperor or something. You know I always wanted a proper insect colony god-slash-sim game, right? This might just be the thing! You can sit on my shoulder as I play, like you normally do. Perhaps you will see some interesting female bugs, eh? Ah, wait, it''s a VR game, not a normal desktop game; you can''t enter the capsule with me. Damn. I hope you aren¡¯t too upset. Tap, tap, you even listening in there? Come out from your castle. Well, I did spend a lot of money on it, so I¡¯m glad you enjoy playing there, but I never expected you to spend all day in there¡­ I rarely see you these days.¡±


    The beetle bug reacted more to the sound of him tapping on the glass, than the talks about the interesting game.


    ¡°You just wait here; gotta go to work now. They said they would be here in the evening, so I can still go to work. None of that ''we will come between eight and four'' crap they usually pull. Still, if they come earlier, can you open the door? No? Well, worth a shot¡­ So yeah, see yah later, Hercules!¡± The man waved goodbye to the beetle, grabbed his backpack, and left, heading to work.


    Hercules watched his owner leave the room, and only then did he crawl out from the castle. He started his usual routine: ram into the barrier! While he did, angry thoughts spun in his small mind.


    ...Where else would I be? You keep me in this weird box. No matter how much I push at the strange edges, they won''t budge nor break!  Who cares about your stupid games! Every time you play those stupid games, you force me to sit on your shoulder! I can''t even sit on your head, like I want. Waste of time; you should find a good mate instead. Speaking of a mate, where is mine?! You can''t keep me here all alone! Just because you can tug your front tail whenever you want, doesn¡¯t mean I can! Yeah, that¡¯s right¡­ I can see you perfectly fine from here¡­ Why do you think I¡¯m hiding in my castle?


    Hercules, a majestic Hercules beetle, around sixteen centimeters in length, with a large horn on his head. He lived in a transparent glass box, had plenty of food and toys to play with, and even some things from his natural environment. Very pricey stuff, but hey, only the best for Hercules.


    However, even though Hercules lived in a one cubic meter large box, safe from all dangers, it was still quite small, and most definitely boring, for a creature like him. One that liked to move around a lot, go on adventures, meet pretty beetle ladies. His owner sometimes put up posters of female beetles for him, but those did more harm than good¡­ So, Hercules spent his days complaining. Not that anyone could hear him. Perhaps he spoke to himself, in an attempt to stave of some of the crippling loneliness.


    Perhaps that was the same reason his owner kept talking to the bug that could never respond back.


    ***


    Meanwhile, the man reached his job.


    The old manager heard the door open and looked up from behind his newspaper. So far, the day had been calm, not many customers. ¡°About time you showed up, boy. Get to work!¡± The old manager shouted with anger, some spittle flying onto his newspaper, making small wet marks.


    ¡°Hey, Carl, don¡¯t be so hard on him. Can¡¯t you see how he¡¯s covered in sweat and panting like our old dog? He clearly ran here as fast as he could.¡± The old lady spoke in a kind, soothing voice, and smiled gently towards their only employee.


    Carl, a man about seventy years old, still stubbornly working at his business. Not just by own free will, but also thanks to the recession. Almost everything besides VR gaming got hit hard when people realized they could have everything they wanted, in the virtual world.


    He and his wife, Agatha, has run their small corner shop together, since forty years back. He lost the hair on the top of his head a long time ago, the rest was a mix of white and grey. He used to be quite the bodybuilder when younger, using steroids like candy. After all, back in his days, the side effects were not really known. The long-term use of those, especially an experimental type he used because it was cheaper, created a change of personality, making him turn to anger more quickly.


    That change stuck, even after he stopped using them. Maybe it had to do with the fact that a big and angry muscular man got his way more often in life, than a kind and meek person did. Anyway, when Agatha spoke, his anger usually vaporized quickly enough. He lost most muscle mass with time ¨C age cannot be outrun, or out lifted in this case ¨C but for his age, he was still strong and healthy; more than enough to invoke some sense of fear in their only employee.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I know, Agatha.¡± Carl waved off the comments from his wife. ¡°You know what to do, boy.¡± He readjusted his glasses that the small fit of rage knocked off slightly. If marriage taught him one thing, it was that arguing back did not help. Best to just smile and agree.


    Agatha, a kind old lady, close to seventy years old, with white, grey short and curly hair. She wore a white buttoned flower dress. She liked to pamper their only employee with homemade cookies and knitted clothes, of course, only as long as he did his job properly.


    ¡°Hey, do you want a cookie before you start your shift? Oh, and I just finished a new pair of socks for you. Winter will be coming soon, so I¡¯m sure it will be helpful.¡± Agatha might be smiling like an angel, but her eyes would not take a ''no'' for an answer.


    Unable to say no, the man shoved two cookies in his mouth, then grabbed the socks, nodding once as thanks. He continued on towards the ''employee only'' area to get changed, eager to start his shift. As he put his clothes in the locker, he looked at the new socks he got. Pale yellow and thick. Made with great care, but unfortunately, they always made his feet itch something fierce. With a sigh, he put them in his backpack.


    Maybe if its get really cold, I can wear two pairs of socks to avoid the itchiness?


    However, Hercules needed a high temperature to survive, so Hell was more likely to freeze over than his apartment. Which did not help with the heat bills¡­


    Oh god, the bills...


    Just thinking about them made him feel sick and the two cookies in his mouth flew out on the floor. ¡°Ah, crap! Can¡¯t let her see the crumbs on the floor...¡±


    Five boring hours later, and his shift finally ended. Since he had something important to do in the evening, he quit a bit earlier. He waved good-bye to the married owners and headed back home. The young man, carrying a backpack, was so eager to get home that the brisk walk soon turned into a jog on the sidewalk. Darkness had arrived and the street lights turned on.


    ***


    Meanwhile on the road...


    A woman, behind the wheels of a blue eighteen-wheeler, exhausted after many, many hours of driving. She was almost at her destination, and within fifteen minutes or so, she could finally sleep. However, her focus wavered and her mind wandered.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    So...tired... Could probably fall asleep in a second if I closed my eyes. Nah, that can¡¯t be right; it¡¯s more likely about five seconds, or maybe even ten. No! Bad thoughts! Need to stay awake¡­ Radio? Agh, terrible music, and that one was a commercial¡­ Forget it. My phone! My savior in need! Ooooh, a new update on my favorite web novel! Hurray!


    Within seconds, she had fully immersed herself in her reading.


    ***


    Meanwhile, on the opposite side on the road...


    A middle-aged man drove a white, two-seated car. His height made it cramped and uncomfortable, with the knees regularly interfering with the steering. But, he had no choice. Why? Well, this car saved gas money!


    How is this even possible? How can I not be there yet? How much further is it? Stupid maze-like city. Would have been home thirty minutes ago if it weren¡¯t for this stupid city always changing¡­ Better check that damn map again. Hmm¡­ What?! This can¡¯t be right... I¡¯m driving in the wrong direction? Again?!


    The middle-aged man wrestled with the map inside his small car, cursing the city for the tricky roads¡­ He drove down a straight road, with only a single distant headlight on the opposite side.


    ***


    Meanwhile on the sidewalk...


    On the sidewalk, on the same road, the backpack carrying man had changed from a jog, into a sprint. His mind was fully consumed by thoughts about the new game he was about to play. The Swarm! Just the name made him tingly from toes to eyebrows. Still about thirty minutes until the delivery truck would arrive, and at the current pace he would be home at ten. However, he wanted to take a shower first, wanting to be fresh for the game, so he hurried home.


    ***


    Once again, meanwhile on the road...


    The woman in the blue truck sat with the phone shoved up in her face, a big grin on her face.


    This is really funny. Can¡¯t stop reading it! The next chapter! Refresh! Argh! Refresh! Damn. Hmm, what was I doing before reading¡­.


    ¡°OH SHIII---!!¡± She stomped down on the brakes, creating a screeching sound that definitely woke up the neighbors.


    ***


    For the last time, meanwhile on the opposite side of the road...


    Damn this map¡­ What does ''???oN'' even mean? Sigh, never should have moved here. Really liked my hometown. It was small, sure, but I could see everything, from anywhere. But this job¡­ It was just too good to pass. Greed never pays off. Wait¡­ ''???oN''? Oh god dammit, had it upside down all along! No wonder I couldn¡¯t figure it out! Kept turning the map in all kinds of directions. From now on, it will be completely different. Tomorrow, I will be like a new man! Let¡¯s see here.. Ugh, such a big map, hard to turn over with just one hand¡­


    The middle-aged man let go with both hands of the steering wheel, and tried to quickly turn the map around, but the sides kept falling over, and he fumbled for a bit.


    ¡°Success!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°Hey, I was on the right path all along¡­ Hey, what¡¯s that screeching noise?¡±


    Right in the middle of him celebrating the conquest of the map''s logic, everything suddenly went bright. He panicked, realizing something was horribly wrong, and threw the map to the side, grasping the steering wheel again.


    It was too late.


    He saw the gigantic headlights, staring him right in the eyes, almost blinding him. They belonged to a much larger vehicle than his own. His last thoughts went towards his family; the wife and daughter waiting back at the house in the beloved hometown, that he left for this job. Then, everything went black.


    ***


    Uh... One more time. Meanwhile on the sidewalk...


    A loud screeching noise, followed by what sounded almost like an explosion, woke the running man with the backpack up from his thoughts. He tripped on his feet, falling down to the ground. A burning tire flew by, right where his head used to be two seconds ago.


    ¡°Wha-what just happened? Fire?! Oh shit! Car crash! Holy shit, I almost died there! Would have sucked dying before I got to play my dream game. Or well, don¡¯t know how good it is, of course...¡± The man rambled in his slight state of shock.


    Anyone alive? Should I check? But, it¡¯s burning and in the movies cars always explode¡­ I, I better get out of here, before I get caught up in all this. Don¡¯t wanna be late for my delivery!


    The cowardly man convinced himself, and checked for any injuries. Thankfully, he was just fine, maybe a bruise or two by tomorrow. He took off in a run again, fleeing the scene with a clear conscience, eager to get away before any emergency personnel came, asking drawn-out questions.


    ***


    After getting home, he took a shower. He felt sudden hunger, and remembered he never got his lunch today, since Carl would not let him have both lunch and quit early.


    Ding!


    The thing he had waited all day for finally happened, but now he was in the middle of making a sandwich. After a moment of confusion, even thinking someone saw him at the car crash and followed him home, he finally remembered what that doorbell meant.


    ¡°Ah!" He looked down at his half-finished sandwich, shaking his head. "YEAH! I¡¯M COMING!¡± The man shouted as loud as he could. He absolutely did not want them leaving, thinking no one was home. He ran over and ripped the door open so fast that he surprised the delivery guy on the other side.


    ¡°Umm¡­ Are you Mr-¡± Was all the delivery guy managed to get out before being interrupted. He held up a clipboard with a paper attached.


    ¡°Yes! Yes! That¡¯s me! Come on in. Oooh, right, signing that thing. There, done. Come in quickly. Put it in here.¡± The man pointed at a large empty space in his living room. With no TV nor couch, he had plenty of space.


    Three men came in, carrying the large capsule. While they worked, the man watched, intrigued by the process, until the hunger made itself known to the world with a growling stomach. He returned to the forgotten sandwich, with half-melted butter and sweaty cheese. Transporting and installing the capsule took around one hour, and after that, the crew left without a word.


    ¡°Huh, they left while I ate my sandwich. Oh well, time to try it out. Can¡¯t wait. Hmm, looks like a coffin or something. And what¡¯s up with these huge metal strap things? Does it really need to be closed that securely? Never played a VRMMO before, so what do I know. Heard they are awesome and really life-like. And that¡¯s all the info I need!¡±


    The man could barely contain his excitement and rapidly clapped his fingertips together. Finally, he had enough and decided to log in and play around a bit before reading the manual. He carefully got inside the coffin capsule, which was surprisingly comfortable, and saw a button that said ''close hatch'', so he pressed it. The lid closed automatically, and those metal straps made clanking, rattling sounds as they sealed the capsule tightly. Not even a soul could escape from this containment.


    [Starting up¡­]


    [Connecting to game¡­]


    [Game starting.]


    Everything went white and he found himself in a white room. Standing there, he could see and touch his own body, and it felt just like in real life. He felt enormous joy over this, and jumped up and down, ran back and forth, even doing acrobatic things he could never do in real life. Mostly out of fear of hurting himself. But here? Even when falling on his face, bending the neck, he felt no pain! This was the most amazing thing ever. Suddenly¡­


    ¡°Welcome, I have expected you for some time. Will you lead the Swarm to victory and glory, or will you fail and be forever forgotten?¡±

 Chapter 2 - Larva?

    ¡°Welcome, I have expected your arrival for quite some time. Will you lead the Swarm to victory and glory or will you fail and be forever forgotten?¡± The mysterious voice repeated itself, since no one answered.


    ¡°Ah! Yes, yes, heard you the first time. Was just surprised and waited to see if you continued with your speech or not.¡± The man quickly said with a shrug.


    ¡°So you accept the offer. Excellent. My name is Qudall, and you will become the new leader, the Emperor of the Swarm. Before you start on your new journey, do you have any last regrets?¡±


    ¡°Regrets? What do you mean? And I¡¯m already becoming the new leader? What about the other players? You are not one of those AI''s are you? No, probably not. You the one in charge of me since I won the game? And-¡±


    The man could not stop asking questions, so Qudall interrupted him. What a handful. Qudall thought to himself.


    ¡°Ah, do not worry about the small details. Just answer my question.¡±


    The man thought hard about any ''regrets'' he would have before he started the game. He replied while scratching his head a bit awkwardly. ¡°Uh...guess I forgot to feed my beetle before jumping in the capsule. If that counts...?¡±


    ¡°That is¡­ very well. Let us begin now. I received word that the vessel is ready and waiting for you. Too bad we did not have more time to play around, but the Queen does not have the luxury to wait for our little game to finish. I will contact you again later, when you have grown some.¡±


    ¡°Vessel? Queen? Grown? Wha-....¡±


    The man did not finish his sentence. Silence filled the room and the bright lights went dark.


    ---


    Let''s turn back the time a few hours. Back inside the apartment, Hercules''s day had just begun. The same routine as always.


    Hmm, Master left for this ¡®work¡¯ again. Should I play with the leaf, the log or that stupid ball today? Eh...guess I will just sleep...


    Hercules slept soundly for several hours. He woke up by the door slamming shut.


    Oh, Master is back. Good, I¡¯m hungry.


    Hercules watched his master go back and forth in the house a few times, but never stopping at Hercules''s terrarium.


    Master didn''t feed me? Did Master forget about me? Master brought a huge box thing. Did Master think I couldn''t see the box from this room? Who are all those people? Master never brings people to our home...


    Hercules watched the delivery guys install the capsule. His master seemed unusually excited. Hercules went to gnaw on a leaf. He could eat them, but he preferred other food. He saw them more as decoration. Just like his master did not eat the drapes, Hercules did not want to eat the ''decorative'' leaves. However, Hercules started to get really hungry, so he had little choice. When Hercules returned from his small snack, the strange people were gone and his master stroked the huge capsule with both hands, eyes sparkling in excitement. His master had never looked at Hercules with those kind of eyes.


    Now Master climbs in and closed the hatch. Will I ever get my food?


    Hercules saw no signs of his master returning from the capsule. Perhaps this was the game his master kept talking about so much lately. If so, with his master''s gaming habits, it would be many hours before his master came out to feed Hercules again. But, suddenly, just as Hercules had given up all hope about getting some food, something unbelievable happened.


    Huh, someone just appeared next to the box thing. How did he get in? Where did he come from? He pushed some buttons, and now sparks are flying everywhere. Smoke? Wait...wasn¡¯t fee-, I mean, Master in there?


    Hercules focused all his mental power with one single purpose; to get the stranger''s attention. He shouted out within his mind.


    HEY! YOU! What did you do?!


    ¡°Hmm, what was that noise?¡± Qudall looked around in the small apartment. He saw the hercules beetle staring at him, the little bug eyes filled with anger.


    ¡°Can it be? Hoho, what a special little thing we got here. You managed to grab my attention. Ah, yes, guess you saw what happened. What is it? Want to come with your master to his new place?" Qudall said, then he thought to himself. Not much left for you here anyway, with no one taking care of you and all. The chosen one¡¯s last thoughts went to this little fellow, so might as well bring him too.


    Master leaving? What does he mean? Hercules''s little mind filled up with confusing thoughts. But even though Hercules complained a lot, he still liked his master, and wanted to follow his master, no matter what the destination was. Afterall, his master was the one feeding Hercules, and without a feeder Hercules would not last long. Hercules started running around in circles, to show that he gladly accepted the offer.


    ¡°Is that a ''yes''? Guess so, now let me just¡­¡± Qudall reached out with his hand, grabbing the little beetle.


    Hercules ran around in the palm, showing great excitement over being picked up like this. Hercules could perhaps get some nice food, now that he finally found one of those large beings that could understand him. Maybe ask him to set up a meeting with some nice female bugs.


    *Crunch* *Squish*


    Hercules did not even have time to realize what happened to him, before his spark of life extinguished. Instant kill.


    Qudall collected the souls from his fresh kills and left Earth. He sent the energy clone to deliver the souls to the Queen. She hid in an underground tunnel to avoid the scouts of all major races. Even the all-seeing eyes of the Gods could not locate her.


    ¡°Hm, went through all that trouble to develop and prepare that VRMMO, and he never even got a chance to play it. Oh well, stole most of the code from other games anyway.¡±


    Creating an unprecedentedly powerful game was fairly easy for someone like Qudall. Oh, how the gamers on Earth would howl in anguish if they knew what they just missed out on.


    "Now, where is the Queen hiding?" Qudall looked through the eyes of his clone, but did not see anything resembling the architecture of the Swarm, nor any actual members.


    Qudall reached out mentally to the Queen, through the signature left by the prayer. He did indeed save it. Never know when one might need to talk to a Queen of the Swarm again.


    Queen of the Swarm. Can you hear me? This is Qudall. I got what you wanted, plus a small bonus that might be helpful for your new leader.


    About time. The wildlife is fierce around here, and with no way to replace our losses... Needless to say, it has not been easy. Just send the soul into the larva I¡¯m preparing now. What kind of mighty creature did you get the soul from, and what is this bonus you speak of?


    Sending it now¡­ Done. The bonus is a friendly face for your leader. He will need some time to adjust to his new... lifestyle. This might help him adjust more quickly. You see, in his former life, he was a human.


    Human?! Will he still be capable to lead? You know one of our main enemies are humans.


    Do not worry. Besides, humans fight humans all the time. He even comes from an all human planet, filled with a history of wars. I am sending the other smaller soul now. There, implanted into one of your unborn larvae. Take care of them. Need to leave now, or the other Gods might discover what is happening, and they will not treat you as friendly as myself.


    Qudall cut the mind link to the Queen. He then destroyed the clone, not leaving a single trace behind for the other Gods to track. He opened his eyes, sitting on his stone throne, floating freely in space. His own personal dimension trembled in excitement, and the various energies swirling around sped up, swimming in circles around him. Qudall, the God of Chaos, laughed loudly. The sound of a thousand voices laughing at once. A laugh that could melt the brain of a mere mortal. Finally! Finally, interesting things were going to happen again.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Qudall waved a tentacle out, a large circular image appeared. When his tentacle returned to his body, it was already a metal sword. The image showed the world under him and he zoomed in on the Queen. While she hid underground, he could observe the area and the world-changing events that would occur in the near future.


    ---


    The Queen looked down on her newborn larva. With about twice the size of the usual larva, it looked fitting, worthy of being the vessel of the new leader of the Swarm. The larva began to wriggle, showing signs of life.


    It worked. It¡¯s alive now. I can finally start to produce our much-needed reinforcements again. We survived this harsh period, now we will begin to pave our road of revenge, using the blood and bones of our enemies. The Queen thought to herself. A faint smile appeared on her rigid face, almost undetectable thanks to the exoskeleton.


    She shook her head and focused on her main task. Her unique task, only she in the whole world could do this; the never-ending larvae production to refill the limitless ranks of the Swarm. With the completed delegation of the leadership of the Swarm completed, her burden was now removed, and she could now set her mind at ease and let herself be immersed in her breeding cycles.


    ---


    Where am I? It¡¯s so dark, feels like I¡¯m floating. Not in the air, but like underwater. All I remember is going inside the capsule. Ah, still in it, I guess. How silly of me. Ooo, can move my body now. Did the loading complete?


    The larva wriggled more and more. A crack in the thin surrounding, protective membrane allowed the larva to get out, breathing the first breath of fresh air. The larva crawled on the dirt, getting used to moving.


    Yes! Made it. I¡¯m out. Aww, still can¡¯t see anything, but I can feel the ground. Uff¡­ think I just head butted the ground. Wha-- who is touching me? Wait, let go of me! Put me down¡­ Nooo¡­


    The Queen''s personal Helpers picked up the newborn larva. Their task; to carry the larva to the feeding ground. Their entire lives consisted of taking care of the newborn larvae, until they are big enough to move around on their own. The Helpers, they do so happily, because they know without them, the Swarm would inevitably fall. Sadly, everyone else in the Swarm does not share that opinion.


    Th-they finally stopped. Phew, what a shock. Waah, I¡¯m falling! Okay, not a very long drop. And my body feels soft and bloated, so don¡¯t think I take much fall damage anyway.


    What¡¯s this smell? Smells delicious. Need to move closer to it. Ugh...ugh¡­.crawling is hard for some reason. Ah, this feeling? Munch... munch... What a wonderful taste! Such taste sensitivity. Feel flavors I never felt before. How is this possible? Apart from this awkwardly blind tutorial stage, this game is truly amazing. Are the other Virtual Reality games like this?


    The eating lasted three long hours. The Helpers that stayed to watch felt true terror, all the way to their bones. When the larva burped and rolled over, looking satisfied, the Helpers breathed out a sigh of relief. This larva just ate enough food for twenty average larvae.


    The carcass they gave the larva to munch on, got eaten all the way to the bones on many places. All food was carefully rationed, only enough to keep them alive. That hunk of meat was mind numbingly calculated to last a much longer period of time, because the lack of reinforcements prevented the hunters to go out on a proper hunting spree, and the colony was currently in a food crisis. Soon they would have to resort to...


    Puah..! Only bones left now, I think. What did I just eat? An entire elephant or something, haha. Can¡¯t move¡­ hm, need a new tactic. Let¡¯s try rolling. Ah, yes, it works quite well. Ooo, something picked me up again. For some reason, it goes a lot slower this time.


    The Helpers had never seen such a big larva before, and they struggled greatly under its weight. They carried the larva to the sleeping hall, so it could rest in peace. No, not that kind of ¡®rest in peace¡¯. Only the cringe inducing sounds of crackling and popping exoskeleton could be heard as they walked.


    When the Helpers reached their destination, they immediately collapsed dead on the ground. They obviously had no more control over the larva they carried, so it dropped on the ground, starting to roll across the room.


    With an age far past the usual retirement age, plus harsh food rations, it caused them to weaken severely. Combine that with the extremely heavy load on their frail bodies, it was a recipe for disaster. However, these mindless drones lived for one thing, and one thing only; for the larvae! They pushed forth with pure willpower, refusing to fall before their destination, even as their exoskeleton cracked and organs ruptured.


    Wowowow-- What¡­.is¡­.going¡­.on?! Ugh! Finally stopped spinning. Sheesh, put me down more gently next time. Feel pretty tired now¡­ going to sle-..... zzzzzz.


    When the young larva woke up, its body had changed drastically. It had grown in length, about one-third longer than before. Slimmed down in thickness, thanks to burning all that fat to fuel the transformation. Grown two small, black horns on the front head. But most importantly, the larva now had three pair of thin legs. The larva got up, standing up with little trouble, a sign that the mind and body had fused somewhat already. It slowly opened its, never before opened, black and round small eyes.


    Yawn.. that was a good sleep. Oh, holy shit! I can see now! What is going on? I got night vision goggles on? Looks like I¡¯m inside a cave or something. Hmm, what are these walls made of?


    The larva walked up one of the walls. He looked closely at them, trying to determine the material, when suddenly he felt something hitting the wall.


    Hmm, is this dirt? Let me see closer¡­ uuf. What just happened?


    He did the same movement again, with same results. After a few seconds, he realized what was going on.


    I got HORNS?! Wait, I got legs too?! Wait, what am I? When did this happen? How?


    The larva twisted his head around, with great effort, trying to see his body. What he saw shocked him greatly.


    So many legs¡­ three pair of thin legs. Looks like insect legs? Oh yes, that¡¯s right. The game is about insects. So that means I¡¯m underground, inside the nest. This place must be pretty big, with such a high ceiling, and considering how much they carried me around yesterday. Hmm.. there are others sleeping here? Must been tired, looks like they fell asleep as soon as they stepped inside. Well, not my problem.


    Time to explore this place, maybe I can get some quests. Also, I¡¯m hungry again. Hope they got another of those elephants, heh. Though, I felt some fur around it, so it¡¯s most likely something else.


    The young larva went out into the tunnels, leaving the other ¡®sleeping¡¯ Helpers alone.

 Chapter 3 - Outside!

    Where is everyone? Aren¡¯t places like these normally teeming with life? Other than those three sleeping back in that room, I haven¡¯t spotted any-... ah, there is someone. Looks like more of those guys. They seem to carry something in their¡­ things on the head.


    What are they called? Mandibles, or maybe in this case, more like horns. They are clearly not for eating nor fighting. Unlike my horns, pointy and quite sharp, judging by how easy I can stick them into the walls, these are longer and smooth with a slight curve. Maybe designed to scoop up the larvae from the ground?


    Ah, those guys were the ones carrying me? But these larvae are so small? Or am I just big? Guess I¡¯m some kind of higher class, and those might be workers. Best to follow them, might take me to the feeding ground.


    He walked unseen behind the group of a dozen or so Helpers. The Helpers looked extremely busy with transporting the new larvae, now that the Queen could finally create more. This gave him time to study their bodies some more.


    The Helpers walked with three pair of thin legs, similar to his own.


    On their ''foreheads'' were two huge, completely oversized compared to the rest of the body, horns with a smooth flat surface and a slightly upwards curved shape.


    Under the horns were two small antennas, that bobbed up and down as they walked. Sometimes the antennas moved in weird patterns, possibly used for communication between each other.


    They saw the world with two dark eyes, or rather, the eyes were compound eyes, numerous tiny lenses attached together. He guessed his eyes were the same, but since he did not have a mirror, it was impossible to confirm.


    Their mouths were very different from his own, they had a small tube sticking out, with something like tiny lips at the end, that opened and closed randomly. Very bizarre, just what did they eat with a mouth like that?


    The actual body looked like an ant, with the three major parts. The head, which was just described in fairly big detail. Mesosoma, the middle part that the legs were attached to. The metasoma, the last plump part, the posterior, the butt, to make it easy to understand. The whole body was completely covered in a red-brown chitin exoskeleton.


    It took two of these Helpers to carry one larva, since the Helpers were much smaller than the larvae. Unlike before, when three Helpers died of over exertion, two Helpers could carry these larvae without suffering too much.


    Seems I was right. The feeding ground, but¡­ was it always this crowded?


    Dozens of white larvae wriggled around inside the very primitive underground dirt cave. They were the basic form, blind and unable to move around by themselves. If one looked really closely at them, one could faintly see their insides through their skin, but as they grew, their skin would grow thicker and that semi-transparent state would disappear.


    A new sort of creatures walked around, feeding the hungry larvae through a tube.


    The new creature looked similar to the Helpers, but with a few key differences. No horns for one, and the legs were a bit thicker. It also had a tube like mouth, but it was much longer, about half the length of the actual body. However, under that tube was another mouth. Did this creature have two mouths? The second mouth seemed a lot more practical, being capable of easily biting off and chewing solid food, thanks to having real teeth.


    The biggest difference was the size, though. With an impressive size of around ten times bigger than the Helpers, they walked around like giants amongst the larvae and Helpers. This feat was mainly thanks to the huge, inflatable, stretchable, transparent and very durable balloon-like food storage sac placed on the back. The creature looked like it walked around with a huge sack on the back. With an even redder color than the Helpers, it was just like Santa, giving out gifts to the young from the sack on the back.


    Its purpose was to feed the lower class larvae through trophallaxis, giving them liquid food through its long tube. Mouth to mouth. Thanks to that, it could quickly feed two or three nearby larvae, squirting the liquid down their throats, without even moving. Their names, just like the Helpers, were simple and easy to understand. Feeders.


    Huh, that looks interesting. I wanna try it. He walked over to one of the Feeders and opened his mouth.


    The Feeder stared at this new gigantic half-evolved larva for a few seconds before agreeing.


    Say aaaahhh¡­.! Hehe, that was pretty tasteless. Think I prefer my old feeding method. Eating straight from the source. Hmmm, what is that room back there?


    While he observed the feeding process, and as he got fed himself, he saw deflated Feeders going in, and almost bursting Feeders coming out.


    Must be where they refill.


    He snuck towards it, sticking close to the walls, trying to remain unseen. However, a giant larva, three times the normal size, with legs and horns was not very stealthy.


    Ugh¡­ they are all watching me, but they are not stopping me, it seems.


    When he entered the room, a wonderful sight greeted him. A small mountain of plants and corpses.


    Dinner is served.


    Four hours later, the vast majority of the mountain of food had mysteriously vanished. In just a few hours, seventy percent of the total food storage in the colony was gone. Now the colony was truly in a tight spot. To make things worse, it would still take a couple of days for the vast majority of the larvae to grow up into workers. And the faster they grew, the weaker they would be, and thereby less useful in gathering food in the first place.


    Ah, now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about. Some of them were kinda crunchy, but my ''jaws'' were stronger than I thought. The extremely bloated larva lying unmoving on the ground, thought to himself.


    Okay, time to go back. Here we goooo¡­.. uff. I... I can¡¯t move. Umm...HELP!


    He could only wriggle like a dead fish. Only his bottom part and his top part could raise a bit from the ground, but the middle had even sunk down a bit into the ground, thanks to all his wriggling.


    He helplessly looked at the nearby Feeder, busy picking through the leftovers. Their eyes met, and after a few seconds it seemed like the Feeder rolled its eyes. It exited the room.


    Did it understand me? Was it angry I ate all the food? Ah, it¡¯s back, and it brought more Helpers. Hurray!


    The Feeder brought six Helpers, who all stopped in their tracks when they spotted the target. After a few seconds of hesitation and life flashing before their eyes, they slowly walked towards the fat larva. With a, literally, backbreaking amount of effort, they finally managed to lift the larva up from the ground, and they walked away with unsteady legs.


    Yes! This is the best way to travel. I¡¯m just gonna rest my eyes for a few seconds....Zzzzz...


    The larva took a nap as the Helpers''s exoskeletons cracked more and more, but they did not falter. The Helpers would do their job. No matter the cost.


    Wooowowowo- What¡¯s... Not¡­ Again¡­ Phew¡­. Managed to stop myself with my legs. Damn, what¡¯s their problem? Can¡¯t they just put my down gently for once? Hmph.


    The larva looked around, slowly recovering from the dizziness of rolling around so suddenly.


    Hah! Now they are just sleeping again. So lazy. Those other guys are still here. It¡¯s a whole group of Helpers sleeping together. Well, going back to sle-....Zzzzz¡­


    Yawn¡­ feel really refreshed now. And as usual, those lazy guys are still sleeping. Huh, did they shrink...? No, not them, it¡¯s me. Hehe, I look different now. I¡¯m no longer that creepy half transparent white color, and my body seems to have gotten a lot harder. Either that, or the walls got weaker, hehe. Is that a shell? Damn, this neck is useless. Really need a mirror.


    The larva rubbed his body against the walls, testing his new strength and durability. He even charged the wall once, but after his horns got deeply stuck in the dirt, he swore to never repeat that again. Besides, ramming the walls while underground is a bad idea no matter what.


    What should I do now? Should I log out? How do you log out? I don¡¯t even know what time it is. How long have I been playing now? What is my level and status?


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Still haven¡¯t seen any other players. Maybe we each get a small colony.


    Kinda annoying that no one is talking, though. For two in-game days, all I have done is talking to myself in my head. At least I¡¯m getting better at it. If that''s a good thing or not, I don¡¯t know. I even miss Hercules. Think I forgot to feed him.


    Well let¡¯s try: LOG OUT! Nothing¡­ STATUS!


    ¡­


    Do I need a mouth for this? I mean talking out loud. That''s very possible. I grow after eating and sleeping, so I should be out of larva state soon enough, and then maybe I get a mouth capable of speech? Time for food then.


    Man, these guys¡­ Looking closely at them, they are not even moving. At all.


    He looked at them for about one minute before poking them with his horns.


    No reaction. Are they dead? Why are there corpses in my private sleeping quarters? Ah, how foolish of me. They are my food. Just like chocolate on the pillow. Instead I get Helper corpses. How kind of them. Feel like I have seen some of these before though¡­ Ah, what am I thinking? Haha, they all look the same!


    A crunching and slurping sound could soon be heard from the royal sleeping chambers.


    Well, that must have been designed for someone smaller than me, because it didn¡¯t help very much. Guess that is just like the chocolate on the pillow. A small snack.


    Time to explore more of this place. Have only seen two rooms, and one of those is my own. Kinda odd that I get this huge room for myself, though. Considering how crowded that¡­ mess hall was, you¡¯d think that I would get some company here. But then again, since they only have to dig out a new area to live, they can expand with no cost. It''s not like they must build a new apartment complex to house the next generation.


    As he walked through the tunnel, he arrived at a fork in the road. Last time, he went right, and that led him to the ''mess hall''. This time he took the left tunnel. The walk was just as empty as before, until he finally reached a new room.


    Hoho, this is where the others sleep. Rows upon rows on larvae with Helpers going back and forth. Looks like some of them are slightly different from the others. Some got much larger mandibles, some even got horns. Not much I can do or eat here though¡­ Unless¡­ No, I don¡¯t want to eat babies. They might get slightly upset if I do that. Maybe if I get really hungry...


    He left the sleeping area and continued down the tunnel. He passed many empty rooms on the way.


    Huh, what¡¯s up with all the empty rooms? Future expansions? Or other private sleeping quarters maybe?


    What the larva did not know, was that those rooms used to be inhabited.


    Ooh, something important is here, lots of traffic.


    He reached an open area, with dozens of Helpers walking around. Many carried larvae as they walked past him, not paying him any attention. He did not cause trouble for them either, he stuck to the sides, getting out of their way. He did not want to cause an accident that killed some babies.


    Holy shit! A gigantic monster!


    Ah no, that¡¯s most likely our Queen, judging by the amount of Helpers that keeps picking up larvae from behind her. Not to mention the amount of Guards around. Huh, what are the Helpers doing? They are eating something? Oh, they are eating that membrane that the larvae lives in. Huh, guess that is their reward for taking care of them.


    The Helpers used their tube mouth and lips to munch on the soft membrane. It was, in fact, their only available food in the Swarm. If they did not take care of larvae, they could not eat. However, thanks to the unusual circumstances, the Queen not being able to produce larvae and all, they were thankfully allowed to eat some liquid food from the Feeders.


    She spotted me!


    "Ah, you have grown a lot. Though, I have received reports that someone ate our food stockpiles dry. Know anything about that?"


    Wha?! Who?! Oh you. That surprised me. Telepathy, huh. Can I do that too? Can you hear me now? Hello¡­?


    "Oh right, I forgot. You most likely cannot respond yet. And your pheromones needs a lot of work, since you weren¡¯t born with the instincts to use it. No matter, just listen for now. I will tell you what you need to do."


    "Follow the squad of Guards and Workers that goes out to hunt for some easy food. Avoid fighting battles you can¡¯t win for now, since we are still quite low in numbers. Do not get yourself killed. You understand? Even if the whole squad must die to cover your retreat, you must never stop running."


    Not get myself killed. Sacrifice the grunts to cover my retreat. Got it. No problems. Would have done it even without you telling me.


    "I¡¯ll tell you some more things you need to know when you get back, but for now, just go out and see the world you now live in."


    Okay? Where are Hunters? Are they Hunters or Guards? There is a difference? Something tells me there is. Not sure why, but I can instantly tell what they are called. Those guys? Ah, they are leaving. Better follow them for now.


    He followed them through the colony''s tunnels. Reaching the light in the end of the tunnel did not take as long as he thought it would. He now saw light for the first time since he was born.


    This is, this is¡­ Ugh, can¡¯t see, haha. Getting better now. Wooow¡­


    As his eyes adjusted, an amazing view spread out before him. The scale was... off the scale. The game got more and more impressive each day. First day, he experienced an amazing taste, the kind his taste buds never tasted before. Second day, he experienced the amazing feeling of moving around with a completely different body. Third day, he saw this amazing view. Endless draw distance, as far as his eye could see, unlimited frames per second. The world just looked so alive.


    The wind giving him his first taste of cold, making him shiver in delight. The countless new smells, completely overwhelming his mind. The sounds were, well, they were not that special actually. Sound was the easiest to replicate after all. The temperature change from standing in the sun, making him feel all warm and fuzzy on the surface of his body. He felt this from the moment he was born, but it deserves to get another mention, the absolute real sense of touch was just like real life. The dirt physic acted just as he would expect when he stepped on it.


    Never seen such trees before. At least ten meters high, I¡¯m guessing. Completely green with no branches or leaves. Very odd. And that guy cutting one down with his mandibles. Oh, it fell quickly. Holy shit! He just dragged it all by himself.


    He just stood there in shock, as he watched several other workers each drag back a tree into the hole.


    Well, can they, can I. Let¡¯s see here¡­. Tastes like¡­ Hm¡­ Feel like I recognize this taste and smell from somewhere, but can''t place it. Ooo, it fell! That was easier than I thought. Hey, I can move it too. Haha, they must be pretty light. And I was so impressed at first. It''s like lifting a meter sized sponge, super light, even though it looks big. They are very thin, so it¡¯s lighter than it looks. Um, where should I put this. Ah, let¡¯s just dump it at the entrance, someone else will pick it up.


    Let¡¯s hunt something alive. Any birds or other bugs maybe?


    This place is huge. Even just the gravels on the ground are the same size as my feet. Not to mention, the numerous huge boulders that are everywhere.


    What are the Guards doing now? They look like they are more into the killing type of hunting.  Not just killing trees. Hmm, they seem to just guard the area. Honestly not sure what I expected. They keep looking into the sky. Hmm, is that clouds? Looks like something high up in the sky blocks most of the sun. Seems like there are some huge, tall mountains all around us too. Very weird-looking mountains, but it¡¯s a game so I guess they can look however they want.


    I wanna find some sturdier tree and climb up, so I can see the area better. Ah, there is one.


    He walked up to the absolute humongous tree he decided on, but just stared at it for about a minute.


    I have no idea how to climb with this body! It¡¯s so stiff and heavy. Let¡¯s go back. Hmm¡­ where did the Guards go?


    Suddenly, a large shadow passed over him.

 Chapter 4 - The Emperor

    The Guards had spotted the flying threat a while ago, quickly retreating back into the hole. But since he could not recognize the pheromones they used, he was unaware of the danger. However, he noticed that the sunlight flickered in an odd way, which caused him to look up.


    Wha! What is that?! A dragon?! Shit! Stupid Guards didn¡¯t warn me! Did it see me? I¡¯m an easy target just standing here, but there is nowhere to hide, and I won''t make it back to the hole.


    He grew more and more desperate, as the shadow circling above him slowly increased in size. He started to dig a small hole to hide in. However, it only took a few seconds before he realized it was utterly useless. His sharp, thin legs merely shuffled the smaller gravel around. He could not make any progress into the actual dirt.


    Shit! Stupid legs can¡¯t grab hold of anything. Maybe if I stand completely still, it won¡¯t see me? Like those T-rexes in those dinosaur movies.


    The big flying creature landed on the ground a short distance away, making the gravel shoot out in all directions. It stood still, and then turned its head in his direction. The two''s gazes met in mid-air, and the half evolved larva felt an increased amount of fear.


    Ugh¡­ don¡¯t think this is working¡­ but I already went down this route, so can¡¯t give up yet. Damn, this thing is huge. At least, ten times bigger than me. Just the beak is about my size. Wait, beak? Ah yes, it¡¯s more like a bird. So no dragon¡­ That doesn¡¯t change anything really. I¡¯m still screwed. Might be worse, birds like larvae...


    This mysterious giant flying bird creature was completely black, only with different shades of black. Black feathers, shining in the direct sunlight. A sharp black beak, capable of stabbing and crushing the scared larva with no problems. Black piercing eyes that gave the impression that it could see everything around it. Two black feathered wings folded to the body, giving it an impressive look when unfolded and especially when flying high up in the air. For the small ground living creatures in the area, those two wings in the sky were the signs of the reaper coming to claim their lives. The typical bird feet, that scattered gravel all around when it landed, were also black. The bird began its slow walk towards the juicy prey in its sight.


    Can it see me or not?


    Ah¡­ it¡¯s right next to me now, looking straight at me. This is it¡­ Guess I will just respawn back at base. Wonder if I must restart as the basic larva form, since I haven¡¯t fully completed this stage yet.


    He closed his eyes, awaiting his death. He waited and waited.


    What''s taking so long?


    His curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly opened the eyes again, taking a peek. He saw something completely unexpected.


    The bird creature was no longer right next him, but inside the mouth of an even more gigantic creature. It had four legs, ending in paws with big claws on. A long fairly thin tail moved around behind it. The four-legged creature''s fur was a mix of patches of black and white, covering the whole body. Its eyes were even larger than the bird''s, and it gave an even more profound expression of being all-seeing. Currently, the four-legged monstrosity was busy with trying to bite off the head of the bird creature.


    This, this is¡­ I can¡¯t believe it. I¡¯m saved! No wait, not safe until I¡¯m back underground. Better run before that monster notices me.


    Not even ten steps later, he felt vibrations through the ground. Small gravel and other tiny things on the ground moved around from the tremors. Every second the vibrations increased in power. He realized this was the sound of something heavy, very heavy, moving towards him at extreme speed.


    Whaaa-... What is going on?! This is getting ridiculous. How many things are going to show up?


    He quickly hid behind a boulder, three times his size. He waited in silence, barely daring to breathe. Though, since he could not talk, nor even scream, it was not hard to remain silent. The vibrations were now very violent, making his body shake for each wave.


    Suddenly, coming out from behind those tall mountains, that seemed to stretch up into the sky, was the largest living thing he had ever seen.


    It walked on two legs, ending in black shiny looking feet. Those feet just crushed the ground beneath them, not caring about any sharp rocks or trees. Something blue swirled around its legs when it walked. Very bizarre. Some kind of mane perhaps? Or extremely dense fur? The larva did not know.


    The two-legged giant quickly walked up to the four-legged beast. It bent down to pick up the four-legged beast from the ground, causing humongously long black hair to fly over from the back, covering the face. After it stood up straight again, it grabbed the bird creature from the four-legged beast, with two pincer like objects, and threw the bird creature on the ground. Terrifyingly enough, it looked like it had several more of those pincer like objects. Then the two-legged giant just turned around, walking back the same way it came, not paying any attention to the little larva, trembling in fear on the ground.


    Good god¡­ What is up with this crazy food chain?! What was that? A Titan? Haha, probably not. Couldn¡¯t see what was above the waist, but I¡¯m sure it was something terrifying.


    After taking a minute to process the shocking chain of events, he noticed the bird creature lying dead on the ground. He looked in all directions, making sure there was not another creature laying in wait, before slowly sneaking up towards it.


    This can feed our colony for a while. No way I can move it by myself though, and can¡¯t communicate with the others, for some reason, so can¡¯t get any help.


    The larva pondered his options for a while. Honestly, there was only one thing to do.


    Well¡­ let¡¯s give it a taste first, hehe. Probably can¡¯t get through the feather armor so...


    He climbed up on the out stretched wing, moving up to the torso. He looked down on the ground, swallowing once in fear. Falling down from here would hurt. Or would it? His body was after all very soft. Unless he landed on his thin feet, he might be perfectly fine. He shook his head, not point in thinking like that now. He had a feast to attend.


    The larva walked over to the open neck, where the head used to sit, before the four-legged monster removed it by force. He looked down at the bloody opening and swallowed once more, but this time, not in fear, but in excitement. It just looked so delicious. He lowered his head, pushing his face into the red meat. It was still warm. The munching began.


    ---


    The Guard Captain''s POV


    Another day, another hunt. I¡¯m getting too old for this. How much longer until the replacements are fully grown?


    The Guard Captain gathered his troops, once more going out to gather supply. It was just as dangerous every time. But, the Queen''s orders were absolute. She wanted food, and by the Swarm, she would get food. Suddenly, he saw something... odd moving towards their group.


    Hmm¡­ what is that thing? Is it a larva or not? And why is it coming with us? It looks half developed. Damn, are we so understaffed that we must rely on things like that? Will be good enough for a meat shield, I guess. Better that thing dying than one of my Guards.


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    They send a dozen Guards, a dozen Workers and some kind of newborn to gather supplies. Not a single proper Hunter nor Gatherer. How the mighty has fallen. But I heard that the Queen successfully created the new Emperor. Haven¡¯t seen him yet, though. But I¡¯m sure he is extremely large, powerful and have a terrifying look. Soon, it will be our time to shine. Once again.


    The Guard Captain sent the pheromone command for ''Move out!''. Once they reached the surface, he and his Guard squad took positions to watch the skies and the foraging area for any threats. The Workers knew they had little time to gather supplies so they immediately got to work gathering biomass for the Feeders.


    The Guard Captain looked just like the other Guards, only bigger and smarter. He could make more individual choices, something the other Guards could not. They only followed order, and had very little imagination. On the surface, his body was similar to an ant, but only on the surface. After all, he was a member of the Swarm. On his face were two huge mandibles, designed purely for combat. His exoskeleton was strong and thick, capable of resisting many attacks.


    The Workers looked similar, but with smaller bodies and mandibles. Their strength was around the same level as the Guards, since their task often involved hauling things, but their exoskeleton was a lot weaker.


    The Guard Captain surveyed the area but did not find any threats. He looked over at the larva at the entrance. He could only shake his head.


    What is that newbie doing? Ah, it¡¯s his first time out, I guess. Seems like he got the idea now, by watching the other Workers. Quick learner. Wha? He just left the biomass by the hole. Sheesh. Now what? Why is he just staring at that plant?


    The Guard Captain, a veteran, long past the normal retirement age. Life was extra dangerous for this colony, so all the Guards were experts at their job. The ones with less aptitude died a long time ago. So, he stopped watching the interesting larva, and did a new sweep of the area.


    Huh?! What is that?! En... Enemy in the sky!


    The Guard Captain immediately sent the pheromone command for ''RETREAT!''. His command caused everyone to drop what they were doing, quickly running back inside the nest. The newbie did not move, he simply kept staring at the plant.


    Idiot! Well, suit yourself then. Cover our retreat. Distract the enemy with your juicy body. The Guard Captain turned and ran home himself, and once inside, he checked if everyone was present.


    Good! All made it back home. Well, except for one. But some losses are acceptable. Time to report to the Queen.


    The Guard Captain walked over to the Queen and lowered his head as he spoke.


    "My Queen! Enemy sighted in the skies caused us to abort the mission early. We managed to gather enough biomass to last us through the day, though."


    "Better than nothing, I guess. Any casualty?"


    "No casualties. No wait, one casualty, I guess. The newbie didn¡¯t follow the retreat command and just stood there like an idiot."


    "You! You idiot! That was your new Emperor! He has yet to evolve his pheromone sensors, so he cannot understand any of those orders. Get back there at once! Bring him back! No matter the cost!"


    The sudden outburst surprised the Guard Captain. Even though he heard the words ''the Emperor'', he did not really believe that the newbie was THE ''the Emperor''. Therefore, he tried to convince the Queen otherwise.


    "But, but my Queen! We have fought that enemy many times already, and we have been utterly defeated every time. Nothing can survive out there alone with it."


    "YOU DARE QUESTION MY ORDERS!?"


    The roaring voice in his head made the Guard Captain immediately shrink back in fear.


    "Nn, no¡­ I just. I will leave at once."


    The Guard Captain ran back to his squad. They were thankfully still resting by the entrance. Having to hunt them all down again would be a pain, and waste of the little amount of time they had. Every second counted. The Guard Captain gave the command for ''Emergency rescue operation!'', which caused them all to quickly get into position. The Guard Captain led the charge out, rushing as fast as he could. His six legs tapped on the ground in record speed, causing his squad to fall behind a bit.


    I can¡¯t believe it. THAT was the Emperor. Guess it¡¯s quite impressive to go out for a hunt while still not being fully developed. But I¡¯m still kinda disappointed. We sacrificed so much to create him, and that was what he looked like. No, all that matters now is that he is still alive. If he grew that much in so little time, his potential must be unlimited. We must save him!


    The Guard Captain and the squad quickly spread out to search for the newbie, no, the Emperor. However, it did not take long to find him. Standing on top of the flying monster, responsible for killing dozens and dozens of his men, was a plump larva, with two small horns on his head and six thin legs sticking out from his body; none other than the Emperor himself.


    Not only was the Emperor completely safe, he was busy feeding on the headless monster. No, feeding was not the right word. He was gorging himself, eating without any restraints or paying any attention to his surroundings. Such a majestic behavior and aura could only come from the Emperor.


    Im- Impossible! That was the only thing that went through the Guard Captain''s mind.


    The Guard Captain and his men surrounded the bird to get the Emperor''s attention, since pheromones didn¡¯t work.


    How can this be? This half developed newbie, is not only the Emperor, he also killed one of the greatest threats to our colony. But the scariest part is how little time it took. After being born around two or three days ago, being outside for less than ten minutes, he is already defeating everything he comes across. Something the army has tried to do for weeks.


    Ah yes¡­ for the first time I feel hope. Hope that the Swarm CAN be restored to its former glory. It was not a mistake to place our bets on a new Emperor.


    For about thirty minutes, the Guards simply watched the Emperor feast on his own kill, completely awestruck by his glory and might, before realizing that this place was not safe. They should probably get back inside. Even if they had no doubt that the Emperor would be fine, they were not so sure about their own little lives.


    They did not dare to disturb the eating Emperor, so they used all the power they could muster to lift up the monster bird and carried it back home. A surprisingly large amount of power, only possible thanks to the moral boost from the Emperor''s presence. Their strong exoskeleton allowed them to reach their nest without being crushed by the weight. If they had been mere Workers instead, their fates would have been the same as those Helpers from before.

 Chapter 5 - Guard Captain

    When the Guards reached the nest entrance, they realized something. The bird was too big for the hole.


    The Workers had made it smaller to avoid discovery, so it could be expanded fairly easy again. But that would take time. Time spent on the outside was always risky. Now they had a huge corpse right outside of their nest that might attract unwanted attention. They had to do some quick brainstorming.


    The first idea was to simply cut the corpse into smaller pieces, but they soon realized just how foolish that idea actually was. Cutting through the feathers was next to impossible for them, not to mention how angry the Emperor would be if they did that to his kill.


    The second idea was to ask the Emperor for help, since he obviously could bite through the, impossibly tough, feather armor. But once again, the Emperor might get angry for them even thinking about cutting his kill to pieces. Even worse, was that the Emperor had done something the army had tried to do for a long time, and their pride would not allow asking him for more help. Their mission was to transport him and his kill safely back inside the nest. Obviously, the Guard that suggested that idea got executed on the spot.


    While eating their newly acquired snack, they tried to think up a third idea, but came up empty. For some reason, the Guard''s ability to think outside the box had suddenly diminished a great deal, and the Guard Captain was forced to call for workers to immediately expand the entrance.


    After about twenty minutes of frantic digging, they could finally squeeze the bird inside. Thankfully, the inside tunnels were larger, and it could be moved easily once they got inside.


    They proudly presented it to the Queen, who was very surprised when she saw them coming.


    Guard Captain''s POV


    Th- this is extremely heavy. Still have no idea how he brought down such a big creature alone.


    A black bird floated across the ground, moving in a snake-like pattern. This was not by choice, but because the Guards could not fully control the weight and wobbled back and forth.


    Ah, I can see the nest. Finally, we are home. Hmm, what is going on?


    The black bird kept bouncing against the small hole in the ground.


    You must be joking¡­ It won''t fit! What to do? Expanding the hole will take too long and every second outside is a huge risk. Thankfully we, ur¡­ I mean, the Emperor killed the biggest threat. The bird had his nest right above ours, always watching us. He knew he could eat his fill every time we came out. No, there must be another way!


    The Guard Captain sent the command for ''Figure out a way to bring it inside'' to his men. He himself waited and rested a bit. He already felt immense hunger from all this exertion and being so close to such a delicious meal made the hunger a lot worse. He could also hear the ferocious eating that went on inside the body, taunting his stomach even more.


    One of the Guards came up to the resting Guard Captain, talking in the very basic pheromone language the lower class used. ¡°Simple. Cut. Corpse. Pieces.¡± However, being able to speak at all, meant that this Guard was one of the more intelligent members of the lower class, currently in the Swarm.


    Hmm, a good idea, but the Emperor might not like it. But we have no choice for now.


    The Guard Captain gave the command for ''Carefully cut it to pieces''. He went up to one of the feather himself, and bit down. His result was slightly better than the rest, but not enough to break the feathers.


    Argh! Break! Damn, useless. Can¡¯t cut through the feathers. Maybe that is for the best. The Emperor would most likely be upset.


    Since their Captain, with twice their strength, gave up, the other Guards followed his example and went back to the brainstorming. Their hearts filled up with even more respect for the Emperor, after trying to bite through those feathers. The Emperor made a nice and clean cut, removing the head with seemingly little effort.


    One of the Guards walked over to the Guard Captain and said: ¡°Ask. Emperor. Help. Cutting.¡±


    You want to ask our saviour for help? After he has already done so much? We are the ones that''s supposed to serve the Emperor, you fool. How can we be so useless that we can¡¯t even bring him home? Where is your honor as a mighty Guard of the Swarm? Such weakness cannot be tolerated!


    A flash of anger appeared in his eyes and he snapped once with his mandibles. The severed head of the honorless Guard flew away from the body. The Guard Captain chopped up the Guard''s body into smaller pieces and handed a piece to every Guard at the scene.


    The other Guards were very confused about what just happened. Why did their kind, trusting and caring Captain just kill one of their own? They had lived and fought together their entire lives. Survived countless battles and defended the colony over and over again.


    ¡°Eat up or join him. Weakness won¡¯t be tolerated anymore. The strong feed on the weak. That is the law. That is the Swarm. Before I have finished my meal, I want an answer to our problems.¡± The Guard Captain said. He picked up the severed head of the Guard and bit down, resulting in a satisfying crunch.


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    The other Guards quickly bit down into their former comrade''s still warm body, while thinking about what to do. However, their minds drew a blank. For some reason, they could not focus on any coherent thoughts.


    Ah, what have I done?! The stress of constant failures is getting to me¡­ but leading with fear is not the way to go. However, what done is done. And most importantly, I was really hungry¡­


    Looks like the men are too shocked to come up with anything now. No choice but to expand the entrance now. We have already wasted around five minutes doing nothing.


    ¡°Get the workers up here now! This has the highest priority!¡± The Guard Captain commanded the Guards.


    The Guards all rushed down the hole, trying to quickly get away from their, in their eyes, crazy Captain.


    The Workers they brought quickly got to work, and the Guards did not just stand idle either. They helped moving the bigger things.


    Looks like it¡¯s big enough now. The Guard Captain thought to himself.


    ¡°Get ready men! Half of you inside to pull, the other half with me to push!¡± The Guard Captain shouted out his command, and the Guards and Workers obeyed. After a fierce struggle, they finally managed to push the bird inside the nest. To safety at last.


    Phew, finally. Now, let¡¯s quickly go and see the Queen. She must be worried.


    The Guard Captain led the party down to the Queen''s chamber. When they got near, he let go off the bird and moved up ahead. Thanks to the Workers sharing the burden, it was much easier to carry it now.


    "My Queen! We have returned successfully."


    "Ye-Yes, I can see that. What is that you are carrying? And how did it fit through the hole? Where is the Emperor?"


    "This thing is the bird! Yes, that one! The one that always hunted us whenever we went outside! The Emperor himself slayed it! It didn¡¯t fit through the hole so we expanded it. The Emperor is currently eating inside the body."


    "He slayed it alone? How is that even possible? I send him with you to gather some plants, to see the world, and he does something like this¡­ I can¡¯t thank Qudall enough for his choice of soul. Bring him out, I want to talk with him."


    The Guard Captain crawled inside the bird to find the Emperor. The insides were surprisingly spacious. No, perhaps it did not used to be this much room.


    Hmm... He is not moving?! Oh, he is just sleeping.


    The Guard Captain breathed out in relief. He almost had a heart attack there. He crawled out again and reported to the Queen.


    "My Queen, he seems to be sleeping. After such a fierce battle, I did not dare to wake him up. Who is this ''Qudall'', by the way?"


    "Qudall? Um, no need to concern yourself with such things. Very well, let him sleep. Carry the body to his sleeping quarters. The room should be big enough to fit the body."


    "My Queen, my men are hungry and exhausted after having worked hard all day. They even carried this huge body for so long. May I ask for some of your Helpers to help carry it. Since the Emperor is technically still in the larva stage, there should be no problems right?"


    "...Very well. Take a dozen or so. Hmm, feels like I have forgotten something, but not sure what. Probably just inside my head."


    The Queen cut the mind connection to the Guard Captain. She closed her eyes and went back to focus on her favorite activity: Increasing the numbers of the Swarm. The fact it was her only activity was purely by coincidence.


    The Guard Captain left the Queen alone and went towards the large group of Helpers  behind her, waiting for the new larvae to plop out. He commanded thirty of them to follow him.


    ¡°Carry this one back to his room!¡± The Guard Captain commanded the Helpers.


    The Helpers looked at each other with a hint of fear in their eyes, but they would follow their orders. They always did.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, we will help, of course.¡± The Guard Captain gave a wink to his men. After his outburst back at the entrance, he thought he would do something nice for them.


    The Guards helped out to lift the bird up, so the Helpers could get under. The Guards covered the sides, while the Helpers walked in the middle. Together, they slowly walked towards their destination, the Royal Sleeping Quarters. Every few seconds, the Guards would rotate who took breaks and who helped lifting. They couldn¡¯t all pretend to lift, or the Helpers would be crushed in seconds.


    When they reached their destination, the Guards all looked at each other. Since they were such a tight-knit unit, a look was all it took for them to understand what was going to happen. All Guards let go at the same time, leaving the massive body''s weight, literally on the Helpers shoulders. The body landed with a crunch a few seconds later.


    Heh, thanks for the help. The Guard Captain thought.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to our barrack for now.¡± And with that command, the Guard Captain left the body of the bird, with thirty dead Helpers under it, and a sleeping Emperor inside. They all returned to their barrack for some quality sleep. Well, after they stopped by the Feeders to get something to eat.

 Chapter 6 - First Evolution

    Where am I? It¡¯s dark, feels like I¡¯m floating. Feels like I have been here before¡­


    His mind floated around in the dark space, with no way to control himself. The dark space was not completely dark, there was a single beam of light. He seemed to circle around the beam of light, over and over again. On the area the beam lit up, stood some kind of creature. A white chubby larva.


    Who is that? Oh, it¡¯s me. Huh. Aha, it¡¯s the character creation screen. I''m finally done with the larva stage. Hmm, this feels quite strange. Expected sliders and different categories, but it¡¯s more like I¡¯m growing or evolving the things I think about. Right, forgot that this is not a mouse and keyboard game. Let¡¯s see here¡­


    Since I¡¯m apparently the Emperor of this Swarm, or so the intro voice said, it would be bad if I died, so heavy armor is a good idea. Some kind of beetle would be nice, but with a few improvements.


    Exoskeleton sounds like a good idea. I already have some kind of exoskeleton, just really weak, and it served me well so far, so let¡¯s keep that, but buffed up. Some majestic wings under the back armor, which can split in two and let out the wings. Not having any hands is annoying, so let¡¯s add three claws to each of my legs. Especially big on the two front legs. Now I might be able to climb things too.


    Increase the size of my mandibles, add sharp saw like spikes on them. In my actual mouth, let¡¯s make it like a shark. Rows upon rows of replaceable teeth. Hope that won¡¯t cause any problems. Should I have horns or not? I¡¯m probably quite heavy already, and I would like to be able to fly quite some distance, so let¡¯s just remove the horns. Only thing they did was to get stuck in the walls anyway. Finish it up with a black paint job, so I can hide in the shadows.


    Something tells me I shouldn¡¯t add too much at once, and have a feeling this won¡¯t be the last time I¡¯m doing this. So, let¡¯s not touch the internal organs. Should have all the essentials already, however, my antennae seems to be less than useful. The others seem to have a way to communicate with each other, and it¡¯s bugging me that I can¡¯t hear them. Make them bigger I guess? Is there anything inside my brain that can help with that? Ooh, something happened inside the brain. This system is quite helpful.


    Now what? I¡¯m done. How do I get out of here? Ah, something is....


    The Emperor slowly woke up, his body aching and feeling numb. Not just that, he could not move, but only in the way of something restricting his movements, thankfully not being paralyzed. After a quick look around, and getting his sense of touch back, he realized he was still inside the bird.


    Whe-where am I? I can¡¯t move?! Did I mess up my body?


    Oh god! What is this wet feeling? Did something eat me? Oh no! Never went back home! Ah wait, I crawled into the bird to eat. Guess I just fell asleep inside. Don¡¯t remember it being so small, though. Oh right, I probably grew after my evolution.


    However, the main problem still remains. The bird is outside, and it¡¯s a small wonder that nothing ate it and me. Yet. Well, let¡¯s deal with that after I make some more room in here, hehe.


    Munching and crunching sounds came from inside the bird. The feathers and skin bulged from the large lump that moved around.


    ---


    Entrance Guard''s POV


    Another day, another watch. I¡¯m getting too old for this. How much longer until the replacements are fully grown?


    Wonder why they never refilled the hole. This is quite dangerous, can¡¯t guard such a big area by myself. Though, I''m sure they know what they are doing.


    The single entrance Guard patrolled back and forth. The number of Guards in his squad used to be a full dozen, but now, only he remained. Suddenly, he froze, looking up and down, left and right. He heard something.


    *Squeak* *Squeak* *Squeak*


    Huh?! What was that sound? Oh no, it has returned! Must warn the-.....


    The Guard got ripped to pieces by claws and teeth. A large, brown, furry animal with a long hairless tail attacked the Guard from behind, then it quickly scurried inside the hole. The only thing going through its mind were thoughts of revenge.


    Finally, the Guard got the rest he wanted, but perhaps not in the way he expected.


    ---


    As the furry creature continued its violent rampage, killing everyone it came across, the colony filled up with the pheromone smell of panic and danger. It moved without any hesitation, taking the shortest path towards the center of the nest, where the Queen lived. Just like it knew exactly where to go.


    All Guards quickly gathered up, moving as one unit to block the invader. They were successful, but not without a cost. They could only buy some time. But for what? They were not sure. In any case, they wouldn¡¯t be able to hold it up for long.


    Only the Guard Captain could pierce the skin of the creature, but he couldn¡¯t get close enough. Every time he got in range to attack, he naturally got in range for the invader to strike back, and the invader knew he was the only real threat, and immediately charged at him. The invader was stronger than the Guard Captain, so he had to flee every time.


    If the small threat of his attacks got removed, the invader could just muscle its way through the blockade, reaching the Queen, thereby ending the Swarm once and for all. Such a thing was not an option. The Guard Captain had to make sure he lived, since he was the only one there with the power to scare the invader, to make it retreat again. No matter the losses.


    He tried to distract it with a wave of ten Helpers. The Helpers rushed out, not showing any signs of fear. They climbed up on the invader''s body, but once up there, they were clueless as to what to do. They had no natural weapons. Thankfully, the Helpers did not have to worry for long, because with one roll of its much larger body, the Helpers all got crushed.


    After three more tries, the Guard Captain gave up that idea. He knew they had no hope to defeat it. They could only delay. Perhaps a miracle would happen.


    ---


    Meanwhile, the Emperor was busy eating his way out of the bird.


    Yes, this is better. I can finally move my body.


    *Sniff* *Sniff*


    He made a sniffing sound. However, without any actual nose, it served no real purpose, since he ''smelled'' with his antennae.


    What is this¡­? Panic, danger and ENEMY?! What is this? How and who? Feels like something is talking¡­ Ah, I see. Pheromones. I can understand it now. But why is it here? Am I not on the outside?


    The Emperor quickly crawled out of the bird. A familiar sight greeted him.


    Oh, this is my room, but it is a lot smaller than before. No, think I''m the one that got bigger.


    Good, with the main problem solved, I can stop worrying about my life. Don''t want another giant creature attacking me. They must have carried me inside while I ate or slept.


    But then, what is this danger signal I keep sensing. Is the nest under attack? That can¡¯t be. We have hidden ourselves quite well, with our tiny nest entrance and all. Maybe other insects? I doubt we are only ones around. Ah, maybe another player invaded me? I should hurry to the Queen either way. Can probably turn in the hunting quest she gave me. Wonder if I get anything for the bird. I didn''t kill it, but do they know that? They clearly gave me the bird, since they put it inside my room.


    After taking three steps, he fell flat on his face. The new and unfamiliar body was twice the size of the old one, and four times as heavy. Not to mention, the claws on his feet kept getting stuck in the ground. It was the horn situation all over again, except much worse!


    Ugh, this will take some time to get used too. Maybe I overdid it? Better walk slowly and carefully until I¡¯m used to it.


    Had he known the danger the Queen was in, he would have run as fast as he could to save her. However, he did not, and seemingly nothing could stop the rampaging creature.


    ---


    Hercules''s POV


    Turning back the time to the birth of Hercules.


    Floating in the dark¡­


    Feels like I have been like this before, a long time ago. I remember now. It was when I was born. It seems I managed to follow Master to his new place.


    Hm, I can move.


    The larva quickly wriggled his way out of the protective membrane surrounding him. As expected of a veteran of being born as a larva. Hercules was then picked up by the Helpers, and brought to the mess hall to be fed by the Feeders.


    One fully loaded Feeder walked up to him, inserting the feeding tube into his mouth. After the Feeder thought the larva had enough, the Feeder withdrew his feeding tube. However, Hercules knew that the more food one got as a larva, the stronger one would become. The larva stage built up the foundations, and a strong larva stage made every other stage easier. So Hercules did what anyone would do, and latched onto the tube with his small mandibles, forcefully sucking out more liquid food from it.


    The Feeder, panicked by the sudden pain in his tube, started thrashing around, making strange sounds of pain. The Feeders used the very sensitive feeding tube, filled with nerves, to sense the amount of liquid passing through, and that way, helping the Feeder to control the output. A Feeder''s life was usually devoid of any kind of pain, so imagine the shock when a small and blind larva suddenly bit it in the most sensitive spot.


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    The larvae usually only showed kindness and were grateful for the food. The Feeders loved their task in the Swarm, feeding the cute little babies were a great source of joy for them. Now this... this was a first. What kind of monster was this larva?


    Hercules refused to let go, biting down with all his power, and continued this barbaric act until the Feeder was completely deflated. The Feeder laid on the ground, twitching in a mix of pain and shock. Hercules noticed nothing more came out, so he let go and wriggled his way to a new Feeder. Sadly, he never got far enough to find one, since two Helpers picked him up. After a great amount of effort, the Helpers managed to carry Hercules back to the general sleeping quarters, where he immediately fell asleep. The two Helpers body''s ached, but they could continue to work. As long as they never had to lift something that heavy again.


    Hercules had just eaten enough to feed ten average larvae.


    Hercules woke up, opening his eyes by instinct. Surprisingly enough, he could see! Another surprise was that four pairs of small, chubby legs had grown out, allowing him to move around on his own. They were not fast, but better than wriggling around.


    Instead of the ant like legs the Emperor got, Hercules had more caterpillar like legs. However, caterpillar got some strange legs. They got three pair of pointy legs at the front, on the thorax, which are the true legs. Then they got some other legs at the abdomen, the middle part, which are stumpy and fatter, called prolegs.


    The number of legs depends on the species, but it''s important to remember, the Swarm are no normal insects. They are the Swarm. Any resemblances are only on the surface. Hercules only had the four prolegs, no pointy legs, and he was no caterpillar either, even though he kinda looked like one.


    Already got legs? That was fast. Maybe I¡¯m not the same kind of beetle anymore. Lots of other larvae around me, but none of them have any legs. Some got larger mandibles though.


    Now what to do? Eat and sleep again?


    Hercules did not have to think much more about that subject, because two Helpers noticed he was awake and carried him to the mess hall again.


    Oh, what are those? They are feeding the other larvae? I see, that''s one of those from yesterday. Hope they are not mad.


    Hercules walked up to one of the Feeders and noticed it had a slightly disfigured tube. The Feeder took a few seconds to recognize the larva, since they all looked virtually the same when newborn.  However, they could recognize the larvae somewhat, with the help of smell, size, attitude and the personal pheromone signature. The Feeder stomped its feet, a hint of anger appearing in its eyes and then it suddenly sprayed liquid food all over Hercules''s face. The Feeder turned and left, going to feed some more kind-hearted and less greedy larva.


    Grr¡­ Bastard. I will get you for that one day. Hercules thought, as he did his best to consume the liquid food all over his body. Thankfully, he had a long tongue, so he could lick his entire face. To get the stuff that fell to the ground, he simply took a bite out of the ground, not caring much about the dirt he also devoured.


    Not having learnt his lesson, Hercules walked up to another Feeder. The Feeders did not pay attention that anything except the larva they were currently feeding, so no one, except the one with a disfigured tube, knew about the fact that this larva was a biter.


    The Feeder reached out with its tube, lowering it inside Hercules''s mouth without any reason to be suspicious. It fed the normal amount and then began to withdraw the tube, just like it always did.


    Hercules repeated the same thing he did yesterday. Biting down on the tube, forcing the food out. The Feeder was just as shocked as the last one, and could not free itself. For one, it did not want to hurt any larva, so it did not attack. It could also not try to escape, because the iron grip on the tube prevented any such actions. It could only tremble in pain and endure, hoping it was all over soon. To use a human example, it was like clutching someone by the balls. No, not those balls; the eyeballs.


    The Helpers rushed to the scene, and as soon as the Feeder got drained completely, and Hercules finally letting go, they picked the unruly larva up and brought it back to avoid anymore incidents. Hercules went to sleep as soon as he hit the ground.


    Next time Hercules woke up, he had doubled in size, and a horn grew out from his forehead. The horn was black, pointy, but not very long. Maybe if he rammed something as hard as he could, he could do some damage with it, but for the most part, his plump body covered the vast majority of the horn.


    Like before, the Helpers that always stood inside the general sleeping quarters, watching over the larvae, noticed his movements and picked him up. Thanks to his increase in size, three Helpers got drafted for this task. Even with three Helpers, they still struggled greatly, and they fell down as soon as they arrived at the mess hall, dropping Hercules in the process. While death had not claimed them, they were thoroughly exhausted to the core.


    Hercules rolled out into the mess hall area, thankfully avoiding any other larva. He got up and walked towards the nearest Feeder with his cubby legs. While the Feeders normally only paid attention to the larva they were feeding, the commotion this larva had caused were too much for them to remain ignorant. They all had a hint of fear in their eyes. The one that Hercules chose, stretched out the tube and let Hercules suck the liquid food storage dry, without resisting, thereby saving itself from the horrible pain. Hercules drained another one before he felt full.


    Hercules walked over to the mess hall entrance, but the Helpers he had arrived with, where now gone. No trace of them left.


    Those three Helpers did not get up for a long time. They only recovered the moment before Hercules decided he was full, wanting to leave. They managed to sneak away unseen, letting some other Helpers deal with the big larva, that had now grown even bigger after feeding. It took four Helpers to carry him home. As usual, he fell asleep the moment he hit the ground.


    That night, something special happened.


    Where am I? It¡¯s dark, feels like I¡¯m floating. Feels like I have been here before¡­


    Hercules now experienced the same thing the Emperor did before. Inside the beam of light stood his current form.


    Is that me? What am I? Why do I look like this? I should be a mighty beetle. Not... this caterpillar like form. I won''t get any lady bugs with those chubby legs and this plump body, consisting only of rolls after rolls.


    Hercules''s body transformed into his old beetle form. But he was not done there. If he had this mysterious ability, he would use it to make a few adjustments...


    Yes, that¡¯s more like it. Two slightly curved long horns, but different sizes. The longer one planted firmly on my thorax, and the smaller one on my head, so it follows my head movements. Filled with sharp spikes between them, so I can crush and cut up things larger than myself. Some way to sense if I got something between them too, like some kind of hair.


    Much larger and stronger mandibles that will slice up my food with ease. Get rid of these stupid chubby legs, give me back my old legs. I only want six legs. Small spikes and claws on my legs, so I get a better grip. The upper back armor will have a golden color, the rest black. Now I almost look like I used to, except a little bit more dangerous. What wonderful dream.


    The surprise and shock Hercules felt when he woke up, was hard to describe. In short, unlimited happiness. His dream had come true. He had transformed into the mighty beetle he created in his sleep. Though, there were some regret mixed in as well.


    Ah! Why didn''t I improve it even more!?


    However, his joy didn¡¯t last long, because he could feel the signals for danger, panic and enemy. He quickly understood that his home was under attack. He did not feel much loyalty to his current home, since all he had done was eat and sleep, but his Master was here somewhere, so he had to at least check it out. Hercules rushed out to find the enemy, and was endlessly shocked at what he saw. Bodies ripped in half, blood everywhere, organs on the walls. In short; chaos filled the tunnels.


    Lucky!


    Hercules stopped a few times to eat a snack. Then he remembered his purpose and sped up, moving towards the source of the signals.


    Hercules reached the Queen''s chambers and saw the enemy. A single, big furry creature with big teeth, currently chomping on a Guard. It was almost at the Queen. A desperate meat shield wall protected her, but they would not last much longer.


    Since Hercules used to live in a similar body, he did not need time to adjust to his new and more powerful body. For some reason, he could not stand the sight of the scared Queen. He needed to protect her! Make her happy again! Even if it cost him his life! He charged into battle straight away.

 Chapter 7 - Battle in the tunnels

    Hercules quickly made his way to the fight, bypassing the guards blockade and ran right up to the enemy. He lowered his head to open up his horns and put his horns around the neck of the creature. Then slammed his head up as hard as he could causing the spikes between the horns to dig into the skin making it very hard, but not impossible, to escape from them.


    All of this happened so fast that the furry creature and everyone else at the scene had no time to react. The guard captain was the first to regain his senses.


    ¡°Wh- who are you?¡± He shouted. Then he noticed what was happening. The beast had finally stopped moving.


    It¡¯s vulnerable! He thought to himself.


    ¡°All units charge!¡± He commanded his guards.


    Quickly all the surviving guards crawled up on the beast, completely covering it in bodies. Even it¡¯s long naked tail had several guards biting down on it.


    However, the damage was minimal. It¡¯s tough fur was too strong to bite through.


    ¡°Damn, still no good. It¡¯s that tough fur, if only we could remove it¡­


    Ah, of course.¡± He said quietly to himself.


    He had gotten an idea and ran up close to the beast to test it. Grabbing hold on just one single straw of hair with his mandibles he pulled with all his might and succeeded in pulling it out.


    ¡°It works.¡± He exclaimed happily, feeling like they had a fighting chance for the first time.


    ¡°All units, focus on removing one single straw of hair from the fur at time. When an opening has been created try biting down on the skin.¡± The guard captain ordered.


    The guards got to work and pulled out several hairs. The pain from it woke the beast up from it¡¯s stunned state. It had been completely stunned by the sudden appearance of the large beetle creature that suddenly had clamped down on his neck with two spiked horns.


    Anger? No, it was uncontrollable rage. Revenge for his loved ones. Pain from his wounds. Many emotions went through his mind, but was that all? No, there was something else too. Something he hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. Fear. Not from the little guards, but from the beetle creature that was only about half his size but he could still feel that it was stronger than him. The spikes hadn¡¯t pierced very far into the skin but he still couldn¡¯t lift up his head or move his body at all.


    He repeatedly stomped his feet shaking of a few guards and crushing some of them under his feet. His tail started to constantly swing back and forth, throwing off the ones biting on it with such a force that they got stuck in the walls and keeping the guards away from the sensitive areas on the rear part of his body.


    With his leg, now free off the guards, he started scratching the armor of Hercules. It was quite effective, as only a few second later the death grip on his neck loosened.


    The guard captain that had been watching the events unfold suddenly felt his heart sink again. Most of the guards were knocked off the beast again, but a few kept on pulling out the hairs one by one, but when he saw the horns slightly raise from the neck he knew it was only a matter of time before it was free again. It won''t fall for the same trick again.


    The beast decided it was enough and forcefully ripped his body free from Hercules. It caused some damage on his neck and blood was dripping constantly but overall this was better than being stuck.


    Hercules was surprised when he suddenly felt something kick and scratch him, enough to make him lose focus and relax his head a bit. It didn¡¯t take long until the beast had ripped himself free from his horns.


    Hercules was getting worried. He had hoped that the guards could have finished it off while he held it in place. It was a surprise attack that won¡¯t succeed again.


    I can¡¯t retreat so the only way is forward. Hercules thought to himself.


    He rushed forward trying to clamp on with the horns again but this time the beast easily avoided them. As it passed by Hercules it smacked him in the head several times with his tail. The damage was light but it caused him to see double for a few seconds. After shaking his head to regain focus, he could no longer see where the beast was.


    Suddenly he felt a great force hitting him in the side, knocking him over, leaving his weaker armored underside wide open. A heavy object was pressing on him. He could not see what it was, thanks to his very rigid head and neck area. A fatal flaw in his design had been discovered.


    However it was easy to guess what had happened. The beast had knocked him over and then climbed up on him.


    *Screech* *Screech*. The beast gave a loud, harsh, piercing cry... It¡¯s victory over the last real threat was imminent and soon he would fight and kill the Queen.


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    Hercules started to panic and waved around with his legs wildly to try and knock the beast back. What he got was extreme pain in one of his lower legs. After a crunching sound he could no longer feel his foot.


    The guard captain that had been watching, decided it was enough. He couldn¡¯t stand this brave and most likely newborn, and what he assumed to be, high class member of the Swarm to die this easily. To prevent the loss of a higher class is worth almost any amount of the lower class.


    ¡°All units. Highest priority. Defend the beetle and kill this beast at all costs.¡± He gave the command. All units is exactly all units. Even the weak helpers and feeders would join in on this battle.


    As the pheromone command reached their sensors they charged, not caring if they lived or died.


    The beast was suddenly under attack for all sides. Even above as they climbed the tunnel walls to drop down on him. There were surprisingly still two guards left on his body this whole time pulling out hair and exposing the skin. When they got the command they started biting with all the force they could muster. No, more than that. They would bite so hard their mandibles would crack. At the highest priority command they would go into a frenzy, surpassing their normal body limits and destroying their own bodies in return.


    The beast was startled. They didn¡¯t show this behavior before. He got off Hercules and quickly dealt with the newcomers. They were much smaller and weaker than him so they were normally no problems. However now, even the smallest Helpers were able to rip out a hair from his fur. Of course the extreme nature of such an action was enough to cripple the Helper for life. The guards could now bite through the skin and cause him to bleed. The Feeders stuck down their tube straws into the open wounds caused by the guards and started sucking the blood.


    The guard captain was watching their suicide attacks and decided to join the fight seriously for the first time.


    He climbed up on the back and started biting down on the tail, only a little bit away from where the tail meets the body. He easily bit through all the way to the bone but he couldn¡¯t get through it. It was too hard¡­ unless he also was prepared to break his body.


    Hah, how can I be any worse than my men? If we don¡¯t win now, we are doomed anyway.


    With that thought, he mustered all his power into his mandibles and bit down hard.


    A crunching sound could be heard and a fountain of blood spurted out of the small stump that was left. He had lost both mandibles, crumbling to pieces, but it was worth it.


    The explosion of pain and sudden lack of the tail that the beast used to balance, temperature regulation and defence of his back caused him to panic and stumble into a wall, incidentally crushing several of his enemies at the same time.


    He had been so busy with the small fries that he forgot about the guard captain. They had swarmed all over, especially in his face preventing him from moving much. He had to use his front legs to swipe them away.


    *Screeeeeech!!*


    A loud, harsh, piercing cry was heard. The beast had been foolish. Completely sure of his victory he had relaxed his guard. He had suffered a major injury now and lost a great deal of blood.


    No, it can¡¯t end like this¡­ he had to get out.


    About this time Hercules had been turned over with the help of the guards and was now blocking the way to the exit. Everyone else was blocking the tunnel towards the Queen.


    There was a third tunnel and the beast ran as fast as he could towards it. It was a newer tunnel so he didn¡¯t know where it went but he didn¡¯t care. All he had to was get away for now, if need be he could always dig himself out when he had recovered some of his strenght. Whether they would follow him or not, didn¡¯t matter to him. He was too fast and unless they all moved together he could easily kill them.


    Little did he know, that the tunnel he choose to follow was the way to the royal sleeping chambers.


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 Chapter 8 - The Beast

    The Beast¡¯s POV


    The Beast followed the dark tunnel down. His lungs burned, every breath shallower than the last. His muscles ached, crossing a shorter distance for each step. The drum solo inside his chest pounded so loudly that he swore he could hear it with his ears. His vision grew blurry from both exhaustion and blood loss. As he neared the limit, almost passing out, a sharp stinging pain from his right ear jolted him awake. He smashed his head against the wall and scratched with his front legs. Inside his claws laid a squirming Helper. With a grateful grin, the Beast accepted the snack.


    The formerly brown and shiny fur coat now had spots of missing fur, not to mention, countless tiny holes in the skin all over, leaking an endless amount of dark red liquid. The left ear looked bad, with some bloody shreds dangling down as a reminder of his former glory. His once so majestic tail was nowhere to be seen, only a bloody stump dragging in the ground behind him.


    While eating, he began reminiscing about his old life; the life before they arrived. Or maybe it simply flashed before him?


    As a happy father of seven ¨C with a wonderful mate ¨C the family lived a carefree life in the nest he dug out with his own claws. Every day, he would go out and hunt. Being not a picky eater, food was no issue. Every time, the babies would squeak themselves hoarse as they said goodbye. When he returned, they would greet him just as loudly. The happy memory of his squeaking babies, always happy to see him, would forever stay in his mind. While the babies ate the food he brought, him and his mate would coil their tails together, while enjoying some food together.


    But suddenly one day, the idyll ended. Around a hundred smaller, but well-organized, creatures attacked. A large and powerful creature led and controlled them ¨C the Queen! Of course, the Beast had no idea what, or who, the invaders were at first, having never seen anything like them. They came when he was out hunting, overwhelming his beloved and killed his babies. With impressive speed, they remodeled the entrance, shrinking it, making it hard for him to get in more than his head. To make things worse, the invaders waited for him, packing their heaviest units, with the biggest mandibles, right there. As soon as the Beast stuck his head inside, he got swarmed and almost blinded as a result. With a bleeding head, he could only fall back. He tried four more times to get in, but in the end, he could only retreat to safety.


    Inside a tall tree, with long branches that stretched over the nest, lived an evil bird. It often disturbed the Beast while out hunting, and was the reason why he did not let his babies run around on the outside. It watched the two faction¡¯s struggles with joy, and once the Beast was hurt the most and distracted with grief ¨C it attacked!


    The Beast luckily caught sight of the moving shadow, and avoided the sharp claws. Fueled by his rage, the Beast waited; waited for a chance to strike back at the ones that killed his family and took over his nest.


    One day, the Beast saw the death of the second worst enemy: the evil bird! A terrifying creature ¨C the mere sight instilled fear deep into his very soul ¨C brutally killed the evil bird, ripping off the head. The sight of this slaughter made some uncomfortable memories spring up, and the Beast hid deep down into his newly dug nest. After a while, he recovered and crawled back out on the surface and saw that his old nest¡¯s entrance had expanded again. The Beast knew time was not on his side ¨C the enemy most likely grew stronger everyday. So, he steeled his heart, putting all distracting thought aside, and rushed over to the entrance and forced his way in. Great success at first, killing everything in his way, but then....


    When the depressing memory of the large horned monster arrived, beating the Beast up, he woke up from his thoughts with a jolt and looked back and forth, searching his surroundings. Thankfully, the enemy had not found him yet. Not so good, however, was that the adrenaline had stopped pumping, and now the real pain set in.


    Slowly, one excruciating step at the time, he made his way down the tunnel. The tiny Helper snack did almost nothing to ease his exhaustion ¨C it did not even taste good ¨C so his possibly last meal turned out to be quite the disappointment. It was not supposed to go like this¡­


    The Beast hung with his head, filled with sadness that his revenge had gone so wrong. He closed his eyes while walking, wanting to rest his eyes ¨C if only for a moment. His sense of smell and hearing was still functional ¨C even though the nose and ears looked bad ¨C so he was confident that he could detect anyone getting close. Maybe not the best idea in the middle of hostile territory, but the Beast was not exactly clear-headed right now.


    He walked and walked...until a familiar smell hit his nose. His eyes shut open, and he surpassed his body¡¯s already exceeded limits to rush in that direction. Can it be? Are they still alive?!


    A few twists and turns later, he slid across the ground, his feet digging into the dirt to brake. No! NOOOOO!!!


    Inside the room, laid the half-eaten corpses of several babies, and the large skeleton structure of his mate.


    He walked up to them and nudged them gently...but no response. Their bodies ¨C even their bones ¨C had small bite marks all over. All hope deflated from him, and his heart thumped even harder than before. He took one last look at them, his mental image of them overlapping with the corpses, and left the room.


    Filled with an overwhelming amount of grief and anger, his mind blanked out, and he walked forward without thinking, even closing his eyes again.


    Suddenly, he bumped into something hard, and all his primal senses began to scream for him to run. The Beast quickly jumped a step back, and raised his head. What faced him, was something more terrifying than a swarm of Guards, more terrifying than the creature that killed the evil bird.


    The stress, blood loss, hunger, fatigue, sadness, and pain ¨C all was instantly forgotten and replaced.


    Fear! Dread! Horror! Terror!


    A beetle like creature, around his own size, with huge spiked mandibles and with a grin on his face, revealing big sharp teeth, with drool forming puddles on the dirt. This new monster was clearly superior to the Beast, and worst part? It knew.


    ¡°Grrrowl!¡±


    The growling sound vibrated into the Beast¡¯s body, reaching his soul. A vine, covered with thorns, coiled around the soul, stabbing and strangling it ¨C or that was how the Beast imagined it. His already maxed out heart rate instantly sped up, trying to pump enough blood to shake off this feeling of fear, and give mobility back to the limbs.


    *Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thu-...*


    The heart had already surpassed its limits, and finally, it had enough. It wanted a break¡­ Sadly for the Beast, a resting heart only means one thing...


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    The Beast coughed up blood, which turning into almost vomiting it out, and fell down onto the dirt with a thud. With his last efforts, he angled his eyes upwards, seeing the terrifying face one last time, and then closed his eyes for good. With a peaceful mind, knowing he did all he could, he joined his family in heaven.


    Cause of death: heart attack!


    The Emperor¡¯s POV


    Walking is getting easier and easier now. Took some time, but finally got used to my new body. However, the signals are constantly increasing in power. Getting kinda worried. If we were to be wiped out while I practiced how to walk¡­well, that would be very unfortunate.


    The Emperor slowly continued down the tunnel.


    Huh, something¡¯s coming? What¡¯s this feeling? Feels like I can sense another creature?


    Wha, what¡¯s that?! It¡¯s coming straight for me! Ah, the eyes are closed? If I stand still, maybe it won¡¯t detect me?


    Nope! Bad idea! Walked right into me! However, it doesn¡¯t seem to be hostile¡­yet. Looking closer, it¡¯s all bloody and injured. Oh no! Maybe this guy is the enemy?! Best to play it cool. A smile is always a good idea.


    The Emperor gave a big friendly smile towards the strange Beast.


    Uh, that seemed to have made things worse. Oh yeah, forgot ¨C look like a monster now, haha! Even my drool leaks out from my mouth. That will get annoying with time, I¡¯m sure. I¡¯ll just tell it I¡¯m friendly, so please don¡¯t hurt me.


    ¡°Grrrowl!¡±


    Was all the Emperor managed to squeeze out.


    What? Oh, of course I still can¡¯t talk.


    Suddenly, the Beast started coughing up blood and fell down.


    Eww, disgusting! You got blood all over me.


    ...


    Did it die?


    The Emperor poked the blood covered Beast with his leg, but got no reaction.


    Dinner is served?


    The Emperor quickly got to work, consuming his self-serving meal.


    Hmm, recognize this taste, but can¡¯t remember from where...


    ¨C-


    Meanwhile¡­


    Hercules, the Guard Captain, and a few of the more healthier Guards stood in front of the Queen, discussing by using the pheromone language.


    ¡°Guard Captain, report the casualties,¡± the Queen said.


    ¡°Very extensive. Almost all Guards are severely injured; all Helpers, except two, are dead or permanently crippled; only half of the Feeders are healthy; Hercules lost a foot; I lost both my mandibles,¡± the Guard Captain reported.


    ¡°This is quite troublesome, indeed. Where is the ratling now?¡±


    ¡°The Beast headed down the tunnel, towards the royal sleeping chamber. I decided not to pursue for now, since there is nothing important down there anyway.¡±


    ¡°What?! You fool! That is where the Emperor sleeps! You carried him down there yourself! Find him ¨C make sure he is safe!¡±


    The Guard Captain clacked with his broken mandibles in shock. What a blunder! The royal sleeping chambers had gone unused since they were dug, so he acted on habit. Before, the only places worth protecting was the Queen, the normal sleeping chambers, and the food storage. He quickly ordered some Guards to follow him down the tunnels.


    Forgot about the Emperor! Though, wonder where he went during the battle¡­could have used his help! However, he is strong, and should be able to hold out on his own until we get there.


    He led his injured and half-crippled crew down the tunnel, while telling himself that the Emperor would be just fine, not even wanting to imagine the Queen¡¯s rage if the Emperor had perished.


    That was actually another reason why the Guard Captain did not immediately pursue: he had no able-bodied subordinates anymore! If they ran into the Beast, or ¡®ratling¡¯, as the Queen called it, they would surely perish.


    Luck was on their side; they soon discovered that the Emperor was not only completely unharmed, he had also slayed the enemy and currently feasted on it.


    This is¡­ He is truly worthy of his name!


    The Guard Captain did not know whether to laugh or cry, but the Emperor had done it again. Defeated an impossibly strong enemy that his men had been unable to defeat.


    ¡°Ex-excuse me? The Queen sent us here to check up on you,¡± the Guard Captain said carefully, not wanting to anger the Emperor.


    Registering a voice, the Emperor looked up. What was that? Oh, where they did come from? Though, I can finally understand them, I have no idea how to reply. It doesn¡¯t seem to be through normal speech.


    ¡°Grrrowl!¡±


    Once again, the Emperor tried to speak, but resulted in the same nonsensical sound.


    He got angry! The Guard Captain and his men froze with fear. However, they quickly remembered that he was not an enemy, but merely warned them to go away.


    ¡°C-c-come and see the Queen when you are ready¡­ Until later then,¡± the Guard Captain said while backing away, changing into a sprint after turning the corner.


    He left? Hm, the Queen? Yes, should probably speak with her. She might inform me how all of this works. Just ate the bird, and now I¡¯m eating this thing ¨C guess I¡¯m quite full already.


    The Emperor left the remains of the Beast, and went after the Guards, up into the tunnel. When he reached the Queen¡¯s chamber, he saw quite the sight.


    Wow, what happened here? Bodies everywhere! Damn, I sure missed a good fight!


    He went towards the Queen. There, he saw another great beetle, almost his size, but wounded and missing a foot.


    An elite unit perhaps? He looks quite familiar though.


    ¡°Ah, my Emperor, you have arrived safely. The Guard Captain was just informing me about what had happened. Once again, you did the impossible, and for that, you have my thanks. I promised we would talk before you headed outside, and now is as good time as any to do so,¡± the Queen said, looking very happy. She blinked with her many eyes and clacked with her mandibles. ¡°Before that though, let me finish talking with the Guard Captain.¡±


    The Queen directed her focus to the Guard captain. ¡°It is time we build the spawning room. Go down to the general sleeping quarters, find the slug larvae and force evolve them. Leave one alone, and feed him some good food to make him big and strong. He will become the new Slug Lord, overseeing the spawning room. Also, force evolve some Workers and a few Helpers.  Force evolving will make them weaker and smaller than usual, but we can soon replace them, so it is not a big deal. I will now switch over to laying eggs, instead of live larva. It will take longer for them to hatch, but I can lay eggs about four times as quickly.¡±


    The Guard Captain left to take care of his new orders, and the Queen turned to face the Emperor again.


    ¡°Now, it is time for our little talk. You probably have a lot of questions...¡±

 Chapter 9 - The Queens story

    ¡°Do you have any specific questions?¡± the Queen asked.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°No? Well then, guess I will start with my own story. It will be easier to show you, so excuse my intrusion into your minds¡­ It all happened many years ago. The Hive Fortress was under siege¡­¡±


    ******


    And so, the Queen began her story.


    A movie-like scene played out in the minds of Hercules and the Emperor.


    It showed a great mountain fortress, built into the mountain, and with an extension protected by a large stone wall. All kinds of pulsing and squirming biological matter covered the fortress. From looking at it from a distance, it would be hard to tell if the biological matter helped or hurt the stone, but anyone that tried to siege the fortress would give a clear answer: this biological matter must have crawled straight out of hell!


    It did not just protect the stone with its soft body, it could also re-connect fallen stones back into place, using its own body as glue. To make things worse, swords could barely cut it, and arrows got absorbed and spat back! When infantry got close, it would suddenly come alive and wreak havoc. It did not like fire, though.


    Two tall round towers sat in the courtyard, at a perfect range for the archers that once occupied them to shoot over the wall and down at the invaders. Now though, something completely different lived in those towers¡­


    In one of those towers, a young Princess sat alone in her room, looking out through the window, watching the besieging army prepare for yet another assault. Their last attempt failed miserably when the ground suddenly burst open and dozens of tentacles tore through their ranks. Now the attackers believed the defenders had ran out of tricks and pushed forward once more. However, the Princess was not worried ¨C they were the Swarm! How could they possibly lose? Sure, they lost a few times...quite a lot of times...but this time was different!


    The door opened, cutting her thoughts short, and the last surviving King of the Swarm entered. Every step he took caused a small tremor in the room. A huge monster, walking on two legs, ending with big hooves. His two lower arms were folded over his large chest, ending with four finger-claws, and the two upper arms only consisted of a single big scything talon, that could strike at both the back and front. A chitinous shell covered the entire body, making it hard to injure him even when waving swords at point-blank range. He had an internal skeleton, but also an external skeleton, which reinforced his already strong shell at the weaker points.


    Overall, he looked terrifying, and most of the other races would faint if they faced him in combat. He was especially fearsome when charging the frontlines, roaring at an ear bursting volume, shrugging off any and all arrows, shattering swords and shields like dry wood. Not to mention, he never entered battle alone ¨C behind him would follow hundreds or thousands of the more normal grunts that made up the bulk of the Swarm¡¯s army.


    ¡°My child, you must leave quickly. The next assault will be our last. Me and your mothers talked, and decided that you will be the one making sure the Swarm survives.¡±


    ¡°Father¡­what are you saying?! We are the Swarm! Are you telling me...we lost?¡±


    ¡°No. We are merely using a tactic our enemies used many times before: live to fight another day!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave! I can still help! Maybe if I join the others, we can turn the tide?¡±


    the Princess was clearly upset and rightly so. Running away was after all not something the Swarm usually did ¨C no, they never did!


    Shaking his head, the King said solemnly: ¡°No, you are the only one that has the ability to restore the Swarm after the war. You need to hide and find a safe place to start all over again. Unlike your older sisters, you still have yet to enter the egg laying phase, and therefore can still move. Even if you did join, the dozen or so you could produce, would mean nothing against the hundreds of thousands we face.¡±


    ¡°But, who will go with me? I can¡¯t do this alone, right?¡± the Princess was not entirely sure how the breeding worked, but she knew enough to know that it needed more than one.


    ¡°Normally, that would be the case, however, since the situation demands it, you will undergo an ancient ritual. It has been forbidden for thousands of years, for good reasons, but that matters little now.¡±


    ¡°Forbidden ritual? What does it do? Haha, makes me super strong, right? You want me to fight my way out and-¡±


    The King quickly interrupted her wild dreams.


    ¡°No, the opposite. If it had made us stronger, do you think we would have banned it? We seek strength, no matter the cost. No, this one makes you¡­weaker. It will revert you to a more primal stage of the Swarm¡¯s development. It is not an instant transformation, in fact, it might even take you months to fully complete. It will, however, give you an enormous amount of energy during the transformation phase which will help you when escaping.¡±


    ¡°W-w-weaker! Father, why?! I don¡¯t understand! Please, explain better¡­¡± the Princess blinked her four eyes, as a tear of acid fell down, sizzling on the floor. Her lifelong dream had always been to grow strong enough to join the battles and help with destroying the enemies of the Swarm.


    However, she was after all a Princess ¨C someone soon to be Queen. The life of a Queen was safe, but dull and repetitive. Stuck in the same room, unable to move, and doing little else but creating new members of the Swarm. An important job, if not the most important, but not a very exciting one.


    ¡°Hmm, yes. Guess I can explain it a bit better. To put it bluntly: you will shrink ¨C A LOT. This will allow you to hide from the Alliance. There will also be no need to find a mate. You can create life by just consuming your own energy reserve. You can also create life without entering the egg laying phase, though it will be greatly slowed down, so after you find a place to settle down, I recommend not using that anymore. However, it will be extremely valuable during your travels.


    ¡°The reason you gain an almost infinite amount of energy during the transformation is because you are literally consuming your body at a rapid pace. Bones, skin, organs ¨C everything will be affected and changed in a major way. By the way, that might hurt... a bit.


    ¡°But the worst part is that you will lose the majority of the genetic blueprints that we use to create new members of the Swarm. Thousands of years of progress will be lost. So, from now on, you will have to experiment your way forward.¡±


    The Princess processed his words in silence ¨C a lot to take in at once.


    The King laughed at the sight, ¡°No need to overthink it. We have already decided. For now, go to the Hive Queen ¨C she will prepare the ritual. Your mothers will go into Overdrive mode to buy you some time.¡±


    ¡°Overdrive mode¡­ What¡¯s that?¡± the Princess asked.


    ¡°Hm, simply put, it is the act of putting your body in overdrive mode, hence the name. While extremely taxing on the body, it allows you to produce at a much higher speed than normal, but using it for long periods means death. Only the ones that actually produce something, like poison, eggs, larva, bone spitters and so on, can use it.


    ¡°Pure melee fighters, like myself, have something different that allows us to ignore our body limits for a period of time. It usually ends up killing, or at least, seriously crippling the user though,¡± the King explained.


    The Princess nodded, but the sudden news about her fate had yet to sink in, so she barely paid attention to the explanation. She looked out the window again, and saw large siege towers rolling towards the walls. She still felt some hesitation to leave both her father and mothers alone ¨C not to mention everyone else.


    Seeing her reaction, the King could guess the reason. ¡°No need to worry. I will stay with them to make sure they will not be taken alive, incase the enemy manages to breach our defenses faster than anticipated.¡±


    The Princess smiled at those reassuring words and gave the King¡¯s leg a hug. Kinda awkward to hug each other, since the King was over four meters tall, while the Princess was only a little more than one meter. The King picked her up, holding her in his arms, and together they looked out the window.


    ¡°Hey, do you know the story about this fortress?¡± the King asked.


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s really old¡­ and¡­¡± the Princess thought for a bit, but could not come up with anything special.


    ¡°Indeed, it is several thousands of years old. Around four thousand, to be more precise. But we did not actually build it ourselves, we just maintain it at peak performance. It was a human fortress back in the day. It was supposed to protect their borders from the unknown dangers in the Wild ¨C that is where we came from, by the way. We used to be a nomadic race, wandering around and consuming things in our path. We were a lot smaller back then too ¨C even smaller than you ¨C so the battle for this fortress was one of the hardest in our history.


    ¡°Anyway, it used to be called Hieve Fortress, named after some great human hero or something. Since we were...less evolved back then, such a name was too hard to pronounce, so we modified it a bit to Hive Fortress. That is where the word Hive comes from, and as you know, we like to use it in many things as a way to honor this fortress, even away from home.


    ¡°It was our first permanent home, and where the Swarm really started, and now it will be where we will meet our end. Well, as long as you are alive, we will live on in your memory,¡± the King smiled, revealing over a hundred sharp teeth in his mouth, and put the Princess down on the ground again. ¡°Time to go now. Do not keep the Hive Queen waiting.¡±


    The little Princess quickly ran out of the room, filled with a patriotic feeling, proud over how her race went from insignificant to the largest force in the world. Though their glory days were over now, she would do her best to revive them ¨C making her father proud in whatever afterlife he went to. Glory to the Swarm!


    The movie-like scene followed her like a camera.


    She walked through the barren hallways. All decorations that the humans had left here were long gone ¨C slowly getting eaten by hungry creatures over the years. She passed by a number of terrifying creatures, who nodded or waved at her in return. Spikes, carapace armor, claws, hooves, scything talons, horns, wings, multiple limbs, snakelike, big and small ¨C the variations were endless. A single glance at the thousands of creatures that had gathered in the courtyard, and on the walls, showed just how hard the Swarm had worked for thousands of years, trying to create the ultimate warriors.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    She continued to walk deeper into the fortress, until she reached a new part that was clearly different. It was dug directly from the mountain, and the surface was odd and uneven ¨C almost like the walls had melted!


    She reached a gigantic circular membrane door, at least ten meters in size, and she placed her clawed hand against it. The reddish, half-transparent door glowed where she touched it, and it opened just enough to let her small body pass. Taking just a single step inside, the environment clearly changed. No longer did she walk on stone, with some biological matters here and there. Now it was more like entering inside a living creature. The walls and floor pulsated, with not a stone in sight. Weird flesh-vines dangled from the ceiling, moving in a creepy way. The temperature increased to hot and humid, like a tropical jungle. The smell...well, she did not mind the smell, but it was a low odds bet that many others would.


    After walking a bit, each step making a squishing sound, she finally reached the place where the Hive Queen lived. The Hive Queen was currently in Overdrive mode, creating her personal favorite creature ¨C the Grim. All Queens had their own favorite, but the Hive Queen had something special.


    A fairly small creature, reaching up to the knees of an average human. The Grim walked on four hooved feet, allowing for fast running speed. Two arms came out from the back, pointed forward, consisting of only a single large scything talon. If not for the fact they could be moved up and down, most would probably think they were odd horns, or perhaps even wings. The mouth contained numerous and densely packed small, but sharp teeth, with a jaw strong enough to break bone. A spiked tail, half a meter long, stuck out at the end, protecting the rear. A durable carapace armor protected the back and head, while the underside and legs instead had thick hide and fur ¨C a way to cut down on the cost, since they almost never got attacked from below anyway. The Grim was completely black, eyes and teeth included, and its main purpose was to raid the enemies in the night. They were sometimes seen jumping around like goat kids, but a lot more scary looking.


    However, the truly special thing about them only revealed itself when the Hive Queen produced them. She could make them about fifteen times faster than any other Queen! With the Overdrive mode on, she made them fifty times faster! Why? Well, because she designed them herself ¨C three thousand years ago ¨C and ever since then, these creatures were the only thing she created. Non-stop production of the single type had  improved her technique and she could now design a new Grim egg embryo in her sleep.


    When the Hive Queen saw the Princess enter the room, she stopped using Overdrive mode, breathing out a poisonous mist in relief. Overdrive mode was excruciatingly painful ¨C every organ and blood in her body churned and wiggled from the stress. After a few minutes, she collected herself enough to begin speaking with the Princess.


    ¡°You finally arrived. I trust that youngling told you about our plans?¡± the Hive Queen asked with a booming voice.


    ¡°Eh? Oh, if you mean father, then yes. The ancient ritual, right?¡± the Princess replied, slightly confused. Her father was, after all, around one thousand years old already. But in the eyes of the Hive Queen, everyone was a youngling.


    ¡°Good, now come closer. Do you have any questions before we start?¡±


    ¡°Hm...¡± the Princess thought for a while. ¡°Um,¡± she hesitated a bit, maybe this question was a bit rude? But she ignored those thoughts ¨C this was her last and only chance to know! ¡°Why is your name Hive Queen?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, such a simple question! Very well. Simply because I am the oldest, largest and most beautiful Queen alive! Have lived my entire life inside this Hive Fortress. With the recent deaths, I am now the leader of the Queens!¡± the Hive Queen said proudly.


    Of course, the actual reason was slightly different. She was indeed the oldest Queen alive, and the largest with her almost two hundred meters in length, including the greatly distended abdomen which contained all the eggs. What about the most beautiful? Well, her poisonous attributes made her unusually repulsive to the eyes, even for the Swarm, which had a greatly different sense of beauty compared to most races. As a result, no King wanted to breed with her for thousands of years, preventing her from picking a new design. This obviously upset her, so to calm her down, she was given a special title ¨C Hive Queen! This title also gave the Kings an additional reason to refuse ¨C they were simply not ¡®worthy¡¯ to mate with the Hive Queen!


    The answer made the Princess suspicious, but she thankfully kept her mouth shut and did not question it.


    ¡°Now, enough talking. We only have little time for this. Come even closer.¡±


    The Princess did as told and ended up right in front of the Hive Queen¡¯s massive face.


    ¡°Good...¡± the Hive Queen deeply exhaled, releasing a green gas.


    The Princess took one breath and fell to the ground.


    The movie-like scene went black for the Emperor and Hercules. Being a replay of the Queen¡¯s memories, she obviously had no way to know what actually happened at this point.


    The Princess woke up, her eyes opening one by one, and the images came back. She clearly felt something was different inside her body, but if asked for specifics, she could only shake her head in reply.


    ¡°Ah, the sleeping beauty awakens. Sorry about that, but I doubt you wanted to stay conscious during that part. Now, you must hurry ¨C the Alliance¡¯s assault have begun, and we already lost the walls. We are currently doing everything we can to buy you time. Escape ¨C do not look back!¡±


    The dizzy Princess turned her head towards the voice. The hideous, boiled filled face of the Hive Queen startled her. For a moment, she forgot where she was.


    ¡°What happened? What did you do? I don¡¯t feel anything special¡­¡± the Princess said, inspecting her body.


    ¡°Oh, but you will in time. It comes in waves. Now, stop bothering me and head towards the mountain tunnels. A servant waits outside to guide you. I must prepare myself¡­¡± The Hive Queen¡¯s voice died off, and she closed her fourteen eyes. Her life flashed by her eyes ¨C the lack of variety saddening her somewhat ¨C and she steeled her hearts for an extended period of Overdrive mode usage ¨C until the welcoming arms of death would embrace her.


    The Princess did not want to disturb the Hive Queen¡¯s last stand, so she left the chamber. The guide waiting outside was one of those special units made by the Hive Queen. Unlike the normal version, this one had a thin yellow ring in the eyes and was slightly bigger.


    ¡°Greetings! Grim Grim be your guide!¡± the creature said with some difficulty. After all, the Grim¡¯s mouth was not made for speech, but to bite.


    The voice surprised the Princess. The lower class ¨C the throw-away units ¨C were usually fairly mindless, but this one...


    ¡°You can talk? Oh, you got a name too?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Hive Queen care greatly for Grim Grim! Hive Queen use extra effort. Big brain! Now, follow.¡±


    *BOOOM!*


    A huge explosion came from the outside, shaking the entire fortress. The fleshy sections around them trembled from the impact.


    After exchanging a quick glance, the duo rushed down the hallway, heading deeper into the mountain. After all, their survival ¨C the future of the Swarm ¨C rested on their shoulders. If they got caught up in the raging battle on the outside, their fates would be sealed.


    These deep hallways used to be filled with life, but now they were completely empty ¨C not a soul in sight ¨C thanks to everyone rushing to the walls. They made it to the escape tunnel, about two meters high. It was dug out in a hurry, and only had some basic wooden beams to prevent a total ceiling collapse. A guard stood at every wooden beam, saluting the duo as they passed.


    ¡°Why are they standing here? Shouldn¡¯t they join the fight?¡±


    ¡°Simple. They smash and bite wooden beam. Crush everything after we out.¡±


    ¡°But, if we got an escape tunnel, why are they destroying it? Why can¡¯t we just evacuate and regroup?¡± the Princess asked, thinking she had discovered a great flaw in the plan.


    ¡°If Alliance finds tunnel¡­they will follow. Find us. If leaders flee ¨C Alliance will know. Will hunt down. All leaders dead ¨C no Swarm! Victory! They leave! We hide ¨C no trace! Swarm comes back!¡±


    ¡°But still, why can¡¯t we just evacuate and keep fighting?¡±


    ¡°Swarm strong¡­ Alliance stronger. Too many! All world against Swarm. Swarm lose... We wait ¨C Alliance shatter. They fight each other! Swarm strike back from shadows!¡±


    ¡°Hm. So, if we got no leaders, they will fall back, thinking we¡¯re all dead. By collapsing the tunnel, they won¡¯t even know anyone left. With time and no common enemy, they will return to their usual conflicts, and then we strike back? Guess that sounds reasonable¡­¡±


    With that cleared up, the two walked in silence. The occasional rumbling came from the guards knocking down the wooden beams, bringing that section down ¨C ending the guard¡¯s life as well. A few hours later, the two saw a light at the end of the tunnel and sped up to a run.


    Before they exited, the Princess asked: ¡°You know where to go from here, little one?¡±


    ¡°Grim Grim knows! Grim Grim knows!¡± the little creature jumped up and down in excitement. ¡°Hive Queen give map over all the lands! Follow me!¡±


    A rumbling sound came from behind them, and a dust cloud rushed towards them. The last section of the tunnel started to collapse.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then¡­¡±


    The bright light blinded them as they exited and...


    The movie-like scene suddenly distorted and faded into darkness.


    ******


    ¡°And that is all I am going to show you for now. My other adventures is a whole other story,¡± the Queen said, bringing the Emperor¡¯s and Hercules¡¯s minds back from memory lane and back to the present.

 Chapter 10 - A terrifying noise

    The Emperor and Hercules laid on the ground. At first glance, one might think they were dead, however, this was not the case. Their minds constantly swirled around in their heads, trying to regain focus. The sudden mind-invasion by the Queen had left them completely stunned.


    After a few minutes, the leg missing a foot started to twitch. The constant pain helped Hercules to regain his senses faster than the Emperor.


    But the Emperor was not far behind. His superior genetic composition, combined with his former human intellect, gave him a resistance to mind attacks.


    Urgh, what happened? Feel like throwing up¡­ if I only knew how.


    Information had suddenly flooded his mind ¨C the information the Queen sent. While it took a long time to describe, all those images and information only needed two seconds to complete the transfer. It completely overwhelmed their brains, giving them an insane headache. It buried deep into their memory storage, preventing them from ever forgetting their ancestors¡¯s sacrifice.


    All normal members of the Swarm were born with this knowledge, but Hercules and the Emperor were different. The Queen made two empty bodies for them, and once their souls ¨C their minds ¨C arrived, Qudall simply implanted them into the bodies. This circumvented much of the normal pre-programmed information that the Queen normally implanted into each larva, meaning she had to inform them at a later date, which she just did.


    ¡°Are you awake?¡± the Queen asked them.


    Ugh, so loud¡­ Shut up!


    ¡°No? Very well, I will wait a few more minutes.¡±


    A few minutes later, Hercules managed to stand up. He fell down two times while trying, but got it on the third try. The Emperor, on the other hand, rolled around on the ground, complaining about the pain in his head. No one could understand him, of course, but that mattered little to him.


    ¡°Grooowl!¡±


    Hercules, who could barely stand, watched the unsightly actions of their so-called ¡®Emperor¡¯.


    What¡¯s he doing? Is this the one I¡¯ve heard so much about? The so-called ¡®Emperor¡¯, that when just a larva, single-handedly slayed the monstrous flying beast living outside? He even slayed the furry beast that took my foot! Not...exactly how I imagined him. Me, who¡¯s even missing a foot, got up faster than him?


    The Queen also watched the Emperor squirm around on the ground. She sighed and said: ¡°I have more things to tell you, so get up already. Or I will blast you with a real attack...¡±


    The Emperor immediately stopped rolling around. His eyes swept the area, and seeing all the judgemental looks from the others, he quickly got back on his feet. Perhaps he slightly exaggerated his pain. Ah, another movie? Hope not¡­


    ¡°Good, do you two have any questions before we continue?¡± the Queen asked.


    ¡°I do not,¡± Hercules said, proud over getting so much attention from the Queen.


    They both looked at the Emperor, who once again said nothing. His head made a strange motion, but they merely dismissed it as another one of his weird antics. Maybe trying to get rid of the lingering pain in his head?


    The Queen began to explain: ¡°Hmm, I would have thought one such as yourself would have many questions but, moving on then. You may be wondering how a weak, tiny nest like ours, will go about to rule the world? It is quite simple. Numbers, stealth, evolution and timing.


    ¡°First, numbers. We simply need to increase our numbers. In the near future, I will spawn a few Queens to help with that, and from that point, we will spread quickly. I also have a few other ideas that I will speak more about later.


    ¡°Second, stealth. It is very important that we remain undiscovered. As we are right now, a single soldier could wipe us out.


    ¡°Third, evolution. We need to evolve into higher lifeforms, like we used to be. For this, we need biomass from many different species. While I lost most of the stored genetic blueprints, I have regained a few during my travels, so we simply need to design and create new creatures. I will deal with that part, but you are free to come with suggestions. The higher class, like you two, can evolve on their own by consuming the flesh of their enemies. You have experienced it before during your larva stage. The lower and middle class will be replaced with time.


    ¡°Fourth, timing. We need to strike back when they are distracted. All sapient races are selfish, and therefore war is unavoidable. When they wiped out the Swarm, they gained massive amounts of land and resources, which combined with their massive population drop from the war, made it easy to remain at peace. But now, many years later, the population has recovered, and the land split up between them is getting crowded. I suspect that in a few years, the wars will begin again.


    ¡°Our main enemies are the Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs and Beastmen. There are a few other races, but they are either hostile to everyone or too few to matter. The only one that we can be relatively safe from is the Fishmen, since they rarely leave their oceans. If we ever decide to enter the oceans, we will have to deal with them, but for now, we can safely ignore them.


    ¡°I will tell you more about each race at a later date, but for now, all you need to know is that if you see one ¨C run away!¡±


    They listened to the Queen¡¯s explanation and the word ''Humans'' surprised both of them greatly, but for different reasons...


    Humans! Maybe that¡¯s where Master lives? We¡¯re going to be enemies? Maybe I can show him who¡¯s the boss this time, hehe. Hercules thought to himself. Luckily for him, his rigid face made smiling almost impossible, so the others could not see his smug grin.


    At the same time, the Emperor thought: Humans! We¡¯re going to fight Humans...? Eh, makes sense, I guess. Gotta have Humans as the enemy when playing a monster, right? The other races sounded like the standard fantasy game archetype, but who knows? I bet those ¡®unimportant¡¯ other races will be a big deal later¡­not to mention, the Fishmen. Fishmen? Fishfolk? Aquatic people? I can see the Queen giving me the mission to conquer the sea. Bet there¡¯s a flying world too, something she just happened to forget to mention.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Anyway, story time is over for now. I need to focus. The change from live larvae to eggs is quite difficult,¡± the Queen said, and waved a claw, dismissing them.


    Hercules and the Emperor gave each other a look, but snorted and went separate ways.


    Hercules went to his sleeping quarters. After all, the fight greatly exhausted him, not to mention, the loss of his foot. He did snack on some of the dead Helpers while waiting for the Emperor to show up, sating some of his hunger issues, and now only needed some rest.


    The Emperor had recently woken up and just eaten ¨C pretty much all there was to do in the nest, and all he had ever done since birth. Unlike the normal members of the Swarm, he did not have a specific task assigned to him. Being free but bored, he decided to explore the outside again. His strength had grown enormously compared to the last time he went out. If he and the flying beast had fought for real this time, the Emperor might had won fair and square. He followed the tunnel to the outside, and the sun¡¯s beams greeted him like always.


    The world was completely different from last time. Those weird green trees¡­yeah, he guessed they were not actually trees at all. The Emperor did a quick swipe with a claw. It cut through like an axe through a cucumber -- no resistance at all -- and the green tree fell to the ground. A quick sniff and bite later, his improved senses helped him to figure out what they were.


    It¡¯s grass, huh. Had no idea. Those tall mountains¡­they are the trees. Damn, I¡¯m so tiny! But it¡¯s not all bad. Grew this big in just a few days¡­ come to think of it, how long have I been logged in? Have it even been days? Been sleeping most of the time, and maybe time stops or slows down when I do? Though, this is supposed to be a MMO¡­ Let¡¯s drop that thought for now¡­where was I? Right, recently ate some fine meat, so I might grow even bigger! My body tingles from all this rampant energy. Need to vent it somehow¡­ Oh right, got wings now. Perfect time to try!


    The Emperor managed to unfold his wings after some struggle. Controlling a completely new and differently functioning body part was hard, especially after living over twenty years as a drastically different life form. However, the leap from unfolding the wings to actually using them proved even more difficult. Being unable to see his own progress did not help either. What he did not know, was that his wings were like a newborn baby ¨C weak and fragile ¨C so they needed time to harden and activate the supporting muscles.


    Finally, after an hour of experimenting, the wings had hardened and the muscles grown strong enough to lift him up from the ground, and once in the air, his superior genetics kicked in. Like riding a bike after ten years, he quickly figured out how to steer.


    *BZZZZZZ*


    A loud, terrifying buzzing sound followed him wherever he went.


    What¡¯s that noise? An enemy? Try to keep up with me!


    He increased in speed, diving down from up high, zooming past the nest entrance, and rising up in the air again. The noise refused to give up, in fact, it got even faster and louder as he sped up!


    Ugh! So...tired!


    Being his first flight, he lacked the stamina needed to maintain his current pace, and slowed down as a result. The noise strangely enough did the same. His flight controls wavered and he flew around like a drunk ¨C unable to fly in a straight line. Seconds from dropping from the sky, he squeezed out the last bit of strength from his cramping wings and by a stroke of luck, managed to crash into one of the giant trees. The violent impact caused his claws to impale the bark, attaching him firmly to the tree.


    The noise completely vanished.


    Is it gone...? What was that? A bee? Wasp perhaps? Seems like I don¡¯t rule the skies just yet. Good news is, my claws can climb the trees. Bad news is, I have no idea how to do it. Um, help?


    Thanks to being attached at a horizontal angle, he could see the ground. He did not like what he saw. Reminded him of looking down from his apartment building. He could not even make out where the nest entrance was.


    He wiggled and tugged with one of his six claws, until he finally managed to rip it out from the bark. He slid that claw down the bark, making a small scratch mark. He pierced the claw back into the bark once more.


    Huh, seems bark climbing is fairly effortless. Maybe I should go up instead of down?


    Yielding to his sudden impulse, he made his way up the tree. The tree was some kind of pine tree, with long needle-shaped leaves. He soon made it to the bigger branches and took small breaks on them. The view was mesmerizing. While the forest blocked much, he spotted a few houses in the distance.


    At first, the Emperor felt joy over finding some real civilization, but then he remembered who he was ¨C a monster!


    Not good! They might discover us before we¡¯re ready! Gotta warn the Queen! Well, actually...since I¡¯m already up here, might as well take a look at the top. An hour here or there, shouldn¡¯t matter.


    There was something in the treetop, and it caught his interest as he climbed up. If correct, then the time for another great feast had arrived!


    Having made up his mind, he continued the climb. The sun began to set, day turning into evening.


    The Emperor climbed in silence ¨C not a big deal considering his only available sound was a growl ¨C occasionally spotting a smaller insect, like ants and smaller beetles. He ignored them for now, but wrote a mental note about their nest¡¯s location if he discovered it.


    After an exhausting climb, he finally reached the top. Inside a circular nest, made of sticks and twigs, laid a number of eggs. Slowly but surely, a terrifying expression appeared on the Emperor¡¯s face, showing off his rows upon rows of teeth ¨C a smile.