Where there is tribulation, there is growth.
Inside the third layer of his lair, Helzar quietly sat for a few minutes before opening his mandibles to speak. The blue stripes on his body pulsed a mystic blue like a priceless gemstone hugged by shadows.
Helzar focused on his soul, summoning thousands of Spawns in front of him. The lair was unusually still and apart from the Spawns that Helzar called, nothing else was moving.
Nothing could be heard, either.
Slowly, Helzar’s conscious mind refocused, his compound eyes seemingly glowing brighter like a gem beneath the bright sun.
With a piercing gaze shooting through their souls, Helzar resumed.
Helzar finished his decree with a deep chuckle, resonating with the rhythmic buzzing of the Spawn's wings. Giving their solemn vows to Helzar, the Spawns headed to war with each of them carrying several Motherbugs.
Although vast, the Spawns managed to scatter across the entirety of the Swarm's territories in under a day. They all swiftly settled down and assessed the situation before acting.
Some parts of the Swarm's territories were void of bees, but most weren't lucky. Those that were fortunate enough to arrive at a tense, but otherwise tranquil part of the territories, focused on supporting those who were unfortunate enough to greet war.
The first day has yet to dawn, but the bees were already bold enough to try and overtake some territory.
The Spawn was even intelligent enough to try and distinguish itself from the common Spawns, and it did this by carving an “X” symbol on top of its thorax. Because of her daring action, many intelligent Spawns did the same by carving symbols on their thorax.
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When Helzar found out, he was quite amused and allowed the Spawns to call themselves by the symbol etched into their bodies.
X asked, but the Spawn she was talking to actually shook its head. Seeing that the Spawn was clueless, X flew around amidst the chaos and asked about, taking a few dozen minutes before she found a Spawn who answered her question.
X couldn't help but feel dismayed. She only brought a dozen Motherbugs with her and for them to produce more Motherbugs, it'll take them a considerable amount of energy.
If a Spawn Swarmling needed to eat one bee to mature, then a Motherbug Swarmling needed a hundred bees to mature!
It was one of the reasons why Helzar didn't carelessly send too many Motherbugs straight to war.
X was one of the unluckiest Spawn to be sent to the war. She was powerful, yes, she also had many battle experiences. The only problem was, her army was surrounded by bees, and the armies surrounding her were similarly surrounded by bees. On her way here, she had to fight her way through and kill a few bees before choosing the most chaotic portion of the territory.
With X’s command, the Spawns immediately assumed the role of scavengers. They didn't find any shame in doing so, because through their vague innate memories from Helzar and their ancestors, they knew that the Swarm had humble beginnings too.
With every fight, X would lose dozens of thousands of her army, and when night fell, she ordered the Spawns to collect those dead bodies. She then fed the corpses to the Motherbugs, who then made eggs of Motherbugs and Spawns.
All the Spawns successfully reached adulthood, but all the newborn Motherbugs were still Swarmlings.
X slammed her mandibles together to produce a sharp sound. The moon had yet to sleep, but X already sounded the horns of war. The bees weren't lax either, they were always on alert.
As soon as they saw X’s advance, they also roused their army and clashed with X’s army.
It wasn't long before X was overwhelmed, but even though she was forced to fight several bees at once, she was elated.
When X’s army was reduced to barely half, the bee army was still strong and only lost a quarter of their original number. X herself lost a few limbs, and now she was down to her last leg and pair of wings. She also lost half of her abdomen, and her energy was at rock bottom.
X laughed, her sorrow reaching the Swarmlings below. She had no regrets apart from being unable to see her plan grow into fruition.
BUZZ!!!
The bees scattered, having lost their target. Yet, right after turning their backs, several dozens of Motherbugs flew toward them, injecting eggs into their bodies before retreating as far as they could.
The Spawns also changed their strategies and supported the Motherbugs, allowing them to lay more eggs right into the bees’ bodies.
BZZZ…
Seeing their fellow bees parasitized by the Motherbugs and twitching madly in pain, the army of bees swarmed the army of Spawns, only to be greeted halfway through by more Motherbugs. Soon, the entire battlefield was thrown into disarray, both bees and Spawns rapidly decreasing in number.
Motherbug Swarmlings would erupt from the bodies of Spawn corpses and living bees, inciting the bees to kill their fellow comrades who got infected. It was in vain, however, as the Swarm ate both the living and the dead!
SHAAA…
When the sun arose, all that was left were the Motherbugs crawling on the ground, birthing more Motherbug eggs according to X’s final command. They didn't even bother laying Spawn eggs, and as they ran out of corpses to feast on, they ran to the nearest battlefield and X’s command was finally overwritten by the Spawn in control of the Spawn army.