I took a quick look around and found a small piece of paper. I scrawled
upon it all, I could remember just before the Swarm's collective
consciousness completely washed my memories away.
I was an eighteen-year-old college student, born and raised in Japan. I
didn't have a lot of friends in real life, but I had plenty of them online. I knew
most of them from gaming. When it came to video games, I was a chatterbox.
I led quite the sad life if I do say so myself. What I lacked in reality, I
sought after on the internet. Still, I had no regrets, and I couldn't claim zero
attachments to the somewhat empty life I led in Japan.
I will definitely make it out of this world. I promised the Swarm victory,
but at the end of the day, I had my own selfish motives. Rather than focus on
the goal of achieving some as yet unknown and unknowable victory, I chose
to hone in on my desire to find my way back to Japan.
I made no effort to hide it either. The Swarm likely knew this from the
collective consciousness that connected us, but they remained silent on the
matter. They seemed to tacitly approve of my wish to go back. Or maybe
they intended to leave with me and sweep my world with the black currents
of the Swarm.
Whichever it was, the Swarm didn't reject my intent to go back to my
own world. I vowed to find a way to leave this world and return home...
except I had no idea where to start. But someday, I will surely find it.
Thus, my first order of business was to confirm the situation. Scouting
was the first order of business in this kind of game, after all. I needed to get a
grasp on the terrain, our enemies' positions, and the resources I needed to
produce more units—that is, more Swarms. I needed to confirm the logistic
path to those resources as well as all other pertinent information about this
region in order to emerge victorious.
Those were the Four Xs: eXploration, eXpansion, eXploitation, and
eXtermination.
I needed resources. I needed a stronghold. And I needed an enemy. But-
[Page 1]
truthfully, I was still hesitant to fight this so-called enemy. Where was I to
begin with? The map was too large. I'd never seen these tunnels, and I didn't
recall ever playing a map with tunnels of this size.
I could clearly remember all the maps I'd ever played. In fact, that was an
island of perfect clarity in my otherwise hazy sea of memories. There wasn't
a single map I didn't know, from the single-player maps, to online ones, to
unique, user-made maps. On one hand, this could have been some really
niche, unknown player-made map, but there was no chance a map this large
wouldn't be highly-rated by other players, so even that seemed unlikely.
To that end, I divided my Ripper Swarms into pairs and sent them out to
scout. Their information came directly to me via the hivemind, and I used it
to draw a map of the area. If we're going to win, we'll have to secure this
area, I thought.
A gold mine. Hunting grounds. A densely packed military installation of
unknown affiliation. I was fixated on gathering information in the name of
the victory I had promised the Swarm and for the sake of going back to my
own world.
But honestly, as far as starting positions went, this one was golden. No
matter how much you tweaked the difficulty settings, you'd only start with
two to three Worker Swarms and a Ripper Swarm if you were lucky. The
Arachnea was a faction that overwhelmed the enemy with sheer numbers, so
having this many Swarm units so early in the game was usually forbidden to
keep things balanced. It was no simple feat to get these numbers right away.
The Marianne's main resource was faith, which increased with the
number of citizens it had and allowed the faction to increase the limit on their
number of troops. The Gregoria mined gold, the favorite food of their
dragons, to mobilize their forces. The Flame, a fellow evil faction, increased
its number of units according to how many sacrifices it made. There was a
loophole, though, where the Flame could sacrifice worker units—who didn't
subsist on meat—to increase the sum of its sacrifices.
Usually it was hard to build up a number of units in the early game, but
the Flame could do it relatively easily. Its worker units subsided on the most
basic foods—fruits and agricultural crops—and could be sacrificed to unlock
higher-level units, such as attacker units that were the Flame's counterpart to
the Ripper Swarms. That said, for how easy it was for this faction to produce
units, the units themselves were unsurprisingly lacking in strength.
[Page 2]
The Arachnea, on the other end, lived on meat. It typically gathered meat
from hunting grounds, which were generated as part of the map, in order to
increase its unit production. Only Worker Swarms could be produced from
gatherable plants, with all other units requiring meat to produce.
The game's map generation took that into account, of course, and
distributed hunting grounds accordingly. There the Worker Swarms hunted
deer and rabbits, carried their spoils back to base, and produced even more
Swarms that way. But so long as you knew how to do it, it was perfectly
possible to gather your initial army units—in this case, the Ripper Swarms—
and rush your enemies' positions before they could set up fortifications.
I had done it several times myself, laying waste to several factions right
away. For this method to succeed, you needed to swiftly seize every possible
meat resource in the early game, devote them all to producing Ripper Swarms
as fast as possible, then rush an enemy base. If the rush was successful, the
Swarms obtained as much meat as the units they'd killed, enabling them to
produce even more Swarms as a result.
Massacre, devour, and propagate—once this loop begins, the game is all
but won.
While it wasn't impossible, it was certainly a difficult strategy to pull off.
Despite that, I already had hundreds of Worker and Ripper Swarms under my
command and a number of assorted facilities established from the onset.
Whatever difficulty setting had given me this starting setup was an unusual
one.
When I viewed the situation like it was the game, it felt as though I had
picked up another player's match after they left. Was there another player at
the helm here before I came along? If so, what happened to them? Where are
they now? And if the Arachnea existed before I came here, does that mean
there are other factions too? While I couldn't help but wonder, some of these
questions weren't anything for me to worry about. Whether there had been
another player before or not, the Swarm had shown their loyalty to me. If any
such player existed, they were surely gone from this world already.
The Swarm only accepted one queen. In other words, there was no other
player using the Arachnea but me right now—unless, of course, there was
another player using the same faction. And if there was anyone like that, they
may have had some kind of clue relating to how I could go back home.
Additionally, I'd have to be cautious when it came to interacting with the-
[Page 3]
other factions. I could talk to other humans, which meant there was a chance
to broker peace with them, but they'd be wary of me because I used the
Arachnea. The Arachnea fundamentally didn't deal in diplomacy, favoring
declarations of war, so they'd likely suspect me right out of the gate. I could
see myself being quickly hated by others.
If this had all been an elaborate setup, I would have started laughing out
loud, but the Swarm's collective consciousness in my mind was all too real. I
could feel them, experience their senses, and understand their desires.
In other words, victory.
The Swarm didn't know what that victory meant, and therefore I couldn't
understand it either. But they still yearned for it. Victory. A victory I would
lead them to. A victory we could take pride in. Victory and nothing else.
"Your Majesty, your clothes are ready."
Beyond the state of this world and the nearby terrain, I needed to figure
out my own situation. Being eighteen, I was considered an adult by Japanese
legal standards. At least, that's how it should have been, but my body looked
somewhat younger now, perhaps fourteen or so. The hooded jacket I wore in
place of a housecoat was rather loose on me and tended to slip off my body.
I had no idea why I had become younger or how I had gotten here to
begin with, so I did my best to gather my thoughts. What was I doing before I
found myself here? I don't know. The last thing I remember is turning on my
PC. My beloved PC is barely capable of running the minimum specs for the
game, but there I was, hoping to play a round or two—and then this
happened?
I don't understand. The discrepancies in my memory are concerning too.
For some reason, I forgot all about the Swarms, what I was doing before I
came here, and even the title of the game. Do I have some sort of sickness of
the mind, or is it the influence of this new world I'm in? If it's the former,
everything I've been experiencing until now must've been a hallucination.
But if that were true, wouldn't I be given some kind of medical treatment?
I may live alone, but I still go to college and I always call my parents on
weekends to let them know I'm doing fine. I really don't get any of this, but I
have to keep looking into it. If I can find out how I got here, maybe that'll be
the key to getting back home.
I have no intention of staying in this incomprehensible world forever.
Once I've led the Arachnea as their queen, I will go back. I may have been a-
[Page 4]
shut-in to some extent, but I still feel that's where I belong. I have no place in
this messed up realm where the Arachnea's Swarms actually exist.
"Your Majesty?"
"Yes, sorry. I'll put them on in a second, so just set them over there."
The Worker Swarm that had brought me some clothes per my request
cocked its head as I pointed at my bed. I called it a bed, but it was more of a
stone surface with some straw spread over it. You could say I was living
quite modestly. I made a mental note to elevate the living standards here
eventually.
"Let's see the clothes you made for me..."
I spread out the clothes the Worker Swarms had made for me, making
sure to keep my expectations appropriately low.
"...I can't wear this."
However, what I saw was an absolutely gorgeous dress. It was made from
a material similar to silk and extravagant enough that it wouldn't have looked
out of place in the Victorian era. It had no visible seams, as if the silk was
made in the shape of the dress to begin with. Putting aside a few questionable
choices, like the exposed cleavage and open back, it was pretty much perfect.
"I suppose that in terms of life's necessities, we've got the need for
clothing covered," I whispered to myself as I put on the dress. "And I have
accommodations, even if they call for some renovation. Now I'll have to
figure out food."
Food was crucial. Being human, I needed to eat in order to survive, and
the Swarms needed food as a resource to produce more units. According to
the game's setting, food was a necessary resource to produce all types of
units, unless they were inorganic or draconic units, and as I had already
mentioned, the Swarms required meat. Animal meat would do just fine, so
long as there was a steady supply. I could do with the leftovers.
"Your Majesty."
A voice suddenly echoed in my ears.
"Yes?"
"A village has been detected. It is populated. What shall we do?"
The report came from one of the Swarms I had sent out to scout; it was
transmitted to me via the collective consciousness. I concentrated on that
Swarm's individual consciousness, which was simple enough. There was a
map in mind, the same as the one in the game. I zeroed in on that particular-
[Page 5]
Swarm and projected my energy onto it, which came with the same sensation
as clicking on a unit in the game.
Then, a scene surfaced in my mind. I could see a village, and within it
about thirty people running around as though in a panic. But something else
about them drew my attention.
"Are they... elves?"
The villagers' ears were pointed and long, making them look strikingly
like elves.
Elves were a good alignment race, and their faction was named "Fly
Greene." They were masters of surprise attacks who loved nature and
therefore used units that came from the forest, like dryads, for their tactics.
There was also a dark elf faction, which was evil-aligned, but these elves had
unique blue skin. The elves in this village, however, were just pure, normal
elves.
The Fly Greene would appear and disappear in forested terrain, launching
surprise attacks that were maddening to handle, but with these numbers, it
was perfectly possible to stomp them out. Would I be able to do that now?
I would... and without much difficulty. I had sworn to lead the Swarm to
victory, after all. I could use the flesh of any elves that strayed too far from
the village to bolster my forces and trample the enemy with overwhelming
numbers.
That was assuming such force was necessary, of course. The situation
right now was a bit different than what I had imagined. In other words, there
were contradictions with what I knew from the game.
"Your Majesty, give us the order to attack. With our numbers, we can
easily slay and devour them."
"Wait. There's something I want to try."
There were a couple of things I needed to figure out. First of all, was this
really the same world as the game? After all, if I had the major premise
wrong, I would likely make major errors in judgment.
Secondly, one wouldn't usually build a village without making sure to put
up defenses; if other players were to notice it, they would attack right away,
putting a swift end to it. Yet despite being fairly large, this village had no
fortifications whatsoever. There were no soldiers, no defensive structures, no
walls. It was completely vulnerable, as if the location had remained in its
initial generation state from the start of the game without making any-
[Page 6]
developments at all.
It was like they were begging for us to come and bite their little heads off.
Oh, yikes. Really starting to sound like the Swarm here.
Anyway, no normal players, not even the AI, would build a village
without any defenses. Taking that and the unfamiliar map into account, it was
quite possible that maybe, as hard as it was to believe, this truly wasn't part
of the cutthroat video game world. It seemed that this really was some other
world, and the Arachnea was a foreign presence that had found its way here.
Yes, just like me.
Therefore, I had to confirm whether that was true before planning my next
moves. Picking up the skirt of my long dress, I called a single Ripper Swarm
over and hopped onto its back. I then summoned a few other Ripper Swarms
and hastened toward the elven village.
If this wasn't the game world, my future plans would be in jeopardy.
♱
"Haa... Haa..."
Labored breaths echoed throughout the forest. They were followed by
savage shouts—the voices of male outlaws. Two sets of light, almost
inaudible footsteps were being pursued by the heavy stomps of five or six
men.
"Lysa, hurry! Hurry! They're coming!" an elf boy shouted. He was maybe
sixteen years old and had a short bow in hand, which he had aimed behind
him as he cried out.
"Just leave me behind, Linnet..." said the elven girl, who appeared to be
fourteen or so.
"You know I can't do that! We're going back together!"
Linnet rushed back to Lysa, who was lagging behind, and pulled her by
the hand as he took off again. But one arm simply wasn't enough.
"There they are! I've found the elves!" boomed a hoarse voice from
behind them.
A group of human men clad in cheap chain mail pointed in the elves'
direction. With heavy footsteps, the men closed in, some with arrows nocked
in their bows and others clutching daggers or axes. One could tell at a glance
that they were a band of outlaws. These men were poachers, but not the kind-
[Page 7]
that went after four-footed game—they were slavers.
"Just go! Run, Linnet! You shouldn't have to be a slave, too!" Lysa
pleaded.
"As if! I'm not letting you make slaves out of us!" Linnet fired an arrow
toward the men.
"Whoa, there." A man who looked to be the slavers' leader hopped back.
"This one's got claws. All right, boys. Kill the elf with the bow, and capture
the woman."
"Roger that, Boss."
The slave dealers approached with wooden shields, coming for Linnet
with smirks on their faces as he desperately shot arrows at them. His arrows
merely struck the shields, sticking fast or bouncing off hopelessly.
"Linnet, please, just go!"
"Dammit! If only I were stronger... even just a little bit!" Despair was
creeping fast into Linnet's frustrated shouts.
Lysa began to cry. The slavers were almost within arm's reach of Linnet,
ready to grab him and bash his head in with an ax. Linnet's fate was all but
decided.
But at that moment...
"Aaaarghhh!"
Suddenly, the upper half of the slaver who was about to pounce on Linnet
disappeared. Or rather, it was torn off... by the jaws of a giant insect. The
creature's fangs and scythe-like hands dripped with fresh blood, and its
hollow compound eyes looked around at the other slavers. It was larger in
size than the slavers themselves, and it was chomping down on the severed
upper half of the one it had killed.
"What the... What the hell is that?!" The insect's sudden appearance drove
the slavers into a panic.
But the chaos was just beginning.
Six other bugs sprang out of the thicket and began tearing the slavers to
pieces. The men didn't even have the chance to scream. Their throats were
slashed open within seconds, and as a froth of saliva and blood bubbled up
from their mouths, the insects continued to ravage their bodies. In the chaos,
a few drops of blood splattered onto Linnet's face.
"Help..." One of them barely managed to raise his voice before his head
was cleaved in two by an insectile scythe, leaving him only capable of-
[Page 8]
convulsions.
"This can't be real! I've never heard of monsters like this!" the slavers'
leader screamed. "It's impossible! What are these things?!"
He turned to run, but another insect stood in his way. The monster
rhythmically clicked its fangs, as though contemplating whether to rip the
man to shreds or eat him alive. There was no trace of emotion in its multitude
of hollow eyes.
"Eek! God, help me!" the man screamed, falling to his knees.
In response, the insect before him slowly raised a bloodstained scythe.
The moment it swung down, the leader of the slavers would be met with
death. He cowered on the ground like a death row inmate awaiting execution,
and in this moment, the insect before him gave the striking impression of the
grim reaper.
Then, in one swift stroke, he was knocked unconscious.
"Enough." A girl's sonorous voice filled the air.
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?"
"Yes. I'll be needing him later for a little experiment."
With that, the girl stepped out of the thicket and revealed herself.
"She's so pretty..."
The girl was beautiful and clad in a dress worthy of royalty. She stood
dignified despite the gore-spattered spectacle before her, soiled as it was with
the blood and viscera of the slavers. Enchanted, Lysa forgot all about her
terror and stared at the newcomer with awe.
"I have something to ask you," the girl said. "Are you from the nearby
village?"
"You know about the... Who are you?!"
Linnet hastily nocked an arrow, and the insects promptly poised
themselves to attack. Their scythes at the ready, they gnashed their fangs as
their stingers, dripping with lethal venom, vibrated expectantly. If Linnet
were to make one wrong move, he would join the corpses of the slavers.
"You don't need to be so cautious. I just saved your lives."
"Are they...?"
"Yes, they're my servants."
Linnet looked up at the girl with unbelieving eyes. "Are you a witch?"
"No. I am..." The girl tossed her black hair before continuing, flanked by
her army of blood-soaked insects.
[Page 9]
"The Queen of the Arachnea." She smiled as though she had told some
joke only she understood. "Now then, it's the first time in hours I've spoken
to other people... Well, erm, someone who's like another human being. I'll
ask again: are you from the nearby village? Or do you have nothing to do
with it?"
"That's right. We're from Baumfetter," Lysa said.
"Lysa!"
"Linnet, she just saved us. We should invite her to the village to thank
her." Ignoring Linnet's shocked expression, Lysa continued, "We'll show
you the way to the village. Do your... bug friends have to come too?"
"The poor things get worried if I'm too far away, so I'll have to take at
least one of them along," the queen replied.
"Then come with me, Your Majesty. It's over that way."
"Thank you."
Lysa then set off to escort the queen to their village, with Linnet hurrying
after them. But neither of the elves noticed the other insects dragging the
body of the unconscious slaver into the trees... or the mysterious smile on the
Arachnea queen's lips.
♱
"Linnet! Lysa!"
"Where were you? We were worried about you two!"
I looked on as Linnet and Lysa entered the village the Ripper Swarm had
found—Baumfetter Village—and were quickly surrounded by villagers.
"We went to the mountain to pick herbs. Oksana's cold has been getting
worse, right?"
"Children shouldn't worry about things like that! Though I do appreciate
the gesture."
Linnet and Lysa had gone out to pick medicinal herbs that would help a
sick villager. They were found by the slavers, who had been lying in wait for
prey, and were chased all the way back to the forest. The villagers had
noticed they were late coming home and panicked upon discovering that they
were missing. It seemed they had just been discussing whether they should
organize a search party to find them.
"Did anything happen to you two out there?"
[Page 10]
"Well, we kind of ran into slave traders..."
"Slave traders?!" The villagers' eyes widened. "And what happened?!
You got away?!"
"Yeah, someone saved us. So, erm, we'd like to introduce her." Linnet
and Lysa exchanged glances.
"Yeah. She saved us. She says she's the Queen of the Arachnea."
On cue, I stepped out of the shadows.
"What... What is that monster?!"
"A monster?!"
The villagers' gazes were not fixed on me, but rather on the Ripper
Swarm behind me. It stood silently, but its grotesque appearance was likely a
bit too... stimulating to those who weren't used to it.
"Don't worry, it won't attack," I said, trying to soothe the villagers. "He's
my faithful servant."
"You can control this... this monster?" An old elf stepped forward from
the crowd of the villagers. "Are you some manner of witch?"
"I'm not a witch, but the Arachnea's queen. Have you ever heard of the
Arachnea?"
"Arachnea? Is that the name of a kingdom? Where is it? I've lived a long
time, but I'm afraid I've never heard of such a place."
Just as I thought. The villagers don't know about the Arachnea. If this was
the game world, there'd be no way they hadn't heard of the infamous,
dreadful Arachnea. No matter how remotely you lived, or what faction you
belonged to, or whether you were human or not. Everyone would know the
name of the insect-like tidal wave that washed over nations and cities alike.
Not knowing of the Arachnea spelled death in the game world. That
meant this world wasn't the same as the game.
I'm sure of it now.
"Well then, Arachnea queen, we thank you for saving our children."
"Don't mention it. I just did what I wanted."
The old elf lowered his head in gratitude, and the other villagers followed
his example, but I waved it away. I saved those elves intentionally to curry
favor with the villagers, after all, so their deep appreciation made me feel a
bit guilty. I stepped into their fight for entirely selfish purposes; I hadn't
saved those kids out of the kindness of my heart.
I knew full well just how vile I really was.
[Page 11]
"Actually, I wanted to strike a deal with your village," I said, switching to
the main topic. "Could you hear me out?"
"Don't tell me you're another slaver?"
"No, I'm not. I don't need slaves. But what I do need is food."
And just as I said it, my stomach raised its voice in grumpy complaint.
"Erm, I'd appreciate if you could spare me something to eat for now," I
told them, a blush creeping onto my cheeks.
♱
"Thank you, that was delicious."
I placed my spoon on the table, concluding my meal. Baumfetter's cuisine
consisted mostly of mushrooms, vegetables, and beans. The flavor of the
vegetables had soaked well into the soup, resulting in a very tasty dish. My
being hungry may have added to it, though.
However, this presented a real problem.
"Don't you eat meat?"
None of the dishes they'd served me had any meat in them. They were all
vegetarian dishes, with soybeans as the source of protein. I don't know
anything about elven nutrition, but can soybeans really stand in for meat as a
protein source? No, elven nutrition isn't important right now. The problem
runs a bit deeper than that.
"We can't hunt during this season," the elderly elf said apologetically.
"We do have some dried meat, but..."
No meat, then.
I could produce Worker Swarms using mushrooms and greens, but I
needed meat to generate any other kind of Swarm. I'd have to obtain meat if I
wanted to increase my forces. No matter who I was going to war against, I
would have to build up our numbers in order to grant the Swarm what they
desired.
The collective consciousness informed me that the Swarm sought victory,
even if the conditions I had to meet for that victory were completely and
utterly unknown to me.
"I see. Plan B it is."
I figured this might be the case once I'd discovered this was an elven
village, so I had a backup plan in mind.
Page 19 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
"Do those slavers always hang out around these parts?"
"Yes, they're a serious problem for us," answered the old elf. "They also
work as poachers and constantly disturb the land around here."
"Right. So it's all right if I kill them, then?"
My question was a casual one, so as to not startle the village elder.
"Kill them?" His eyes widened.
"Yes. They're causing trouble for your village, aren't they?" I said. "I'd
be more than happy to clear them out for you."
"I see... So that's the bargain you wish to strike with us."
"That's right. I'm glad you catch on quick."
Essentially, I wanted to strike a deal with them where they would pay us
for securing the area. If the area wasn't safe, that would be convenient for us.
I had made them an offer they couldn't refuse. It was better for them to place
themselves under our protection than to live in fear of their children being
snatched away by slavers... that is, so long as they could accept the Swarms'
grotesque appearances.
"And what would you ask in return?"
"As many fresh ingredients as you can spare. Of course, to the extent that
it doesn't put a strain on the village."
I would use those ingredients to feed myself and produce Worker
Swarms. Having to obtain food for myself as though I were one of the game's
units was one troublesome aspect the game itself never had.
"Well, we don't mind, but is that really all you need?" the elder asked.
"I suppose if there's one more condition, it's that you don't look into what
we do with the poachers' and slavers' corpses," I answered with a thin smile.
"Their... corpses?"
"Right. Their corpses."
And that right there was plan B: using the outlaws' corpses as a food
source. I could kill these people without anyone complaining and use them as
my ingredients.
Therein lay the Arachnea's strength, after all: it trampled other factions,
consumed them, and multiplied, only to repeat the same cycle with the next
faction. There were other factions capable of devouring the competition, but
the Arachnea was the strongest among them.
The more enemies the Swarm killed, the larger their numbers grew,
enabling massacre on an even larger scale. Forging that kind of diabolical
[Page 12]
empire was the very essence of the Arachnea playstyle.
"So, never ask what we do with their bodies," I demanded. "It has nothing
to do with you."
"Understood. I suppose that's all right," replied the elf, nodding
cautiously.
This was one act of diplomacy that wouldn't have flown if this were a
human settlement. Their being elves enabled me to strike this bargain.
"We'll come regularly to collect our resources. Oh, and I have a question:
can you tell me where I can find the closest city? Preferably one that has
trade and a meat market."
"The town of Leen to the west sounds like what you're looking for.
There's a large bazaar there, though we don't make much use of it."
Naturally, my plan didn't stop at just the poachers and slavers.
"Thank you. Well, I'll have these little ones patrol the area, so if you
detect any intruders, just sound some kind of alarm and they'll dispose of
them in a flash."
This concluded my work here for the time being. All that remained was to
see if my upcoming experiment would bear fruit.
♱
I had the slavers' leader dragged back to the Arachnea's base. He was
bound and gagged with the Swarms' spun threads, unable to even scream as
he was surrounded by dozens of Swarms. I almost felt bad for him, but
knowing that he had tried to abduct those elven children and make them into
slaves kept my sympathy at bay.
Did a person who orchestrated such a cruel deed deserve mercy? I didn't
think so. I coldly stared down into the man's eyes, which begged me for
mercy.
"Remove the threads from his mouth."
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
At my command, a Ripper Swarm used its scythes to nimbly remove the
threads keeping his mouth shut. The blades lightly cut into his lips, but
considering what this man had tried to do to those children, he had it coming
and then some.
"Wh-What...?! What the hell are these things?!" the man screamed. "What
[Page 13]
are you going to do with me?!"
"Shut up." I stepped on his head, pressing my heel into his temple. "I
don't want to hear a word."
I could feel something of a sadistic streak spring up inside me.
No. Bad girl. Bad. No getting carried away by the Swarm's thoughts.
"Tell me. Have you heard of the Arachnea?"
"Erm, no. First time I've heard of it. That some kind of organization? Are
these... things... part of it?"
"Be. Quiet." I lightly kicked his head to put an end to his babbling. "I'm
the one asking questions here."
He didn't know about the Arachnea either, which would have been
impossible in the game world. Just as I suspected. This really isn't the game
world at all.
"Well, if you don't have any information, I guess I have no need of you."
"Hold up! Don't kill me! I'll do anything! I'll give you slaves for free!
I've got plenty of pretty little boys! They'll definitely satisfy you! So
please...!"
Hearing him beg for his life made me want to plug my ears. The very fact
that he was trying to bribe me made me sick to my stomach.
"Oh, I won't kill you. I'll be putting you to good use." I approached a
certain object standing beside me.
It was a Fertilization Furnace.
I'd had the Worker Swarms produce it ahead of time. If I had to describe
what it looked like, it was like a multitude of human wombs that had been
extracted and hastily sewn together. Certainly not a shape anyone would be
too keen on imagining.
I loaded all the dried deer and rabbit meat I had gotten from the elf village
into the Fertilization Furnace, and then spoke to the construct, ordering it
clearly:
"Parasite Swarm."
The Fertilization Furnace began to writhe and pulsate, making repulsive,
viscous noises as the uteri swelled up. A small claw poked through the
manufacturing flesh, and the creature it belonged to pushed out into the open
air.
It looked like a small scorpion, or perhaps something closer to the
famously grotesque camel spider. This newborn horror was a Parasite
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Swarm, and it would soon play a critical role in plan B's success. It had no
fighting capabilities, but it did have a special skill.
"You're a slaver, right?" I asked, letting the Parasite Swarm creep onto
my hand.
"R-Right. But I won't attack the elves anymore. You have my word." The
leader's desperate voice began to crack.
It was an obvious lie, of course. If I let him get away, he'd attack the elves
again. But if I used him to my advantage instead, that would be one problem
nipped in the bud.
"I think it's time you find out what slavery tastes like." With that, I
forcibly stuffed the Parasite Swarm into the man's mouth.
He struggled to spit out the nasty monster that had crept onto his tongue,
but the Parasite Swarm vigorously burrowed deeper inside. And once it had
fixed itself inside his throat, it spread tiny tentacles throughout the man's
body, which eventually reached his brain.
"Ah, aah, aahhh, aaahhhh..."
The man spasmed a few times, and after vomiting once, became
completely still.
"Undo his threads," I ordered.
The Ripper Swarms tore the threads that bound him.
"Stand."
The slaver got to his feet, just as I ordered him.
"Say, 'All hail the queen,'" I said.
"All hail the... queen..." The slaver obeyed me with hollow eyes.
Yes, as its name implied, the Parasite Swarm latched onto its victims,
turning them into puppets that obeyed any orders its master—or mistress, in
my case—gave. If I were to order him to commit suicide, this man would
take any measures possible to kill himself.
There were many uses for this unit. It allowed you to take over powerful
enemy troops or masquerade as an enemy faction's unit, which you could
then use to scout or even attack the enemy's workers.
On top of the simple tactic of Ripper Swarm rushes, the Arachnea was
also capable of more intricate strategies that assaulted the enemy when they
were least prepared for it. That's what made it such a fun faction to play, and
why I was so attached to its units, starting with the Ripper Swarms. Other
factions had their good sides, to be sure, but I couldn't help but love the
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Arachnea the most.
"There you are. Now you know what being a slave feels like."
The most awful part was that the slaver's consciousness was still there.
The Parasite Swarm in his body bound his freedom, but his senses and
awareness remained as they were. He could feel the Parasite Swarm clinging
to the inside of his throat and the tentacles extending to his brain.
It made for a veritable living hell.
His senses were entirely intact, but his every action was dictated by
someone else. It was a nightmare. I couldn't begin to imagine what it felt like
to have a creature grip your throat and brain.
But this man was a slaver, so becoming a slave was his just desserts. I
could say it with perfect honesty and not an ounce of hesitation. Serves you
right, scum.
"You have a very important job ahead of you. A crucial job, even, so you
better follow through. Not that you have much of a choice in the matter."
And with those words, my plan B was set into motion in earnest.
Plan B was to obtain meat through non-aggressive means. Right now, we
couldn't fight a war, but we needed to prepare for it all the same. For that
reason, I came up with this compromise.
I won't know if it'll work out unless I give it a shot. This is, after all,
entirely unfamiliar territory for me, so there's no telling what problems might
pop up. Unpredictable obstacles or society itself might stand in my way and
try to prevent me from achieving my goals.
But it's true what they say: you never know until you try.
[End]