[Y-your excellency.... surely they are not worthy to take your magnificent forms.... would that not be disrespectful to yourselves for mere slaves to do so?], Berith asked with a face of worry and concern.

Trevor however merely smiled with a light laugh.

[Berith, I appreciate your concern. You and your brother have a special place in our hearts, and I am in no way claiming that these people are better than you. However, I have said this before. We will use any method possible in order to defeat our enemies. If we were to get stuck up on something like our own pride and prevent this plan from going through, then what could I say if we ended up failing for such a superficial reason?]

Trevor's face became serious.

[I would not be able to show myself as a leader.]

Berith bowed her head with a smile.

[I understand your excellency. Forgive my own rudeness.]

[No, as I have said before, it is good to question these decisions. I do not wish my subordinates to be blindly following my orders, and I do not wish for you to be scared to speak up or ask questions when you are unsure of something. After all..... even I may overlook something which someone else may catch.]

[As if. Did you forget that I'm always right?], Ashley joked.

With a bitter laugh Trevor continued.

[We will use those four, and I am going to assign them as the commanding force of our first military unit. Within this unit, we will be drafting some warriors from the lizardmen village. We will not be drafting any fishmen or snakemen right now as there are very few of them, however at some point we will be drafting the people of the ratmen village- though, not until things have stabilized there.]

The four mercenaries nodded in approval of Trevor's orders.

[Although I say this, we will not be immediately sending anyone out just yet. If my predictions are correct, then sitting back for a bit and letting things play out is actually the best decision in order to create the correct scenarios for us to step in and take over the rest of the monster realm.]

Many people nodded in response.

[Berith, as far as you are concerned, I wish for you to await my orders.... we have a special role for you to play quite soon, however there is one last meeting which needs to be held before such a decision is made. After all, we are still obtaining information on the scenario.]

[I am pleased to hear that you have a role for me to perform, your excellency.], Berith stated with a grizzly voice, bowing her head with a toothy smile.

[Ah, and we will be heading out to the haunted fortress tomorrow, so Melody- I would like you to watch over the city as the acting ruler. Is that acceptable?]

[There could be no greater honor, your excellency.]

Melody seemed to be teeming with delight at hearing this.

[Underneath you will be Hiru, Arlo, Yirald, Fergo, and Relu. They will be your direct subordinates, and each of these people will lead a force of their own. You will direct orders to them, which they will then relay to their forces. I trust in your judgement and ability to defend this town, so there should be no need for myself to give you orders.]

[If that is how you wish for things to be, your excellency, then I will do so.]

[Arlo, I will discuss the particular situation of the insectoids with you later.]

[Understood, your excellency.]

Trevor then turned to Melody.

[And this much should be obvious, but your three comrades will also be your direct subordinates, and each of them will lead a force of their own. This will cause no issues I hope?]

[I will ensure that there will be none, your excellency.], Melody said with a submissive yet sinister smile.

Trevor grinned at this response.

[Excellent. Then, I will also assign you one more direct subordinate. Thomar. You were once a soldier within the snakemen village. I wish for you to serve in our own military. Worry not. We won't force you to slaughter our own people like your previous leader did.], Trevor stated.

[Though we might order you to slaughter another people... keh heh...], Garett crackled.

Thomar looked forward with determination.

He had served a dictator all his life.

He had performed actions which he deeply regretted for the sake of following his own leader.

He personally did not want to serve an unjust leader again.

'But they are different.'

'They claim to be the same, or perhaps even worse, but they are different.'

'I will trust their judgement, and follow their orders.'

"I will do as you say, your excellency."

Thomar then looked at Melody with a light smile.

"Make sure to lead us well, Commander."

[Of course.], she responded.

With that, Garett then began to speak up.

[Ah, and there is a little girl here who we've included in this call. I'm sure many of you are wondering why. This is because I have a use for her. Pliara, was it?]

The young girl was surprised at seeing this demon calling her by her name.

She trembled as she heard him speak it, for a name was a privilege for the elite.

Even a number was something which could only be afforded to a limited number of people, but a name?

To hear this demon speak her name so casually filled her with fear, yet it hit her in the heart.

'These demons.... these dictators.... they.... do not see us as numbers.....'

A tear fell from the eye of Pliara.

[Oi oi, why are you crying, little girl? Am I that scary?]

"N-no, your excellency.... it is not that.... I....."

The girl wiped her tears, but her words became jumbled as she tried to get them out.

"I.... I didn't think it was possible for a leader to exist who treated their subjects so well..... to even call me by a name..... I...."

[A name is a powerful thing, isn't it?]

The young girl nodded as she wiped her tears.

[In this nation we will never deny our people of anything. To us, the names of each and every one of you is as important as our own lives. For you are our slaves. Our property. We are demons. Monsters. Abominations. However, if we did not treat you with the dignity and respect that you deserve as our property... then perhaps we would be even worse than demons.]

[An awful heroic speech for a decrepit monster like you.], Ashley said as she hung her arms around Garett.

With a demented smile, she looked into the camera.

[But don't forget that we're going to use you within every inch of your lives. It's time to put you to work, little girl.... hehehe.....]

[Yep.], Garett continued. [I've seen your own skills. You can take care of yourself. Cooking. Crafting. Building. You'll make a fine laborer in our factories. I want you to head to the industrial district to work there from now on.]

Thomar looked conflicted as Garett ordered this.

"Y-your excellency.... Pliara is merely 10-"

"I'll do it."

Without hesitation she stepped forward.

"I'll work. For your sake."

[Of course. We are demons, after all. We will put even the children to work if they are capable. Now then.... I suppose that is all.]

With that, the call ended on all ends, and the people were left to their own devices.

Thomar looked over to Pliara, who was beaming with excitement.

"Will you truly be alright?"

Walking over to her, he gave her a hug.

"I will, soldier."

"Are you sure?"

The girl nodded in the soldiers arms.

"I will."

----

The day prior to this meeting, Arlo and the birdmen set out for the insectoid village in the morning, at the same time that Claire had set out for the ratmen village, as well as the same time that the mercenaries had set out for the snakemen village.

They rode through the forest in a carriage which carried the appearance of infernal rock, oozing with lava, and the flag of the Dictatorship flew high above the carriage so that all could see it from far away.

"This flag.... it will soon be known to everyone across the world....", Arlo stated as he drove the carriage. "When someone arrives anywhere bearing this flag, fear will be struck into the hearts of anyone who sees it. Nobody will dare to mess with the person who bears this flag, out of terror of offending the people who it represents..... her eminence, and their excellencies."

Arlo grinned at thinking this.

"We too must do our best not to shame ourselves, birdmen. We must do everything we can to succeed in our mission in a way that will not bring shame to the name of the people we represent. Understood?"

"Yes, Arlo!", the three responded.

With a nod Arlo looked forward, driving through the forest.

It was time to begin this journey.

"The insectoids.... it was also a part of our mission to investigate their origins. I suppose we will have to ask around once we get there.", Fergo surmised.

"Of course. We will gracefully present ourselves to the people of this village, and fill them with awe over the power of the antiheroes.", Relu stated. "If we do so, the information will come flocking to us like the northern geese."

Arlo let out a laugh at hearing this and the four continued on their way, traveling through the forest and then eventually through a large plane which became hilly.

Soon enough, in the horizon appeared a hump.

"Ah..... is that it?"

It appeared as if it was an enormous anthill.

It was a pile of dirt with holes creating tunnels completely covering the structure, and from this far off distance any people who were going in and out of these holes looked as tiny as ants.

'Well, I suppose they might even be ants for all I know....', Arlo thought.

"It looks like we've arrived. First things first, we should enter and see how they receive us. Will they accept us with a friendly reception, or will they drive us off as outsiders?", Yirald stated.

Arlo nodded.

"That's right. I hope that we will not have to fight our way in.... but if we do, I will not hesitate to show them the pride of the lizardmen as warriors!"

"And we will show them the pride of the birdmen!!"

The four smiled as the carriage rattled through the hills, approaching the enormous earthen city.

Arlo's eyes became nostalgic as he looked into this distance with a softness.

"But most importantly.... there is something which surpasses any pride we may have of who we once were."

Turning back to the birdmen with a proud grin, Arlo whipped the horses, causing them to increase their speed.

"The thing that we must be most proud of, is to call ourselves the slaves of the antiheroes."

----

The enormous anthill came closer and closer until it began to look more like a mountain than a mere hill.

It was an entire fortress built within this earthen mound of dirt.

There were countless amounts of tunnels and entrances on all different floors, and hundreds of insectoids seemed to be traveling in and out.

Some climbed up steep walls by sticking to them while others flew up to the higher levels. There were no stairways or anything of the sort, as no insect would need a method to ascend the fortress.

"This is.... quite amazing, isn't it?", Arlo said as he breathed out. "Of course, it's nothing near the magnificence of our own Capital, however this is truly something for mere mortals to build. We cannot compare regular inhabitants of this world to the works of their excellencies, and looking at this from that perspective..."

"It truly is remarkable.", Fergo stated.

Relu seemed to be quirking with confusion as the two seemed to admire the structure.

"Let us not forget that this thing was made of dirt. There may be a certain style to it, however I think that is ruined by the material. Such a shame, truly."

"No, I disagree, Relu. I think it's amazing exactly because they've made something like this just out of soil. Look at the architecture. Imagine the craftsmanship which must have gone into that."

"Hmm.... I suppose so, but dirt is dirt."

"No no, it's soil. Not dirt."

"What's the difference?"

Fergo let out a sigh and Yirald laughed from behind.

"If only Erasalis and Tora could have been here as well... they misjudged their excellencies.... well, I suppose we did too at first. It was only through their graciousness that we were truly saved."

Fergo and Relu nodded.

"Indeed it was."

Looking forward at the mount in front of them, the four got out of the carriage, and Arlo grabbed a hold of the flag.

"Those entrances... there are none on the ground level.", Arlo noted as the four stood right in front of the massive fortress.

"Let's fly up then.", Yirald suggested as he brandished his wings with a smile.

"It is shameful to have to ask, but I will have to rely on one of you to carry me up then.", Arlo stated.

Fergo nodded.

"Have no shame, Arlo. It is for the purpose of serving our masters that we have these wings of ours. We will use them for the sake of the mission."

Fergo wrapped his own claws around the large arms of Arlo as he flapped his wings, floating up into the air.

The other two as well began to flap their wings and flew high into the sky until they had reached the top floor- the 7th story.

"The leader must be at the top, right? Or perhaps it would be the other way around? Only one way to find out."

At this point many insectoids had noticed the four and were staring, but the stares were not hostile. They were merely stares of confusion.

'Birdmen?'

'And a lizardman?'

'What are they doing here?'

With confused stares, the people of the insectoid village seemed to question the four with their eyes, yet no dialogue was exchanged.

The amount of different types of humanoid insects was astounding.

All of them seemed to have similar builds to Coran- that is, they stood up on two feet like humans, while having human features on their faces and heads such as hair, human eyes, mouths, and other similar features.

There was one thing in particular which linked almost every single one of these humanoid insects.

Most insects had 6 appendages. For all of them who had 6, they stood on two legs, and had two pairs of arms.

And for every single humanoid, the bottom pair of arms would be insectoid, and the top pair would have the hands of humans.

The types of insects ranged far and wide. There were all types of beetles, preying mantises, cockroaches, ants, butterflies, bees, ladybugs, crickets, grasshoppers, flies, you name it.

If it was a type of insect it was here in a human form.

However, while they all had features of insects, one fact remained.

Every single person here was a humanoid- someone with intelligence.

Just looking at the peaceful and functional interactions of the people here, Arlo could tell this.

There were no wild monsters here. This was a civilization.

Taking a landing in the nearest tunnel, the stares of many were focused on the four.

'Of course we would stick out like this. I suppose I should say something?'

"Ahem!! People of the insectoid village!!! Listen here!!!"

Arlo's voice boomed through the hall, and many insectoids stopped what they were doing to get a look.

"My name is Arlo! I was once known as the strongest lizardmen among our people!!! I stood at the top of the lizardmen, unbeatable as a warrior!! And yet I have come here today because I suffered not one, but many losses just recently!!!!"

Now that Arlo had begun to speak, almost everyone in the area had their eyes on him. After all, a strange visitor had come into the town and started screaming, gathering the attention of all.

"I have come here today because I realized that I am weak!!! I believed in my own strength!!! I thought that I was stronger than all, and yet my strength was nothing more than my own delusion!!! I thought that I was number 1, but that was because I turned my eyes from those who far surpassed me!!!! I was nothing more than a big fish in a small pond!!! However I am here today because I have realized this. I have met those who far surpass me in every way, shape, and form!!!! And I am here under their commands, to speak with the leader of this village!!!!"

'He says that he is weak?'

'He's a lizardmen.... I've heard that their strength far surpasses the insectoids....'

'Does this man wish to challenge the king?'

"I will say this here and now! I serve their excellencies, the antiheroes!!!! Furthermore, I serve her eminence, the Determined!!! If you call yourself a civilized being, then you will know who I speak of!!!! That is correct!!! I have come here under the orders of those legendary beings, to challenge the leader of this village to a fight!!!!"

'The-the antiheroes!?!?'

'The Determined!?!?'

'He serves those legendary existences!?!?'

'And those birdmen as well?'

'Can that actually be true?'

'No, perhaps he is just lying.... what could he have come here for then?'

'Yes, it is unlikely that he actually serves the antiheroes, or that they exist in the first place.'

'Does he wish to pick a fight with the King?'

'If that is true.... then he picked the wrong time to come here.'

'The strongest lizardman..... if it was at any other point in history, perhaps he would truly have been able to take over this village for himself.....'

'But not with our king on the throne.'

'The current king..... he is strong. Stronger than any insectoid in the history of this nation.'

A male termite humanoid seemed to step forward with a serious face.

"If you are here to challenge our leader, then I am sure he will accept. Our king is powerful, and he considers himself to be a warrior. Were it any other king, he would likely shrivel in fear of you, lizardman. However not our king. He is terribly strong, not just for an insectoid, but among all the creatures of this world."

The termite waved a hand, beckoning for Arlo to follow.

"If you wish to fight him, then come. However I will warn you, lizardman. I would not be too surprised if our king defeated a demon."