The Kingdom of Insects

They walk beneath mushroom caps so tall their tops vanish in haze when sunlight filters through. The air is filled with various different aromas that can confuse any nose. Every step squishes soft earth beneath leather soles.

Suddenly, from the underbrush bursts a giant ant, twice the size of Spidaract. Its chitin body gleaming, mandibles clacking. It emits a strong lemon-like scent.

Spidaract springs forward. He tangles one foreleg of the ant in strong webbing, wrapping silk in layers. The insect screeches, struggling to balance itself.

Asa presses her palm to the soft ground, earth rising as vapor, swirling under the ant’s feet. The soil becomes gas, destabilizing the strong solid it’s standing on. The ant stumbles. Arthur sees his chance.

Then, Asa condenses the gas back into ground, trapping the ant in newly solid earth. The insect topples, screeching like calling for allies until the noise slowly fades.

Without time to relax, they hear rustles: dozens of ants massing beyond. An army of insects, drawn by the fall of their giant comrade.

Out of nowhere, two ants charge from opposite sides, slamming Asa’s and Arthur’s head, knocking both of them unconscious.

Spidaract swings down from above, slinging web ropes and flipping over his friends. He pulls both Asa and Arthur onto his back, using his web to stick them in. Then, by a blink of the eyes, he pulls his body to land on a mushroom’s trunk - the perfect surface to fight off against an army.

Upwards, Spidaract fights them one-by-one. Despite the huge difference in size, his physical ability is somehow far superior than the ants. He can easily dodge all of their attacks with his six eyes and quick reaction time, while all of his blows can crush their exoskeleton in one hit.

The sky above shimmers. An enormous dragonfly dives downward with insane speed. It slowly opens its mouth, about to snatch the hero party.

Spidaract sprays silk at its iridescent gaudy wings: two strands hit, binding them awkwardly. The dragonfly stutters, loses its balance, and crashes against the mushroom trunk. Its head meets fungus with a final crunch, accidentally kills a large amount of ants when falling.

Something in Spidaract’s chest pulses. Something that is not the usual fear nor relief. It is far stranger than that, more like a burning flame fueled by the kingdom itself.

The air shifts as a heavy pungent odor sweeps in, blanketing any aroma before.

The ants retreat, scattering into dark crevices beneath fungi. Their movements are even and deliberate, but their hustle clearly indicates extreme fear.

The dragonfly tries to crawl out of sight, but its legs aren’t built for walking - especially when exhausted.

Spidaract, on the other hand, feels his heart pumping faster and faster. Instinct drives him to stay and fight. Besides, something is telling him that the source of that odor is hunting him, so there’s nowhere to run anyways.

Out of shadow bursts a giant beetle, three times the size of those ants. Its carapace glitters shining gold and purple - a color scheme meant to show off, not camouflage. Its horn curves like a crown. Flame‑red light reflects off its mandibles.

A silence falls between the two creatures. The scent prods Spidaract’s instincts. Every hint screams that this beetle is a king of this habitat, the sole ruler with incomparable strength.

But somehow, despite all common sense, Spidaract can’t stop him from fighting it. And somehow, he knows the creature is also experiencing the same feeling.

The beetle makes the first move. Fire erupts from its maw, a sweeping flamethrower bursts across the ground.

Spidaract leaps aside, rolling with grace born of spider‑legs and reflex. Flames scorch moss and fungus behind him in mere seconds.

He grips web lines anchored to the trunk and spires. In one fluid motion, he rockets upward, firing silk into the beetle’s head and horns. He anchors himself with his upper limbs, then pulls with the amount of strength he has never used.

He thrusts its eyes downward with his lower limbs. The beetle, with its chitin armour crushed, lets out a huge roar before dying - as if it is declaring a new king.

Spidaract stands there, chest heaving, vines of web tangled like scars. On his back, Asa and Arthur are still unconscious, but not severely harmed.

Then, Spidaract laughs. Not the laugh in humans’ definition, but one from his own instinct - his body emits a great amount of odor that will make anything breathe it feel relaxed.

His heartbeat slowly weakens, but his mind is still in the battle.

In this jungle, there are rules - rules that he memorises through instinct. However, it just feels right, and it just works for him. All of the strength that he has hold back for years can now be used without any noble to say he is dangerous or any guards to threaten him daily.

He flexes his limbs. “I still need to keep you guys safe,” he says, voice rough but spoken with certainty.

Spidaract lowers them gently to moss‑soft ground, each step reverberating with joy and release.

He stands, still unable to find his coat but that is sure no longer required here. The forest is glowing with all sorts of colors, as if it is welcoming a son coming back home.

He is free.

And he feels just right.

…

High above, between the arches of a mammoth violet mushroom cap, eight legs cling in shadow. A cluster of small creatures with white exoskeleton and scarlet eyes watch without sound.

They see Spidaract’s power, the muamons’ king's defeat, the steam rising from the web and smoke. They just murmur something in human’s language to each other, but the sound of the battles is too noisy to hear them.

Then, as Spidaract stands on the corpse of muamons’ king, the watchers retreat, slipping away as quietly as they appear.

*Author's note: I have just fix some parts in chapter 2 to make things more informative and clear. I also want your comments on this book so far, so please leave a comment if you can.