The Ant Queen felt an unprecedented sense of fear.
Not once in her centuries of existence had she ever experienced this kind of helplessness. Not even when... she'd found herself within the City way back when, in such a harsh and unfamiliar environment.
No.
She couldn't bear the worry over this unknown creature which kept harming her Swarm. The mysteries, the hidden danger, a fear for her children whenever they left the Nest.
And the anger she felt, knowing she couldn't leave the Nest to protect them. The Ant Queen could only do as she'd always done - breed more children, stronger, better, until whatever enemies her Swarm faced crumbled under the numbers.
As the Queen of all ant species, she knew best about her race's special power. It was quite simple - quantity created quality, and quality boosted quantity. The more eggs she lay, the more ants which joined the Swarm, the greater the strength of every ant. Each ant had innate talent, and the more talented one was, the greater the share of power they could hold.
All this feedback looped into the Ant Queen herself. Even though she was only rank 4, unlike... the strongest monster in the Empty Districts, she herself held more than enough power to be considered one of the great Factions which ruled over the Empty Districts.
One such Faction which was about to crumble.
Every ant was linked to her telepathically. Outside of shared strength, all ants themselves were a hivemind. And one by one, two by two, hundreds by hundreds, each link was disappearing.
The ants were being exterminated.
Worse, each one died a little closer to her Brooding Chambers. She couldn't see her enemy. After that first appearance, that cloaked demon had somehow turned invisible and begun a slaughter.
Where was that monster now?
It could be outside the Nest. It could be outside her Brooding Chambers. It could even be...
The telepathic link to her Chamber Guards disappeared, and behind the Ant Queen, a roughly humanoid person - wrapped in a billowing pitch-black cloak and a blank, pale white mask - slowly appeared.
"Had enough fun killing my children, have you? Devil, tell me your name at least - before you kill me too." The Ant Queen spoke, her voice kept steady despite the fear within her. She turned around, scooping her unhatched eggs behind her and blocking them from the creature's view.
"Devil? Hah! I am HEAVEN." The devil standing before her cocked his head. "You can call me... The Wanderer. And don't worry! I won't kill you..."
He stood still, but suddenly the eggs behind the Ant Queen got crushed. She turned her head back in alarm, and The Wanderer was standing there. She looked back once more, and as expected, he was no longer in his previous position.
The Wanderer smiled, though she couldn't see it. "It was quite rude, y'know? Attacking me like that. So..." The Wanderer's smile dropped. Once again, the Ant Queen didn't see it. "Swear fealty to me. Swear it on Heaven, swear to obey my every command."
The Ant Queen now knew that her life was firmly in the hands of "The Wanderer", whoever that was.
"I swear on Heaven."
Even though she hadn't known the significance of swearing oaths using Heaven, she quickly found out when she felt an almost imperceptible link between her and The Wanderer.
The link allowed her to understand. She could no longer disobey him, or else she'd die on the spot.
The Wanderer smiled, feeling the Heaven's link. He then turned to her. "Now... where is this? How do I get back to the main City?"
The Ant Queen was forced to comply. "This is the Empty Districts. Truth be told, as long as you keep walking in any direction, you'll end up in the Inner Cities at some point. The closest way out is east, I believe."
Once the order lifted from her, she continued to talk unbidden.
"Sir Wanderer, you must know. Even though you've defeated me and my children, there are far more powerful beings within the Empty Districts. If you want to truly control these areas, you should take control of the other great Factions as well."
She paused. "If you don't take care of these hidden dangers, your position is gone. Be careful..."
The Wanderer nodded. Then, in the next moment, he split into two.
"I'll leave my avatar here to take care of this mess then. As for me, the main body, I'll get back to the Inner Cities!"
With that, only one clone was left. The Wanderer's clone muttered under his breath, dissatisfied.
"I'm the main body, fool. Ah, whatever. It's been a while since I've had a good fight."
...
Over the next few days, a rumour began to spread amongst the intelligent monsters of the Empty Districts.
Rumour had it, an old monster had arrived, and a new Faction rose in the Empty Districts. Unlike the others, it was made from the remnants of previous Factions.
First, this monster had swept through the fearsome Ant Faction. Next, it'd wiped out the Lizard Faction, keeping the higher ranked members alive. This included Wyverns, small Dragons, Wyrms and other Draconian monsters.
Next, that monster had decimated the Ape Faction, the Spider Faction, and the Rat Faction. Finally, he fought the dreaded, unknown rank 5 which slept within the Empty Districts.
And won.
Now, every Faction had been united - the entirety of the Empty Districts, in fact!
This unification was too high up for the lower ranked monsters to realise or feel the effect of, but now, the Empty Districts could be considered whole.
With The Wanderer at the top, of course.
...
All of a sudden, The Wanderer - who'd just made his way into the Inner Cities - felt the message being sent to him from his clone. The Wanderer now had a clone to take care of the Empty Districts. He'd also had a clone for each of The Wealthy Ones he'd killed, who were managing the properties in their place.
Of course, no one knew about the change of power. Everything had easily been covered up by The Wanderer's Illusion Control and Mind Control.
At this point in time, it was clear to those who knew - The Wanderer's avatars had become the final bosses.
"Kid, that's not a bad idea, truth be told." It was the voice of High Heaven No. 2, checking in through the mental channel. "Lots of stories have the MC's so called "mentor" turn out to be evil and betray them. Simply put... why not play into your role?"
The Wanderer thought for a moment. That... it's not a bad idea!
"Thanks, gramps! Oh, by the way... do you by any chance happen to know where Cane went...?"
High Heaven No. 2 scoffed. "Can't you find out yourself? You've got clones in The Wealthy Ones' offices, haven't you?"
"Yeah, well, I'm lazy..."
"Sigh... Fine, but just this once. Cane is recovering from an injury during the Monster Gauntlets. He's going to participate in the Tournament after he's healed." With that, a map was transferred into The Wanderer's mind, letting him know Cane's location.
"Oh, thank you gramps! You're the best."
The mental channel cut off, High Heaven No. 2 not bothered to respond. It was all just useless flattery anyway.
Oh well. Anyways, I better get to Cane and check on how my MC's doing.
With that, The Wanderer sped off invisibly.
...
"Hmm... He's ranked up, has he? And I see he got the skill... Stealth? Not bad I suppose. At it's current rank, it'll only make those who are weaker than him by 2 ranks to ignore his presence. For those who are 1 rank below him, he needs to have more than half of his body covered if he wants them to ignore him. For those equal in rank, he needs to be 90% covered."
The Wanderer pondered as he stood over Cane's unconscious body.
"Well, that simply won't do. Even though it's highly compatible with his previous skills, especially considering... the new effects of Hidden Strength, it's still not good enough. This is my MC!"
The Wanderer hid himself inside an empty room and opened up the mental channel once more. This time, it was High Heaven No. 4 who answered.
"Yes dear? What do you need, my child."
The Wanderer cleared his throat. "Can I have the Inventory skill book? Or anything similar?"
High Heaven No. 4 paused for a moment. "It's for your MC, right dear? Well, my child, I can't just give out Inventory... why don't we make a compromise."
With that, the mental channel shut off once more, and The Wanderer found himself with a skill book in his hands.
Oh? Hiding Spot? Very compatible with his skills... so compatible that it might cause the Skill Fusion process to happen again. As long as Cane's smart enough, he'll be able to figure out how to use this like an Inventory skill.
Skill fusion. By now, Cane's skills were already vastly different from what they were meant to be. Perhaps he'd already figured it out himself? Of course, this happened because the infused skills inside of him were compatible with his natural skills.
Perhaps at a higher rank, they might combine and become stronger.
The Wanderer sped back to Cane's bed, and with a smile, he shoved the skill book into Cane's chest.
Ahhh, man. I feel bad for you, it's REALLY gonna hurt. Well, at least you're asleep, so it shouldn't be too bad.
The Wanderer jumped out of a window, the fading sounds of Cane's ensuing screams following behind himself.
As he left by leaping through the air, he almost bumped into a low-flying luxury plane. Trailing behind it was a banner, which read "Sleep isn't enough to get through your problems!"
Many nurses and doctors rushed to help Cane, looking panicked and powerless as nothing they did worked. His screams continued to echo down the halls of the hospital, and the person who'd been responsible for the whole mess had long disappeared.
Good luck, Cane.
Good luck on your Tournament.
Good luck on fighting me in the future.
And most of all...
The Wanderer uncontrollably chuckled to himself as he ran.
Good luck on getting through the pain!