The Hive beneath the earth pulsed like a waking titan.
Arman stood on a high ridge of black resin overlooking the chamber below. The brood worked tirelessly — repairing damage from the Purifier assault. Chitinous limbs hammered new pillars into place. Silk-like threads wove seamless armor for the wounded. And every heartbeat in the Hive echoed his own.
Yet something was different now.
The hunger inside him wasn't chaos anymore — it was purpose.
Lyra approached, her silver-veined carapace gleaming in the low green light. "Your army grows… but your eyes look toward the world above, my king."
Arman clenched his fists, feeling the swarm swirl beneath his skin.
"They call themselves pure," he said. "Let us show them the truth of purity."
"What do you seek?" Lyra asked.
Arman stared at the cavern roof — the ceiling separating plague from sky.
"The Crown of the Fallen Monarch," he whispered.
Lyra froze.
"That relic…" Her voice faltered. "It was carried to the holy city of Solaria. Guarded by priests who burned entire continents to keep it hidden."
Arman turned to her — shadows swirling around his features.
"Exactly the reason I need it."
For a moment, neither spoke. Then the Hive trembled — eagerly awaiting command.
🌑 The March Begins
The floor split open with a living roar.A colossal structure rose — not a building, but a creature.A monstrous centipede with armored plates and hollow ridges strong enough to hold soldiers on its back. Its mandibles clacked, ready to devour the world.
Arman stepped onto its head. Lyra and hundreds of brood warriors climbed onto the creature's spine — their weapons grown from bone and venom.
Above them, the surface cracked.
A flood of moonlight poured in. Wind — clean yet cold — rushed down like a shiver. For the first time since rebirth, Arman inhaled the scent of the open world.
Freedom.
With a single command—"Ascend."
The monstrous carrier erupted into the night sky.
They emerged in the dead plains beyond the Empire's walls. The land here was barren — burned long ago by Purifiers to prevent spread of corruption. As if fate itself had been expecting him.
Arman stretched out his hand.
The swamp of spores around him shivered.
Millions of insects — hidden under dead ash — awoke.
They rose like a black river into the sky, blotting out the moon.
The Plague Monarch marched.
🔥 Solaria's First Terror
At the outskirts of Solaria, a watchtower bell rang violently.
"SIGNS OF INFESTATION!""THE PLAGUE IS MOVING!""HIDE THE CHILDREN AND LIGHT THE SKYFLAMES!"
Paladins in white armor scrambled to raise holy wards. Priests knelt in panic, chanting for divine fire.
One young guard froze at the sight approaching from the desert:A living fortress, crawling closer and closer…His lips trembled. "This… this can't be real…"
A storm of wings hit first — insects slamming into holy barriers, making them crackle with sickening sound.
Wards shattered.
The sky turned black.
Then the ground shook.
BOOM.Arman's war-beast crashed through the outer wall, sending showering debris into the streets.
Brood warriors poured in — their screeches echoing through every alley.
The city screamed.
Arman jumped from his mount and landed atop a statue of a saint — crushing it under his heel. His voice carried like thunder:
"Let it be known—Purity is a lie.Evolution is truth."
Priests pointed holy fire at him — beams of burning light searing through the air. The swarm intercepted, forming a shifting armor that absorbed the impact. Steam rose from his skin — but Arman only smiled.
"You burn us…"The swarm burst outward, ripping through priests like paper."...and we learn to endure fire."
⚔️ Battle: Monarch vs. Paladin Commander
A giant figure slammed into the plaza — silver greatsword glowing like a falling star.
"ARMAAAN!" the man roared.
Arman recognized him.General Cassian Vale — the very man who led the slaughter at the battlefield where Arman died.
Cassian pointed his blade. "You were a soldier once… a brother. Now look at you — a curse wearing skin!"
Arman stepped forward, voice low and venomous.
"You gave me death."He spread his arms wide."I give you evolution."
Cassian charged — steel shining with divine runes.Arman blocked with a shield of living insects — half of them burned, the rest adapted instantly.
Cassian's eyes widened. "Impossible—"
Arman struck — a swarm spear forming from his arm.Cassian parried, but the force launched him backward, skidding across holy tiles.
Breathing heavy, the general yelled:"This world will never bow to a plague!"
Arman's voice deepened — thousands of whispers layered into one.
"Then the world will kneel as corpses."
He leapt.
A violent clash shook the plaza.Sparks. Screams. Cracking bone.
Finally—Arman's arm morphed into blade-like wings that sliced through Cassian's armor.
The general stumbled — mortally wounded.
Arman held him up by the throat.
"You killed the man I used to be…"His eyes blazed."Now I kill the world that applauded."
He crushed Cassian's heart into dust.
👑 The Crown of the Fallen Monarch
With the commander dead, Arman marched straight into the Grand Cathedral.Holy statues melted at his touch.The air filled with the hum of wings.
At the altar — a pedestal holding a crown forged of bone and darkness, wrapped in seals of light.
Lyra approached behind him. "The relic senses you."
Arman lowered his head, staring at his reflection in the crown's surface.
Human and monster.Mercy and destruction.Life and plague.
He grasped it.
Light and shadow erupted — a storm shaking the entire city.The seals broke one after another.
Arman screamed — not in pain, but in becoming.
The crown fused into his skull like an organic halo.His back split open —Two colossal wings unfurled, made of swirling insect storms bound by living membrane.Green lightning crawled across every feather.
The swarm bowed in worship.
Lyra whispered, awestruck:
"The Monarch… awakens."
🌓 A New God Rises
Solaria burned.Holy bells cracked.Every cathedral window shattered under the vibration of wings.
Arman rose above the city — a dark angel crowned in crawling light.
His voice rolled across the land:
"Let the Empire hear my decree—Your age ends now.The swarm… ascends."
The first empire fell that night.
And the world trembled — because it finally realized something:
Not plague.Not curse.A rightful king had returned