44 Chapter 4

To be granted the chance of expanding Tempest's territories was a rare honor. Cocytus could not be more proud of the wonderful opportunity. Since the forest area west of Tempest was mostly populated by various insect species, he was the perfect candidate to subjugate the sentient ones.

Cocytus was joined by the battle maid Entoma and the area guardian Kyouhukou, a thirty-centimeter tall cockroach with a crown and red cape who had the ability to create and summon vast amounts of various roach species. He openly ignored Entoma's presence, as the gluttonous maid had eaten far too many of his roaches, ignoring all his demands to stop.

Although shadow demons had already mapped out most of the area, Kyouhukou sent out his children as scouts, just in case the information was inaccurate. The intelligent species were split into two groups; insectars and arachnoids. With the arachnoids holding smaller territories, Cocytus decided to leave them to his two current subordinates and tackle the insectars himself.

As Cocytus teleported away, Entoma and Kyouhukou were left on their own. As with everyone in Nazarick, Kyouhukou followed the hierarchy established by the Supreme Beings and, despite his clear animosity towards the maid, resolved to follow her lead.

The moment they entered a cobweb-covered area, numerous large spiders surrounded them. They were only about one meter tall and two meters long. Since Kyouhukou was the only one without the ring of false data, as he was only level thirty and wasn't considered too powerful to conceal his aura, the spiders turned all their attention to him.

The largest one raised two of its front legs and let out a hiss, with the rest of the spiders following suit. Entoma did the same as a response.

{ Why have you come here, strong one? } The lead spider sent a thought communication to Kyouhukou.

"Lord Momonga, the Supreme Overlord of the Tempest Hegemony, has tasked us with including these lands into the Tempest Hegemony. For the sake of your lives, do not resist. Address Lady Entoma with proper respect as well."

{ She has no aura. Why hide power? } The spider asked curiously, sending the message to everyone present.

To take off the ring was not an option, as Lord Momonga said to not do so unless her life was in danger, but at the same time, mass slaughter would deprive his bellowed master of new servants. On top of that, as a spider, Entoma felt the connection with the much weaker creatures and wanted to include them in Tempest without bloodshed.

Moving faster than the spiders could perceive, Entoma appeared in front of the largest one, safely assuming it was their leader, and grabbed the arachnoid's head with two of her limbs and squeezed just enough to cause intense pain but not crush it.

The creature hissed and tried to get out of the maid's grasp with no success.

"Are you the leader of the arachnoids?"

{ I am only one of many brood mothers. I lead my brood. No one leads all of us. }

"If you want to live, gather all of the brood mothers and bring them to me. Everyone who refuses will be eliminated." Entoma said in her cute voice and squeezed the creature's head a bit harder.

{ Yes. I can call the other brood mothers. I submit. } The spider frantically responded.

Entoma let go of her head and said, "Hurry now. I do not wish for my master to wait."

{ They will come. I call them now. When the sun rises again they will wait for you, strong one. }

Entoma watched them hurry off. There was no doubt in her mind that the spiders would come. After all, monsters in this world followed one simple rule: the weak followed the strong and they considered Kyouhukou strong, even though he was much weaker than Entoma.

While they waited, Kyouhukou communicated to his children from time to time to check if the spiders were keeping their promise. To no one's surprise, such was the case and more and more contacted brood mothers were coming their way.

Meanwhile, Entoma weaved the web to make a defense perimeter. Slowly, but surely, one by one, the giant spiders appeared. Over a hundred brood mothers came, one by one professing their willingness to serve.

After the last one swore loyalty, Entoma ordered them to stand in rows and said. "My master will give names to you all."

The spiders looked at one another in confusion about who this master was just as the first few of them began to transform. On top of their arachnoid bodies grew humanoid torsos. Most still looked bug-like, with the silky dark skin of a spider and thin arms, but a few among them gained torsos that looked almost human, save for them having eight eyes.

The tallest among them stepped forward and bowed before the maid. "Our master has bestowed us with names. We will gather the rest and await orders, Lady Entoma."

"Prepare for the arrival of the master's servants and gather all your broods, Lord Momonga wishes to name all those who will serve them."

"All? But there are so many…" the lead arachne said.

"Do not underestimate a Supreme Being!" Entoma said angrily.

"O-of course. Please forgive me. We will do as you command."

To be in charge of an entire species, even if for a short while, would give her immense bragging rights. After all, the rest of her sisters only named a few goblins and trained them as maids and manservants. Her current accomplishment dwarfed everything they had done by a wide degree.

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The area the insectars controlled was much larger and hosted a large variety of the big creatures. With his keen senses, Cocytus determined that there was some kind of battle going on near. Hurrying in the direction of the commotion, he was met with a scene of a black beetle, about the size of a small dog, desperately fighting off a large catlike creature.

He quickly noticed a wasp of the same size as the beetle, with her innards splattered around, laying on the grass nearby. By the few twitches of her body that Cocytus noticed, it was clear that the bug was still alive but would expire soon. The beetle fought bravely but was outmatched by the nimble, predatory creature. A few cracks already decorated his dark exoskeleton, with fluids leaking out and two of his legs were missing.

'A brave warrior fighting to his last' Cocytus mused and with swift motion decapitated the cat-like creature to end the fight.

The black beetle stared at him for a moment and then stepped between him and the dying wasp, assuming a defensive position.

A quick decision needed to be made. If he hesitated for a few more moments the wasp would die, and only a Yggdrasil potion would be enough to save her.

'The warrior's bravery must be rewarded. I'm sure Lord Momonga would understand.' He took out the life-saving potion from the inventory and walked past the black beetle, who was now attacking him with no success.

'What a tenacious fighter. He would be a great asset to Nazrick.'

Cocytus gently grabbed the beetle with one of his hands to prevent him from harming himself even more and poured the potion over the wasp. In mere moments, all her wounds were gone and she took to the air with a buzz.

The black beetle stopped his struggle and looked up in amazement, then messaged.

{ Thank you for saving the Queen. }

{ Thank you, but please if you can help the general as well. You would have my eternal gratitude if he lived. } The wasp also sent a message.

Since the black beetle's wounds were not as grievous, the potion made out of hipokute herb was enough to heal him.

Same as the wasp, he was healed entirely in mere moments. The beetle bowed in gratitude { Thank you, strong one. I am in your debt. }

"MY MASTER HAS TASKED ME WITH BRINGING THIS PART OF THE FOREST UNDER HIS RULE. YOU CAN BE THE FIRST OF THE INSECATARS TO SERVE HIM."

{ Could your master grant us an audience? If he is to rule us, I wish to know him. } The wasp said.

After a moment the gate opened beside Cocytus, with Momonga stepping through and Albedo following him.

"You called Lord Momonga because of these bugs?" The succubus sneered.

"Albedo, we talked about this!"

"I apologize for my outburst, Lord Momonga." Albedo said with a bow and stepped aside to let Momonga handle things how he saw fit.

"You asked for an audience with me?" Momogna asked the wasp, who promptly landed before his feet and bowed.

{ I wished to know my future master. I, with my trusty General, command the insectars dwelling in these woods. How would my kind serve you, Lord Momonga? }

"You would become part of my nation and have tasks fitting for your abilities assigned to you. Also, I will name you and give you a title to better serve me."

She had already made the decision. After all, her life and the life of her trusted General were saved by one who served Lord Momonga. She found it strange that he would hide his power, but it was undeniable he possessed it. The winged creature beside her new Lord thought of her as someone beyond notice, but she would prove her worth.

Determined, the wasp flew up to face Momonga { It will be an honor to be named by you, my new master. }

Somehow Momonga knew how she should be called, as if the world itself whispered the name that should be assigned.

"I will call you Apito, the Insect Queen."

Eager to know the outcome of the naming, Momogna observed the wasp. She might have been the strongest creature he had yet named, besides giving the last name to Veldora. The creature dropped to the ground and quickly gained more humanoid features. Her body took shape similar to a human female, with a young beautiful woman's face, but left many of the wasp features intact, including the antennae and wings. She was a bit shorter than Albedo.

If he had to guess, Apito now rivaled a Pleiades maid in terms of raw power, making her a rather valuable new asset.

She quickly dropped to one knee, saying "Thank you, my Lord. I have never felt so powerful. The depths of your power must be infinite to grant me so much."

"Serve me well. What I give I can take away as well." Momonga said, playing up the ruler part. There was no reason to doubt that Apito would be absolutely loyal, but considering how powerful he had made her, a warning was needed.

Next, he turned his attention to the black beetle. Same as with Apito, he already knew what name to bestow.

"I will call you Zegion, the Insect General."

Same as his counterpart, he quickly grew a more humanoid form, but unlike Apito who was on the shorter side, he grew to almost Cocytus' height. Clad in a black exoskeleton resembling full plate armor, with a large beetle horn on his forehead and vaguely humanoid face, he looked fierce. In terms of power, he was about the same as Apito and likely would last seconds in a duel against Cocytus if they ever battled.

He too dropped to one knee saying. "I am ready to serve, my Lord. My might is yours."

'Same thing as with many others. The more powerful they grow, the more similar to humans they become. I'm starting to suspect that the creator God has some sort of fascination with the human form. I wonder if something similar would happen to me if I found a way to evolve myself?'

There was no real way of knowing for now, but considering that even Veldora used an avatar of a human, it may just be possible to have a form similar to him. What intrigued Momonga the most was that, despite Veldora using just a magicule manifestation, the dragon could eat.

'One day I will find a way. That reminds me, I have to set some time aside to inspect Albedo's skill.'

The gazes of the two new servants snapped him out of his planning.

"I will send my servants to help integrate your kind into Tempest. Gather all of them. I will name all the intelligent bugs."

Apito looked up at her new master in both surprise and reverence. Just how powerful was Lord Momonga to name the untold thousands of his new followers? There was no point speculating, as it was not her place to question her master's might. With a bow she said,

"As you wish, my Lord."

Considering how fast Tempest had spread, it was time to slow down. For now, a more pressing matter was to develop the acquired lands, not take new ones. With the sense of a job well done, Momonga returned back to Nazarick.

Edited by Edgy.