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Baron ran as quickly as his legs would carry him. Although he was the kind of man who had faced death many times and feared nothing, that had all changed when he saw what crawled out of that cave. He ran for his life. He had no thoughts of the elves or any duties in his mind. He fled in a direction distinctly away from everyone else. Perhaps he was haunted by certain words he had been told. It was anyone’s guess.
He tripped on a vine and fell flat on his face. For an elf to fall in the forest was an extreme embarrassment. For a man as skilled and trained as Baron to do something so basic was downright ridiculous. It was a testament to the raw fear of the moment. He tried to move back up to his feet, but something slammed down on his thigh and pierced right through it. He let out a scream as he was picked up and tossed around.
A cave spider was in the forest, having chased him down personally. It hadn’t been a blind fear. It hadn’t been imagination. His life truly was being sought out. The creature didn’t kill him as it did Hector. One could say that Hector was the lucky one. His death had happened quickly and harmlessly. The spiders paralytic poison was already working on Baron. When the spider pulled back its fangs, he had gotten back up with all of his force he had, only to stumble and collapse a few feet later. The creature started to wrap him up in a web.
Feeling fear and anguish, he knew that he was bound to become food for a spider’s web. His only consolation was that he wouldn’t be raped. That was something that only happened to captured women. For men, they were merely drained and eaten. It was a painful death, but slightly less emotionally destroying than what these kinds of creatures did to the female half. Well, at least that was probably his thoughts as he was wrapped in the web. Of course, he hadn’t thought through just who he has been captured by.
“Bring him back to me.” A voice echoed in the spider’s head, and it picked up the bundle, turned and began to race back to the cave.
My vision of the scene ended. Of course, I hadn’t slept with the spider, but I had slept with a goblin I had ride it. I could see through the eyes of any being I had slept with, so I naturally made sure to sleep with as many of my children as possible. As for being able to psychically send orders, I wasn’t certain what skill had given me such an ability. It was likely a perk of Monster Taming. The bond that connected person to monster had to be able to send desires and intents, otherwise controlling a monster might be impossible.
I continued to relay orders. I hadn’t moved on the armies or the cities yet. Rather, my focus had been on taking out spies and silencing everyone. The front of the Nyphum Labyrinth had already been cleared, and the monsters left in the decaying labyrinth had been freed to join the rest of the army. I felt just a hint of relief that Jerard and his party weren’t there when my monsters arrived. After that, I launched an attack on the elf tribe. With most of their forces having already been used to try to capture me, the tribe barely lasted moments.
I allowed the children and the women with them to escape, but I made sure they fled away, not toward the city to give warning. Perhaps, it was a weakness of mine, but it wasn’t one I would budge on right now. I had seen flashes of Evan during the attack, but it was very difficult to pin the eyes of a monster on him. I thought about sending Jenai, but the best she could do is confirm or deny his death. If confirmed, I’d be happier, not knowing. In the end, he was Min’s father, and he had shown just enough amount of decency that I didn’t wish his death. I wasn’t a woman without mercy.
By the time we finished securing the forest, the spider had returned with Baron, sticking him on a wall near me. I crawled down the web above him. Pulling out a knife, I cut a slide and peeled the web away from his face. I then gave him a kiss, using Princess Kiss to dispel the poison. I also healed him, bringing him back to full health. However, he had passed out at some point. I was just about to slap him awake, but a screech came out. His head shook, and his eyes opened.
He didn’t notice me above him, instead, looking straight down at a scene on the floor. This portion of the cave was dedicated to cave spiders. It was three sides covered 100 meters high with webs. At the very center were a group of five unfortunate women. Three of them were dead, with the appearance they had been ripped in half in a gory fashion. One of them was unconscious, while the last one was regrettably very awake.
She had the appearance of a woman about nine months pregnant, with a massive stomach. She was naked, with her legs spread open. As it turned out, she was an elf woman. It made the fact she was pregnant already impressive. She started letting our loud, piercing screams. She was clearly in unbearable pain. Baron watched as if transfixed as she screamed continuously. Perhaps his elf vision could see her stomach clearly, which was writhing beneath the surface abnormally.
Suddenly, her stomach exploded, and in a single moment, dozens of small spiders scampered out of the abdomen area where her stomach had been. Her screaming cut off, and no more sound came from her. She now looked much like the rest of the corpses.
“By the gods…” Baron panted.
“No demons…” I sighed.
Baron jerked, finally seeing me just above his head. “You… you monster!”
“Me?” I snorted. “Don’t look at me. The cave spiders did this of their own volition. You could say it’s only in their nature. Of course, I might have been able to save the girls, but they were already pregnant by the time I found them. At that point, the best I could do was keep them safe and healthy until term.”
“Y-you could have-“ he swallowed.
“Killed them? Cut their throats? Saved them the pain? If only every husband cut his wife’s throat to save them the pain of childbirth.” I rolled my eyes. “Please… at least, their lives hold some meaning now. They will serve me. Every one of them would have been happy to feel that pain a thousand times over. It’s nothing less than what has been done to me.”
I reached up and grabbed a roped of web and swung, lowering myself in front of the Baron. I reached out, touching his face. He gritted his teeth and shifted, trying to lunge at me, but completely unable to break the bonds of his web.
“What do you want with me?” He demanded. “Just kill me!”
Glancing back at the woman on the floor, I shook my head sadly. “Monsters rape women. This is an indisputable fact of this world. They don’t have to do it to procreate. Despite that spider hijacked her womb to make babies, it could have just as easily made babies with another spider. Although monsters are often territorial and violent, so procreation isn’t always possible, but so are people. Goblins actual can breed goblins. I had used to assume all goblins are male, and that they required humans as a medium to make babies. However, after taking control of the labyrinth, I realized this was a lie. Goblin breeders exist. I supposed you could call them goblin queens. They’re giant fat goblins, about ten times the size of a normal goblin. The goblins will flop on her and fuck her, and then pops out babies, many times faster than a human. I’ve seen it.
“Yet, they rarely leave the labyrinths that created them, and any colony that did get a breeder would grow too fast and be wiped out just as quickly, so they’ve become exceedingly rare, to the point that in this world, people assume all goblins are male.” I finished, sighing once again for good measure.
“What are you getting at?” He demanded, likely looking to just end his torment quickly rather than drag things out.
“My point…” I shot him a dark look. “Is why do they rape? They procreate with monsters. They make monsters. They procreate with humans. They make monsters. Once in a million cases, human and monster DNA fuse, and they become a demon. That is the source of the DNA lines. As much as elves try to pretend, they are different. Your entire line is likely just some monster or demon hybrid too. Perhaps one with good retention, since your species appearance and status hasn’t been declining over the years. As for other demons, they just dilute… and dilute some more, until the mana is drained from them and they are nothing but a human.”
“Why are you talking about this?”
I shrugged. “I have just been thinking about pregnancy a lot lately. The demons are declining because of their inability to make demons. The humans wipe out any new demon breed that comes. And the monsters, they just keep raping. Even if I don’t order them, they rape. Some of the unlucky elf women from your tribe are being raped right now. Did you know that?”
“Because of you!” He growled.
“You brought your army to my cave. Who triggered who here?” I demanded with an ugly expression on my face. “Besides… it’s just rape.”
I had been raped countlessly since I had come to this world. Why should I be the only one? Why couldn’t women who actually belonged in this world get some of its best parts?
“Damn it!” He cursed, starting to fight against his restraints.
One of the spiders raised its head, looking at him threateningly, but I casually waved, causing it to back off. The look had caused Baron to freeze, shaking in fear once again.
“It’s mana…” I whispered.
“…”
“That’s the answer.” I turned to him. “Mana is why they rape. Monsters are a parasite, dependent on the mana of the land. Humans are a creature that exists without mana. There will be a time, one day when the mana runs out. At that time, no more monsters. So, they desire to put their DNA into something that can outlive them. Ah… you don’t know what that is, but we’ll just call it a natural selection. Demons are the key, the pathway toward immortality. They’ll never become completely human. But, they might become something like you, elves. That’s what I believe. Elves are the natural evolution of demons.”
“That…” His eyes widened at those words.
“The thing the Demons fear most, becoming too human, is actually what the monsters have wanted from the beginning. Animals get cursed by mana, become monsters, monsters fuck humans, hoping to implant their DNA into a demon, demons slowly lose their mana, until they eventually become a new demi-human race. Who knows, given enough time, this planet might have beastkin rather than demons, although the humans will probably kill and subjugate them anyway.”
I finally stopped, just hanging there, watching him with eyes that seemed to look right through him. I was lost in thought, considering the nature of this world. After using the labyrinth and raising up my own monsters, I had learned many things about the nature of this world. A lot of it was just guesses, but I didn’t think I was wrong.
“I don’t understand, what is this all about? What does this have to do with your army?”
“It’s simple.” I grimaced, my eyes finally connecting with his. “I’m pregnant.”