Queen's Guards

Queen's Guards can be bred in C-grade, but they are limited. Not truly sapient, their actions are limited and their power has to be granted directly from the Hive Queen herself. For True Royal Hive Queens, this changes in B-grade, when the Hive Queen can summon true Queen's Guards that are sapient, with their own thoughts and feelings. Similar to Guardians summoned by others in the multiverse, these Queen's Guards are intrinsically tied to their Queen to the point that they are incapable of being disloyal. True Queen's Guards no longer need to be granted power from the Hive Queen and they are capable of diversifying themselves and creating optimal Paths for serving their queen.^[1] However, despite the ability to advance, their progress will always be bottlenecked by their queen. As a spawn, they will never surpass her.

There is no inherent limit to how many Queen's Guards a Hive Queen can make. The creation ritual is seen as a measure of potential and talent among True Royal Hive Queens, the more guards the better. The vast majority make at least four, with the less than four being considered unthinkable. Those who can make five are considered elite. The leaders of the True Royal Hive Queens, including Odonestra, each have six guards, all capable of slaughtering Godkings and Godqueens. There are four Hive Queens who have seven guards each. This quartet is known as the Endless Empresses and they are the main reason Rigoria has never attempted a direct invasion.^[1]

Vesperia is able to hatch seven guards and she wistfully wishes that she'd tried for eight.