A Journey That Changed The World

Archer sat back on the Transport Giant Cave Spider as Gia happily sat beside him, explaining all the different things happening in the colony. From the births of stronger warriors to more workers and everything in between. The news made him happy; he shook his head, questioning. ”Is there anything you need?”

”Like what?”

”More space, food, and even some mana.”

When the purple-haired beauty heard this, she nodded in agreement. ”Yes, we need more room; the colony is growing too fast to hold our numbers or even expand further.”

Archer smiled at this and closed his eyes, expanding the Cave Spider dwelling until it was ten times as big then it was when he arrived. This action caused a sudden shift within the monsters as they went crazy. When Gia felt the change, she turned to him with a curious glint in her purple eyes.

”The workers are going crazy, claiming there is much more land,” she commented.

”Yes, I just increased it for you,” he revealed.

The older woman’s face lit up at his words before she hugged him, pulling his head into her cleavage as she thanked him. ”Thank you, darling. I’ve been worried about it for the last few weeks, but didn’t know how to bring it up.”

”Just ask next time,” Archer reassured. ”This Domain is mine, and I control everything inside it. I’m expanding it anyway, thanks to the amount of mana I have now.”

After that, the duo continued through the colony, only for him to see chambers full of webs covered in round objects being tended to by smaller spiders. He recognized them as eggs, and there were millions of them waiting to hatch, but he was waiting for his mana to replenish.

”Stop!”

The Transport Spider came to a halt as Gia turned to him, confused. ”Everything okay?”

”Yes, I want to do something for you, gorgeous,” he responded with a charming smile.

Moments later, he jumped off the monster’s back and landed in the first egg chamber. The workers turned to him, but he ignored their gazes and sent a wave of his mana out, washing over every egg. This shocked Gia as she knew what he was doing and was worried to thanks to how much energy it used.

She rushed to his side, exclaiming. ”You don’t have to do this! I can wait; it will exhaust you.”

Archer turned to the older woman with a charming smile. ”I’ll be fine, will need to rest after, though.”

Following that, he poured out even more energy that seeped into the Cave Spider Eggs that started letting off a violet glow, thanks to consuming his mana like black holes, helping them grow stronger, and seconds later, they started hatching. As this happened, Gia let out a strange clicking noise that echoed through the colony.

Thousands of Spider Workers poured out of small holes, surging toward the newly hatched younglings. Archer smiled at this, turned to the spider queen. ”Happy? Your colony will have a lot of work to do over the next few months.”

”Yes, we do, now let’s get home so I can pamper you,” she replied warmly.

Afterward, Archer climbed on the monster’s back and continued deeper into the colony, where they came across a treehouse built underground. He was taken aback, watching as Cave Spider Warriors climbed down the wall, greeting Gia, who stroked each one as they approached.

”These are my strongest warriors,” she informed him. ”But the ones that come next will be even stronger; it just takes time.”

”Yes, it does.”

”Now, my darling. Get inside and make yourself at home.”

Archer stepped inside after she spoke and noticed a homely place with sofas, a table, and chairs alongside a fireplace that kept the place warm. The Long Winter’s cold even traveled deep underground, forcing the spider queen to focus on other things to keep everything hot and ready for the hatching eggs.

He slumped on a sofa, giving him a view of a massive web with thousands of warriors asleep, waiting to be summoned for a fight. Archer was impressed but was brought back to reality as Gia appeared, holding a tray. Two cups on top steamed thanks to being hot. ”Here you go, some sweet honey tea,” she said, beaming.

”Thank you, Gi,” Archer answered.

Following that, the duo sat there in silence, drinking the hot beverage that warmed their inside. After the first sip, the older woman turned to him. ”How are things outside the Domain? I heard it was chaotic?”

”The weather, yes, but the Great War has paused for now,” he revealed.

When Gia heard that, she encouraged him to continue. They spent hours there as he told her about the battles, the truce, and everything that had happened since their last meeting. The older woman was impressed. ”I don’t like going to the surface; being down here makes me happy.”

”There’s nothing wrong with that,” Archer reassured. ”All of you Swarm Queens are different, and I love all your personalities.”

Gia’s face lit up, and she drank the rest of her tea, but then her head snapped to the right and revealed. ”Looks like some trouble is brewing among the workers. Do you mind waiting here until I return, darling?”

”Do you need help?”

”No, it’s settling some grudges and executing spiders who rebel from my control.”

”Well,l I’m here if you need me.”

”Thank you,” she gave a warm smile in response.

Afterward, the older woman left the treehouse and transformed into her massive spider form before heading down a random tunnel. While sitting there, Archer pulled out some meat dumplings that Ashoka had made for him when she took a break from the expedition. She was worn out by being around the other women, causing her to return to the palace.

He started eating and found them delicious as the meat was still hot, thanks to being inside the Item Box, where the food would stay fresh. Archer took out some Dragon Ale next, taking a swig as he heard a wave of Cave Spider Warriors swarm over the treehouse. The monsters were heading in the direction their queen had gone off to.

After that, he scanned the entire colony only to find out some workers were rebelling but were being slaughtered by the older woman in her Queen Cave Spider form. They had shattered hundreds of her eggs, igniting her fury. He watched, amazed, as she unleashed her swarm upon them, annihilating the rebels in seconds.

The speed at which Gia and her monstrous brood killed the enemy left him surprised. Following that, the last rebel twitched once beneath a chitinous leg the size of a tree trunk, then lay still. The cavern air thickened with the coppery reek of blood and the wet crunch of exoskeletons giving way.

Eight-legged titans, each the height of a car, moved in perfect silence, their mandibles scissoring through carapace like parchment. One of the cave spiders paused, eyes glinting like wet obsidian, and flicked a severed limb aside. Gia loomed at the center of the slaughter, her abdomen pulsing with bioluminescent veins.

Every time a rebel tried to scurry for the cracks, a spider was already there, pinning it with a leg thick as his thigh, injecting venom that liquefied the victim from the inside out. The death rattles echoed off the vaulted ceiling, a fading chorus swallowed by the queen’s low, satisfied chitter.

Archer decided to go there and teleported beside Gia, who turned to him just as a warrior lunged at him. He caught it with one hand, crushing its eyes before more attacked, shocking the older woman, but he instantly destroyed them with a wave of his hand before his violet eyes glowed.

”How dare you! Do I look like fucking prey to you?!”

Gia backed off, apologizing. ”Sorry, darling. They are excited and assume you were prey.”

He turned to the Swarm Queen, who transformed into her humanoid form, an apologetic expression crossing his face, but he calmed down. ”Don’t worry about it.”

Without looking, Archer waved his hand, sending the corpse to the Food Chambers as the other warriors scuttled back into the darkness. He grabbed Gia’s hand and teleported back to her home, and appeared in the living room as she let out a sigh of relief. ”Thank god, now we can rest for the night.”

”Why did those workers rebel?”

”They weren’t connected to the Swarm,” Gia responded while she prepared tea for them. ”Some eggs get missed during hatching, and those are the results.”

When Archer heard this, he scanned the entire colony only to find over two hundred more rebels and clicked his fingers, killing them all with one move as explosions echoed through the tunnel. Gia’s response was surprised as she asked. ”What was that?”

”Other rebels, they were lingering in some of the less-used tunnels,” he revealed.

Her purple eyes widened, but soon a bright smile stretched across her face as she handed him a cup of warm tea.