Chapter 14

“What?!” I shouted, genuinely caught off guard.

Beside me Tim, Cory and the rest of the humans were staring open mouthed at Holden. Even Ember was looking wide eyed at him.

“Haaaa!? I understand the desire to be eaten by one with as much majesty as my master, but I thought humans were incapable of comprehending the feeling! Truly this man is worthy of being a meal for you master, what a noble sacrifice” she said, a single tear drop falling down her face.

Holden certainly didn’t appear to be joking. There was even a hint of manic glee in his eyes, the sort of happiness that only came to a man on the edge.

“Why would you want me…to eat you?” I asked, perturbed.

“I told you already, I want to help you kill those bugs in any way I can. They took my home, they took my wife! And if I wait much longer, they’ll take my life. The least I could do is lend a helping hand to the one they fear. Better to die by your hand than by its.” he said, putting his hand on his stomach.

“Its?…oh.” I said, realizing what he must mean “How much longer…?” I asked

“Judging by the pain? Maybe an hour, if I’m lucky. If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather die on my own terms than by the spiders.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want you treating me like some weak old man. Even now, I still don’t want you looking at me with pity, which is why I’m telling you to kill and eat me now before this thing makes me die a slow, painful death.”

He said all of this in a very strange tone of voice, almost upbeat despite the grim subject matter. I was tempted to accept his offer, but there was something holding me back. It wasn’t because he was human, I had dispensed with my ties to my old self a long time ago, rather I think it was something much more simple.

I liked Holden. He was wise and level headed, enough to immediately distinguish himself from the rest of these people. Losing him would actually be a rather hefty blow to me since it meant that I would have to rely on Cory and Tim who, while eager, didn’t have the kind of life experience Holden had.

“Actually, what I really need is someone like Terry. A young Hero type of person gives people hope and keeps the mood from getting depressing…”

But as It was, the only one I could really rely on was Holden

“Master, I know you take my advice on matters such as these with a grain of salt, but please consider his request. Not just for the usual reasons, but also because it would be honorable. If this human must die, then let him die his way.” she said, displaying a rare moment of compassion for anyone who wasn’t me.

“If it’s you who is asking, then I’ll consider it.” I said to Ember, then I spoke to Holden “Give me a moment to consider your offer…I've never eaten human and the idea is something…I need to contemplate.”

“I only have so much time left son, if you need to think about it then I may as well put this spear through my own heart and be done with it. Besides, what do you have to think about? Whether it’s more merciful to let an old man die from his wounds, or to let him live on inside of you?”

He had a point. If he was going to die anyway then this was probably the best way for it to happen. He wouldn’t have to feel any shame about trading his life for the spawn of his wives killer, and he could be happy knowing that in some small way, his strength is what would put an end to the lives of thousands of bugs.

It would have been cruel of me to refuse. If I truly valued him, then the right choice would be to keep him by my side, forever.

“Very well, I will have you assist me…in my fight against the bugs.” I said, approaching him.

His face finally relaxed, and the odd smile he had been wearing collapsed into a grimace of pain. The old man doubled over, clutching his stomach, but he did not fall to the ground.

“Any last words…?” I asked

He looked up at me, eyes filled with defiance towards his fate, and said “Send every single one of the bastards to hell…and thank you Forminus, for fulfilling an old mans dying wish.”

I grabbed him by the shoulders, pulled him into my embrace, looked him in the eyes and said “ It will be my…distinct pleasure” Before crushing his skull between my mandibles. His death was quick, painless and he didn’t even know it was coming. A truly merciful death, as befitted such a man.

I started with his head, as I usually did with the things I ate, but unlike my previous prey I did not unceremoniously tear him apart. Rather, I carefully and meticulously ate out the bits of him that were most likely to net me a new power, the brain, heart, lungs, liver, as well as several other organs.

When I was done, I stitched the openings I had made in his chest and stomach back together with needle and webbing then used my legs to kick up a mound of earth to bury the remains under. While I did all of this I could feel my body changing drastically, but I didn’t let it hinder me while I worked.

After I finished I stood up straight and offered a prayer for Him. I hadn’t known him for long, but Holden had been a human I was capable of admiring and to me that meant something.

“Would any of you like to say something? You’ve all known him for about as long as you knew me.” I said, turning to the crowd of people behind me.

But when I gazed at their faces, I noticed quite a lot of shocked expressions.

“Ah, right, they just watched me devour a human. I’ve probably lost a lot of the trust I built up. Oh well, if they run off they’ll just wind up being eaten anyways.” I thought, but then Cory spoke

“Forminus…you’re body…your face…” Cory said

“Yes, I am aware that I’ve changed a lot, but without a mirror I can’t tell how.”

“Ah!” one of the women said, pulling a compact out of her pocket “Try using this.”

I took the compact from her, remarking “You kept this…?” and flipped it open.

For the third time today, I was genuinely shocked by what I saw. First of all my head had shrunk a bit, becoming more proportional to the rest of my body, but more than that, it’s structure had completely changed. My eyes had transformed from the giant black eyes of an ant into much smaller, more human like eyes. Though they were still black and still larger than they had been. My mandibles had shrunk too, becoming two inch long pedipalps on either side of my mouth, likely because of my spider genes. I had even grown something like a set of lips, though they were still made of chitin. The whole structure of my face had flattened out as well, making me look much more human than before. As for the rest of me, my arms were broader, and my legs a little thinner, making me less oblong. My entire abdomen was also broader.

All in all, I now looked more like a human wearing insect armor than like an insect who could walk on two legs.

“Ember” I asked “Why has eating a human changed me so much more drastically than the rest of my food?”

The little spider, unfazed by my change, said “That would be because the human body structure is their most powerful trait. Muscular structure, proper balance between head and body sizes, lips, pinkie fingers, and a more aerodynamic form for sprinting are all traits that helped drive humans to the top of the food chain in this world, and that’s nothing to say for their intelligence. What you’ve just done is adjusted the ratios for every part of your body and became more structurally sound, allowing you to use the full range of your abilities with less of the awkwardness that comes with bad proportions. Also-”

She stopped for a moment and ran over to me. Then she once again did her little spider dance, opening her front legs, showing off her colorful back, and twirling around, before saying “Congratulations Master!”

“Congratulations for what?” I said, thoroughly exhausted by the explanation.

“For Evolving, of course!” she said happily

“Wha-? You mean like the Cleaner from yesterday?”

“Exactly! When a subject of the Queen grows powerful enough they can experience the Miracle of Evolution, becoming a much more powerful creature in the process! This evolution can result in a number of different mutations, but the end result is-you become stronger. That Cleaner evolved from a ”Standard Cleaner“ into a ”Marksman Cleaner“, and likewise Master, you have evolved from a ”Baron Lord“ into a ”Viscount Lord“!” she said, twirling around again.

She was clearly very excited about all of this but I couldn’t see what the big deal was.

“She’s sure fired up about something, huh?” Said Tims voice behind me.

“Yes, she is. Apparently I’ve just evolved into something much stronger. I guess that old man got his wish in the end. With his strength I will hunt more prey than ever before.”

I wanted to depart now. There was a lot for me to learn about my new body and it was easier to concentrate when the humans were asleep. But first I needed to get something out of the way.

“Listen up! I’ve just eaten a human, and I’m not sorry for it. I don’t intend to do it again, but if traveling with me has become too much to bear because of that then I can understand anyone who wants to leave. If you decide to go I’ll bear you no ill will, and I’ll even give you a spear as a parting gift.” I finished, gazing over the crowd.

Many of them looked uncomfortable, but none of them spoke up for a moment. Then, once again, Jordan had something to say.

“What the hell….what the hell do you expect us to do? We get it, ok, if any of us leave we’ll die out there. You’re holding all the cards, and even if you did decide to start eating us what could we do? It’s you or them.” he said, dejected.

“Then can I expect all of you to continue being obedient and obeying my orders?”

They nodded.

“Very well. Then form up, we’re moving out!” I shouted.

Cory and Tim went about organizing Holdens group into their own groups while I planned our route going forward. From here things would only become more difficult.

We marched for another month after that, encountering several other Demolishers on our journey, but they stopped appearing as we got closer to the edge of the mist. We also encountered dozens of Cleaners, each one desperate to eat either the humans or myself. After a few weeks we also had a food shortage for the humans, but that problem was solved when the humans realized they could boil Cleaner meat like crab to make it good for consumption.

But all of that was a story or another time.

We eventually reached the edge of the mist, and when I announced that our journey was almost finished to the humans, they were ecstatic. But then…

“Oh my Mary, Mother of god…” Cory said, awestruck.

“Is that what you meant by ”worse“ Forminus?” Tim asked, speechless.

“It’s the end of the world!” Jordan screamed.

“Ember! What the hell is that!” I yelled.