Volume 8, Chapter 54 – The Third Party

Fortunately, the Chaos in the nest didn’t react to the rumbling sound, allowing Fia and Lucitine to safely go check on Afla—in reality, Fia had previously instructed Milan not to take any action, no matter what happened, unless she brought Lucitine into the large cavity.

Now, a thick wall formed of rubble blocked Fia and Lucitine’s path. The passage had collapsed in the literal sense. Moreover, they could faintly hear sounds of fighting coming from the other side.

There couldn’t be a third party in the anthill besides Chaos. She had given Milan an absolute order not to proactively attack. Milan wouldn’t act on his own like before. Where had Afla’s enemy come from?

While clearing a path with [Guidance of the Stone Spirit], Fia’s mind recalled the pure white fairy she had seen before. Her elusive behavior certainly made it possible for her to appear here. However, Afla’s Sixth-Tier strength was obviously no match for the pure white fairy. Unless the fairy was toying with Afla, Afla couldn’t have lasted this long.

The rubble blocking the way was rapidly devoured by a khaki-colored light mass, and Afla’s figure came into view.

The one attacking Afla wasn’t the pure white fairy, but this didn’t relieve Fia. Because she saw a group of Chaos surrounding Afla. These Chaos were neither ordinary Chaos nor individuals with antlers, but Chaos with dark red patches flowing on their surfaces, taking on the appearance of monsters. Fia had seen them before; when she was contemplating her identity in the Hall of Reverent Light, the Chaos that suddenly appeared and tried to attack her looked just like this.

“Afla!”

Lucitine gripped the scales sword firmly. Although she had never seen Chaos in this form before, that didn’t stop her from holding equal hatred for all Chaos.

The moment she shouted, Lucitine was already sprinting towards the dark red beast-shaped Chaos. The temperature in the cave plummeted due to Lucitine’s emotional change, and visible frost covered the inner walls. However, Lucitine’s movements instead made Afla nervous. Holding her tower shield in a stalemate with the beast Chaos, she shouted anxiously.

“Your Majesty, be careful!”

As if confirming Afla’s shout, when Lucitine had advanced to within ten meters of Afla, the corroded pitch-black ground suddenly burst open. A black shadow large enough to block the entire passage rose up. Like a predator that had been waiting for its prey, it appeared directly beneath Lucitine.

“Tch!”

Lucitine frowned and forcefully swung the scales sword downward. The gray blade that had appeared in the immortal sanctuary manifested, cutting through the black shadow like a hot knife through butter. But the shadow was unaffected and continued lunging at Lucitine.

Simply cutting wouldn’t affect Chaos’ movement—that was common knowledge.

However, a Ninth-Tier powerhouse wouldn’t be limited to such countermeasures. Chaos were tricky due to their numbers, not individual strength.

“[Frost Star].”

After she uttered the syllable that made one feel like falling into an ice cellar, the already cold passage became even more frigid. Starting from the tip of the scales sword, an explosive growth of ice crystals like crystal clusters occurred. The black shadow lunging at Lucitine was instantly pierced by the downward-bursting ice crystals. Although the shadow still tried to advance, the extreme cold completely froze the Chaos composing its body. It had already merged with the ice crystals.

“Hmph.”

Lucitine withdrew the scales sword and stepped onto the frozen black shadow as she landed. It was only then that she noticed the Chaos attacking her was a spider-shaped Chaos about three meters long. ¹ oh i remember that thing that clash with clark and co

Strange.

Ignoring the sounds of ice crystals freezing echoing in the cave, Lucitine frowned.

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These Chaos were too intelligent.

The Chaos she had encountered in the past didn’t employ tactics like this—first setting traps on the periphery, then surrounding part of the prey, and suddenly attacking when the prey’s companions came to rescue. The coordination the Chaos now displayed was simply like that of lifeforms with high-level intelligence.

High-level intelligence was something not even the humanoid Antler Chaos had exhibited. These beast-shaped Chaos didn’t look any smarter than the humanoid Antler Chaos… Could it be that the Antler Chaos were far smarter than she imagined, and they were secretly commanding these ordinary Chaos?

No, now wasn’t the time to think. If the Chaos in the main base were disturbed, they would be in trouble. Lucitine redirected her sharp gaze deeper into the narrow passage. Under the influence of [Frost Star], the entire cave had become a white, icy world. Clusters of ice crystals blossomed one after another on the cave walls. Although extremely beautiful on the surface, they were filled with the cold of death.

A large number of beast-shaped Chaos were frozen by the crystal clusters. Only those on Afla’s side, farther from Lucitine, could still move. But even so, a layer of frost covered their viscous black surfaces, making their movements exceptionally sluggish.

Thanks to this, all the beasts changed their target. They no longer surrounded Afla. Instead, while staring intently at Lucitine and retreating, they emitted warning-like low growls consistent with beasts. Especially the wolves and lion-shaped Chaos; they had even evolved dark red eyes. Lucitine could feel a sensation of being scrutinized—only lifeforms with intelligence could assess the strength of the enemy and self.

However, since even a Fifth-Tier [Frost Star] could freeze them, their strength was clearly inferior to the Antler Chaos she had been dealing with. Probably pets raised by the Antler Chaos, Lucitine thought. Ignoring the beast Chaos’ warnings, she walked towards Afla. Although a few wolf-shaped Chaos charged at her along the way, Lucitine merely snapped her fingers, and huge crystal clusters rose from the frozen ground, piercing and even lifting the wolves.

“What happened?”

Like a queen descending upon an icy world, Lucitine arrived beside the shivering Afla. It should be noted that Afla wasn’t shivering from fear, but because her maid outfit was too thin; the sub-zero temperature of the icy world was hard for her to bear.

Afla hugged her shoulders with both hands and answered with a trembling voice.

“I… I don’t know. Shortly after you and Lady Fia left, Your Majesty, these Chaos came in from outside. I thought they might interfere with you, so I blocked them here. The feeling they gave me was very different from previous Chaos. They didn’t all rush at once, but took turns attacking, watching for my openings, as if they had intelligence.”

“The same as my feeling. The red light on them already shows they’re a different type from the Antler Chaos.”

Lucitine looked at the beast Chaos retreating dozens of meters into the distance. Seeing that Lucitine could deal with them with just a gesture, these beast Chaos were already thinking of retreating.

“Either they’re pets raised by the Antler Chaos, or they’re Chaos living in the anthill that mutated. Fia, can you see their tiers?”

“The lowest is only Third Tier, the highest is Fifth Tier.”

“No wonder Afla found them tricky.”

Lucitine nodded thoughtfully, then raised the scales sword, pointing its tip at the distant beast Chaos. Seeing Lucitine about to attack again, the beast Chaos no longer cared about retreating quietly. They let out howls, scrambled on all fours, and fled. Unfortunately, their speed couldn’t match magic. The rapidly spreading frost in the passage soon caught up with them, freezing them into one lifelike ice sculpture after another.

The passage fell silent.

Chaos wouldn’t die from freezing; they had to be shattered to completely die.

As if she had done something trivial, Lucitine flicked her pink hair that had fallen forward.

“Afla, shatter them.”

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“Yes.”

Forcing herself to endure the chill invading her whole body, Afla obeyed the order and raised her tower shield. The sound of ice shattering echoed one after another.

Fia, who had been motionless, finally came to Lucitine’s side. Looking at the distant frozen beast Chaos, she pretended to ask casually.

“Lucitine, could you leave two for me? I want to take them back for research. I can sense they’re different from the Chaos we’ve dealt with before. Before fighting an enemy, we should first understand the enemy. If we can find their weaknesses, dealing with them later will be easier.”

“Hmm—Fia is right. I should also take two back for my people to research. Afla, leave a few, don’t shatter them all.”

“Okay.”

“Let me handle it. Lucitine, you take Afla back to the surface first.”

“You’re not coming with us? You could leave this trivial matter to Afla.”

In response to Fia’s suggestion, Lucitine tilted her head in confusion.

Fia walked over to Afla, took off her own black cloak, and draped it over the shivering Afla. Pretending not to see the shock and gratitude in Afla’s eyes, she shrugged and replied.

“You’re the Queen of Death, naturally unafraid of cold. But if Afla freezes much longer, this hard-won body will be wasted. I wouldn’t stop Afla if she wanted to turn back into a dead person, but she doesn’t look like she wants to. Ultimately, one of the Thirteen Attendants becoming a living person—that alone is enough to spark discussion in the kingdom of the dead. From my perspective, eliminating Chaos whenever is fine. But if someone turning into a living person shakes your rule, I would feel guilty.”

Who would dare speak ill of you? Who would dare speak ill of me?

Lucitine wanted to answer like that, but she hadn’t yet decided whether to tell Afla that she herself was also a living person, so she didn’t say it.

Watching Afla huddle her shoulders, clutching the cloak with both hands and timidly looking at Fia, a sour feeling rose in Lucitine’s heart.

“Then we’ll go up first. Fia, don’t take the risk of going into the Chaos’ main base.”

“Naturally.”

They nodded to each other. Lucitine led Afla away from the passage. What Fia didn’t notice was that as they left her field of vision, Lucitine draped her own cloak over Afla’s shoulders, wrapping around her neck the black cloak belonging to Fia that didn’t fit Afla’s body size.

The quiet atmosphere lasted nearly three minutes. Fia planted the Moon Key on the ground and, using [Seeker’s Enlightenment], confirmed that Lucitine had left the area. Then she took a deep breath.

Right now, she couldn’t tell Lucitine that she had actually seen beast-shaped Chaos with dark red patches before. This kind of Chaos should rightly be beneath the Primordial Continent, not appear here.

She needed to go ask Milan about this.

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That was also her reason for having Lucitine leave a few beast Chaos.

Packing up the remaining, unprocessed beast Chaos with [Telekinesis], Fia dragged them and flew straight towards the large cavity.

Along the way, the scenery was still familiar. The vast underground cavity, stretching endlessly into the distance, was filled with stone pillars, Chaos, and black egg sacs. The sound of mucus squeezing and pushing, like waves crashing against rocks, continuously echoed in the huge space. Anyone seeing the densely packed Chaos eggs in the lake would be horrified.

Flying slowly through the large cavity, Fia felt no tension. She activated [Light] and, as if unable to see the terrifying mucus filling the space, recklessly dragged a bunch of ice sculptures forward. Finally, she stopped before an inconspicuous large stone pillar at the very back. Here, many blue-eyed Chaos and golden-eyed Chaos with deep blue antlers on their heads were waiting.

Fia motioned with her chin towards the interior of the large pillar and flew in first. Although the Antler Chaos were puzzled by the ice sculptures behind Fia, they followed her instructions and filed into the operations room inside the large pillar. Only when everyone knelt on one knee before Fia did she finally speak.

“You see these ice sculptures. You should be able to sense what they are.”

“This is… unfamiliar magic power. Father God, may we release this seal?”

The so-called seal probably referred to the ice layer Lucitine had used to freeze the Chaos. This ice layer prevented the Antler Chaos from sensing the beast Chaos.

“It’s fine. But be careful, they might attack you.”

“Yes.”

Milan, the closest to Fia, stood up. He extended his right hand towards one of the ice sculptures Fia had brought. His hand quickly lost its shape, becoming like liquid, enveloping the half-human-high wolf ice sculpture.

Before long, as Milan devoured the ice sculpture, a beast’s low growl echoed in the spacious, gloomy operations room. At that moment, all the Antler Chaos sensed this abnormal existence. The space reverberated with noisy and intense exchanges.

Fia couldn’t understand the thought communication between the Antler Chaos, but she could feel their mental tension and disorder.

“Barbaric aura. Father God, you were attacked by traitors?”

“No, the undead above encountered them by chance. I brought them here to ask Milan if there’s a way to trace their origin.”

Unexpectedly, Milan answered firmly.

“There is. Father God, these nutrients are manipulated by traitors, but their essence is still nutrients born in the second Nursery… The world below should rightly be separated from the surface. How did the traitors manipulate our nutrients to attack the undead right under our noses? Unbelievable. Could the traitors have already come to the surface? But we should be able to sense them. How are we completely unaware?”

Milan’s thoughts were filled with shock and uncertainty.

According to him, ordinary Chaos had no self-awareness. They would be manipulated by more powerful Chaos, like the Eye. This rule also applied to other powerful Chaos with self-awareness. If powerful individuals from the Primordial Continent ran to the World Tree Continent, they could manipulate ordinary Chaos to take whatever form they wanted and attack Fia.

In other words, these beast Chaos were the result of ordinary Chaos being manipulated by an unknown existence, not individuals that had torn through space to arrive here.

“Since they can manipulate ordinary Chaos, that means the manipulator is nearby. Can I understand it that way?”

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“I think so. I beg Father God to allow us to send people into the anthill to search for clues. The traitors surely haven’t gone far.”

“Permission granted. But don’t make too much noise, lest it disturb the undead—” Fia rested her chin on her right hand, thinking for a moment. “Also, gather the scattered ordinary Chaos to prevent them from being used again.”

“Your will be done.”

“Dismissed.”

“Yes!”

Shortly after Fia left, like a swarm of bees, a sky-blotting mass of Antler Chaos surged out from the large pillar and plunged into every passage in the anthill.

◇

Meanwhile, the undead in the kingdom of the dead hadn’t been idle either.

The discovery of the Chaos’ main base stirred up a huge commotion in the kingdom of the dead. Everyone realized that the ten-thousand-year war was finally going to end. Thinking that they were living in the era when the fated battle would conclude, all the undead became fired up. They prepared their preferred weapons, only waiting for the queen’s single command to charge into the anthill.

But this was the scene among ordinary undead. In the gray hall, a sharp divergence had emerged among the Thirteen Attendants.

Inside the gray hall with its red carpet, Afla, wrapped in Lucitine’s cloak, faced the reproach and disdain of her companions.

“Afla, as a noble member of the Thirteen Attendants, you’ve become a living person. Do you still have any self-awareness of being a Thirteen Attendant?”

“Your Majesty sparing your life is her mercy towards you!”

“Weren’t you the one who most despised the living? How come the tune changes when it’s about you? And I always thought of you as my little sister.”

Facing everyone’s harsh accusations, Afla couldn’t utter a single word. She kept her head deeply bowed, tightly clutching the cloak. Her face was pale, like a patient just recovering from a serious illness.

None of the accusers were wrong. If it had been someone else who became a living person, she, Afla, would also use equally merciless words to cut ties with them. But now, having experienced the wonder of being alive again, she was unwilling to return to being an undead without sensation. She was ashamed of her greedy thoughts, yet also didn’t want to make sacrifices because of that shame.

In fact, her subconscious thought was that if these people could also, like her, experience again the wonder of being alive, they would no longer be so aggressive. Ultimately, it was the dignity the undead relied on for survival that led them to discriminate against the living. If they weren’t undead, they wouldn’t discriminate against the living to highlight their own superiority.

Sitting on the throne, Lucitine frowned repeatedly. For the sake of the future, she couldn’t say anything. Until Ruth beside her couldn’t bear it any longer.

“All of you, shut up! Arguing at Mother’s feet—have you no self-awareness of being servants?!”