A/N: Overlord doesn't belong to me. Some quotes are taken from the Skythewood LN translations. (This was written a while ago, way before the current LN, so some information will not line up with the current canon events.)
Chapter 1: The Bugs Are Back In Town
He opened his eyes, staring into the void. Yet despite floating in the inky blackness, he could still feel everything. His hands, his feet, the hard surface under his back.
So he was laying down, not floating. Strange... the last thing he remembered was falling asleep in his narrow bed, air filter rattling loudly overhead. Now he only heard a faint rustling. He waited a few seconds to see if his vision would adjust. When it didn't, he started to breathe heavily. Something scraped across the ground.
"H-Hello?" he chanced, voice trembling, "is someone there?"
The rustling grew in intensity, and inexplicably, he began to hear words, or, one word to be exact. Echoed around the room, a word that made his head buzz, that caused cold sweat to trickle down his back. A word that he hadn't heard in nearly 6 years;
Genjiro
Genjiro
Genjiro
She woke with a jolt, pieces of her bed floating in the still, dusty air. Even after all this time, those maddening words continued to torment her.
"Who the hell would want a monster who reeks of blood attending them?"
Entoma Vasilissa Zeta, arachnoid of the Pleiades Battle Maids, drew her legs to her chest, feeling the hatred course through her. Even far away, that bitch, Evileye, caused her no small amount of pain. Entoma's entire body burned- the phantom pain of Evileye's spell.
As soon as she put thought to it, the sensation ended. Yet, the fear that came with it remained. A small tingle in her gut that reminded her how close she had come to death that day.
She released her legs, releasing muscles she hadn't realized were taut, breathing out deeply. That was in the past, she assured herself, I have time. Entoma dropped off of the tattered ruins of her web bed, composing herself by tearing down the hardened fluid, and devouring it.
By the time she finished, her rage was controlled, a fire burning in her heart rather than scorching her exoskeleton. Entoma walked out of her room, knowing exactly what she would be doing.
She entered the [Gate] connected to the various floors of Nazarick, and traveled up to the Amphitheatre. The dusty ground of the arena was unmarred despite all the fights that had happened recently, but more importantly, it was empty- if one ignored the pile of charred, mutilated combat dummies in one corner.
When she had fallen, her sisters had been there to pick her up. This was unacceptable, embarrassing. If she wanted to kill Evileye, she needed to focus on strengthening herself without their help.
Entoma reached into her storage and removed various talismans. Sticking them onto her currently bare legs, they enhanced her speed, stamina, and magic resistance.
As her oversized sleeves brushed the ground, she remembered Evileye's jibes.
"It's especially effective against vermin."
"She's stronger than you… and weaker than me."
One more talisman was removed. This one was thrown instead of applied. With a puff of white smoke, a wooden dummy was unsealed. It wore a distinctive red cape and white mask.
Evileye had called her a monster. It was time to show her how monstrous Entoma could be.
"Blade Bug, Hard Armor Bug, to me!" Entoma called, summoning the two living weapons with a small effort of will and mana. They attached themselves to her arms, gripping the exoskeleton under her dress tightly.
Digging her shoes into the ground, Entoma darted towards the dummy, delivering a powerful strike that would have removed the leg of an ordinary human in a second. As the dummy slowly toppled over, Entoma slammed the hard armor bug into its back, stopping it from hitting the ground.
"You don't deserve a quick death," Entoma snarled, lopping off the other leg. She knew that this was probably not how their next fight would go, but the flood of relief it brought made it worthwhile.
She flung the dummy away from her on a spinning arc. A talisman quickly followed it, detonating upon contact.
"You aren't even worth eating! You probably taste stringy!" Entoma howled, commanding the blade bug to detach and fly after the now charred dummy. "Thousand Lash Bug!"
Her strongest summon materialized behind her, coiling around her arm. With a shout, she thrust the massive centipede forward. It coiled around the dummy, its bladed legs cutting deep into the canvas.
Then it was the blade bug's turn. Dropping from the sky like a meteor, it plunged deep into the dummy's head, splitting it in half with an explosion of straw. And there it stuck, thick body buried halfway in the dummy's chest.
The burnt, mutilated remains of the dummy slammed into the ground, a dust cloud billowing up from where it landed. Entoma' claws spasmed open and shut in time with her short, harsh breaths. The Thousand-Lash bug disappeared with an effort of will, followed by the blade bug.
Entoma fell onto her knees, riding out the remainder of her adrenaline. Then she unpeeled four parts of a talisman from the inside of her sleeve and cast them onto the ground.
An enormous spider sprang into existence, turning around to look at its summoner. Entoma cast her claw towards the dummy, wordlessly commanding the spider to carry it away.
She gave a loud sigh, flopping onto her back. Beating up defenseless dummies wasn't going to help her defeat her nemesis. Entoma doubted that Evileye would just stand there and take it.
Entoma punched the ground, wishing it was the spellcaster's mask.
"Stupid Vermin Bane. Stupid little brat! Stupid... me." she said, rolling over and mumbling into the sand.
Her stomach gurgled loudly, and she spoke a muffled curse. Entoma stood up, brushing sand out of her maid kimono. Which had been insulted by that bitch, a part of her whispered.
The physical part of her growled insistently, and Entoma patted it.
"There, there. We'll go right now," she said, making her way back to the [Gate].
White, elbow length gloves slid over Albedo's alabaster skin as she stared at herself in the mirror. Lord Ainz expected her to be presentable, poised. A proper Overseer. A light blush came to her cheeks as she imagined his compliments on her appearance.
As the diplomat, and current head of the Sorcerer Kingdom, she interacted with 'powerful' men. They had offered compliments, but they were delusional if they thought their paltry praise could come close to a single word Lord Ainz had said to her.
Perhaps when he came back, Lord Ainz would finally bring her to his bed. Albedo knew it was inevitable. She knew how Lord Ainz stared at her, his piercing gaze staring deep, almost as if he could see through her clothes.
Albedo's blush grew darker as she dwelled on that thought. With a smile growing on her face, she stepped around a dirtied, wrinkled cloth laying on the ground; the golden sigil of Ainz Ooal Gown was barely visible.
A knock at her door made her heart jump. Had Lord Ainz returned? Was this the day? Albedo skipped over to the door, opening it and-
An elder lich stood on the other side, rotting fist mid-knock. Upon seeing Albedo, it sank into a deep bow.
The emotion behind Albedo's smile drained away, leaving only the hollow curve of her lips. She eased the door closed behind her, hiding the trampled flag. "Speak," she said.
"Lady Overseer, there is a report that requires your immediate attention," the elder lich rasped, still bowing.
Albedo's delicate hands trembled, itching to stain her gloves black with the fluid of this stupid lich. How dare it presume to tell her what was important or not!
Carefully controlling her anger by clasping her hands in front of her navel, Albedo responded "Put it in the archives. I shall take a look at it after my duties to Lord Ainz have concluded today."
She brushed past the lich, careful not to let the rotting creature stain her pure white dress. She didn't have enough extremities to count the number of reports that required her 'immediate attention'.
"Lady Overseer, it relates to the 'Operation'."
Albedo froze, a nearly imperceptible tremble going through her body. "On second thought, give it to me."
If it wasn't so undignified, Albedo would have been running through the Halls of Nazarick towards her office. Best she could do was a fast-walk, her wings flapping occasionally, as if to push her body forwards.
As she walked, Albedo ran through the scenarios she had prepared in the case that another Supreme Being had appeared in this New World. Two reports in one day? That didn't happen very often.
Uff!
It wasn't often that she ran into fellow Nazarick Dwellers either.
"Ah! Forgive me, Lady Overseer," Entoma cried, bowing low, "I was-" She stopped as Albedo vacantly patted her on the shoulder and moved along.
Albedo shut the door to her office, locking it behind her. Beating back the urge to tear open the report immediately, she pulled a stack of documents towards her. The sooner she got her work done, the sooner she could look at that report.
Entoma blinked, watching as Albedo turned around the corner. The Pleiade had expected to be reprimanded or avoided, not… that. Entoma adjusted her headdress, which had been upset by the collision. Perhaps the Overseer was having some fantasy about Lord Ainz?
She shrugged before waving to a group of Homunculus maids who immediately moved to the other side of the hallway. Entoma stuck her proboscis out at them, the organ hidden by her mask.
Once, he had been known as Genjiro. An arachnoid spellcaster and member of Ainz Ooal Gown. In the real world, however, he had been a simple salaryman. He would wake up in the morning, go to work, come home, and go to sleep. Afterwards the cycle would begin anew.
He hadn't had a chance to finish that cycle.
"I wanna go home, I wanna go home," he chanted, curled up in a ball. He would have covered his face, but it was already pitch-black around him.
"I- huh?" The chanting had stopped, and as he pulled himself into a tighter ball, something touched him on the shoulder.
The newly dubbed Genjiro screamed, jumping up and running away. Anywhere would be better than this. He promptly ran into something solid, which moved, grabbing him by the arm. Something else grabbed him by the other arm, this one felt like a pincer.
Two more things grabbed him by his legs, and he was completely lifted off of the ground. Genjiro sobbed openly and thrashed around. It was all for naught, as he was lifted up into the air.
"Let me down! Please!" he cried, tears running down the sides of his face. He continued to yank at the creatures holding him. However, their iron grips would not give an inch.
Through his panicking, his mind was running wild. Were these creatures going to eat him? Where was he, and how did he get here? Why did they chant his Yggdrasil username?
Another part of his mind noticed that his tears were now running towards his hairline, meaning they were moving up. In this darkness, any indication of movement was a blessing.
"Help me! Someone! Help" They continued in silence, despite Genjiro's protests.
They could have been traveling for hours, minutes. Nothing mattered in the darkness of wherever Genjiro was. His captors were mute, the only sound being the tramp of their feet against the ground. And there were a lot of feet.
Genjiro blinked away what tears remained in his eyes. Nothing would help him in this dark environment. He needed to approach this rationally, with the ordered mind that had allowed him to have the patience to organize the cluttered Treasury of Nazarick.
He definitely wasn't-
Genjiro was suddenly and unceremoniously dumped onto the ground. His renewed pleas died off as he heard a voice.
"We have sacrificed much for this moment."
The voice was rough, rasping. Like the sound of a saw going through tough wood, if that saw was of the female persuasion. Genjiro looked around wildly, crab walking away from the source. The room smelled sweet, but with an undertone of rot and mildew; almost like his apartment back in the real world.
"What the hell is going on?" he whimpered.
"Ah yes. You are human, and thus require light. Forgive us."
All of a sudden, a bright light flared in front of Genjiro. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears flowing down his cheeks.
"Is this better?"
Genjiro squinted through the tears, adjusting to the brightness. Then he screamed. There towering over him stood, or more accurately, sat a monstrosity. Its jaws dripped with multicolored slime, and its engorged abdomen quivered over a shrouded hole in the ground.
Two unblinking, multifaceted eyes regarded him with an undecipherable emotion, and twin antennae swayed gently in a nonexistent breeze.
"W-w-w-" Genjiro stammered, sweating and shaking. As he watched, the creature's mandibles clacked together, somehow forming words.
"Speak truthfully, human. Are you the Spider Lord, destroyer of Gods, devourer of his enemies? Are you the being known as Genjiro?"
"Ants can't speak." Genjiro whispered, his eyes as wide as dinner plates, "This is impossible. I'm-I'm dreaming or something. I knew I shouldn't have read that insect encyclopedia before bed..."
Genjiro wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head on them, "I'm either dead or insane. There is no way I'm living through this. I died in my sleep or something." He chuckled, closing his eyes.
"No. We made sure your arrival was as smooth and painless as possible."
"My arrival in hell? Strange, I thought-"
"You are alive."
"Impossible. Something like this wouldn't be real! Ants aren't that big, and-hkh"
Genjiro crumpled to the floor as the presence of the big ant pressed down onto his mind. It filled his every being, searching, scanning his memories. He wanted to cry out, to scream, but he could only stare at the ground unblinkingly.
Then as soon as it arrived, it disappeared, leaving him curled in a fetal position, sobbing and gasping for breath. After a few minutes, punctuated by the occasional twitch from Genjiro, the lost human finally raised his head. The ant was still looking at him, mandibles slack, antennae drooping.
Tears ran down Genjiro's cheeks. The brief touch of his mind against the giant ant, no, the Queen, had proven to him that this was real.
He gave a breathy scream as something touched him on the shoulder, and though he had no strength after his mind intrusion, tried to crawl away. It was only after he was pulled onto his feet and held there, that he realized it was a human-sized ant holding him.
"We see now... this is unprecedented. You are a strange creature, Spider Lord" the Queen whispered. She brought her head close to Genjiro, scanning him from head to toe.
"You are Genjiro, yet you are… not? If we could peer into your mind without resistance..."
Before Genjiro could stammer out a hasty excuse, the Queen swung her head up to the ceiling. The light streaming into the cavern was blotted out momentarily, followed by a low buzzing sound.
The new arrival was humanoid, yet it looked just as monstrous as the giant ant. Its chest was covered in bristly brown fur, and it landed on its hind legs, turning its heart-shaped head towards him.
Genjiro summoned what little strength he had, and managed to stand on his own.
"You managed to make it, we see. Did the families give you trouble?" the Queen asked.
"Plenty, as always. They want to see the Spider Lord." the fly grumbled. Its voice matched the sound of its vibrating wings, and held a light, feminine quality. "So, is this him?"
Genjiro stared at the queen ant. Now the question was, would she tell the truth? He took a glance at the ant next to him, its glittering eyes betraying nothing.
"Yes," The ant queen rasped. Genjiro let out a quiet sigh, reaching up with a trembling hand to wipe sweat off of his forehead.
The fly clacked her mandibles together reproachfully, "Impossible. In such a weak-" She stopped mid-sentence, tilting her head to the side as if listening to someone speak.
"I still cannot believe it, though..." she murmured after a moment, looking at Genjiro with a tilted head, "do you mind if I try an experiment of my own?"
The fly raised one of her sticklike appendages, a whirling circle made out of a cold blue light appearing between her two claws, "[Detect enemy]"
A surge of energy went through Genjiro's body. Tier Magic! The fly was using Tier Magic from Yggdrasil! Memorized spells streamed through his mind; insect summons, draining spells, teleportation spells.
He was shaken out of his reverie as she cut off her magic. She looked at him, various body parts twitching as if an electric shock was running through her.
Genjiro stared back, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, heart pounding. The fly turned and cast [Detect Enemy] again, this time on the silently watching ant.
"Is there something wrong?" The ant asked.
The fly fluttered her wings, glancing back at Genjiro. "Only a strong magic caster could veil everything about his levels, HP, magicka, and stamina. Either that, or he is not bound by the constraints of this world... You say you trust him, Nera?"
"We do," Nera replied.
The fly approached Genjiro, rubbing her feelers together in what he perceived to be a nervous reaction. "I am Queen Biel, of the Gauro, Spider Lord. Forgive me for my earlier comments."
"And we are Nera of the Tocandi," the Queen ant said, inclining her head and producing a breeze that ruffled Genjiro's sweat-soaked pajamas, "please forgive us for our mind-probe." The ant standing next to Genjiro bowed as well.
"I-uh," Genjiro started, only for his belly to growl. He winced, putting a hand on his stomach.
The ant next to him immediately straightened and scurried out of the room. Numerous other 'Tocandi' emerged from the walls of the room, which were pockmarked with holes. They began to build something in the middle of the
room.
"S-so prompt!" Genjiro stammered, his eyes glued to the swarm of ants.
"Excuse me, Nera. I will send a messenger to inform the Pabilsag immediately. And, I'm sure she would like to see him as well," Biel said, spreading her wings and launching herself back out the hole in the ceiling.
"We will answer any question you have while you eat, Spider Lord." Nera said calmly, paying no heed to the departed Fly Queen, "so please, make yourself comfortable."
Albedo stamped the Seal of Ainz Ooal Gown, the seal of her one true love, onto a form before putting it onto her return tray. Management of the Sorcerer Kingdom's new territory was proving to be an annoyance. Even with all the undead and living clerks she had hired, all the papers and documents blurred together into one big mess.
She fell back against her chair, her desk spotless except for one last thing. The report sat innocuously on the corner of her desk, far from her gaze. On top of it was a paperweight in the shape of Lord Ainz's head. It was a reminder that he was always there for Albedo, and was watching her.
"Pardon me, Lord Ainz," Albedo sighed, caressing the paperweight before moving it aside.
She split the wax seal holding the report together, and began reading.
"Oh," Albedo said, her lips parted slightly. She glared at the paper as if commanding it to divulge more information. "Is that all of it?"
She flicked it onto her desk before standing up and stretching. She would've loved more information other than 'massive energy surge beyond the borders of the Draconic Kingdom. Her network of spies were vast, yet this was all they could retrieve?
A knock at her door. Albedo sat down and rested her hands on the table. "Enter," she called.
A Hanzo entered the room, its wraithlike body leaving afterimages behind it as it bowed and held out an envelope, "Lady Overseer. My team has been scouting the energy surge. I believe you might want to take a look at this."
Albedo took the envelope gently, her hands shaking imperceptibly. Now this was more like it. It was a collection of photos, and the first one was...was-
Two separate creatures; one group with the torsos of men, and lower bodies of scorpions, and an individual that appeared to be a giant fly. Yet, this was not what Albedo was paying attention to.
The symbol seared into the fly creature's exoskeleton, a series of interlocking rings forming a net...no, a web. A flag holding that same symbol hung from a flagpole in the Throne Room.
"Where were these pictures taken?" she asked in a low voice.
"In the far south, Lady Overseer," the Hanzo replied, "what the humans call the 'Dolor desert'."
Albedo set the first picture aside and gazed at the next one. A mountain range, not like anything she had seen before. Numerous dark spots dotted the sky around it.
"And where is this?"
The Hanzo leaned over to examine the photo. "That was south of the Draconic Kingdom, Lady Overseer. There is a large, uncharted mountain range close to the desert. Unfortunately we were not able to go further."
"What stopped you?" Albedo asked, setting the photo down.
"We were detected, but not identified by the inhabitants of the mountain, Lady Overseer."
The next few photos were simply varying angles of the mountain range, but the last one was what took the cake. A human standing on a natural balcony, squinting at something in the distance. His clothes were brightly colored, and had lettering on it, but they were too small to make out.
Albedo turned to regard the Hanzo with a wary gaze, "Does anyone else other than your team know about this?" She asked.
"No, Lady Overseer. As per your instructions, we report to no one but you and Lord Ainz."
Albedo gave a sharp nod. "You have served Lord Ainz well. Now I will take over from here."
"As you command, Lady Overseer," the Hanzo replied, bowing. It exited her office.
"And all of you, do not inform anyone of what you have heard here," Albedo hissed, glaring at the hidden 8-Edge Assassins, "or I will tear off your limbs as I watch you scream."
Her watchers were silent.
Albedo raised the picture depicting the Guild Sigil and allowed herself a short giggle. Then, she cast [Message].
"Albedo, is something wrong?"
Albedo shuddered in ecstasy, falling onto her chair in a swoon upon hearing her beloved's voice. It took a few moments before she could speak, and when she did, it was with a slight tremor in her voice.
"Lord Ainz, I believe that I have located another Supreme Being."
The silence stretched for so long that Albedo feared her beloved had cut the connection. But then, with no audible change in his tone, Ainz Ooal Gown spoke.
"Where?"
Genjiro wiped away a bit of drool. Having been a salaryman in a dead-end job back on Earth, he could only fantasize about how various foods tasted.
"Is something wrong, Spider Lord?"
Genjiro jerked his head up from where he had been regarding the mound of fruit spilling off of the hastily assembled wooden table.
"No, nothing's wrong," he replied, "it's just...could you cut these into smaller pieces?"
A Tocandi chopped up his selected fruit into perfect slices and squares.
"We are sure you have questions," Nera rasped, receiving her own food from a silent Tocandi, "so ask away."
Genjiro bit into an apple slice, the sudden burst of sugary sweetness making him cough and tear up. He put it down as if handling a live bomb, and looked up at the waiting Ant Queen.
"I want to know everything," he said, folding his arms on the table.
Nera inclined her great head. "As you wish, Spider Lord."
And so she spoke. She talked about what the Tocandi knew about the world, their relationship with the Gauro and two other insectoid species known as the 'Suvelu' and the 'Archive'. They all composed a nation called the "Grand Hive", with each insectoid having a specific role to play.
"You will meet them soon," Nera promised, "they have been looking forward to this as much as Queen Biel and us."
The Queen went on to explain how they had summoned him, through the usage of something called 'Wild Magic'.
"What's the difference between Tier Magic and Wild Magic?" Genjiro asked, frowning.
"Only we, along with dragons, can utilize Wild Magic," Nera replied, fruit juice dripping onto the floor from her oversized mandibles, "and it requires sacrifice. Millions of Tocandi died, along with the caster, to bring you here."
Genjiro nearly fell backwards off of his stool. A million! His arcology had been composed of 50,000 people at best, and only a few thousand lived in the dome itself!
"I-I see," he stammered.
"Spider Lord, your name has been a part of the Grand Hive for years. You are considered a legend, a conqueror."
Genjiro giggled to himself, not quite stably. First he was transported to another world, now an entire nation worshipped him as what, a god?
"You are afraid," Nera said, perplexed. "Why? As we said, we would die for you."
"I'm not afraid of you," Genjiro replied, pushing aside his plate of uneaten fruit, which had been sorted into their respective types, "well, yeah, I am. I mean you're a giant, magical ant talking to me. But at the same time, I don't feel like you're going to eat me or anything."
"Of course not. We eat only fruit," Nera replied, swallowing a few dozen to prove her point.
Genjiro sighed, running a hand through his greasy brown hair. "I'm sorry," he said, taking a calming breath, "this is just... I never imagined this being what I woke up to."
"But, Spider Lord, you must understand!" Nera cried, her antennae writhing wildly, "there was a point in which we were able to live under a Hive Mother! She loved us, cared for us, set up what would be known as the Grand Hive! But before she could accomplish her own goals, she was murdered!" Nera spat the last word, her words nearly mangled by the force at which she had said it. The Tocandi clicked their mandibles together in sympathy.
Nera's great head loomed uncomfortably close to Genjiro, the end of her broom-sized mandibles nearly touching his forehead. "We took her body and gave it to the Suvelu for safekeeping. Slowly we have restored life to her, each effort costing even more lives than your summoning!"
She reared up, the clatter of Genjiro falling off of his stool drowned out by her passionate voice, "Lord Genjiro, Spider Lord, we summoned you so that you may retrieve the last piece of the puzzle. We need our Hive Queen and Conqueror! We. Require. Your. Aid."
Her voice echoed through the eerily silent chamber. Genjiro stared at Nera, jaw slack.
"Do-" he swallowed hard, trying to remove the sudden lump that had come to his throat, "do you know her name?"
Nera shook her head, compound eyes glittering in the dying rays of sunlight.
"How-" he croaked, licking his dry lips, "how do I get outside? I need to think."
A Tocandi helped him up and led him to a dark opening in the wall of the chamber, a different one to where he had come in. Genjiro could feel Nera's gaze piercing his back, drilling into his heart.
"Spider Lord," she called softly.
Genjiro turned reluctantly to face the Queen, his face carefully neutral.
"We will not force you to help us, but you must understand, you cannot go back."
Genjiro bit his lip, a warm coppery taste filling his mouth. He responded with a sharp nod before resuming his previous course.
The light of the outside world came into view, and a spike of panic drove itself into his chest. He hurriedly sucked in a breath of air... then he exhaled explosively, all thoughts of pollution forgotten. For before him lay unsurmountable beauty, something he had only seen in Yggdrasil.
A pale blue sky, streaked with orange, pink, red, and yellow from a sun slowly dipping below the mountains. He stood on a natural balcony made from flat, dark stone. Peering over the edge, he saw an oval-shaped valley nestled within the mountains surrounding him.
Down in that valley were trees, a lake, and a collection of structures. Some looked like forges, and others like houses. There was also a huge, grey building that was covered in holes; the trypophobe's certifiable nightmare.
He looked at the Tocandi next to him, which stared back with its alien gaze. He then looked back at the town. Genjiro wiped some forming tears out of his eyes.
"You know, there was a guy that I used to know. His name was Blue Planet," Genjiro said, "he loved nature, you know. In our Guild Base, he designed an entire nature area. Said he wanted to see the world's natural beauty. He would've liked it here."
"Was he important to you, Spider Lord?"
Genjiro nearly fell off the platform. Turning to glare at the Tocandi that had spoken, he growled, "could I have a warning next time?"
Then he sighed, looking at the slowly setting sun, "Kinda, but he wasn't as close to me as some others of the Guild."
He didn't elaborate further, and the Tocandi didn't ask, merely stared at him with a tilted head, occasionally flicking its antennae. Genjiro stood up, holding out his hand, palm up. Furrowing his brow, he called out, "[Boost Magic: Clarity of the Dragonfly]"
Since it was obvious that Tier Magic existed in the world, what better way to test if he could use it than to peer down into a distant valley? The spell he had cast was meant to enhance his eyesight and boost crit rates. It was a rather weak spell, which made it perfect to test. Genjiro squinted as hard as he could at the valley.
Nothing.
He felt a buzz start up in his ears, and given the lack of Gauro around him, it probably wasn't their doing. Genjiro held out his hand again, and concentrated so hard that his face turned cherry red.
"[Acid Spittle]!" he cried, imagining the flow of magicka from his stomach to his hand to create the spray of armor damaging liquid.
Nera watched through the eyes of her child as the Spider Lord-turned-human sank to his knees, water leaking from the corner of his eyes. She tilted her head, the Tocandi watching Genjiro mirroring the gesture.
How curious. Was the Spider Lord unable to use magic? The query ran through all 8 million constituent parts of the Tocandi, and an answer was spat out almost immediately.
No. The Conqueror of their legends, the almighty Lord of Spiders, could not use magic. A byproduct of the summoning perhaps, or because he was human? Nera rejected the latter explanation almost immediately. Plenty of humans could use magic.
The sound of wings hit the senses of many Tocandi in the egg-laying chamber, and Nera saw the arrival of the Gauro Queen, Biel, through all of them.
Nera bowed her head, a mere formality as the Tocandi had no need to greet each other using actions.
"Nera, where did the Spider Lord go?" Biel asked, hopping back and forth, wings twitching, "Verina needs to see him now!"
"The Spider Lord is thinking right now," Nera replied, accepting a bowl of fruit from one of her children, "We are sure Queen Verina can wait."
"Sure sure, like threatening to tear the wings off my back is a facet of patience," Biel hissed, "I've never seen her like this, Nera! She's barred any Gauro from stepping foot in her hive, and-"
She stopped speaking, clacking her mandibles in frustration, "You're not going to let him go, are you?"
"Wait," was Nera's reply.
Genjiro kicked a rock off the edge, muttering a curse. Every so often he glared at his hand as though it had betrayed him. It was stupid to think that he had a chance at magic! From the first moment he arrived in this world, he hadn't felt any different.
Before, when that Fly Queen cast Tier Magic, he had felt something in him. Turns out it was just good old adrenaline, not magicka. He shot a dirty look at his silent sentinel, the Tocandi only serving to stoke his anger.
"You don't think I'm Genjiro, do you?" he asked, walking up to it, "just because I'm wearing pajamas, have skin, and can't cast magic?"
The fear he had felt, the humiliation of crying in front of a sentient being, all were lost in his rage as he shouted, "Fuck you! I never wanted to be here in the first place! Why should you judge me, huh? I am a proud member of Ainz Ooal Gown, entomancer of the tenth tier! Just because I can't cast magic doesn't mean I am not useful!"
He turned his back on the Tocandi, glaring off into the twilight sky, "You can tell Nera that I am the 'Spider Lord', and if she wants me to help her, then I demand respect equal to my station, even if I can't use magic! Do you understand?"
"We do, Spider Lord."
Genjiro managed to hide his flinch this time, "Good. Now lead me back to her."
Nera withdrew from Biel's mind, the Gauro's small mandibles hanging slack. "What... what in the name of Genjiro was that?"
"That was the Spider Lord," Nera replied, "and we believe that he will be an excellent boon to this hive."
"Queen Nera!" Genjiro shouted, "I will help you-"
"If we give you respect equal to your station," Nera finished, "is there anything else you would like, Spider Lord?"
Genjiro stumbled, "Ah, well, I-"
What did he really want? He couldn't go home, right? But…what was back home other than an awful job, a polluted atmosphere, and disgusting 'food'? There was his sister, mother, and father. There were his friends; Whitebrim, Momonga, Herohero, all in that old world. Could Nera bring them here?
"Very well. In exchange for helping you..." he took a deep breath to shore up his courage. He didn't need a spell for it, the old methods had always worked for him.
"In exchange for helping you, I ask that you bring my family to this world, and maybe a few select individuals as well. And I ask that no one eat them, or harm them, or anything like that. If you can do that, then I will be your Genjiro as best as I can without magic."
Nera arched her body, the first time he had seen her act surprised.
"I can take off the selected individuals, if it's too high," Genjiro added hastily, his previous anger having faded away.
"No no, it is just that... you have suggested such a small price for the restoration of our Hive Mother. We expected you to ask us about taking over the world, granting you a mate, unlimited knowledge, rewards beyond imagining! But for you to ask for your family to be taken here... Spider Lord, you are quite an interesting individual."
"What?" cried Genjiro and Biel in unison.
"Nera, your only Wild Magic user died summoning the Spider Lord! You can't possibly create more within such a limited frame of time!" Biel said.
"You would kill millions for one person?" Genjiro asked, "Surely her life isn't worth so many dead Tocandi!"
"Enough!" Nera's shout echoed around the deathly silent chamber, "Spider Lord, look at this."
She gestured to a Tocandi, who stepped forwards. Before Genjiro could cry out, two others came up and twisted its neck around with a sharp crack!
"Fucking hell!" Genjiro shouted, jumping back "why did you do that?"
"Spider Lord, we would willingly give our lives to the cause. If it will give us our Hive Mother back, then we will do it. That goes for your question as well, Queen Biel. We will lay many eggs, birth many children, as long as the Spider Lord gives us our Mother." Nera let out a sigh, sinking back onto her lower legs. "I accept your conditions."
"You always had a flair for the dramatic, Nera," Biel growled, "now, can I bring the Spider Lord to see Verina?"
"She just- she just killed one of her own subjects," Genjiro said, his stomach roiling. "That doesn't bother you?"
"Why should it? Nera's still alive, isn't she?" Biel asked, looking at Genjiro.
"But that poor ant…"
"Is Nera, or at least, a part of her."
Genjiro's eyes widened, "You mean- No! That's not right! Ants aren't really hiveminds, at least, that's what I read!"
"Perhaps in your world," Biel lifted a wing in what Genjiro perceived to be a shrug, "here is different."
"Spider Lord, before you go meet Verina, the Queen of the Suvelu, We want to give you this." Nera spoke quietly, a Tocandi emerging from behind her engorged abdomen.
It was about the size of Genjiro, with a thinner frame than the other Tocandi that surrounded it. It was light brown, like Nera, but unlike the Queen, it had a pair of wings reaching all the way down to its small abdomen.
"We grant you this follower, a Tocandi princess, to aid you on your quest. She will be severed from us, but will have all the information that you need. Name her, and treat her well."
Genjiro shut his mouth with a snap. "Uh, well…"
A face swam into view. Pale, with a small, upturned smile. Red eyes split into three sections, and purple hair styled up into twin chignons, topped with two brown antennae.
He walked up to the princess, took her hand, and said, "Hello, Vasilissa, I'm Genjiro."
A/N: I have returned!