...
Many years had passed since his apotheosis, and Lord Zenith was finding that he generally fitted in quite well with his "job" as Lord of the Legion. He didn't have to deal with usurpers nearly as often as he thought due to his "godhood" and the people revering and loving him so much that they never questioned his decisions. He was almost worried that at this rate, his ego would spiral far, far out of control... But, as long as he kept fighting in wars and being reminded of his true nature as a mere human, he should be okay.
Though he had absolutely no competence at all with any political, business, cultural, or legal topics, he found a rather easy way around it. He simply just found people who were good at the stuff and liked it, and made them in charge of what he couldn't do, while showing them both the stick and carrot while introducing them to the career, that way he'd have more time to learn about these things and people would think he's making some sort of revolutionary makeover to the government. Was there going to be corruption in his bare-bones attempt at spreading the massive workload evenly to others who were better at the stuff than him? He was absolutely sure of it, but as long as he heard no rumors or conspiracies, or anything related to the collapse of the Legion, then it'll probably be fine.
Meanwhile, he was currently deep inside a library, going into deep historical records after commanding a palace and a navy built. He was certain that there must be other lands out there, that there couldn't just be this one continent...
There can't just be endless oceans all around our land, there has to be some other landmass... I hope... Lord Zenith thought optimistically, flipping page after page, scroll after scroll, looking over the tales and histories of humanity on this landmass...
He found his searches to mostly turn up with various heroes and their achievements in war, or genius commanders and their strategies and discoveries.
Perhaps I should reorganize the library sometime... he simply thought in exasperation as he tossed war stories and books into one pile, and set aside the few science and ideal-based books to another pile much smaller than the first.
In time, he finally found his mark.
Aha! A book on the foundings of the first human settlement! Of course! he eagerly flipped right through the book, quickly skimming over it, noting that humans back then were far more different than the humans of the Legion. For starters, they appeared to be far weaker, being usually unable to even fight off an imp or wear basic armor without being tired out. They also appeared to be much more weak-minded and cowardly, often running away when their territory was invaded and not being aggressive with expansion.
Then, what shocked him the most was the accusation that the ancestors of the Legion didn't worship their legendary heroes who had proven themselves in battle... They worshiped some sort of winged being! According to the artist's recreation of the tablet he saw in the town's ruins, it appeared to be some sort of Goddess, with a dress and circlet of sorts. She looked human, but had two giant wings coming out of her back, like a bird or a chicken from what Zenith could tell.
How weird... Were humans back then really so bizarre? Who'd worship a chicken-winged human who doesn't look like she'd fight side-by-side with her worshipers? Zenith thought in confusion, flipping on to hear the author of the book's final theories that, due to where the settlement was located at, it doesn't look like humans came to exist on this land, instead seeming as if they sailed overseas to settle where they founded the first city.
Closing off the strange, yet informative book, Zenith closed his eyes and thought deeply.
Hm... If I were to send the Navy off from that city, could they accidentally stumble across that supposed "origin land" this author proposed? And if they do find that it exists, will there be any humans or monsters there? If not, there might be backlash... Ah, such a pity that I can't determine if this author is just crazy or went super-deep into his research... Zenith sighed, getting up from his seat and walking to the front desk of the library, where he simply said, "The big pile is the pile relating to war stories and myths. I organized them chronologically. The other, smaller pile is just the ones dealing with other topics. I'd like them separated from now on for easy access."
The Librarian nodded eagerly, and dashed off, running to organize them just as he said.
Everyone takes my orders so vigorously... I'm a little worried. Zenith soon shrugged it off, going on with his day. Perhaps to distract the people until the Navy was built for exploration, he'd host some sports games or mock-battles, like a tournament. What should I call it though? The Viklympics? No... The Romynics? That sounds weird... The Sparticus? That honestly sounds like a name if anything... Olympics? Maybe...
The Lord of the Legion kept muttering to himself, walking along and just wondering what to do to keep his nation from killing itself out of boredom until he found a distraction...
...
Meanwhile, far away, in Lady's Village, Cassandra was, for once in a long time, feeling a bit of warmth and attachment for the child that would be born soon. She didn't feel this happy since she heard the news that Alipheese the Fifteenth died...
Oh, sure, she might have raped a powerful, and very much unwilling, man for several days straight waiting for him to give her the right seed, (as well as to satisfy her own desires,) but mamono in general didn't give two shits about the father in most families. The Nereneids were no different.
Ran looked concerned, "Will you need any help delivering the child, Lady Cassandra?"
Cassandra simply gave a deadpan look at her maid, "Of course not, Ran. I'm an amoeba. I can just encase the child in a part of my flesh and separate from that part, sort of like normal division in a sense. No reason to put myself through any pain... But..." her face softened, "I do appreciate your concern."
The scylla maid simply smiled, "I presume this child shall be trusted as the heir to the Nereneids and raised as you see fit?"
"Of course. Such a powerful man I captured... I doubt he'll last much longer after the nights I've spent with him. As such, this is likely to be the only child I'll have for a very long time... Though, I won't hesitate to... 'return her,' shall we say, back into my body if she proves to be weak. In this world ruled and controlled by the Goddess Ilias, mamono must be strong to survive. The Nereneids cannot have a weak heir to our name, otherwise, we will never have a chance to become the Monster Lord as we deserve, and we will most certainly be wiped out once and for all. Whether by that damn fox Tamamo or Ilias herself, I don't know, but they will pounce on us the moment we show weakness. But... I can be attached and loving to this child while I can. I'm certain she'll be an adoring baby..." Cassandra mused, feeling that the child would soon be ready to be split off from her body and be its own being.
"I'll love raising this child, as I have with you, I'm sure of it..." Ran said, appearing to be in love with the idea of raising another child of the Nereneids once more.
"Heh... Normally I would feel apathetic to a child, yet oddly enough I feel quite attached to this one. I suppose it's maternal instinct kicking in..." Cassandra remarked.
Soon, Cassandra felt that the child was ready, and surrounded her with flesh, slowly drawing the child out and eventually taking a rather small blob of flesh out from her body. They could hear the cries of the child almost instantly.
Ran almost instantly cooed and cleaned the baby up, trying to determine what type of mamono it was.
"Oh... How cute. It's a scylla, much like you Ran," Cassandra remarked, noting the baby appeared to be like a yellow octopus right now. Perhaps the more human parts would grow and reveal themselves as time went on. "I think I'll name her... Emily. What do you think?"
"It's a wonderful name, milady!"
"Good... then Emily it is. I'm sure she'll grow up to be a fine Nereneid..." Cassandra mused, smiling down at her new daughter, Emily...
...
The Queen Ant, Antine-Ann, was simply going about her business as per usual with handling food distribution and spies watching over Grangold's moves, when a panicked Ant Girl bursted into her part of the cave systems.
"Hm?... What is it?" Antine-Ann asked, confused as to why one of her daughters was acting this way.
"GRANGOLD IS ATTACKING! THEY ARE USING TECHNOLOGY WE HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE!" the Ant Girl shouted, somehow keeping up her monotone voice while having a major sense of urgency.
"What!? They're attacking us!? They don't have the troops to pull it off!" Antine-Ann tried to reason it out, but her fears and the Ant Girl's warning were quickly confirmed when they could distinctly hear human shouting and Ant Girls attempting to form a defensive. "Gah, all Ant Girls to me! Defend your Queen and mount an offensive! Drive the humans out of the cave systems and seal off the exits!" Antine-Ann commanded, using her mental link with her colony to try and instill some order, but found that... something, was obstructing her mental command and authority somehow.
And, that something apparently turned her own colony against her, as the Ant Girl that had informed her of this raid in the first place appeared to simply blank out before lashing out and attempting to tackle her own Queen.
"QUEEN ANT DETECTED. ATTEMPTING TO CAPTURE," the Ant Girl monotoned, speaking loud enough for the nearby humans to overhear...
"The Queen Ant is in there! Quickly! Use the devices to capture her!" a human ordered not far from her domain, "In the meantime, allow the golems to deal with her pawns!"
"Golems!? Where did Grangold get the capacity to make those!?" Antine-Ann frantically kicked the Ant Girl away, feeling immense sorrow for having to do such a thing, and even more so with her attempts to flee from her domain and escape, hoping to find temporary asylum in Hellgondo or another kingdom until she could rebuild her forces again to reclaim her colony, but found that either a massive brigade of humans or a couple of golems blocked her off from any exits.
She muttered every curse she knew, trying to put as much distance between her and Grangold's forces as possible to very limited effect.
In a nightmarish amount of time, she found herself surrounded by the humans, with strange devices and machines around them along with the golems and mindless Ant Girls.
One of the humans who seemed to be the General of the bunch glanced at some of the engineers, "Load her up. Once she's been sealed and locked in, we'll have this entire Kingdom of Mamono to ourselves. Sabasa, Grand Noah, San Ilia... They'll all be making way for us soon enough. Just as long as that weird red-head scientist keeps coming around, we'll be the most advanced nation in the world in no time at all. The entirety of Sentora will treat us with revere and awe..."
Antine-Ann struggled, knocking away a few humans and even killing quite a bit before one of the devices beamed down on her, majorly weakening her... "What... Is... this?..."
"It's the wonders and miracles of technology, mamono filth. And soon everyone else will either praise us, or burn," the General smugly said, sneering, "Finish the process!"
"As you command!" one of the scientists adjusted and changed the device's frequency and energy output, and with it, Antine-Ann could feel her mind blanking out more and more as her power drained away.
"N... n... no..." with those final words, the world went white for Antine-Ann. When she eventually woke up in the dungeons of Grangold, she'd find herself stuck there, kept as... as a pet, and for many years her spite for Grangold would grow...
...
The Queen Bee happily hummed to herself, laying the last few batches of eggs for her tribe today. Sure, her colony of Bee and Hornet Girls may not be that big, and she herself might pale in comparison to the Spider Queen and Antine-Ann... But, she was happy with what she had. She had a peaceful life in Plansect Village, and though tensions were fairly high between her and the Alra Priestess, the Queen Alraune kept her in check and stopped any wars or conflicts from occurring.
However, that all changed one day when she was informed that, for no apparent reason other than to consume and kill off all the insects, the Alra Priestess hired the Canaan Sisters and had them and her forces begin attacking her tribe of hornets and bees. Where the Queen Alraune was in all of this, she didn't know...
But she knew this could not be allowed, and thus began a counterstrike, though in the end, it didn't do much other than halt the plants' advance and bring the two sides into a constant stalemate. But, if Miria kept on reproducing and constantly birthing more children, preferably in their adult stage, she could eventually swarm and take the rest of Plansect Village by force...
And thus, the Plansect War began... Though admittedly, it was more of a minor civil war compared to what was to come...
...
The Spider Queen coughed, hacking and wheezing in her deathbed. She couldn't possibly hope to find a doctor or healer in time, and she doubted she could or anyone else in the Arachne Clan could heal whatever disease or organ was failing her this time... She knew it was her time. She knew she had to appoint a successor soon, or the Arachne Clan would inevitably fall into a constant civil war for the new Queen much like the lamias, and after all she had done to unite and reel in most of the spiders, she couldn't stand the idea.
Gasping and writhing, she called for her lieutenant, an arachne named Arana. She was most dark blue in her lower spider half, with a red underside. Her upper humanoid half was a light gray, with dark markings occasionally lining parts of her body. Unlike most arachnes, she was notable for having six red compound eyes like actual insects along with her immense might and power. Her hair was a tad bit like the former Insect Queen's in the sense that she had her hair tied up in a ponytail, but she did have some of her hair partially cover the left side of her face. She notably wore no clothes whatsoever, unlike other monster who fancied themselves as nobles.
"A-Arana... It's finally time... I'm going to die..." the Spider Queen rasped when Arana entered her domain, "S-so please... Give me some parchment and a quill with some ink... I need to establish and finally choose my successor before it's over for me..."
The spider nodded, quickly teleporting off and returning shortly after with exactly what her queen requested.
The White Tarantula wrote quickly, occasionally coughing some blood onto the parchment, and eventually finished, stamping her seal of approval onto it and folding it up, handing it back to her lieutenant, "Read that... out to the rest of the Arachne Clan... Please..."
Arana calmly nodded, "It will be done, my queen."
"Th-thank you... Now... I can finally be at peace knowing the Arachne Clan will stay united and go on..." the Spider Queen smiled one last time before closing her eyes, and soon her breaths began to slow down, until finally, she stopped breathing and moving...
Arana held her fingers to the Spider Queen's throat, and felt no pulse. The Former Spider Queen was most certainly dead now.
"... He he~..." Arana smirked, giggling. She had loved and adored the Old Queen like many other arachnes, she wouldn't lie... But she knew of a better leader, more fit and suited for guiding the Arachne Clan to a glorious and dominant future... One certainly better fit than whoever the old queen had chosen to be ruler.
With that in mind, Arana used her Space-Time magic to briefly warp and distort the area around herself, before vanishing off to Yamatai...
She eventually came to be in the forests of the isolated region, and quickly darted around and through the thick trees and steep landscapes, sometimes even using her thread to cut through and weave walkways past treacherous crags and crevices.
In time, after a lot of wandering and attempts to not get lost in the vast forests and mountains of the region, Arana finally came across a particular cave she was looking for... And this time, she made sure to sniff it out to ensure that this was not Yamata-no-Orochi's domain.
A few awkward moments passed, and she then knew that this was most certainly not the Orochi's cave, rather, it was the hiding spot of a certain somebody she was looking for... and with that in mind, she dashed into the cave.
She kept going deeper and deeper into the caverns, not really noting anything of much importance until she came to a chasm in the cave, one highly webbed and decorated with various weapons and books. In the area, she could see the former Insect Queen Charlotte, and two other arachnes.
Charlotte had remained mostly the same, with the same large abdomen, fancy clothing, bust, hair style, etc. Arana could sense that she had grown far more powerful than when she was Insect Queen however... Likely from training to try and put her bitter humiliation and shame away while she plotted to return to power somehow.
One of the arachnes with her was a Tsuchigumo, another arachne with lineage and origins in Yamatai's Youkai. Unlike Charlotte however, she was much different and inhuman. Her lower spider half was fairly similar, simply being more of a violet-red color with different patterns along with two large fangs or pedipalps near her... privates. Her upper human half was light-blue in skin color, with long silvery hair and two thin white horns poking out. Her forearms were strangely like bones or another, smaller pair of legs, ending with an ivory spike instead of ordinary arms and hands. Much like Arana, this arachne preferred to not wear any clothes, though perhaps it was more out of being generally unneeded in an isolated place like this. Her name was Mizuki.
The other arachne was easily the most monstrous among the group. She was an ancient monster, an Atlach-Nacha to be precise, one whose lineage had little changes or evolutions as the many centuries and few generations passed on. Her body was thinner and more covered in chitin and exoskeleton than her modern breathren, and her longer abdomen lacked any sort of patterns. She appeared to only have six legs as well, likely because of a lack of modern evolution kept her from getting any traits the modern arachnes were known for, such as having eight legs. Her eyes, both her normal humanlike eyes and the six compound eyes above in her forehead were closed, though even if she did try to see and use her sight, she couldn't. Her eyes had degenerated from lurking so long in the darkness. Her humanoid body was vague, to say the least. She did have a human body coming out where it would be expected from the arachne body, but it looked to be more like an extended "neck" of sorts, with chitinous segments protecting her back and covering her arms. What little could be seen of her actual human traits was a deathly white in color, with her torso being lined with breasts. Her head appeared to be perfectly human however with the exception of her compound eyes, and her hair was like long violet ribbons that grew white and devoid of color at the ends. Since her kind were rare and few in number, and even lesser actively participating in world affairs, she had simply referred to herself as "Nacha" as a nickname when nearby her friends and allies.
"I can smell you're there, Arana..." Atlach-Nacha mused, sniffing and sensing out the intruding spider long before Charlotte or Mizuki noticed.
"Yes, I've returned, and with rather good news at that," Arana said, moving towards the three.
"Oh? What might this good news be?" Charlotte questioned, curious.
"The Old Spider Queen is dead. She left me with the sole letter with any sort of approval for who she intended to be successor," Arana said, showing the sealed parchment and offering it up to Charlotte.
"Is that so?... How tragic. I rather liked her, at least when she was young and when the former Queen Harpy Refletsia were still around. How they enjoyed waging wars and expanding their territory... And now they're gone, just like that. Saddening... But not enough to stop me from taking advantage of the vacancy..." Charlotte couldn't help but smile despite what she said. She knew the Old Queen was going to die for a while now, and since she's no longer Insect Queen and needed a position of power, why not go ahead and take what's lying around?
"Wonderful... It'll be my first step to reclaiming my rightful place as Insect Queen, and from there, I'll restore the Arachne Clan to its rightful place as the strongest among the insect kingdoms..." Charlotte opened up the parchment, looking over it, "... Hmph... That useless arachne was her heir? How hilarious. She must've been joking but died before writing who was to be the real heir to choose that imbecile to rule what she left behind..." Charlotte remarked, using a mixture of her magic and some ink to change and rewrite the will to be in her favor. "And, while I'm at it, why not grant my loyal servants high positions as well?... Arana, for giving me this parchment and news to begin with, you'll be the Arachne Lord, my right-hand. Mizuki, since you helped me stay unnoticed and introduced me to a few aqquaintances, I'll make you my left-hand... And Nacha, due to your might and loyalty, I'll grant the position of a general to you."
The three arachnes nodded and lowered themselves before their new Queen, "Understood, thank you, New Spider Queen Charlotte. The old queen is dead, long live the new queen of the Arachne Clan!"
"Indeed... Now, to take full control of the Arachne Clan and make our positions and control official..." Charlotte said, teleporting off with her servants soon disappearing with her.
They did find it rather easy to convince and get most of the Arachne Clan to support and allow them to be the new leaders off of the Old Spider Queen's (Modified) Last Will, but some did revolt, attempting to fight back and take power for themselves. However, due to Charlotte's power and brutal tactics, the civil war was quickly ended with Charlotte, Arana, Mizuki, and Atlach-Nacha as the new leaders of the arachnes. Despite this clear acceptance and show of authority however, other Monster Queens refused to acknowledge or trust Charlotte as the new Spider Queen because of her record of being deposed from the Insect Queen throne, instead calling her the "Spider Princess," mocking and treating her as being immature, inferior, and generally lesser than the other Queens.
She was angered by this title, to say the least, but didn't think too much on it. She was back in some form of political power and authority, and she would keep it that way... Until she saw a chance or consolidated enough power to herself, she'd simply bide her time, waiting for the right moment to dominate the world by any means necessary...
...
Lord Zenith stood proudly in the Legion's Port City of Olympia besides another commander in the Legion. Not only was his navy finally complete, but for all the soldiers and civilians living here, he'd have them occupied with a new game... sport?... tourney?... tournament?... Something, he liked to call the Olympics.
For now however, he was more concerned with sending the Navy off, and currently stood proudly in front of a crowd of his people.
"Legion! We have waited long, but now it is time... It is time to expand our horizons, and go forth to find other lands to conquer and war against! For now, I myself will continue to monitor and deal with what we do have in the last areas filled with monsters left, and as such, a different captain shall lead this fleet of ships in exploration. Centurion Archon?" Lord Zenith said, gesturing for the man beside him to speak.
"Thank you, Lord Zenith. I, Centurion Archon and my second-in-command Optio Agrenor, shall be the leaders in this exploration. We will either come back with the blood and valor of victorious warriors, or have plenty of sea monsters on our spears. Whatever may come to pass will be the way it is. Long live the Legion, and hail Lord Zenith!"
"Long live the Legion! Hail Lord Zenith!" the crowds shouted, cheering on and expecting the best from this exploration.
"Right," Lord Zenith said, "You'd best get going now, Centurion."
"Of course Lord Zenith. My men are ready to embark immediately," Archon said, turning away and boarding a particularly massive galleon, "Raise anchors, we set sail now!"
The various legionnaires shouted a sign of acknowledgement, the fleet beginning to set sail into the seas as the crowd cheered them on.
...
Weeks had passed, with seemingly no sign of a distant land in sight... By this point, most of the fleet were ready to just sail back and kill some sea monsters.
Until, someone finally sighted land. "I see land, far away from here to the East!"
Archon brightened up, moving to the most eastern part of his ship and grabbing a telescope to get a close view on the land.
He immediately saw that the houses on the coastline were most definitely not of Legion design...
"Arm the cannons! Cast your spells! We finally have a place to gain more honor and glory..." Archon commanded, ready to fight in the name of his Legion and God...
Author's Notes:
Well, now we finally get into the thick of things... For now, Lord Zenith will stay back in his homeland, waiting for news of Archon's expedition to return before going himself. As for now, it will appear that Sentora shall deal with Archon's scouting fleet... Tell me what you all think so far in a review or PM. I'm interested to learn and see all the places that are good, and the places that need improvement.
And now for some reviews...
Fish on Land: Thank you! I wasn't sure on how to approach detailing the history of the world, so I just went with whatever I could and then got a more serious tone as I went into more modern events. I'm glad to know that you think my interpretation of Alice XV and Cassandra's duel was good too!
ShadowKingLegette: Good to hear that it's entertaining to you so far! I hope it'll remain that way as the show goes on.
Lanius: It'll certainly be bloody and in the Legion's eyes, glorious and honorable. On that, I can be certain.
And, without further ado, I bid you all a good day!