Volume 8, Chapter 53 – Beyond the Plan

Not a single human figure could be seen within the intricate ant tunnels.

Lucitine and Fia were slowly walking through the anthill. They weren’t alone; Afla followed behind them like a child who had done something wrong, her head bowed. Still not quite adapted to her new body, Afla’s walking posture was full of flaws, nothing like the gait expected of a Thirteen Attendant. However, neither Fia nor Lucitine had the leisure to pay attention to Afla.

Both women had things on their minds.

Although she was the instigator of the events, Fia couldn’t understand why Lucitine had suddenly started ignoring her. She had punished Afla as agreed. Even if Afla hadn’t been wearing clothes at the time, that was simply because she had just received her body and had no clothes that fit her figure.

Of course, Fia had considered the possibility that Lucitine might be jealous. For instance, Lucitine liked her, and seeing her fondling a naked Afla—meaning, pressing Afla face-down onto the stone platform—might have caused a misunderstanding.

But upon closer reflection, that scene couldn’t possibly be interpreted as her having romantic feelings for Afla. First of all, she and Afla had a history of unpleasantness. More importantly, who would whip someone they liked? Not to mention that Anastasia, Nola, and Ruth were also present. How perverted would someone have to be to have another woman whip the person they liked, and even allow others to watch?

What Fia didn’t know was that she was completely thinking in the wrong direction.

Lucitine wasn’t ignoring Fia out of anger; rather, her shallow mind hadn’t yet processed what had happened.

First, she had witnessed Fia’s kisses with Anastasia and Nola in the Twilight Palace courtyard. That alone had already set her imagination running wild, her thoughts focused solely on getting closer to Fia. That’s why she went to the magic testing ground to find her. Then she witnessed the scene that made her pupils quake—Anastasia assisting Fia in humiliating the completely naked Afla. Of course, she understood this didn’t mean Fia liked Afla, and she realized it was Fia’s punishment. What shocked her was that Fia’s tastes were so strange, to the point of exceeding her comprehension.

In comparison, she could actually understand the expression on Afla’s face, which seemed to convey pleasure. Lucitine had experienced the [The Elf Princess’s Blessing] ceremony herself. Upon seeing the ritual site composed of the sarcophagus and stone pillars, she understood that Fia had created a living body for Afla. She then understood that Afla’s comfort at that moment came from the wonder of being reborn. For an undead who had felt nothing for centuries to become a living person, even being whipped was a pain she would gladly endure after a hundred years of not tasting any sensation.

So by comparison, Fia’s method of punishment using a whip seemed exceptionally strange. From the limited knowledge Lucitine had acquired about the living world, she knew whips were a form of punishment, but she also knew they were often used in some strange relationships to add some spice. She hadn’t expected Fia to be that kind of person—on the surface looking cute and kind, but inwardly having an ultra-strong sadistic streak and desire for control, a sadist who took pleasure in bullying others.

In other words, if she wanted to get closer to Fia, she would have to acknowledge and accept Fia’s strange fetish.

Th… that would mean that what happened to Afla just now could very likely happen to me? And it would be witnessed by people I knew? Remember, this is called exp… exposure…?

“Urgh—”

Thinking this far, Lucitine couldn’t help but tense her muscles, especially her buttocks. Her stiff thighs made her walking posture strange. She couldn’t control herself and subconsciously put a little distance between herself and Fia—a sign of fear.

Lucitine continued thinking. Then an invisible heat rose from her chest. She reflected on her own capacity for acceptance. If it were just Fia using a whip, she… she could probably make some sacrifices. Honestly, as long as the pain wasn’t too intense, she could accept it. But if it were like Afla’s situation, being watched by her own daughter and her daughter’s adopted daughter…

Lucitine imagined that scene in her mind. Immediately afterwards, an indescribable feeling of shyness made her curse herself for being so shameless. That would absolutely be trying to find a crack to crawl into. No, it would be better to just jump into the abyss.

No way. This absolutely cannot happen, even if it’s Fia!

Lucitine unconsciously shook her head repeatedly, which made Fia beside her and Afla behind her raise question marks above their heads. In truth, the biggest victim and the one most wanting to find a crack to crawl into was Afla herself. However, constrained by status and social obligations, she could only force herself to stay calm, as if nothing had happened.

Only the sound of footsteps crushing gravel echoed in the passage.

After a few minutes, Fia finally couldn’t stand the silence. She cleared her throat and tentatively tried to speak to Lucitine again.

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“We’re about to reach the large cavity ahead, Lucitine. Get ready.”

Since Lucitine still maintained her thoughtful pose with her right hand on her chin, Fia had to muster her courage and poke Lucitine in the side. This finally made Lucitine yelp and quickly look at Fia.

“Eep! Wha… what is it?!”

“Ahead is the large cavity mentioned in the report. We might encounter Chaos there. Be careful not to let them notice us.”

“Ahh… I understand.”

This reaction seemed more like shyness and guilt than anger. Observing that Lucitine didn’t dare meet her gaze, Fia thought about it. She couldn’t understand why Lucitine would be shy.

If you can’t figure something out, don’t waste time on it. As long as Lucitine isn’t angry with me, it’s fine.

Happily tossing aside the troubling worries, Fia estimated the distance to the designated position in her mind, then lowered her voice and explained seriously.

“Today’s objective is reconnaissance. First, figure out how much Chaos is in this nest. Unless there are special circumstances, don’t attack them. If we make them realize we’ve discovered their nest, they might relocate their stronghold, and finding them again later will be troublesome.”

“Mm.”

Facing Fia’s emphasis, Lucitine and Afla, who had come back to their senses, both nodded seriously.

Although the reason the three had come here was that Lucitine’s brain was about to overheat, proactively proposing wanting to return to the kingdom of the dead—which Fia misinterpreted as being angry and wanting to go home—none of them had forgotten their main task, which was the recent campaign to eliminate Chaos nests.

According to the reconnaissance team led by Ruth, they had continued exploring downward from the initial large cavity and found an underground space of immense scale, even larger than the cavity that had been hit by [Great Void]. Ruth believed this was the Chaos’s main base. To facilitate formulating follow-up plans, Fia and Lucitine, as strategists and commanders, needed to personally investigate first.

This was naturally a result Fia had deliberately manufactured. Now that her wedding with Claire was approaching, she couldn’t spend too much time on the gradual elimination of Chaos nests. By directly “exposing” the Chaos’s main base and making Lucitine believe she had eliminated the Eye tribe’s Chaos, she could go sooner to Dragonfall with Claire.

Lucitine and Fia each used magic to conceal their presence and entered the large cavity. Following the map, the three traversed the seemingly endless, complex ant tunnels for a long time before finally reaching a passage where the smell was stronger than elsewhere—the stench of burnt tires.

The Chaos nest was nearby.

Lucitine and Fia exchanged glances.

“Fia, dispel the light. I’ll scout ahead.”

“Okay.”

Fia dispelled the light magic. Afla consciously retreated to a position about five meters behind them, waiting there for their return.

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With no light, the surroundings were pitch black. Having become human, Lucitine couldn’t use her eyes to see what was a little farther away. To avoid making noise or accidentally stepping into a pit, she pressed her chest against the wall and walked sideways like a crab. Her left hand, reaching forward, carefully and slowly felt along the brittle rock wall. Her steps also tried not to put full force, inching forward cautiously, following the scent deeper.

After about ten minutes of this nerve-racking, sweat-inducing ordeal, Lucitine, at the front, stopped. Her ears twitched slightly, capturing sounds echoing within the large space.

It was the sloshing sound of Chaos pushing and grinding against each other. At first listen, it resembled the sound of night waves crashing against rocks. But listening carefully, one could distinguish that the wave sound made by Chaos was more viscous, reminiscent of phlegm and mucus stuck in the throat—extremely unpleasant.

She hadn’t taken many steps before stopping again, forcefully squeezing the hand of Fia, who was a step behind her.

This meant they were already at the edge of the large cavity. In fact, half of Lucitine’s extended left foot was suspended. If she took half a step more, she would step into empty space.

The viscous wave sound was now obvious to the point of being unavoidable. Lucitine could even feel the vibrations transmitted through the rock wall when Chaos forcefully slapped against the cliff. The strong stench mixed with the burnt tire smell entered her nostrils. Lucitine had to stop breathing just to free up mental energy to think.

The Chaos dwelling here were more powerful than those in the previous large cavity.

Even without seeing them, Lucitine dared to assert this. It was the intuition of a Ninth-Tier powerhouse.

If they mishandled this, they might end up trapped here along with Fia.

Her nerves were tense, her voice so low it was barely audible.

“Fia, can you see?”

“I’m not a vampire.”

Only vampires, undead, demons, and some beastmen had night vision. Elves had good eyesight, but that didn’t mean they possessed excellent night vision capabilities.

I completely forgot about that.

Lucitine felt annoyed. Before, when she was undead, she could naturally move through dark environments. Now that she had become a living person, she still thought she could walk freely in the ant tunnels, and thus hadn’t considered what to do if she couldn’t see.

Fortunately, Fia had a solution.

She hadn’t learned tens of thousands of magics for nothing.

“[Cat’s Eye Enchantment]”

Pitch-black magic flashed in Fia’s palm. Fia first brushed it over her own eyes, then covered Lucitine’s eyes with her palm. Both of their eyes transformed into vertical pupils identical to Nola’s, and everything before them became clear.

“Night vision magic? Why didn’t you use it earlier?”

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“You’re the Queen of Death. How was I supposed to know you couldn’t see? I thought you were tiptoeing around just to avoid making noise.”

“Ugh.”

She couldn’t defend herself on this point. Saying she had forgotten she was no longer undead would be too embarrassing to admit. Lucitine sheepishly withdrew her questioning and then swept her gaze inside the large cavity on the other side. Then, her body stiffened.

Describing this place as an insect nest wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

Before their eyes unfolded an underground cavity so gigantic that its far end was as pitch-black as an abyss. Just the visible portion contained over twenty large stone pillars. The thickest part of each pillar exceeded a hundred meters in diameter. From the large holes scattered on them, viscous black Chaos flowed down gurglingly like chocolate waterfalls. The lake of Chaos below was further covered with numerous embryos with an outer casing like egg sacs. Even though Lucitine didn’t know Chaos ecology, she could guess that these egg sacs would mature into Antler Chaos. In other words, this was a place for incubating Antler Chaos.

Similar egg sacs were densely packed, stretching endlessly into the distance.

If a person with trypophobia came here, they would surely faint by now.

“Guh.”

Even though Lucitine was strenuously controlling herself not to make a sound, she still couldn’t help but swallow. Cold sweat continuously oozed from her pores. She could see the Antler Chaos from time to time entering and exiting the stone pillars. Just in these few breaths, she had seen hundreds. Coupled with the numerous pillars and the egg sacs floating in the Chaos lake, she could confirm that the Chaos here were several times more numerous than in the initial large cavity. This had to be the Chaos’s main base.

This was simply a hellish picture.

The numbers were so overwhelming that even if she and Fia went to scout the situation, it wouldn’t help much with any future plans. On second thought, it wouldn’t be completely pointless. At the very least, the scouting mission made her realize that the Antler Chaos was an enemy their side wouldn’t be able to defeat for a very long time.

Damn it.

And she had thought about quickly eliminating the Chaos— naive to the extreme.

These Chaos had never used their full strength. The undead were merely playthings in their eyes.

Lucitine forcefully clenched her fists. She harbored an inexplicably strong hatred for Chaos, as if she had been born with the imperative to eliminate them. Now, realizing she had been toyed with by Chaos, she became even more furious.

At the same time, there was also a trace of fear.

If the Chaos attacked the surface now, she couldn’t imagine how she would resist.

They had to go back and reconsider.

Staring at the terrifying Chaos continuously making sloshing sounds in the large cavity, Lucitine placed both hands on Fia’s shoulders and slowly backed away step by step.

“Wait, we’re just leaving like this?”

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“It’s too dangerous here. Let’s go back and discuss it.”

In response to Fia’s confusion, Lucitine answered seriously. She knew Fia was stronger than her, but that didn’t mean they could casually disturb the Chaos here.

“Go back? We haven’t confirmed the Chaos’s strength yet.”

“Staying alive is more important.” Lucitine firmly stared into Fia’s eyes, her tone extremely low. “There are too many Chaos here. With our current strength, we can’t possibly be their match. Fia, I know you’re strong, but don’t be impatient for results.”

Tch.

She knew it would turn out like this. Fia sighed inwardly.

It was all Milan’s fault. If they hadn’t shown such overwhelming strength the first time, they wouldn’t have needed to create an even grander spectacle now to make Lucitine believe this was the main base.

Fortunately, she had anticipated this possibility and prepared a contingency plan in advance. Next, as long as she guided Lucitine into the large cavity, she was confident she could make Lucitine believe that the undead had a chance to completely eliminate the Chaos. She and Milan had devised a supposed weakness of Chaos that didn’t actually exist, using it to deceive Lucitine.

Smoothing over the fluctuations in her heart, Fia frowned slightly.

“They might not be at full strength right now. Lucitine saw those egg sacs down there, right? Those are probably Antler Chaos waiting to hatch. If we delay and let these eggs hatch, the Chaos will only become harder to deal with.”

“No. We must reconsider. Fia, I can’t risk your safety.”

Lucitine’s pink eyes were filled with determination.

She was already in a state where she wouldn’t listen to reason.

Fia realized this.

Being too eager would make her purpose too obvious and expose herself. She sighed longly.

“Fine. Let’s stop here for today. But follow-up probing is necessary. I don’t plan to drag this out too long. First, we slowly test their reactions, then make decisions based on those reactions—”

BOOM!!

Just as Fia was about to finish speaking, a collapsing sound suddenly came from the passage behind them. The collapse wasn’t close to their position, but both their expressions turned bad simultaneously.

That was Afla’s location.

This wasn’t part of the plan at all.