Hey Guys! Crescent Rider here, and I am back with another chapter.
There's nothing I have to say at the moment. So I'll just get on with the reviews instead.
Misaka Phenex: It isn't really much of a fetish. It's more of a fascination towards Spiders.
SynchroRegis: I really appreciate your support! Thank you!
That is all for the reviews, and as always enjoy the chapter.
Three Days Later...
The ants of all colonies were prospering peacefully, and some were assigned to handle the restoration of several old and ruined buildings with Da Vinci teaching them the basics of architecture.
Some, including newly grown children, were seen with Reese teaching them basic combat with some lessons he had learned from his colony. There were a few bumps, but he manages to get through it all and gain experience of his own over time.
Ezra left the capital after knowing more about his team and
As for Nadia, Zen, and Willow...
Central Colony Capital Building
Nadia was seen conducting several experimentations with magic ore she had collected from the tunnels below, Willow was observing how she works with the magic ores while Zen remained motionless as she left her replica body there to establish her nest as the day of her ascension is upon her.
After Nadia finished assembling some sort of machine, she then grabs some sort of small sphere-shaped gemstone from the table and stares into it.
"Moment of truth," Nadia declared, and carefully places it onto the center of a machine she invented, (Can't give an accurate description. But in a nutshell, try imagining the machine used for Jayce's Hextech Experiment in Arcane)
The gemstone magnetizes onto the center, and Nadia withdrew her hand as she glances back at her book.
"Okay, Let's see what comes next," Nadia momentarily skims the page, then turns back to her machine, and pushes a button.
The machine then started circling, and Nadia waited for it to finish processing. After some time, the gemstone began to flicker several times but stabilizes a few moments later.
Upon next, Nadia takes a deep breath, then began turning the knob clockwise, and that's when the gemstone suddenly bursts and almost knocked her back while Willow shields her eyes at the sudden brightness of the gemstone.
Nadia prevents herself from being knocked back by using her spider legs to hook herself onto the ground, then proceeds to hit the button to stop the process and the gemstone falls back into the center of the machine.
"Well, that's something..." Nadia commented, as she retracts her spider legs, and took another look at her book, "Let's see..."
"Just what are you trying to do?" Willow asked,
"Recreating something that was discovered by my... Friends that I met long ago," Nadia answered,
"Who were they?" Willow asked,
"Scientists. and they were also members of an organization of mages and what they ever wanted is to use magic to benefit life through the combination of magic and machinery," Nadia explained, "Some times... Even weapons were included in the mix,"
"Scientists?" Willow said with unfamiliarity to the term,
"They're a group of people committed to helping by conducting several projects and experiments that may benefit all," Nadia explained, "But not all of their projects are focused on helping lives... Sometimes..."
Nadia pauses and recalls two figures of her past, and deeply sighs at the thought of them, "They make to take lives as well,"
Willow glanced at a large board with several blueprints and noticed some of them resembling some sort of weapon, and she puts the pieces together, "They make weapons?"
Nadia stayed silent, but then she gave one answer to that question, "Yes..."
"Then why would you create them?" Willow asked,
"Originally, I was against the idea of making weapons with the same idea that would benefit lives instead of taking them," Nadia explained, "But as time passed, it wasn't long until I too agreed on their idea, and hated the moment that that decision was made. In order to protect ourselves against adversaries' hellbent on destroying us, we were left with no other choice than to take countermeasures against them,"
Nadia then finishes the last steps on the machine, and once the machine conjured a strong but controlled burst of magic. She could only stare at the sparks fading in the air and felt nothing but sorrow at the sight.
"Even if it meant taking lives with the same technology that would have benefitted them,"
"You must have had a complicated life then?" Willow said,
"Yeah," Nadia said, "But enough about me. Now it's time to show you what I've created,"
"What did you create?" Willow asked,
Nadia then grabbed the refined gemstone, went to another table, and grabbed some sort of spear that she had made earlier.
At the midsection of the spear was some sort of sphere-shaped container, pops the lid open, and inserts the gemstone inside. Then, the spear suddenly glows in a bright blue color, and the four adjacent lines of the spearhead started to glow.
Nadia then began to spin it around like a pole, and Willow watched with the satisfaction of her master's exquisite display of talent that she started to clap to her.
"Impressive, Nadia," Willow complimented,
"Thank you, But what I've shown you is but an imitation of a friend of mine," Nadia replied, "What I really wanted to show you is an example,"
Nadia then aims towards a dummy, aiming the spear like a rifle, twisting a certain part of the spear's handle to reveal what looks like a trigger, then pulls it once.
The tip of the spearhead then charges up, then fires a bolt of magic energy towards the dummy. The resulting damage had knocked the dummy straight into the wall and cauterized through the midsection of the dummy.
Nadia then puts down the lance onto the table and twists her right shoulder a couple of times due to the recoil of the lance.
"A lance that fires concentrated magic? That's unheard of..." Willow said in surprise,
"Indeed, but this is only one of the many," Nadia admitted,
Moments later, Zen then returns to her replica body and the two immediately noticed her return.
"How's your nest going so far?" Nadia asked,
"It's going along smoothly, but soon enough I will be able to begin my colony once more," Zen replied while grabbing her cane and slowly stood up from her chair, "But there is a matter that I needed to discuss to you,"
"What would that be?" Nadia asked,
"I..." Zen trails off and suddenly displays a nervous expression and gazes all around the room. Moments later, she finally admits the matter to her, "Need a mate..."
The room was brought further into silence as Nadia processed this request. Once she did, she only said one word that broke this silence, "... What?"
"I... need a mate," Zen said and started fidgeting all of a sudden,"It's not like I can just reproduce eggs without once,"
"Seriously...?" Nadia mouthed,
"Y-Yes," Zen responded,
This was something... Nadia couldn't think of any thoughts regarding this matter since it was more of a natural problem than some problem she's bothered to deal with.
Nadia scratched her head a couple of times as she couldn't think of anything that would resolve this problem. But her thoughts were soon cut off when she receives a message from Da Vinci.
After some explaining on Da Vinci's side, Nadia then used this as an excuse to leave the room, "Zen, As much as I would like to help you with this. But I'm afraid I must be going, Da Vinci's calling for me,"
Nadia then pulled out a wand, conjured a portal, and went to Da Vinci's current location. Thus, leaving Zen and Willow by themselves.
"So... Were you trying to make a move on her just now?" Willow asked,
"What?" Zen asked,
"You said you needed a mate. Are you trying to hook up to her?" Willow asked,
"W-What?! What makes you think that I'm trying to?!" Zen yelled,
"Oh, I don't know. It's because you asked her?" Willow pointed out, "But know that she's mine,"
"Wha?! Why you!" Zen yelled,
Eventually, the two began arguing with each other. Even though Zen denied Willow's accusation she still has some feelings for that certain thought.
Meanwhile...
Nadia soon arrived at Da Vinci's location, and it appears that Da Vinci was somewhere near the barrack and Reese was present as well.
"Alright, What's today's problem?" Nadia asked,
"I've sent patrols outside the walls as usual, and I've received reports of several ants from opposing colonies have engaged in combat with each other and a couple of humans were seen pushing through the conflict," Reese reported,
"Humans? Why would they travel so far from home to be here?" Nadia asked as she recalled a human kingdom located farther north.
"That, we do not know," Reese said,
"So what are you thinking?" Da Vinci questioned,
"Hmmm... Normally I would leave them alone since they'll leave for trespassing ant territory. But I would like to have brought here alive and unscathed," Nadia requested, "I want to know why they came here,"
"As you wish, I'll assemble a team immediately," Reese replied,
Reese then went back to assemble some of his troops to find the humans while Nadia suddenly sneezes.
"Master, Are you alright?" Da Vinci questioned,
"I'm fine, but I could have sworn that someone was talking about me..." Nadia said, and unknowns to her. A certain duo was indeed talking about her...
Somewhere in the Central Region.
A Group of five explored the central region as a reconnaissance task by their employers and four other groups such as them were sent to explored separate regions as well. But all groups were instructed not to engage the ants as to not provoke or interfere with them.
The group consisted of three boys and two girls. Three of the men wore simple armor but wield different weapons.
The leader wields a longsword, another wields a sword and wooden shield, and the last one wields a sword but straps a bow and quiver onto his back.
As for two women. The first wore white robes and wields a staff, while the second kept her cloak closed and her hood up as to hide what she has underneath her arsenal.
After some time, a strong breeze of sand surged through them and the group was forced to shield their eyes to avoid the dust from getting their eyes.
As the sand breezed into them, they could also hear the sounds of battle around them. Signifying that they were close to a battle between ants of different colonies.
"Do you hear that?" the first woman asked,
"Battle, and it sounds like is coming from different directions," The leader stated,
"Well... What should we do now?" The first man questioned as he gripped onto his sword,
"We can't push on without knowing what lies ahead," The leader said, "All we can do now is wait until it settles down,"
"Settles down?! You do realize that these ants can fight for hours! We won't last even a minute just by standing here! Especially with all this sand blowing through all of us" The first woman yelled, but soon yelps and coughs when some of the sand went into her mouth,
"Can't we just roast them all or something?" the second man said while tightly grasping onto his sword and round shield,
"Unless you want to deal with two armies of ants," The leader pointed out, "The ants on this land are considered a danger especially when it comes to their rules in their war. Any attempts of fighting them here will result in armies making a truce with each other just so they can overwhelm us,"
"How would you know?" The second man inquired,
"My grandparents once told me a story about a kingdom that attempted to take over a mountain containing riches beyond any king could ever dream of having. Unfortunately, that mountain belonged to a colony of ants, but the greedy king didn't hesitate to assemble his army and destroy that colony in order to gain a foothold close to the mountain,"
"What happens after that?" A second woman asked,
"In the following morning, he and his army were greeted with the force of over billions of ants. No one, not even the king and his loyal generals were spared, or seen again," The leader grimly finished, "Some say that the ants devoured their bodies and took their equipment since nothing was found after the incident,"
"So you're saying that these ants will kill us if we intervene with their war?" The second man grimly presumed, while the rest paled a bit
"Yes! So keep your distance from those ants, We can't afford to meet with the same fate," The leader stated,
They pushed on, but they can still hear the sounds of clashing metal and stomping feet as they were possibly thousands of ants waging battle against each other.
But the leader soon spotted several figures approaching them from the front, and the leader immediately gestures his group to stop.
"What is it?" The first woman inquired,
"Someone's up ahead," The leader said, as he drew his longsword
This alarmed them as they readied themselves, and some hoped that it wasn't ants they would soon deal.
, The figures revealed themselves to the group and all five humans were surprised by their human-like features.
"Are those the ants you were talking about?" The hooded woman asked,
"No, there's far from what I've heard," The leader said,
"Greetings, Humans. We were sent here to find an escort you all someplace safe," The ant leader said,
"Escort us?" The leader repeated,
"Yes, several colony armies have already clashed with one another and all five of you will not survive for long," The ant leader stated, "If you come with us, Our lady will provide shelter as she demands answers to your sudden arrival, "
'Their lady?' The leader muttered,
"Should we trust them?" The first woman questioned,
The leader thinks it over for a moment, but soon afterward, he decided to go with his instincts, "We will follow, lead the way,"
The ant leader nods at his answer then began escorting the group out of the open, and into their current residence, The Central Colony.
It took them several minutes to get there without attracting the attention of opposing ants and wandering monsters, and more so due to the sudden breeze of sand blowing through them.
But they eventually arrive without further incident in their travels...
Central Colony Capital
Before the group of humans arrived, Nadia spent her free time in a newly refurbished bedroom reading her book to study more as her newest powers allowed her to contain every bit of knowledge she could read.
Willow, once again, remained by her side and was seen weaving the back of Nadia's hair.
Eventually, The two soon heard knocking from the door and Reese's voice was heard from the other side, "Nadia, The humans have arrived,"
'That's my cue,' Nadia declared as she closed her book, and dematerializes it.
Willow quickly finishes weaving Nadia's hair before letting her stand on her own, then stays by her side as they prepare to greet the humans.
After some time, Reese introduces the humans. The moment Nadia sets her sights on them. They were stuffing their faces with food provided by the ants.
All except for one, The hooded girl on the right...
Nadia didn't know how to respond properly to their gluttonous looks as they kept chewing their meals. But after she cleared her throat once, she makes a brief introduction to them, "Greetings, I see that my people have treated you with their utmost hospitality?"
The humans turned to her, then the leader quickly swallowed his meal and became the first to speak to her, "Yes, We appreciate you for getting us out there and the food is much appreciated. But more importantly, You are..."
"My name is Nadia, and it's pleasure to make your acquaintances," Nadia greeted, and the second girl suddenly tensed a bit. But went completely unnoticed, "Can you share your names with me?"
"My name is Kayden," The leader greeted while pointing his thumb at himself,
Then he turns to his groupmates and started telling their names from right to left, "The two bickering as they stuff their faces are Arnold and Fernand, The girl next to them is Carona, and lastly is..."
The second girl then snaps out of her current thoughts and introduced herself to Nadia, "My name is Eva, It's a pleasure to meet you,"
"Likewise, but now that we know each other. I have some questions that I would like to ask of you," Nadia requested, "Why have you come this far?"
The humans glanced at each other but soon agreed to share that information with her. Apparently, they were hired by their employers to explore the regions and report back to their findings along with four other groups just like them.
The reward was something no adventurer would dare to refuse. Especially when the payroll comes from a few wealthy nobles. But with every mission, comes with risks...
If one group isn't careful, they would unintentionally interfere with the ant war and die at the hands of ants since they can overwhelm any foe from a hundred to one.
But as the humans further elaborate their reason, that's where Nadia gets an assumption on why these people ventured deep within the ant regions.
"Hmm... Interesting," Nadia muttered,
"What is, Nadia?" Willow inquired,
"Oh, it's nothing," Nadia assured, 'I can't tell her or anyone... Not right now,'
[Are you suggesting that these people are being used as fodder to know more about the region?]
'Possibly, It's not like they'd come here to hunt monsters or anything,' Nadia said, 'Whoever these nobles are, It seems that they can't just get enough of this land since there's a lot of untouched resources in the entire ant continent. The only thing stopping them from taking a step closer is this neverending war,'
But putting that thought aside, Nadia focused on the important matter first, "Is there anything else regarding you're quest? Do you have a certain time limit?"
"Well... It took us about two days to reach the borders, and our employer instructed us that we'd return to the rendevous point in three days after," Kayden explained,
"I see... If that's the case, How about you all stay here?" Nadia suggested, much to the surprise of everyone here,
"Nadia, are you sure it's alright?" Reese inquired,
"As long as they don't anything that affects everyone badly. I see no reason to have them around," Nadia stated, "Also, I kinda want to learn more about the humans more,"
Nadia then turns to the humans, "So? What do you say?"
"It's a little too sudden. So do you mind if give me and my friends some time to talk about it?" Kayden requested,
"Sure, take as much time as you need," Nadia said, then gestured her subordinates to follow her out of the room to give them some privacy.
Once everyone was out, Kayden and his group begin with their discussion.
"So? What do you guys think?" Kayden inquired,
"I'm not against the decision," Arnold said as he raised his hand,
"Me too, and it's been a long time since we had ourselves a proper meal," Fernand said,
"And... We're now located on where we're supposed to be," Carona pointed out, "That's a plus,"
Then all eyes turned to Eva despite the majority of votes to the decision, "I don't mind..."
"Then it's settled," Kayden declared, "We're staying,"
Arnold, Fernand, and Carona hummed in agreement while Eva just nodded her head as her thoughts were fixated on Nadia.
Meanwhile...
Nadia made an early meeting regarding the humans...
"You want us to spy on them?" Reese inquired,
"Yes," Nadia replied,
"But why? First, you greeted them with hospitality. Now you want us to spy on them?" Willow pointed out,
"Just because they're nice. Doesn't mean I wholeheartedly trust them," Nadia reasoned, "Bad intentions or not, I want to learn more about their motives as well as their secrets,"
"Are you sure it's wise to commit such a thing?" Reese asked with uncertainty
"It's not when you get caught... But if you're still unsure of my decision, I'll let Willow handle this mission," Nadia stated,
"Me?" Willow repeated,
"Your brood has small, but matured spiders right?" Nadia inquired, and Willow nods in response, "How about we put them to use?"
"O-of course! I won't let you down!" Willow said,
"I know you won't," Nadia said, "But if you do, I'll forgive you since this was my decision, and I'll be the one to reason with them, should you ever get caught,"
"Yes!" Willow responded,
Even with a risk such as this, Nadia would not hesitate to take it in order to learn more about this new world and its inhabitants. If possible, she would have full detail of the humans' homeland and discover its culture and current age.
After that discussion, Nadia decided to go to the humans alone and she places her hands onto her hips, "So?"
Kayden and his friends stood up from their tables, and bows to her, "We don't mind,"
"Great! My loyal attendant will escort you both to house, and find yourselves comfortable," Nadia stated, "Also, Welcome to the Central Ant Colony,"
After that, Nadia escorted them to Reese and let him do the rest while Willow secretly prepared her spiders to watch over them...
Meanwhile, in the Human Kingdom...
Isaac returned home and clasped his fingers together as he pondered about the recent news on his desk.
Flashback...
"Another Otherworlder?" Isaac parroted,
"Indeed, after the incident with the third. They've decided to replace her by summoning yet another despite the risk of the mages exhausting themselves," Filip explained, "As a matter of fact, the minister of magic himself had joined with summoning ritual to guarantee success,"
"Who's the sixth?" Isaac questioned,
"I have yet to learn the name since my informant hasn't reached me," Filip said, " I can only guess that he either got himself caught, or he had become an incompetent informant,"
Isaac felt rather uneased by Filip's comment since the latter has a reputation for hiring informants ranging from low-ranking members to criminals.
If someone wanted information, nobles tend to approach him and profits with whatever information he can spare to them. But in Isaac's opinion, Filip is one of the few that are considered a danger to this kingdom.
"But regardless of what happened, It'll only be a matter of time before we all know the identity of the sixth Otherworlder," Filip said,
"Then why tell me this?" Isaac inquired,
"I wanted to share this with a friend," Filip remarked while making a smirk on his face, "In fact, I won't ask anything from you,"
Filip then turns away from Isaac and left after saying, "For you hold something more valuable than any noble has,"
Isaac could only frown and clench his fist as he watched Filip leave the palace.
End of Flashback...
After recalling his previous conversation with Filip, Isaac sighs as he pinched the bridge of his nose. But his thoughts soon focused on the crystal ball as it began to flicker.
Signifying that the Demon Lord was calling for him.
Isaac grabbed the crystal ball, and moments later. The Demon Lord's face soon appeared before him.
"Isaac..." The Demon Lord greeted,
Isaac then steels his composure as he proves everything he can share with him...
Including the arrival of a new otherworlder...
That is it for this chapter, everyone! Normally, I would have posted this on a Friday. But I got delayed since I attended a birthday for one of my cousins outside of my home. Especially when that cousin happens to be my goddaughter...
But aside from that, I wanted to let you all know that if any of you have any questions that you would like to ask regarding my storyline. Feel free to ask me, and I will try my absolute best to answer them.
Also, I wanted to let you all know that I've decided to do a full redo of the 'Little Ruler' Story since I began to realize on how much of a mess it was. Especially I kept adding Servants in every chapter. Making Nadia less important...
It will begin as soon as I finish writing Season 1 of 'Child of Nazarick'.
That's all I have to say, Stay safe from the Virus, and I will see you all in the next chapter!
