Inside a large room which was plastered in every spot with cobwebs and honeycombs, inside a bed which resembled a mix between a cocoon and a hammock, two beings slept peacefully within the arms of one another.
While both of these figures had the general shape of humans, their features would not conform with such an assessment.
The male had the figures of a spider.
His skin was black and made from chitin, and he opened one of his four eyes, glancing about the room.
He had six arms, the uppermost two which had human hands, and the others which were pointed like those of an insect.
Fangs sprouted from his mouth, and he had hair which was spiked up as if it had been gelled into a single point.
Surrounding him were 30 cocoons which hung from the ceiling by single threads.
Inside these cocoons were human children, wrapped up as if they were stored snacks for this beastly creature.
The spider-human mix tried to sit up as he opened his other three eyes, however he realized quickly that he was being held tightly by the four arms of the girl who slept beside him.
The girl sleeping soundly next to him breathed ever so lightly, however this spiderling looked down at her with slight annoyance.
"If you continue to cling to me like that then I will sleep separate from you."
Despite saying these words, the girl continued to peacefully sleep, shifting her position ever so slightly, causing the rolling of all four eyes of the spider.
Her body was shaped like a human, though her skin was made from a chitin material as well, striped yellow and black. Her hair was short cut and alternated just as her skin did between the two colors, and two antennas protruded from her forehead, twitching ever so slightly.
Her mouth was that of a human, and her eyes were sharp- of which she only had two.
Of her four arms, her upper two also had the hands of humans, similar to the spider she clutched.
She was a mix between a human and a wasp.
These two were Coran and Alicia.
Surrounding them were the 30 children which they had kidnapped.
After being sent on a journey to investigate the human realm, Coran, one of the head slaves of the antiheroes, had discovered the small village of Porta after taking Alicia as his own slave.
They discovered the corruption within the city, led by Mrs. Fera, a woman who had abused orphans and subjected them to inhumane labor, not even fit for a slave.
After slaughtering the inhabitants of the city aside from a select few, Coran and Alicia had adopted the abused children and repurposed the village of Porta as the foothold which the antiheroes held within the human realm.
With the help of his sister, Berith, who he had gone through numerous endeavors with- including the trial which his own mother subjected them to, forcing them to kill off their own monstrous siblings, Coran had defended this village from the fiends of the 5th Legion and their commander, Calerius.
By controlling the bodies of the men like puppets, they toyed with the lives of the humans who dared to lay foot on their stronghold, showing to all that they were powerless before those who served the antiheroes- even when they outnumbered the monsters by tens of thousands.
Following this, peace ensued for a time. Veronica- one of the women who Coran had spared from the slaughter- had taken over the economics of the city, allowing for proper function even with labor having been reduced to a pitiful state, with only 4 human adults and 2 monsters, along with the 30 children remaining.
A school had been set up, and Alicia had begun to teach the children based on the curriculum which was approved by the antiheroes themselves.
And finally, just the previous day, Coran had been called to assist Oraguth- one of his brothers in slavery- to slaughter a hero of humanity who they had deceived into believing that he was doing the right thing in assisting them to take over the world.
After slaughtering said hero, Coran had quickly returned to this city, yet the previous night he received a call by the antiheroes.
"So today..... we will be heading out to war. All of us."
Coran looked around at the faces of the sleeping children with a smile.
"Perhaps some might view this as beyond child abuse, to put them on the front lines. But if this is the will of their excellencies, then they surely have a reason. Well, even if they do not..... we are their slaves."
Placing his hand on the head of the woman beside him, she squinted, barely opening her eyes with a light yawn.
"If they tell us to throw ourselves onto the spears of the enemy.... then it is our obligation to do so. Down to the last child."
"Coran? What are you whispering about to yourself?"
"You're finally awake? I've been waiting for you to let go of me for quite some time now. You move around in your sleep quite a lot, you know."
"Eh!? Were you watching me in my sleep!?!?"
The spider thinned his eyes as the wasp sat up quickly, glancing back and forth as she gripped the bedsheets.
"Are you telling me that I should avert my eyes from you even as you grip me so tightly, to the point where I cannot even move? You are unreasonable, my slave."
"Er.... well.... no.... it's just.... I mean...."
"You accept that you are my slave, completely and utterly obedient to my each and every command, yet I still find that you make more demands of me than I make of you. Don't you find that strange?"
"I mean.... I'll.... do whatever you want if you ask..."
As Coran looked onto the girl who looked down, averting her eyes, he let out a sigh.
"Alright, alright. Why can't I seem to tell you no? You are supposed to be my slave, and yet... there is something which continuously presses me not to push you too hard. Perhaps that is my own flaw? Hahaha.... I suppose I will never reach the greatness of my masters when it comes to ordering slaves about without personal emotions clouding their judgement."
"Is that really a good thing?"
"Yes, it is. They care for each and every one of their slaves, however that does not mean they will allow those emotions to override sound and logical judgement. Ah, it looks like our conversation has awakened some of the children."
The children who were wrapped up in cocoons began rubbing their eyes. The cocoons were not constricting, but stretched easily so that it acted more like a blanket to cover them rather than a device to contain them.
Holding out his hands and shooting wires from them, Coran grabbed many of the awakening children, carefully removing them from the cocoons and laying them onto the cobweb covered floor.
"Good morning."
"Good morning, dad."
"Good morning, mom."
Many of the children were half asleep but one by one they woke and Coran stood up, walking over to the children.
"Today is..... very important. Please get ready, everyone. I'm going to gather the other people of the village as well in the meeting room. We have a duty to perform, so I want you all to be looking your best, and on your best behavior. After all, today we will be representing their excellencies and her eminence as the slaves of the newly established demon lords."
The children and Alicia nodded in understanding, and they all began to get ready as a family.
As Coran put on his suit, he thought back in reminiscence of his own life, and all the things which had brought him to this point.
'How exciting. To think that I will be taking part in such an event..... it truly was the correct decision to become a slave.'
----
Many had gathered in a large room at a long table to the point where the entire table had been filled.
Sitting at the head on one end was Coran, wearing a checkered suit and white tie. Sitting next to him was Alicia, who wore a gorgeous chitin dress, and sitting in many of the rows were the children who were also dressed in elegant outfits.
The young girls wore beautiful sundresses which had been shipped from the dictatorship, and they even wore adorable and fashionable caps to go with their outfits. The young boys wore what looked to be school uniforms, buttoned properly and ready to attend a proper high class event.
In similarly exquisite clothing were a group of adults who sat at the far end of the table.
One man wore the formal gear of a doctor- Dr. Kraven.
A man and a woman sat next to each other wearing what looked like formal military gear with fine coats and dress pants.
And finally, the woman who sat at the far end of the table wore a beautiful blue dress.
If one were to ignore the monstrous appearance of the two at the head, they might believe that this was some sort of gathering among the students and teachers of a high class academy- however that was not the case.
"Ahem..... well, first off I'd like to apologize. The notification was pretty sudden, so thank you all for getting yourselves ready on such short notice."
All eyes were on Coran as he spoke, however Kraven- the man who usually had messy black hair which was now combed perfectly- spoke up in reply.
"Don't say that, Coran. We are.... slaves, after all. If you were to wake us at 3 in the morning and tell us to go somewhere, it wouldn't even be a question as to whether or not we would do so."
With a toothy smirk, Coran nodded.
"Indeed. We are all slaves here, and as such we have duties to follow to the tee. And our next duty.... is one which will likely shake you if your hearts are not prepared."
Tension filled the room as the people held their breath, awaiting the words of the monster before them.
"We will be heading to war and fighting on the front lines for their excellencies and her eminence."
As Coran said this, looks of confusion came across the faces of a few, however these looks soon turned to determination.
"I see. Interesting..... very interesting. Coran, may I ask why we would be doing such a thing? I can understand yourself, but as you know, we are nothing more than weak and pathetic humans. What purpose could we possibly serve on a battlefield? Bait?"
The one who asked this with a sensual tone was Veronica- the woman with black hair that draped all the way to her knees.
She stated this with a smile, completely willing to follow the orders, yet she wished to know why.
"That's right. You all are weak beyond belief. Isn't that how all humans are? Even that strongest man was nothing special, enough to make me sweat only a slight amount. When compared to their excellencies, he was not even a speck of dust. So? Why do they want you all.... and even children at that.... to go onto the front lines to fight?"
With a grin, Coran thinned his eyes.
"It is for a show of power."
The woman on the opposite side of the table brushed her hair aside to reveal a sinister smirk.
"I see..... how interesting. So you mean that they wish to send a message along the lines of 'We will enslave even children, and force them to become our warriors. And even with such people serving on our front lines, we will still win.' Something along those lines?"
"Exactly. You always tend to understand quickly, Veronica.", Coran responded.
With a nod, the woman laughed lightly to herself.
"It truly would be an interesting sight to see a demon lose against a child."
"I'll fight, dad!"
"We'll.... kill them."
"We'll kill anyone who is your enemy, dad."
"We'll destroy the enemies of their excellencies and her eminence..... heh.... whether they are human or monster."
"Just like we killed Mrs. Fera."
The children spoke up, excited to take part as well.
"You all.... truly have been raised well.", Coran said as he looked around to them, seeing the demented determination on each and every one of their faces. "Thank you, Alicia. It looks like whatever you've been teaching them has turned them into fine slaves."
"Y-you're welcome, Coran...."
Alicia accepted the praise, looking down abashedly.
"Now then.... it should be any moment here that we will be teleported to the Capital."
Tapping his finger on the table, Coran awaited the message of his masters.
And after a few minutes had passed, a message was received.
[Coran. I see that you've prepared all on your side. We'll be teleporting you to the Dictatorship now.]
"Understood, your excellency."
And with that, the people within the room disappeared.
Not a soul was left in the town of Porta, as if it had been abandoned.
For the people had gone off to do the unthinkable.
To fight demons.
To fight alongside the very existences which the heroes should have faced, yet did not.
To take part in a battle which would go down in history.
----
"Ok ok..... I am NOT wearing a long dress today. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! Their excellencies told me to wear formal gear, but they didn't specify what type of formal gear, so I'm going to go with something flexible. We're going to war. War!!! I can't slaughter my enemies in a dress like that!!"
"But Lady Berith, you look adorable in such a dre-"
"No! I'm wearing this!!"
"But Lady Berith, surely that cannot be considered formal gear by any standards."
"Eh? What are you talking about? This is..... this has to be formal!"
"And what exactly is your definition of the word 'formal'?"
Two beings were currently in a high class dressing room.
One of them was a humanoid with the features and beautiful wings of a monarch butterfly, and she was currently holding up a long and exquisite black dress, attempting to convince the one before her to try such a thing on.
The other was a humanoid with the form of a spider who was currently wearing a grey hoodie.
Her long strands of hair which looked almost like bandages draped outside of the hood, and her four eyes glared at the dress before her with displeasure as if she held horrible memories of wearing such a thing.
"I went to the human realm, and I've been a whole bunch of other places too. Whenever I saw someone wearing formal gear, it was super different from what everyone around them was wearing. Therefore.... in order for something to be formal, it must be RARE!! And this outfit is something that doesn't exist in this world!! It's something that her excellency Ally used to wear all the time in her world, apparently, therefore it's rarer than anything else in this world. So this is as formal as I can get!"
The female spider humanoid nodded with satisfaction at her deduction, proving to herself that she was well within the orders of her masters by wearing such a thing.
The long cut hoodie was the only thing she wore, allowing for mobility during a potential fight. However, the butterfly woman closed her eyes in disappointment as Berith made such a statement.
"Lady Berith, you are mistaken. In order for something to be formal, it must be of high class. Rarity does not equate to formality. Therefore, please put this on."
"No. I refuse."
"Sigh...."
The woman placed an insectoid arm to her forehead as she let out a sigh, putting the dress down.
"Alright. As you command, Lady Berith. I suppose you look adorable in anything, including that outfit. At least wear the bow though."
"Geh.... do I have to? And I'm not trying to look adorable. I'm trying to be comfortable. How am I supposed to slay the enemies of their excellencies wearing that thing!?"
"Do they actually intend for you to slay any enemies today? I am not so sure of that. And regarding the bow, you wish to follow the orders of your masters, no? Then wear it. It will increase the formality of your attire."
"Ugh.... fine."
The butterfly woman pulled back the hoodie of the spider, allowing her hair to flow out in masses. Grabbing her hair, she fixed it up nicely, tying a perfect bow and nodding in satisfaction.
"There. Perfect."
"Ugh...."
"I'm sure her excellency will love it."
"Ok...."
The spiderling resigned to her fate, unable to completely prioritize her own desires over her masters- even using false logic.
"I..... wish to serve them to the best of my capabilities. Which is why I do not wish to wear such a thing. But I will not disobey their orders. Even so, they did not order me directly to wear it. I have said such a thing before to my brother once. If their excellencies do not specify orders, that means they leave it up to our digression. And if it is up to our digression, then they surely already understand the decisions we will make."
"I see. Then, that is fine. Now, is it not about time you rally the people?"
"I guess."
The girl stepped out towards the balcony which she was oh so familiar with, now that she had been placed upon a throne as an intermediate queen.
As she opened the doors, she heard the cheers of thousands who had gathered.
"Lady Berith!!!!!"
"Our beautiful queen!!!!"
Berith stepped forward, this time with a horrible grin as she bared her fangs and thinned her eyes.
"Heh heh..... finally I'm free of that dress... listen up, maggots!!!!"
Berith shouted out to the crowds, quieting the people in an instant with her newly taken demeanor.
"Each and every one of you is beyond worthless!!!!! Even I am worthless!!!! We're all shit!!!! We're all nothing!!!! We're all here today, not because of me.... but because of their excellencies and her eminence!!"
Placing one leg onto the balcony edge, Berith spoke in a grizzled tone- taking the posture which was anything but queenly.
"We are pests which they could have exterminated.... but decided not to. We are their slaves. Now then.... isn't it time to show everyone what it truly means to serve them?"
At this, cheers erupted.
"Lady Berith!!!!"
"You are amazing!!!"
"And your masters as well!!!!"
"We love you!!!!"
"Shut the hell up!!!! Don't love me!!!! Love my masters!!! They're the ones who made everything so great!!"
Berith shouted back at the cheers, quieting the people.
"It's time to kill everyone who goes against them. And I fully intend to take part in the killing. So let me ask you, insects. Are you with me?"
"Of course!!!!!"
"Heh heh..... that's what I like to hear. Now then..... off to the capital."
And with that, the thousands of insectoids who had gathered disappeared in an instant.
Gone.
As if it were a ghost town, in a single moment, everyone vanished.
And the only thing which could be heard within the anthill of a city was the blowing of the wind through the lonely tunnels.
----