The trip from the hive to the wall that separated the monster realm and the human realm was uneventful.
Aside from the constant yammering in the back of Coran's ear, he was able to quickly swing from web to web throughout the trees, and he encountered no more enemies along the way.
"Could you slow down please, Coran! I'm getting dizzy!!"
"Coran, are you even listening to me.... it's like I'm not even here...."
"Please pay attention to me, Coran... why are you ignoring me?"
Coran stopped in a tree and looked back at Alicia with an annoyed face.
"You sure are awful wordy for a slave."
"Well, It's not like I've ever been a slave before... I was a queen just before this! How am I supposed to know how a slave should act!?"
Coran seemed to be facepalming, but he looked onward.
"For now, just remain quiet. If we attract the attention of enemies because you won't be quiet, then I will have to ditch you, along with my current plan."
"Ok..."
Alicia looked like she was about to pout, but submitted and stayed quiet.
Coran continued swinging from vine to vine, and Alicia made the effort to hold her breath, not making a peep.
'I shouldn't have asked him to carry me... if I knew it was going to be like this, then I would have just flew on my own... but I can't say that now...'
Alicia tried to move around.
She was able to, relatively easily.
The cloth cocoon that covered her was not extremely restraining- it was only meant to hide her at first, however on moving she found that it was actually very flexible. She spread out her fingers and the cloth tore so that her hands were free.
'Ah! I'm not actually stuck like this. These webs must be different from the ones that he used on Rab. Its like a soft layer of silk, which can be easily taken off.'
Alicia freed herself from the cocoon, and then started to look around the inside of the backpack, which only her eyes were peeking out from.
The bag was quite large, and it was somewhat odd to see someone as small as Coran carrying such a large bag. Especially so when it had enough room for her to sit inside, with room to spare.
She started peeking around in the pockets of the inner bag, and found a number of things.
Some were documents and maps, others potions and scrolls, and there were also an assortment of spare arrows and darts. Of course, they were not laced with poison- Coran would never have allowed her inside the bag if they were.
There were also some tools and objects that Alicia had never seen anything similar to. She had seen potions and the like from some of the loot of the humans attacked by her warriors, however there were also objects here which were completely different from any human possessions she had ever laid her eyes on. All sorts of contraptions and odd things were in view.
'What is this thing?', she said as she picked up a small spider camera which was crawling around in the bag.
'Is this some sort of snack? It's a tiny spider with one large eye in the center. But, would Coran want to eat a spider?'
"Coran, what is this thing?", Alicia asked while poking her head out.
Coran looked back as he stopped in a tree, and saw the spider camera in her insectoid hand.
"Ah, that is a contraption made by his excellency. Anything it sees, my masters see as well. They should know about you coming with me as well, if they have been paying attention to the feed it produces. Please don't touch anything else."
"Ok..."
Coran felt like he was scolding a child to stop bothering the adult over and over.
He then heard a large rumbling sound.
Looking at Alicia, her face had gone red, and she giggled lightly.
"Heh heh... I guess I'm kinda hungry... do you have any food in here?"
"Sigh... yes, my masters made sure to pack me with some food. There should be a compartment in there which has refrigeration properties, and inside you will find some meat and vegetables. Take what you want."
"Thank you, Coran!"
Alicia closed the flap on top of her, and started looking around before noticing the metal box on her side. It looked like a metal cooler, and she opened the lid to see an assortment of cooked rabbit meat, as well as some steamed potatoes with chunks of meat spread on them.
'This all looks very good.... it's very different from anything that I would usually eat. I suppose I should only take a little. After all, I am the slave here... I should save the larger portion of food for Coran.'
Alicia took one of the potatoes, and consumed it quietly as the bag rumbled due to Coran swinging from tree to tree.
A time passed, and nothing else happened. Finally, Coran stopped dead in his tracks.
Alicia poked her head out to see what was going on, and that was when she saw it.
A wall that seemed to go on for miles in both directions, with archers, legionnaires, and magicians stationed at each tower in large numbers. As a matter of fact, every single soldier seemed to have a bow on their back and most of them held spears at their sides, whereas only a few had staffs instead of spears. It seemed that they were all trained in archery, however some were naturally warriors while others held magical skills.
"We've made it to the wall. This is the first major risk we will have to take. I will protect you, but make sure to stay inside there. In the off chance that I die, run. Run back to your hive, and take the spider camera with you. Contact my masters. Beg for their assistance. Surely, they will find a way to overcome such a scenario."
Alicia felt her heart being dropped up and down as if she was on a rollercoaster.
Was Coran so concerned that he might die here?
From what she had seen based on the strength of the humans, even the large numbers on the wall were no match for Coran- and she didn't even know if he used his full strength when fighting her warriors.
Was there a need to be so cautious and worried?
But, if he was being cautious like this, then maybe it was because the humans had an excessively powerful warrior as well?
Alicia didn't know, but she nodded.
"I will do that."
"Thank you. Now that I have insurance, I don't have to hold back."
Coran jumped out of the tree, and in view of the humans at the wall.
"First we will try the diplomatic approach."
----
At this time, the antiheroes were far too busy heading out on the campaign to pay any attention to what Coran was doing- or anyone else in the Dictatorship for that matter.
Therefore, the actions of Coran- and specifically the fact that he had taken a slave of his own- had gone completely unnoticed.
----
Coran stepped out so that he would be in view of the humans.
His intention was to be diplomatic, and see if he would be able to convince the humans to lay down their weapons, and at least have a civil conversation before they attacked him immediately.
If he could at least get that far, perhaps he could begin spinning some doubt in their heads about whether monsters were truly nothing more than chaotic beasts, or whether they were intelligent beings who could be negotiated with and potentially trusted.
Of course, Coran did not expect things to go this well.
He had many plans prepared and ready, should things take a sour turn.
Coran walked out, and the humans stationed at the wall noticed him immediately. Who wouldn't notice an odd spider, walking on two legs, wearing what looked like bandages, equipped with all sorts of strange tools and weapons- and carrying an enormous bag made of web-like cloth on his back?
Many humans were stunned at first at the extremely strange creature which came out of the bushes, however some started loading their bows and preparing to fire.
"Captain! A strange monster has appeared from the bushes!! Do we have permission to fire?", one soldier shouted.
The Captain walked over from behind the lines to take a look at Coran, and seemed completely shocked and disturbed, however as he saw him Coran began to speak.
"Wait. Don't fire.", Coran said in his insectoid voice. It was a displeasing and raspy voice, one which was fit for a spider. "I only wish to speak."
The Captain's eyes seemed to fill with even more disdain towards the monster in front of him as Coran spoke.
"That thing.... that thing is a monster which just spoke.... they must be getting stronger, and more intelligent... this is bad. We have to take care of this threat. Men!! Fire!! Don't let that thing escape here alive!!"
The men who had drawn back their bows released their arrows, and shifted back to be replaced by another row of men who were ready to fire.
"Fire at will!! I don't want to see that thing alive!!"
The next row fired, in quick succession, with such haste that the first volley hadn't even reached Coran before the second was fired.
Coran however, seemed somewhat annoyed.
'Tch.. looks like that was a failure. Well, this much was expected. Time for plan B.'
Coran started shifting his body ever so slightly so that he wobbled in between the massive volley of arrows- ensuring not only that he wasn't hit, but that the large backpack behind him wasn't hit.
'If they think they can defeat me just by pelting me with these attacks, then they won't get far.'
His movements were faster than the human eyes could see, and in the span of half a second he had weaved in and out of a volley of around 50 arrows. The second volley soon followed, which he continued to shift his way through.
However, he came across a clump of arrows which were too close together for him to fit the backpack and his body through.
'I could sacrifice the girl behind me, but that would hinder my plans to use her, and I can take the arrows on my own.'
Coran slapped the arrows away with his arm, which was covered by the steel bandages, and they hardened as they came into contact with the arrows- allowing him to slap the entire volley away with ease, one by one.
This too all happened in an instant, and when the soldiers gained their composure to see what resulted after the volley of 100 arrows had been fired, they saw many arrows behind Coran, stuck in trees or the ground behind him, and a few that had been smacked forward, and were now stuck in the ground in front of him- facing the direction away from Coran.
"Did that thing just block the arrows that were going to hit him??", one soldier shouted.
"He must have very hard skin!! Aim for the eyes!! One more volley boys!!"
The soldiers switched out, however before they even had time to do so, the heads of the 50 soldiers standing in the front fell to the ground.
"You gave me quite a bit of time to set this up. I will have to thank you for that. Or perhaps, to you all, it only seemed like a moment?"
The Captain looked over to see Coran holding a set of strings like a puppetmaster- one attached to each finger. The string was as sharp as a blade, and seemed to be so thin that it barely even glinted in the sunlight, however he could tell ever so faintly that there was an entire web of the strings set up around the wall, completely ensnaring all the men.
Only one of the five fingers of the spider had been pulled forward, and when he did so, the network of strings attached to that finger had sliced off the heads of every man in the front row.
Coran smiled and pulled forward his middle finger, and another set of 10 men lost their heads.
"They- they're dead!!", some of the remaining soldiers shouted, however when they stumbled forward to try to check on the people, they received gashes in their necks.
"Wha- there's a wire around my neck!! When did this get here!?!"
Many of the soldiers started panicking, and some even fell forward. When they did, the tension in the wire around their necks sliced their heads clean off.
"D-don't move!! Nobody move!!! If you move, your head will fly!!"
"Oh, you don't even need to move for that to happen.", Coran said with a grimace as he pulled forward his ring finger, and 10 more heads fell to the ground with splatters. The bodies too fell down, lifeless.
Coran was now twiddling with his pinkie finger, seeming to enjoy the terror of the soldiers in front of him. There were only about 20 left now, and the other 80 had been turned into headless bodies.
As he slightly tugged back and forth with his pinkie, the thread seemed to tighten and loosen around the necks of the remaining 20 soldiers, who all stood perfectly still with their hands around their necks.
Cuts began to form on the necks of many, and drops of blood slowly dripped down the necks of the soldiers.
"What do you want, monster!!", the Captain screamed out. "Tell me what you want, and I will make it happen.... just please spare the lives of the remaining men here!!"
"So you resort to empty offers in order to save your life at the last moment, even after attacking me first without giving a single thought to negotiation? That is certainly one sided. You only do things when they happen to be right for you, but otherwise you sit back and allow others to be trampled on."
"W-wait!! I said wait!! D-do you understand what you are doing!? If you kill us here, then an entire legion will be sent out to kill you! We have 10,000 men stationed at this wall here, and if you make this attack then you will be surrounded! No matter what tricks and traps you set up, you will be slaughtered! If you are intelligent enough to understand what that means, then let us go, and we will ensure that no further attacks will be sent here!!"
Coran seemed to be looking at the captain with dead eyes, filled with disappointment.
"First you beg, now you threaten? Let me guess. Next is to call me a monster and start cursing at me. Sorry bud, but I have a mission to fulfill, and if I don't get past you and your 10,000 troops, then there's no way I can fulfill it."
"You...."
The man started crying in frustration, unable to move lest the wires tighten on his neck.
"You monster... you abomination.... you only wish to see others die, to see the heads of the humans sliced off, and for chaos to rein.... you have no desires other than to see pain and suffering!! The... the heroes will kill you off when they arrive here!! They will rage war on the monster realm, and eliminate all you abominations from this world, and when that happens, I will laugh from my grave!! Go ahead!! Kill me!!! As soon as the heroes arrive, you will be slain like the abomination you are!!!!!"
"That's enough."
Coran seemed to have been irritated from that word. He was looking down with anger.
"Abomination this. Abomination that. Monster. Being of chaos. I have surpassed those terms. My masters have given me light, and I am no longer merely an abomination with no place to return."
Coran looked up, his eyes bloodshot and his grin spread across his face.
"I now have a reason to live, and people to fight for."
Coran pulled forward his pinkie finger, and the last set of heads rolled. The bodies dropped to the floor.
"What would you know about abominations, when you refuse to negotiate with someone because of their appearance? That is what makes you third rate. You were supposed to be a leader, but compared to my masters, you are nothing more than a shameful insect who needs to be crushed for sullying the very concept of leadership. I will fulfill this mission. I will search out, and I will find the humans who will not judge me based on my appearance- based on the fact that I am a monster."
Coran shot out a web onto the wall, climbed up, and started walking through the sea of headless corpses around him.
He was angered, however he now calmed down on seeing the grand world ahead of him.
There was an entire camp, with hundreds- no perhaps even thousands of soldiers ahead.
"If there are this many people in this country, then surely I will find some who can understand... I will not fail in my mission. I will find those who are willing to look past mere appearances, and I will befriend them. I will find a way to live a regular life in this forbidden realm."
----
The Prince, Percius V, sat in his throne pompously while awaiting the return of his father.
However, his father had not returned yet at this point.
'Just what could be taking him? Surely, he wanted to return back as quickly as possible in order to prevent me from doing anything rash? The first legion must already be on it's way into the monster realm at this point... and while there have been no major reports of unusual activity, it is certainly odd that he hasn't returned yet. I could take this opportunity to test out my power, however if I do so and mess up, he might seriously remove my privileges as the heir... I doubt he was joking then, so I have to be careful here. At least until he dies, I cannot afford to give up this position.'
Percius V shifted his position , and called over a female servant towards him.
"You, come here."
"Yes, my liege?"
"I need a footrest."
"Ah, would you like one to be brought to you?"
"No. Become my footrest."
Percius made a pointing motion to the ground in front of him, and lifted up his feet.
"My liege?"
"Did you not hear me? I said, become my footrest. Now. If you don't want to, then I'm sure there are 100 other women who would."
"Ah, of course! Forgive my hesitation!"
The woman knelt down on the ground, and Percius laid his feet on her back.
'Well, it doesn't matter. I will live lavishly for now, and figure out the political stuff for when I actually become the Emperor. It shouldn't be too hard.'