Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 3 - Chapter 7

Rescue Mission 

Isabelle had been captured. 

Learning of that left me angry and impatient. Just when we’d finally formed an alliance with Atlantica, the enemy had taken our partner captive. This was a major problem we’d have to take care of no matter what. 

“Listen up, everyone. We must rescue our ally,” I told the Swarms standing at attention in front of me. “Isabelle is a distinguished woman who agreed to be our partner, and now she’s in the enemy’s clutches. I don’t know how they usually handle pirates, but she’ll definitely be executed. She got in the way of the Popedom’s trade, after all.” 

They quietly listened to my words. My speech traveled through the collective consciousness and reached the minds of all the Swarms spread out across the continent. I couldn’t afford to say anything needless or even let a single irrelevant thought cross my mind. 

I had to present myself as the Swarm’s trusted queen. They served me faithfully, even laying down their lives in my name, so I had to answer their efforts with strong, unyielding leadership. 

“We need Atlantica on our side. Thus, we will go forth and save Isabelle. She is not just our ally, but also a friend who chose to throw her lot in with us. For her, we will march into enemy territory. We will invade Fennelia and take Isabelle back!” 

As I gave my order, there were no signs of disagreement or discontent in the collective consciousness. Maybe they honestly saw Isabelle as an ally, or perhaps they were merely obeying my will as their queen. Their hearts were cold and indifferent, so I couldn’t quite tell, but I was fine so long as they didn’t object. 

“Now, we must prepare for battle. You will sink your fangs into the enemy, pierce them with your stingers, and tear them to bits with your scythes. You must save Isabelle at all costs. For the Arachnea!” 

“For the Arachnea! All hail the queen!” 

“For the Arachnea! All hail the queen!” 

The Swarms cheered at my speech. 

“What about our formation, Your Majesty?” Sérignan asked me afterward. 

“I think we’ll take a hundred and five units. Seventy-five Ripper Swarms and thirty Toxic Swarms. The Ripper Swarms will be our vanguard, protecting the Toxic Swarms as they shoot projectiles from a distance.” 

The Toxic Swarms’ venom was deadly, but they were virtually helpless when it came to close-range confrontation; they needed a vanguard of melee units to compensate for that weakness. I was close to unlocking the Ripper Swarms’ upgrade but not quite there. The Ripper Swarms would need to pull their weight for the time being. 

Additionally, while Toxic Swarms were capable of firing lethal attacks, their production cost was accordingly high. This meant that, unlike before, I couldn’t just crank out large numbers and send them all out at once. Still, I’d taken my time in producing Toxic Swarms, so now I had a decent amount of them. 

In terms of the game, having these kinds of units unlocked meant I was somewhere around the midgame. Incidentally, this was the point when rushes stopped being effective solutions. Around midway through, the enemies began to diversify their units, which meant strategy and knowledge of which unit to use against which was necessary to achieve victory. 

I might have had success with Ripper Swarm rushes so far, but that wasn’t to say I didn’t know how to play the game in later phases, too. In fact, I’d managed to defeat other skilled players in tournaments right around this point in the game. Through these wins, I’d proven my skill as an Arachnea player was legitimate. 

“I believe that is wise,” Sérignan said. “I will join the vanguard. But, truth be told, I wanted to consult you about something, Your Majesty...” 

“Speak, my child.” I nodded. 

Sérignan fidgeted for a few moments before bashfully speaking up. 

“My body is once more filled with this strange sensation and warmth... Am I about to evolve again?” 

“You might be. Let’s try and see.” 

In my mind, this was the perfect time for her to grow even stronger. 

“All right, Sérignan, try to imagine blue armor. A pale blue color, like the pallid cheeks of the diseased. That will be your new form. Try picturing it... I’ll hold the image of you getting stronger in my mind as well. Good luck.” 

“Yes, Your Majesty. My new form...” 

I created a mental image of her evolved form and sent it to her through the collective consciousness. 

It happened in a flash. Sérignan’s crimson armor crumbled away, revealing a beautiful suit of pale blue armor underneath. This color reflected the terror that would tinge the faces of her victims. 

“Erm, is this right?” Sérignan asked as her armor was being reformed. 

Not only was she now clad in bluish-white plate, but the wings growing from her back had also changed shape. They were no longer small and tucked away, like a beetle’s—she now had large, thin wings like a dragonfly. Her tough, lustrous exoskeleton reflected off the surface of her wings, dyeing them a glorious hue. 

“Oh, yes, that’s perfect. You’ve evolved into your third form, the Pale Knight Swarm. Those wings should enable you to fly, though not for long or too high. Use this power to serve the Arachnea well, Sérignan.” 

“Yes! I shall do everything in my power to support you and the Arachnea, Your Majesty!” 

This was my hero unit, the Pale Knight Swarm Sérignan. In addition to her limited ability to fly, her offensive and defensive stats had risen across the board, and her venom gained a toxicity that was roughly half of the Toxic Swarms’. She was a wonderful, versatile, all-purpose unit. 

That’s my knight. 

“C’mon, Sérignan, we have to save our damsel in distress. We owe Isabelle quite a bit, and we need to solidify our relationship with Atlantica, too. I’ll be needing your help with that.” 

“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall fight to save our ally and guarantee our victory.” 

Thus, Sérignan had evolved into her third form. This marked the beginning of our operation to rescue Isabelle. We already had Masquerade Swarms disguised as refugees within the Popedom’s territory, but they weren’t able to enter Fennelia, so they couldn’t give us any particularly useful intel. 

The only option we had left was to storm in and take Isabelle back by force. If we could manage that, our alliance with Atlantica would surely last. That was what I believed... and I had no way of knowing how naive that line of thinking really was. 

We would need to make our way to the port city of Fennelia aboard the large ship. I picked it because the medium-sized ship couldn’t hold all the forces we’d need for this mission. The large ship was our only real choice, but I wished we could’ve brought the medium-sized ship along to make our escape later on. Still, a getaway wouldn’t matter if we couldn’t stage the rescue operation to begin with. 

As those thoughts crossed my mind, one of Atlantica’s pirate captains volunteered to lend me a hand. His name was Gilbert, and he proposed to join us in our rescue of Isabelle. 

“I owe Isabelle a few debts, and I haven’t repaid them yet,” he said. “She looked out for me when I was still a rookie and even after I became a captain. She’s a good person, and I want to save her. I’ll help you in any way I can.” 

He boasted that his ship was the fastest in Atlantica and great for eluding capture, so we gladly accepted his offer. I wanted to make sure the Swarms would escape with us as well, but our first priority was to retrieve Isabelle. 

With our preparations complete, we set sail for Fennelia. 

Apparently, the pirates feared the city. Frantz’s navy had a base there manned by thousands of troops, which meant the pirates terrorizing the coastal towns couldn’t touch Fennelia. Yet here we were, about to charge straight into the place. 

But we were ready for this. A fight could break out at any point in time, and we’d be just fine. 

Our ship’s sails were spread wide as it slowly approached Fennelia. If we were forced to submit to an inspection, we’d likely lose quite a few Swarms. Thankfully, since no pirate was reckless enough to attack Fennelia, no ship turned up to inspect us, and we soon arrived at the dock. 

“Looks like we’re here, Sérignan.” 

“Indeed, Your Majesty.” 

Sérignan and I stood on the upper deck as we gazed down at Fennelia’s dock. 

Yeah, I can see why the pirates are afraid of this place. 

Dozens of what appeared to be navy vessels were moored at the dock, manned by burly sailors. More ominous still were the hanged pirate corpses dangling from the lighthouse. 

If I were a pirate, I’d avoid this place like the plague too. 

“There’s a port official coming,” I whispered to Sérignan as soon as I noticed him. “We don’t have any papers, so it’s probably gonna get ugly. Be ready.” 

“Understood.” 

The port official approached us to inspect our cargo for customs and examine our docking permit. He was accompanied by sailors from the navy. Naturally, we had no such documents to show. We hadn’t had the time to make those preparations. 

Right now, we were about to go on a literal rampage and muscle our way through. 

This is gonna be fun. 

“You take the vanguard,” I told Sérignan. “I’ll have the Swarms disembark.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

I kind of felt bad letting Sérignan venture out on the front lines all the time, but I needed time to get all the Swarms out of the ship’s hold. She had just evolved, however, so she would probably be able to fight off the enemy without issue. 

I believe in you, Sérignan! 

“You there, on the ship,” the official said as he approached Sérignan. “Where is the captain of your vessel?” 

“You will find no captain on this ship,” she replied ominously as she undid her Mimesis. “The only thing that awaits you on this vessel is death.” 

As soon as her disguise was gone, she leapt toward the official. Her blade flashed through the air, and a split second later, the official’s head went rolling, and one of the sailors found his torso tragically separated from his lower half. 

“Enemies have landed! We’re under atta—” 

The surviving navy sailor tried to scream, but Sérignan’s sword reached his neck before he could finish his sentence. As the sailor’s headless body spurted blood into the air like some kind of grotesque fountain, Sérignan smirked ferociously. 

“Go forth, Swarms!” I shouted into the hold as I swung the doors open. “The time for war is upon us! Plunge forward and rescue our ally!” 

The Swarms lunged out of the ship’s hold and landed on the dock. Their impressive speed in performing this feat spoke to their legacy as some of the fastest melee units in the game. 

“M-Monsters! There are monsters on the dock!” 

“Aaaah! What the hell are the sailors doing?!” 

Terrified cries erupted from the lips of the merchant ships’ captains, and the naval officials present were equally shocked. But the Ripper Swarms paid them no heed, rushing over them like a tidal wave sent from the depths of hell. The humans consumed by that surge of death were ripped apart, their trunks landing with wet thumps on the wood as their limbs went flying. 

A force of death had appeared from the sea. Yes, the Ripper Swarms were a veritable tsunami. 

They quickly took over the pier and secured our landing point. The Toxic Swarms descended onto the dock with slow, leisurely steps. These units weren’t particularly fast, especially when compared to the Ripper Swarms. 

They’re still much faster than I am, though. 

The Ripper Swarms on the front lines formed a wall, and I deployed the Toxic Swarms behind them. With this, our formation was complete. 

“Sérignan, I want you to head into the city ahead of us and scope out the situation,” I ordered. “In the meantime, we’ll march to the city plaza and remain on standby there.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

Sérignan headed out to scout while the rest of us slowly made our way forward. She was a powerful unit, so I couldn’t imagine she’d lose to anyone or anything that might be lurking around here. I also trusted her to know when to retreat. In that regard, she was the ideal unit to send out on recon. 

We marched through Fennelia’s streets, the Swarms’ footsteps clacking out a strange and frightening beat. The townsfolk shut themselves away in their houses. Normally, I would’ve sent the Swarms out to slaughter them all, but we didn’t have the time for that right now. Rescuing Isabelle was our top priority. 

Where are they keeping her? Some prison? A fortress? Maybe they’re trying to make a spectacle out of her execution? 

Whatever the answer, we needed to find her fast, so we kept moving. 

The Swarm marches. Tremble in fear, humans, for the Swarm marches. 

Despite our violent stride through the city, however, the streets were oddly still. Everyone seemed to be terrified of something. What else did they have to fear except us, the enemies of mankind? 

“You, of the Arachnea!” An old woman suddenly burst out of one of the houses. 

“Halt.” I held up a hand to the Swarms behind me. “Who are you? What do you want?” 

“I want you to take revenge in my place. My daughter was executed. They said she was a heretic... Those bastards! They... They peeled off her skin and then burned her alive. It was awful, so terribly awful!” 

You’re one strange old lady to expect empathy from the Arachnea. 

Regardless, what she said about her daughter being called a “heretic” caught my attention. 

“What do you mean by heretic? Why did they, erm, mutilate your daughter this way?” I asked the old woman. 

“Heretics are what the church calls those who don’t believe in the God of Light. Those who turn their back on the faith are treated the same way. My daughter and her beloved consummated their love out of wedlock, so the church judged them heretics and executed them both...” 

I already viewed the Church of Light as a bigoted religious institution, but I never imagined it was this bad. 

“And you kept worshiping that god until now? Didn’t anyone think that maybe you should... uh, stop?” 

“The tenets weren’t enforced like this before! It was a religion of love and tolerance. But now all that’s changed. You can’t trust your own neighbors anymore. There’s no telling who might leak your name to the church.” 

Hmm. Looks like something happened. Are we related to this somehow? 

“Well, I’m sorry, lady, but I can’t promise we’ll exact revenge for you. We’re the Arachnea. The Swarm, a force that consumes everything without discrimination. But...” I paused for a moment to look at her. “I do hate despicable religions like this one, so I’ll probably end up killing the people who harmed your daughter. I won’t be doing it for you, though, and it won’t quite be for revenge, either.” 

We are the Swarm. A recurring nightmare that swallows any who dare to dream. 

That was just how we worked. We didn’t do things out of the goodness of our hearts. Just as it was categorized in the game, the Arachnea was an evil faction. If we went out of our way to save someone or something, as we had with Lysa and Baumfetter, we did it only because it suited our needs. 

Is that really true, though? a part of me wondered. 

While the Swarm might have sought victory, they didn’t explicitly seek massacre. They were driven to kill by a biological urge—the need to propagate—not an emotional one. Wouldn’t that make them more neutral than evil? 

The only one killing out of emotional impulse was me. I’d wanted to destroy the Kingdom of Maluk because they’d killed Linnet. Even if it was necessary to provide an enemy for the Arachnea, I couldn’t deny that I’d become sentimental. I let my feelings take over and sought to kill many, many people. And that thought filled me with sympathy for this woman. 

“That’s fine. If that’s what it’ll take to make them pay...” Full of bitterness, the old woman trailed off. A few moments later, she retreated back into her house. 

“All right, let’s keep going. Onward, to the plaza. If we take over the city center, all of Fennelia should be within our reach.” 

I urged my Swarms to push on, but much to my surprise, Sérignan returned sooner than expected. 

“What happened, Sérignan?” 

“Isabelle’s execution is already taking place in the plaza, Your Majesty. Erm, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they’re right in the middle of it.” 

What...? Already? 

“They’ve already started? Then we must hurry. We might make it in time,” I said. 

“I... Yes, by your will.” Sérignan nodded, her face grim. 

I have a terrible feeling about this. 

We picked up our pace. Going too fast would create a gap between the vanguard and the rear guard, so we hurried along at the Toxic Swarms’ top speed. I only barely managed to keep up with them. 

I don’t know how they execute prisoners here, but I have to hurry. 

Isabelle was a benefactor of ours who’d looked past prejudice and decided to ally with us. We’d helped her take down Atlantica’s corrupt leaders, of course, but she was our dear comrade, a brave warrior who’d fought alongside us to defeat the great sea serpent. I fervently believed we couldn’t abandon her. 

However... 

“Is that... Isabelle?” 

The moment I reached the plaza, reality slapped me across the face. Yes, the execution was certainly underway. Isabelle’s skin had been flayed from her scalp all the way down to her waist, and she was currently being burned at the stake. The flames licking her flesh had created numerous blisters, which only served to torment her further. 

A crowd of jeering civilians surrounded the fire. “Witch!” they cried. “Heretic!” They hooted and hollered, relishing the grotesque spectacle before their eyes with such bliss that they didn’t even notice our arrival. Each time Isabelle voiced her agony, the people roared with pleasure. 

Up until now, I had seen many things objectively more gruesome and terrible than this. I had even caused atrocities that likely exceeded this one with my own two hands. But even so, I was thunderstruck by the cruel sight before my eyes. 

“Bugs! The bugs are here!” 

“There’s so many of them! What the hell is the navy doing?!” 

The men in white robes carrying out the execution had finally noticed us. 

“Your Majesty, are you—” Sérignan began, shooting a concerned glance in my direction. 

“Sérignan, go save Isabelle. Now. The rest of you, kill everyone in sight.” The orders coming from my mouth were curt and ice-cold. 

It was time for a massacre. There wasn’t a single person in this plaza worthy of leaving alive. 

“It’s the monsters! Run! They’ll kill us!” 

“Run, ruuun!” 

Heh, you think I’m letting you get away? You’re all already dead. 

The Ripper Swarms stormed into the crowd, tearing people to shreds, while the Toxic Swarms rained venomous projectiles down upon them and reduced them to lumps of molten flesh. 

“Guards! Call the guards!” 

“God! Oh, God of Light, help us!” 

The men in white cried out in desperation. 

So these are the executioners, I thought darkly. 

“Toxic Swarms. Shoot them.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

On my order, the Toxic Swarms aimed their tails at the men and fired. The stingers hit them all square in the chest. 

“Gaaah... Aaah...!” 

“It hurts... Aaaah! H-Help! Help meee!” 

Tormented by the agonizing pain, the men quickly melted into wet masses on the ground. 

“Your Majesty, I’ve rescued her, but...” 

As I watched my Swarms butcher the crowd, Sérignan returned with Isabelle in her arms. The pirate’s skin had been peeled away, and she was covered in burns and blisters. I could hardly bear to look at her. 

“Isabelle... Forgive me,” I said, looking her straight in the eye. “We were too late. We wanted to save you, I swear we did.” 

“Did you... now...” she replied, her voice a hoarse whisper. “Happy to... hear that...” 

Despite her condition, her eyes were still burning with life. 

“I didn’t tell ’em... where Atlantica is. No matter what they did to me... So tell my boys to... do good in the future... You... need their help, right...?” 

“Yes, I do. I need your help. We can’t win without the pirates.” 

Having said that, Isabelle had only endured this horrible fate because I’d asked for their help. I’d tried to use the pirates, and this was the end result. I never imagined things would turn out like this, but I had once again caused my allies terrible pain. 

“You’re as... honest as ever, Queenie...” Isabelle gasped. “It’s almost refreshin’... Seein’ you like this makes me wanna... swindle ya... At least try to... fake it a little, will ya?” 

“I’m only being honest because I’m speaking to you, Isabelle. No one else gets this courtesy from me,” I replied, grabbing hold of her hand as life began to leave her. 

I could speak frankly solely because of the woman who was listening. I might not have been connected to her through the collective consciousness, but I could be just as honest with her as I was with Sérignan and the others. She was one of the few people to ever extend a hand to our army of distorted monsters... One of the few people in this world to accept us. 

“What do you want me to do? Tell me, and I’ll make it happen.” 

“Then... let me go in peace,” Isabelle croaked. “Put me down with one clean hit... This is a little too much... even for me, see? So please... Put me out of my misery...” 

“All right. If that’s what you want.” I nodded and called a Ripper Swarm over. “Put her to rest. With one blow.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty.” 

It might’ve been my imagination, but its voice seemed oddly somber. 

A moment later, the Ripper Swarm put an end to Isabelle’s suffering. 

“I’m so sorry, Isabelle.” 

Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched the lady pirate Isabelle depart. I could count the number of times I’d cried in this world on one hand, but... 

Never forget your human heart. 

Those words resurfaced in my mind; perhaps this was what opened the floodgates. Someone—I couldn’t remember who through the fog clouding over my memory—someone had told me those words. They were kind, but their tone was strict and admonishing. As if to remind me that I was still human, that I still had my own heart. As if to warn me that I must not be overtaken by the Swarm. 

But if it meant my heart would ache this much, maybe I was better off submitting to the Arachnea’s will. My pain was so deep and vast that I was seriously considering allowing the maelstrom of the Swarm’s desires to devour me. 

It hurt. It hurt so very, very badly. I was sad, angry, and hollow... The fact that I had a human heart only meant that it would be wracked with pain like this over and over again. Since coming to this world, I’d been responsible for tens if not hundreds of thousands of deaths. I either cared about these deaths, or I didn’t. 

Some deaths were special to me, like the deaths of people I knew or was involved with, or deaths that were a setback to our goals. Whenever that happened, I was filled with sorrow and rage. 

As for the deaths I was indifferent toward... It was like hearing about the statistics of an event happening in some distant country. Those did nothing to weigh upon my fickle heart. I could order tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people to die and not be moved by it. The same was true of the massacre in this plaza. 

I had already experienced many deaths of people who were special to me: Linnet, the people of Marine, Isabelle... And whenever that happened, I became emotional. So emotional that no amount of killing could take my mind off it. 

“Sérignan. Kill everyone in this city. Burn it to the ground. I need to see everyone here dead.” 

“Understood, Your Majesty.” 

The Ripper and Toxic Swarms broke up into groups and began their rampage through Fennelia. 

“Oh, but leave just one of them alive—that old woman who asked us to avenge her daughter’s death.” 

My emotions were running high, but I could relate to how she felt. Watching someone you cared about flayed alive and burned at the stake was a horrible experience. 

“This town is going to be real quiet, real soon,” I murmured while the people screamed. 

Sure enough, the shrieks and death rattles faded out before long, and Fennelia became absolutely silent. The streets were filled with the mutilated bodies and puddles of flesh which had once been Fennelia’s citizens. 

It was quiet, so very quiet. All I could hear was the distant crashing of the waves. 

“You hear that, Isabelle? That’s your requiem. Fitting for a pirate, wouldn’t you say?” I looked down at Isabelle’s head, which was resting on my knees. 

The emptiness felt awfully lonely, but at the same time, it was somehow peaceful. And Isabelle needed that. 

No... Isabelle didn’t need anything anymore. 

I needed this. 

Right now, I needed to mourn her, and I needed silence. Silence filled only by the sound of the waves. If I didn’t have that, my heart would certainly explode, and I would lash out at anything and everything around me. 

“Oh, Gilbert’s ship is here. Let’s go,” I said, signaling Sérignan and the rest of the Swarm through the collective consciousness. 

My army returned to the lonely dock after killing all the people in the city, save for one old woman. Sérignan’s blade was dripping with blood, but upon seeing it, I felt nothing. 

“What do we do now, Sérignan?” I asked morosely. 

“Whatever you wish, Your Majesty.” 

Hmm. Whatever I wish, huh? 

“I want to destroy the Popedom of Frantz. And I don’t intend to let them die easily. They’ll pay. They’ll pay with their flesh and blood for what they did to Isabelle.” 

It wasn’t long after that Gilbert came to pick us up. 

“Where’s Isabelle?” he asked. 

I shook my head and pointed to a couple of Ripper Swarms. They were carrying Isabelle’s body onto the ship, covered in a white sheet. 

“She didn’t make it, huh?” Gilbert sighed as the ship departed. “Guess it’s true what they say about good people being the first to go. Just when we thought things were looking up for us, she had to get herself killed... And we needed her, too.” 

When his lips next parted, he began what I assumed to be a pirate’s memorial service. 

“All the gods who watch over us, greet the soul of this brave pirate with open arms. I pray that you welcome her to heaven. May she receive the ocean’s mercy.” 

It was a burial at sea. A great pirate had no need for a tombstone or epitaph. 

With Isabelle laid to rest, we began plotting retribution.