The village of Randov lay still, no soul roaming the streets as the sun sinks in the horizon, hiding behind mountain peaks. The silver moon surfaced above the hills to show a new night, alongside stars sparkling in the void.

  The grass carpeting the ground was a vibrant green, dainty verbena giving it a splash of magenta. A strong wind blew, forming waves in the ocean of grass, making the trees around the dozen houses lean to their sides, their yellow fruits dangling and sometimes falling onto the lush field.

  With night falling, the houses lit up brightly, a mellow candle light piercing their windows from within.

  Underneath the soil, the undergrowth thrived. Complex root systems tugged on the soil, keeping it from crumbling apart.

  In a dark chamber, a creature lay silent, chewing on an ant's body. The creature had the head of a red ant, but it only had four legs. Its thorax was more like a termite's than an ant's, and its abdomen was a bit bloated.

  Despite its looks, it was only a centimeter long. The ant it was eating was almost bigger than it... When it was still whole.

  Finishing its meal, the creature raised its head and stood still. Moments later, another bug crawled into the underground chamber. It was half a centimeter in length, and it only had three legs. When the bug entered, the ant-like creature clacked its mandible as if saying something.

  Hearing it, the three-legged bug crawled next to the creature's mandibles, allowing itself to be devoured.

  ‘...sigh.’

  After eating his “spawn,” Helzar crouched, detaching his abdomen from his thorax and putting it down.

  ‘When will I get used to this?’

  His thorax and head was half a centimeter long. Meanwhile, his abdomen, which he calls the “nest,” was an extension of his body that he can put on and take off at will.

  ‘It’s been a week since I hatched, and I can finally produce another spawn!’

  Helzar felt a bit happy, but at the same time worried for his future. The nest on the ground churned, its elastic, black skin stretching as though something inside was boiling.

  ‘The nest is working overload, but I can't afford to wait,’ Helzar clacked his mandibles, making tiny popping sounds.

  A few seconds passed, and the nest spat a half transparent egg. Not long after, a second transparent egg followed.

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  ‘Good, the nest didn't break…’ Helzar secretly sighed in relief. The nest nearly broke on his first day in this new world. He didn't know his limit, so he tried creating dozens of eggs.

  The result was, the nest exploded in the middle. He nearly died along with the nest, but thankfully, his regenerative factors were superb. While holding the open wound close with his mandibles, it was able to heal, although the nest was halved.

  ‘First day, and my body was cut in half. It's like the academy all over again. Only my self esteem is the one that's halved,’ Helzar lamented.

  When he was done reminiscing, the eggs hatched into the three legged bugs from earlier. Their bodies were lighter in color than his obsidian-like one. But as they mature, their exoskeletons would harden and turn dark. He named them the “spawns.”

  ‘To think I'd turn to an insect after dying a “hero.” I guess gods were watching, after all,’ Helzar sneered. ‘Anyway, I don't sense any magical energy in this world, so it should be similar to the world of Humans… well, even “Earth” had traces of magical energies,’ Helzar shook his head. Ordering his spawns to hunt insects.

  ‘According to my previous spawns, there are humans wearing long white coats around. They should either be doctors or scientists, or maybe something else.’

  Coming from a technology backward world, Helzar knew little about modern knowledge. He didn't even know what a doctor or a scientist was before meeting humans. His world called them either priests, healers, or witches.

  Either way, he had no way of interfering with humans now. He didn't even know where he was, nor which world he ended up in.

  ‘My abilities allow me to connect to my spawn's vision and senses. I can also remotely command them, but all of those require energy,’ Helzar crawled toward the tunnel entrance, closing it off with dirt.

  ‘I don't need to sleep or breathe. However, the only way I can acquire energy is through eating… man, I miss my magic powers.’

  After closing off the entrance, Helzar crawled into the center of the chamber, unaware of the activities above him.

  +++-+++-+++

  “You said the people here found a strange bug?” A man wearing simple civilian clothes asked a man in a white coat. He was Rex. His eyes were a dull brown, and gray hair plagued his head.

  “Yeah. I already them. The bugs don't seem to have good vision, nor do they have a lot of numbers. The most I saw is one… oh, look!” The man in a white coat pointed at the tree branch next to Rex. Rex looked beside him, seeing a strange “worm” with three legs.

  “It's these little guys, and there's two this time,” the man in the white coat said, walking closer to observe the little creatures. He then took out a small bottle full of panicking emerald-like weaver ants.

  “What's that for?” Rex asked the man, Dexter.

  “These bugs seem to prey on ants, so I caught a few. It'd be a shame if these guys die while foraging, leaving their queen behind to starve,” Dexter sighed, his eyes never leaving the bugs.

  Rex looked at his partner weirdly. “How are you sure these guys have a queen? They're not ants, they're not even termites or hell, bees.”

  Dexter smiled, ignoring Rex for a moment. Plucking up an ant with his tweezers, he placed it in front of the two bugs. The two three-legged bugs discovered the ant instantly, rushing toward it and biting its legs.

  The ant struggled, trying to bite the aggressors, but it was no use.

  “Wow, that's one powerful bite,” Rex praised, watching as the ant's head was severed after a bite. The other bug bit the ant's gaster, cutting it in half like butter.

  “Have you been bitten by these nasties?” Rex glanced toward Dexter.

  “Yup,” Dexter showed his finger to Rex, which had a band-aid wrapped around the fingertip.

  “Did it hurt?” Rex asked, before clearing his throat. "Nevermind."

  Dexter rolled his eyes, watching as the bugs disappeared underground.

  “Their nest should be down here,” Dexter marked a small hole in the soil.

  “Should we dig them out?” Rex asked, and Dexter considered it. Normally, they wouldn't disturb the wildlife and would only observe them. However, Dexter had different plans.

  “Yes, I will dig them out.”

  Rex was a bit surprised, but didn't ask further questions. Dexter was the professional here, and his unprofessional opinions were not needed. That's what he thought, and he didn't care either way. He already had a bucket load of problems to keep him up at night.

  Meanwhile, on a faraway island, the headquarters of a secret team was hauntingly quiet. In one of its blindingly-white rooms, a man wearing heavy, mechanical armor was talking to someone through the communicator near his ear.

  “Have you located the anomaly?” He asked.

  “Yes, I'll be digging them up soon,” a voice replied from the other side.

  “Good. Return promptly before the laboratory becomes unstable. Peaceful days are rare.”

  He said, shutting off the communication device after hearing an affirmative. Looking behind him, he watched as odd objects and mutated creatures gazed back at him through the thick, one-way glass.