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After checking all the unique Stats of the Territory Civilization Units and how they worked very differently than Players, Paul realized the power that Insecta possessed with her Affinity for Insects being at +2.
“Wait what?! Insecta can make every insect unit have 2 more Combat Power from being adjacent to them?!”
“Yes! Although it would really be a +6 boost as these insects I could help you summon share all Affinities with me. This is why I told you, master, that I can easily wipe out the Neburians… as long as I get my army prepared,” she giggled. “So? Now that my powers are tied to yours, would you like to create my kindred?”
“Your… kindred?”
Vlad noticed yet another status window appears, one of a unit he could now summon.
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[Corpse-Eating Crimson Beetle]
[Unit Type]: [Combat Unit]
[Fighting Power]: [0.3]
[Stamina]: [0.3]
[Mobility]: [0.5]
[Element]: [Evil] [Insect] [Fantasy]
[Affinity]: [Affinity of Blood +0.2] [Affinity of Darkness +0.2] [Affinity of Insect +0.2]
{Special Abilities}
[Corpse-Eating Spawn]: [Unit can generate a duplicate of itself once it has eaten a part of a corpse.]
[Swarm]: [Several Units of the same type can combine as a Swarm, counting as a single Unit.]
{Unit Description}
[A swarm of monsters capable of devouring corpses or still living bodies, duplicating themselves while continuing to devour anything in their path. Insecta controls them as their mother.]
[This unit is generally one of the weakest of the entire game but can duplicate quickly and form swarms of dozens. If Insecta is blessed by the Insect God, the Unit can unlock a second Special Ability that allows it to form a swarm and act as a single Unit.]
{Summon Requirements}: [Summon Hero Unit Insecta] [50 Arcana] [50 Blood Energy]
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The Crimson Beetles, a monstrous race of Insectoids that Insecta created; she was their queen, and they were her children, an endless colony that multiplies the more corpses they devour.
Interestingly, they cost rather cheap compared to other Units, although right now he wouldn’t be able to summon more than three, they can multiply without him needing to spend any energy by simply feeding them corpses.
This also means that, in the middle of a battle, they can rapidly multiply and overwhelm entire armies once they start killing enough foes!
“Oh… This is really good.”
Paul immediately noticed the amazing pros and capabilities that this race of insect beings could do; if he had them back then, things would have changed way too much!
And maybe it wouldn’t have been as despairing to fight the Neburians without having to resort to the help of Players and of Argentia’s temporary Evolution.
“Fufu…”
Insecta smiled as she noticed that her master was shocked by what he could now summon.
And it only cost Arcana and Blood Energy, energy sources he already began to produce through the Territory.
However, it seemed he couldn’t spend the Arcana or Blood Energy he had within his own body, but only the resources generated by buildings.
Nonetheless, this single unit and this single hero could change the entire tide of battle and perhaps the entire position of Elderbridge in the entire Realm.
Argentia was strong, but he wasn’t capable of being everywhere at once, and ultimately, if it wasn’t for Chris, he would’ve died against one Raid Boss.
Ambition rapidly started surging from within Paul and Vlad’s synchronized hearts.
A smile filled with disbelief and crimson eyes full of an ever-growing determination.
Insecta could immediately tell what was going through his head with a mere glance.
“So? Master? Will you conquer the Realms with me?”
And she asked a rather insane question that made even Chris fall off into the ground while he was flying and hit his butt very hard into the wooden floor.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Conquer the Realms?!” he screamed. “W-What are you talking about?! We just want some stability! Maybe we’ll conquer a few… territories at most, right, Paul? You said you had ambitions, but they were within the scope of possibilities…”
However, Paul ignored Chris' words, as he remained in silence for a couple of seconds.
Chris noticed just how strong his ever-growing resolve had become, as he seemed to be considering it.
“Chris… I never consider something if there isn’t a possibility for it to happen…” he smiled at the cute Incubus. “Don’t worry, this is a game anyway..." So maybe being a bit ambitious is not so bad, right? Let’s go crazy.”
“Y-You’re insane!” Chris cried. “You want to make the whole world your enemy or something?”
“Nah… I was just considering things,” Paul said. “Insecta… So is that your goal all along? You want me to conquer the Realms?”
“Yes… I respond to no master that doesn’t have charisma and determination to conquer the Realms at the very least.” She said. “The moment you summoned me, you had all of it within you. Charisma, Selfishness, Pride, Strength, Determination… All of these beautiful, beautiful emotions! Only one man managed to summon me before, and he had similar qualities to you. Long, long ago…”
“So I am your second master…” Paul muttered. “Huh… Maybe she felt Vlad’s determination? Or the Heavenly Demon? Ah definitely, that’s it.” He thought.
“Yes indeed!” smiled Insecta. “However, the memories with my first master… Are very foggy. But I remember he was from a faraway, probably lost Realm by now. Long, long ago.”
“I see…” Paul nodded. “Then you have even more experience helping a Territory grow?”
"Yes, I do have quite a lot of experience,” she nodded. “Now I wonder, will you make the units right away, master? I detect there are some monsters roaming around the territory. We could go hunt them down to show you off how they work.”
“Uh…” Vlad considered it, glancing at Chris.
“I mean, do whatever you want,” Chris shrugged. “I want to log out now; I may come back later…”
“Sure, I should be logging out soon as well,” said Paul. “Show me what you can do, Insecta.”
“Very well,” she nodded.
However, before Chris left, he approached Paul and whispered to his ears.
“Don’t let her force you to do things you don’t want, ok?”
“She’s not manipulating me or something; don’t worry.”
“Hm… Fine… Today was an annoyingly long day… I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah, go rest then; don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine.”
“Hmm, I wonder if that’s the case! Sometimes you’re just… too hopeless without me.”
“Hahah, I guess… but I’m trying now.”
“Hmmm~”
Chris quickly flew over Paul and kissed his lips while being upside down.
His kiss, as always, was too good, and Paul quickly felt lost on the incubus lips and his playful tongue.
“Mooch… Okay, if I don’t log out now, this’ll take forever; bye now~!”
Chris quickly logged out before Paul could continue making out with him…
“Ah…”
He felt slightly sad the moment he felt, like he was already missing half his heart.
“Fufu…”
And Insecta, who was watching everything, giggled in the corner of the room.
“So cute… I had my ideas about your relationship, but to think you both are so in love! It is truly very adorable! Even though you’re both men… Ah, that makes it even better!”
“…Huh?”
Paul couldn’t really react properly to what he just heard…
“Hahah! Don’t mind my words, master. Let us get going.”
“Aah, yes…”
He already knew Insecta was some sort of crazy monster queen, but she somehow became even crazier once he realized she might be a fujoshi.
Eventually, the two reached the outskirts of Elderbridge, which gave Insecta more view to see how everything was.
Aside from that, she was capable of flight, as she spread out a huge pair of insect wings from her back.
She also flew incredibly fast, easily flying around the city within a couple of seconds and returning.
“Indeed, a very pretty, if not neglected, city! So this is our starting point, certainly better than my previous master. He barely had a manor and a village…” giggled Insecta.
“I-I see… Do you remember his name or something?” wondered Paul.
He began to wonder if this was part of the game lore or… if she had been the servant of some sort of beta tester or whatever.
“Hmm… No matter how hard I try, I cannot remember his face nor his name,” Insecta sighed, looking down. “Well, I might one day remember.”
“I see, is this place alright for you?”
The two landed outside of the walls, in front of the ruined battlefield that had been left; there were still some corpses here and there, which Vlad had not noticed nor the Players.
“We got lucky; there’s some corpses for you to eat,” said Vlad.
“Hmm, how about my kids eat them?” she wondered.
“Alright, how do I do this… Do I just will it?” wondered Vlad.
“To summon my children?” wondered Insecta. “My previous master… he used a Grimoire. But I don’t know how you could use it. Perhaps try to will it or conjure it as a spell or skill?”
“Sure,” nodded Vlad.
He pointed his palm into the air and then said the commands out loud.
“Summon: [Corpse-Eating Crimson Beetle]”
FLASH!
And it worked! A crimson-colored magic circle opened in front of him, which quickly appeared on the floor. Vlad felt the energy stored in the buildings fly away and reach this magic circle as well.
FLUOSH!
Something began to emerge from within the magic circle, roughly fifty centimeters in height, with a slightly humanoid form, but that was clearly a crimson insect.
It had the shape of a beetle with long legs and arms that made it look slightly human. It also had a third pair of arms resembling small scythes.
Its face? It resembled a huge bug face, with hateful, crimson-colored insect eyes and long antennae, alongside sharp mandibles constantly drooling.
“Gryyaaeeegh!”
It gave a loud scream, or roar, as it looked at the moon above the sky, then at Insecta and Vlad.
The creature slowly lowered its head before the two.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have summoned the Combat Unit: [Corpse-Eating Crimson Beetle]!]
[You have exchanged 50 Arcana and Blood Energy from your Territory Resource Reserves to summon this Combat Unit.]
[Combat Units, similarly, to citizens, will require Food resources, which will add further to your Food intake per day.]
[Luckily, the [Corpse-Eating Crimson Beetle] can feed on any available corpse, so your Food Resource can be saved.]
[To strengthen your Military Power and create space for your Combat Units, you can create a Barrack Facility.]
“And it’s done! See? It’s super easy, master; now summon two more.
“Ah, okay…”
Vlad quickly summoned two more of these huge insects, who lowered their heads before him and Insecta in reverence.
“Excellent,” she nodded. “Alright then, you three will work for us now. Go eat those corpses and reproduce!”
Vlad saw in disbelief as the beetles nodded, rushing to eat the corpses. They ate them by digging into their flesh and eating them from the inside out.
Somehow, magically, when they were done, two more beetles appeared!
“Hmm, it wasn’t enough for a third; oh well, there’s more where that came from! Eat up! We’re not stopping until you are at least fifty!”
Insecta surprised Vlad time and time again, as she started building him an army in mere seconds.
“I’m still wondering if I got lucky or unlucky with her…”
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