Qudall, the God of Chaos, sat on his stone throne, floating around freely inside his personal dimension. All around him, as far as the eye could see, was only the vast emptiness of space. Like his name, the space was chaotic and filled with colors and strange energies. However, they all avoided Qudall, keeping their distance from him.

“Aaaah… So boring!” Qudall said, complaining to no one particular. With an elbow on the throne’s armchair, he rested his cheek on a clenched fist. His figure was quite strange. Just like his name and the space around him, his figure was also chaotic. He changed his appearance and clothes constantly, like they were not real, but instead just some kind of illusion. One moment he was a humanoid, the next he had four heads and tentacles, then he turned into a blob, only to change into a tree. It never ended. If a mortal had gazed upon this terrifying sight, they would have gone mad.

A sighing sound came from the lone God.

“This world became boring. Such potential, but now... Not even my shapeshifting can entertain me anymore. I did not foresee this. This world peace is horrible for my entertainment. Ever since the fall of the Swarm, nothing interesting ever happens. While I did not exactly appreciate their behavior at their prime – their endless slaughter and harvesting of all other living beings and all that – I do kinda miss them now. Not a single Swarm member sighted since their last stronghold fell. I wonder, are they truly gone?” Qudall’s face stabilized into a humanoid form, and this new face wore quite the telling expression – sadness.

"llo...hello… Can you hear me? I am the last Queen of the Swarm, and I need your help." A sudden telepathic prayer came to Qudall. He normally ignored those things – he cared little about the mortal’s problems – but this one sounded special...

“Hmm...what was that? Queen… Queen of the Swarm?!” Qudall immediately sat up straight. “Haha, what timing!” Qudall slammed down a fist onto the ancient throne, creating snake-like cracks throughout the surface.

Grinning widely, he flew up into the air, hovering there. He closed his eyes to focus, to filter out all the countless prayers that were of no concern to him. Behind him, the throne he spent who-knows-how-long sitting on, finally succumbed to the cracks and shattered into dust, only to reform seconds later, into an exact replica – like nothing ever happened.

"Can you hear me? I am the last Queen of the Swarm, and I need your help." The prayer repeated itself.

Qudall finally located the source of the prayer and replied: "Yes, I am here. Speak and I will listen."

It took a few seconds until the voice, claiming to be the last Queen of the Swarm, responded again. Most likely shocked by actually getting a reply. It no longer spoke in the same monotonous tone as before, but with a voice filled with hope. "You finally answered my prayer. I had begun to lose hope. Was not even sure if these silly 'prayer' things worked or not. Anyway, I need your help in restoring the Swarm. You are the only God I can ask for something like this."

"Restore the Swarm, you say? Yes… That might be interesting. What do you need?” Qudall tried hard to suppress his excitement; to act in a proper way, befitting of a God. Then again, he held the title ‘God of Chaos’. Was there even a proper way to act for someone like himself?

"I...need a soul. One that is capable to lead and restore the Swarm to its former glory. Where or how you get it matters not, but there is only little time left until the host body is ready. Creating this body took more effort and time than I initially assumed. My Swarmlings are growing old, weaker day by day. Our numbers are dwindling. I cannot create any new larvae until this one is born. Time is running out; our very survival is at stake here! You must be swift!"

Qudall could tell the voice was genuinely desperate. One of the many benefits of being a God and all.

"A soul? Hmm, thought you were gonna ask for fame or fortune, or something. A pleasant surprise! Well, not like I have something better to do; the world being so peaceful and all. Will get right on it. I have high expectations from your Swarm, so will do my best to find you a suitable soul. Just make sure the vessel is ready. A soul evaporates quickly without a body. Do not disappoint me..."

Qudall threw in a warning to make him sound more serious, more like a proper God. Qudall was, after all, the least serious of the Gods, but even he could not miss the chance to impress the, stubbornly atheist-like, Swarm.

"No worry. You accomplish your task, and the Swarm will rise again. I guarantee it..."

Qudall disconnected the mind link with the Queen, and began to speak to himself.

“Hmm… A soul? Where will I find one to lead the Swarm? Unless I wipe its memory, but that will severely reduces its capabilities. Would be no difference from a newborn soul. No one in this world would want to lead… In this world? Aha, another world! But there are so many worlds… Time for a trip! No, wait. Not allowed to leave for M-… Did I just screw myself?”

Qudall pondered for a few minutes. He suddenly lit up and said in a slow voice, increasing in excitement with each word: “I just got a brilliant idea…!”

Qudall’s stomach bulged up. It grew and grew, and the bulge moved upwards, towards the neck, and more importantly, the mouth. A normal human body would have exploded long ago, but Qudall’s body extended just fine. With a vomit sound, a two meter long, thick as a leg, white snake came out.

The snake floated in the nothingness, with no reactions, seemingly not alive. Qudall placed a hand on its head, and sent in his energy. The white snake’s eyes opened, and Qudall smiled.

“This, this can work.”

However, he could not wander the countless worlds as a snake. It needed his ability to transform into anything and everything. To do that, it needed his energy. The snake had no soul, and was therefore not alive. Without access to Qudall’s energy, it would simply slump down and start to decay like any other corpse.

Qudall stretched out his arms. The swirling energies in the area went berserk, trying to flee, but they were mysteriously drawn towards his fingertips. Slowly, but surely, Qudall forced his hands together. As they grew closer, the resistance increased and an actual drop of sweat fell from his forehead.

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“Me? Breaking a sweat? You… STOP RESISTING, YOU BASTARDS!”

With a bang, his hands clapped together. Qudall slowly opened his hands, revealing a sparkling gem. Using a fingernail, he easily created an incision in the snake's skull, and crudely implanted the gem into the brain.

“There, that should do it.” Qudall carefully rattled the head of the snake, checking if the gem was stuck or not. “Stay still!” Qudall banged the gem deeper into the brain. “Uh, that looks good. Sure.”

Qudall closed the wound and the snake opened its eyes. Their eyes met. “So, that’s what I look like now.” Qudall changed appearance a few more times, enjoying the strange sensation of watching himself do it.

“Right, needed to hurry. Well, off you got, snake. Change into the dominant species of the world you find.”

Qudall found an odd sense of pleasure in speaking to himself. The snake flew off and Qudall sat down on his throne. “Hm. Something feels off… Oh well, probably nothing.”

Qudall closed his eyes, observing all that the snake saw. It whirled through the void and reached a suitable world with a population in the billions. He still technically did all the work in controlling the snake, as it was not actually sentient. It was simply just more fun pretending he had a snake friend...

A sighing sound came once more from the lone God.

“This is more trouble than I thought. No, I promised to aid the Queen! Don’t get lazy yet, Qudall… Well, can only check them out, one soul at a time. First…the planet Earth? What a boring name, but I guess most worlds got names like that if they think they are the only ones around.”

“A planet full of humans. No magic; instead they use technology. How foolish. Quite high population and have even visited a few nearby planets. However, seems to suffer from pollution, overpopulation and poverty in many areas. Several continents and large oceans, with countless animals in both land and water. A lot of wars in their history.” Qudall quickly examined the planet. Both by reading the minds of the population and their written history.

“Now to find a good match for the vessel. This one maybe…”

“Son of the leader of the most powerful country, a very high desire to lead and control. However, he only thinks about leading humans to a brighter future, so not a very good choice.” Qudall quickly dismissed the first candidate.

“General of the third strongest army. Joined the army at an early age and learned to follow orders. Quickly advanced in ranks, and after the death of the old general, he got offered the position, which he accepted. A well-liked general overall, but only has experience in leading humans, which is not that weird if you think about it. Hmm… Maybe. Yes, a general sounds like a good idea at first, but they have followed orders and been trained for so long it might become a problem. They might lack creativity, or be too focused on the warfare. Better to just keep looking for now. No rush, no rush...” Qudall let out calm chuckle.

“Druglord with no problems killing for what he wants. Like him already! Leads the second largest drug cartel in the world, even built it up from the ground himself. Looking good! The Swarm has no interest in drugs or money though. Ah, seems this guy's mind is unstable, and, ouch, he just shot one of their weak peashooters at a tiny beetle climbing on a tree… Definitely not friendly to bugs. When you control countless beings with your mind, you should avoid a leader that kills just for fun. Next.”

“Leads the number one company in the world and is number one in wealth. A Virtual Reality MMO that over sixty percent of the population plays. A game? Hmm… Are there bugs in this?" Qudall sent his mind into the people playing the game, reading their brain waves for information.

"Yes, but as the enemy... And what good will his programming skills do him in the new world? Even basic electricity generators are not invented, and using a mage for lightning spells is not exactly a viable long-term strategy. Maybe you could hook them up and create a massive slave-mage network, but that would either require massive numbers, or willing to suck them dry, until they turn into lifeless husks. Sounds like a waste of magic to me.”

Qudall quickly scanned the planet for suitable vict-, hos-...volunteers. After about thirty-three million ‘nope’, his hope began to wane.

“This is taking longer than I thought. Need a new strategy. To not just look at their accomplishments, but also their hidden potential. Ah, right; a game. Are there any bug commanding games?” Qudall’s eyes lit up with the flames of hope once again. No, they literally lit up. Flames poured out from his eyes as he frantically scoured the world for any information.

“A few, but they all lack that real feeling and scale of controlling something like the Swarm. Anyone that played all of them? A few… Most dead by now. Here is one. His desire is a proper game where you control an insect colony. Huh, this planet's insects are quite similar to the ones back on… I made fun of Earth, but now I realize my world has no name. Just for continents and countries and such. Makes little difference though, since they will never leave their world, unlike these humans.” Qudall chuckled to himself.

“Where was I? Oh yes, similar insects. They might look the same, but with the power of magic, the similarities are only skin deep. But this will be helpful for this person I picked. He will, at least, recognize them somewhat. Only twenty-four years old, with no notable achievements. He works in a small business, and lives alone with no living family. Good, means not many will miss him, plus he wants to rule over bugs, which is the most important thing. I think we got a winner!”

Qudall decided on this person. If not, he might need to search other planets, and well, that was more effort than he cared to put in.

“However, only need his soul, not his body so… Time for some fun...” Qudall’s face changed into something diabolical; half his face splitting into a grin filled with teeth that would make even the largest sharks on Earth jealous.