Her Majesty's Swarm

Natural Bloodshed

The slavers’ leader stopped the carriage in front of the Lisitsa Familia’s estate. The Familia’s members rushed toward us, incensed that we had pulled up to their base to start a fight.
“Hey, it’s Moisei! Finally decided to pay up?!” “You put our boss through a world’a hurt, didn’tcha, ya bastard?!” One lowlife after another spilled out of the building, surrounding our carriage and its driver. I stilled my breath, watching things unfold.
“Come on down, Moisei! The boss sure as hell’s got a bone to pick with you!” Just as the men reached out for my slaver-puppet, Sérignan and the Ripper Swarm made their move. Sérignan’s longsword severed the men’s heads,
while the Ripper Swarm used its fangs and scythes to shred them to bits. It all ended in the blink of an eye.
“It is done, Your Majesty.” “Thank you, Sérignan, and you too, Ripper Swarm.” I disembarked the carriage.
“All right, let’s barge in and wipe them out. We need to take revenge for the one we’ve lost.” With that, I had the slavers’ leader open the gate leading to the estate.
Sérignan and the Ripper Swarm went in first, and I followed behind.
The time of our retribution was upon them.
Let us spill blood and rend flesh the way only the Swarm know how.

♱

“Intruders! We’ve got intruders!” The alarm sounded by one of the Lisitsa Familia members was cut short with one swift swing of the Ripper Swarm’s scythe. Taking the blow to his brain, the man twitched a few times before collapsing on the floor, a pool of blood oozing out from under him.
Another man who witnessed this shouted, “Dammit! Those freaking monsters are attacking us! Everybody kill ’em before they can take another step!” Multiple men with short bows and longswords in hand came out of the woodwork and surrounded us.
“Can we break through, Sérignan?” I asked.
“It is possible. But it will put you in danger, Your Majesty.” Sérignan sounded slightly concerned.
“Let’s call for reinforcements, then,” I said, and gave a slight wave of the hand.
As if in response to that small gesture, massive fangs burst out of the floor, digging into a longsword-wielding Familia member who was advancing toward us. His body was bisected, and both halves of his corpse tumbled to the ground.
Digger Swarms.
I’d had them wait safely outside the walls of Leen, then summoned them here in a flash. The Digger Swarms bypassed the walls by burrowing underground, resurfacing beneath the Familia members who had charged us.
This was how you used the Digger Swarms effectively. They were perfect for surprise attacks, as they could pop out at the most unexpected place and time. Digger Swarms flourished in the place where enemies were least cautious—the very ground they stood on.
I had used Digger Swarms in the past to topple highly fortified bases within seconds, so a crime syndicate’s estate was a piece of cake in comparison. As a combined force, the Arachnea and I were more than capable of destroying this extravagant criminal hub.
“Do the prospects look better now?” I asked.
“Yes. Leave everything to us, Your Majesty,” Sérignan answered with a grin. “Being under your command is truly a pleasure. You even planned for a situation like this.” I felt a bit embarrassed by her praise.
Oblivious to my moment of bashfulness, Sérignan used her insectile legs to leap upward. She landed with a loud clack on the mezzanine to cut down the Familia archers stationed there. Despite the fact that I was bearing witness to what was, without a doubt, the sight of my fellow humans being massacred, it came across as somehow beautiful and magnificent. Radiant, even.
I watched, entranced, as Sérignan cleaved through the thugs, blood droplets dancing through the air. The scene was altogether stunning: her halfhuman form wielding the sword with skill and grace, the blade itself trailing through the air, and the flowers of blood blooming across the room.
It was all so removed from reality that I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“Your Majesty!” the Ripper Swarm called out as I watched Sérignan fight. It jumped ahead of me, deflecting an arrow with a swipe of its sharp tail.
“Thank you, Ripper Swarm.” “There is no need for thanks. But you must be cautious, Your Majesty.
Watching active slaughter too closely can be dangerous.” “I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.” Even as it spoke to me, the Ripper Swarm deflected more attacks coming my way. It might have been an early-game unit, but it still proved to be extremely dependable. I could tell I was growing even more attached to this adorable insect that contributed to my victory.
“What is this?! What’s going on here?!” While the Familia members fought Sérignan and the Ripper and Digger Swarms, a certain individual burst out onto the scene.
“It’s him.” The Lisitsa Familia’s boss—who seemed to be the same man who’d ordered the attack on our carriage—had finally made it to the party.
“Who inna hell are ya?! Where did these monsters come from?!” he hollered.
“I don’t answer to you,” I said, then pointed his way. “Take him alive.” “By your will, Your Majesty.” At my command, the Ripper Swarm stepped forward.
“I will protect you.” Sérignan moved to stand in front of me.
The archers were mostly butchered, but there was no telling when an attack might come, so I was grateful to have Sérignan there to defend me. It felt reassuring, like I had my very own knight. Well, Sérignan technically is a knight...
“Erm, technically, Your Majesty?” “Oh, sorry. I mean, you’re a splendid, worthy knight.” Apparently my thoughts had been transmitted to her through the collective consciousness. Being linked to a hivemind had its disadvantages, as it turned out. Namely, not being able to inner-monologue in peace.
“Stay back! Listen up, boys! Waste these freakin’ monsters!” the Lisitsa Familia’s boss cried. “Anyone who gets a kill gets a fat prize!” More men poured out from the depths of the mansion, wielding halberds and longswords. They rushed at the Ripper Swarm, but Digger Swarms burst out from under the broken floorboards, latching onto the assailants and dragging them underground.
The other Familia members froze up at the sight of the underground threat, quivering with fright. Things were far from over, however. We wouldn’t rest until we had wiped them all out and forced the head of the snake to submit.
“Think you can make it, Ripper Swarm?” “It won’t be a problem, Your Majesty.” The Ripper Swarm pounced on the enemies that had been stunned by the Digger Swarms’ attacks. It ripped, tore, bit, and stabbed into them in just about every way imaginable. Every single one of its victims was delivered to death’s door.
It was bloody tragedy, in the most simple, literal meaning of those words.
The Lisitsa Familia’s once-glamorous mansion was filled with holes because of the Digger Swarms. Sérignan’s and the Ripper Swarm’s attacks had dyed the walls and floors a deep red. Corpses lay scattered all around the room.
Even as I observed the casualties, I felt nothing. Corpses were par for the course on the battlefield, and it was only natural for them to bleed. Bodies only stayed clean in video games. No, even in video games, corpses were grotesque. Carnage begat gore and bloodshed; that much was obvious.
“Hello?! Anybody there?! Somebody, please, come out an’ kill those monsters! Hurry up already!” The Lisitsa Familia’s boss screamed for help, but by now, all his men had either died or fled the mansion. Cry as he might, no one would come to his aid. His fate was already sealed.
“Capture him alive, Ripper Swarm,” I ordered once again.
“As you wish, Your Majesty.” The Ripper Swarm’s venomous stinger glinted in the light.
“No! Don’t! Stay back! Stay—” The Ripper Swarm’s stinger stabbed into the man despite his desperate shrieking. “Aaaah, guh!” As the venom pumped into his veins, the boss frothed at the mouth and fell over, losing consciousness. His body thrashed and writhed on the floor.
The Ripper Swarm’s venom wasn’t lethal or even damaging, but it did stun the opponent for a time. It was a pretty weak paralysis effect, but more than enough to knock out the boss.
“Sérignan, tie him up.” “As you wish.” At my order, Sérignan enveloped the boss in what looked like spider’s threads and tied him up.
“Sérignan, Ripper Swarm, look through the mansion for survivors. Stick together so you can cover one another if necessary. Just to be on the safe side.” “By your will.” I couldn’t afford to lose Sérignan, who had gotten even stronger during her time here at the mansion, and I had grown so attached to the Ripper Swarms that even a single unit’s death enraged me. I couldn’t care less about my enemies dying in droves, but I would not stand for a single injury inflicted upon one of my allies.
I’m sure that makes me selfish. But isn’t that just how people work?
“All right, we’ve really let loose and caused a riot here, so let’s go before any of the neighbors notice us and start panicking. I’ll make sure things quiet down soon enough, though,” I said, taking a Parasite Swarm out of my pocket. I looked down coolly at the Lisitsa Familia’s boss, paralyzed at my feet, and then stuffed the Parasite Swarm into his mouth.

♱

Leen’s police—or rather, Leen’s knights soon discovered the massacre at the Lisitsa Familia’s estate. Dozens of the Familia’s members were found dead, their corpses mutilated beyond recognition. Many of the knights vomited at the gruesome sight.
The culprit for the case was found almost immediately: he was the boss of the Lisitsa Familia. He was found sitting at the mansion’s doorstep, a bloodied sword in hand, and he readily admitted that everything had been his doing. Based on this confession, the knights arrested the man, charging him with numerous counts of murder, and sentenced him to death by hanging.
The corpses were left as they were and then cremated. But there was something unusual about them no one noticed at first: the number of corpses was less than the amount of Familia members. The knights concluded that some of them must have conspired to commit the murders, then fled after the fact. As such, they decided to try and track them down.
Not that their search would bear fruit, of course.
“Let’s load up the corpses, then. We’ve got quite a few, so we’re going to be growing in numbers today.” I stuffed the corpses of the “missing” Familia members—who had been killed on my orders and then carried off in the mouths of the Digger Swarms —into the Fertilization Furnace.
“What will you produce today, Your Majesty?” Sérignan asked as she heaved the corpses into the furnace.
“Right. I think I’ll just make more Ripper Swarms. It might be time to carry out a rush,” I answered.
There was probably a simpler way of loading the corpses into the furnace,
but for the time being, this would do.
I already had a significant number of Ripper Swarms, but not enough for a rush. Having become the Arachnea’s queen, I had promised to lead them to victory, and so I had to keep my mind fixed on that victory.
But the conditions for said victory, as well as the enemies I would have to beat in order to claim it, were still as unclear to me as ever. Thus far, we had only battled against slavers, poachers, and a single crime syndicate. There was no country or faction for us to defeat yet.
Just who is our opponent? We were still carrying out the important task of scouting our surroundings, the Ripper Swarms having spread out all over in search of information. The Digger Swarms were also traveling underground,
listening carefully to conversations in towns and settlements.
It was thanks to their efforts that I learned of the Kingdom of Maluk,
situated directly to the west. I didn’t know what alignment they belonged to,
but I did make out that they were a fairly large nation nearby.
To the east was another nation, the Frantz Popedom, which was a tolerant,
religious country that didn’t offer up any sacrifices. In other words, it was likely a good-aligned faction. Seeing as the Arachnea was an evil-aligned faction, it meant that we might eventually have to face them.
I knew nothing about who or what was to the north and south. There were apparently nations there, but I knew neither their names nor their cultures. To begin with, it was borderline impossible for the Ripper Swarms to pick up much about other cultures during their exploration. Any people who saw them would consider them monsters and attack them immediately.
Being a grotesque faction came with its share of drawbacks. If I could just unlock some newer, higher-tier units, I could produce Swarms that could naturally mingle with townsfolk in order to gather intel. Unfortunately, I needed far more resources for that.
From what I could tell from the slavers’ maps, our base and the elves’ forest were in the center of the continent. This knowledge was pretty discouraging, since it meant we were inherently in a disadvantageous position, surrounded by possible enemies in all directions.
“What should we do next, I wonder?” We had no clear enemy to fight and no apparent win condition, so for the time being, I built up my forces in preparation for an attack.
However, as I would soon find out, the enemy was going to come to us first.