To save, or not to save?
Before the invisible line that marked the boundary of her territory.
Qimeng stared cold-faced, her mind rapidly weighing the options.
Granted, Xiaomi was indeed the only pure source of labor in her territory right now.
Gathering pollen, brewing honey, heating stones, tending to the Firefly Garden, and occasionally acting as a mascot in her role as the Defense Captain—she really had been a huge help.
But risking her own life—the life of a grand, future eldritch horror—for a mere vassal was definitely not worth it, no matter how she looked at it.
“It’s not that I’m leaving you to die, I’m just truly powerless here.”
Qimeng’s gaze turned cold as reason triumphed over emotion. She immediately turned around to walk back.
Yet, after taking a mere three steps, her feet ground to a halt again as if possessed.
The image of that foolish bee girl crying her eyes out while resignedly going back to work inexplicably flashed through her mind.
“Tsk, even if she becomes fertilizer, she can only be my private fertilizer. Since when did these low-life bugs get the right to steal her from me?”
The girl clicked her tongue in annoyance, pushing up her non-existent glasses.
“As long as I can guarantee my own safety, it wouldn't hurt to quickly fish her out.”
Refusing to admit she was being soft-hearted, Qimeng closed her eyes.
In an instant, her consciousness transcended space, plunging into the main tree in the Tree Court. She began to channel the massive reserves of mana she had accumulated up until now.
“Expand for me, damn it!”
Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!
The roots of her tree body began to rapidly expand from beneath her feet, spreading along the ground toward the cave entrance.
With Digging Enhancement active, the range of her root coverage pushed forward at an astonishing speed.
Three hundred meters!
Four hundred meters!
Five hundred meters!
After consuming more than half of her mana reserves, the radius of her root expansion ground to a halt at its absolute limit of five hundred and twenty meters!
The tips of her roots scraped against the rocky walls.
The absolute control of her territory barely managed to completely envelop the underground cavern!
Home-field advantage, reclaimed!
“Got you.”
Qimeng opened her eyes, a wild aura bursting forth.
Following the path mapped out by her roots, she leaped into the pitch-black, bottomless cavern against the howling, chilly wind!
Thud.
The drop was short, about three or four meters, with soft soil at the bottom.
She steadied her center of gravity, her root perception extending further into the cave.
Terrain information continuously flowed back through her roots, instantly piecing together a complete layout.
This was a naturally formed fissure passage, about two people wide and tall enough to stand in.
The damp rocky walls were covered in slimy moss and fine spider silk that exuded an ominous aura.
White silk cocoons hung along the cave walls.
Some were as small as a fist, while others were half a person tall.
Through the translucent, shriveled silk layers, she could faintly make out the dark shapes of various magical beasts that had died with their eyes wide open.
“Tsk, what a tasteless dining hall.”
Qimeng snorted. Her scouting roots had already picked up hostile mana signatures around the corner ahead.
Something was coming! And there were many of them!
She picked up her pace. The moment she rounded the corner, she saw five earth spiders. Their entire bodies were brown, with massive carapaces the size of millstones, huddled closely together.
Eight hairy long legs scraped against the ground as dozens of compound eyes gleaming with fierce light locked onto the intruder!
Five High-tier Novice beasts.
If this were a rookie adventurer party, they probably would have typed “GG” right then and there.
A surge of excited battle intent flared within Qimeng.
“This narrow terrain is the absolute perfect home field for me to mow them down!”
【Shadow Step】
The girl's figure blurred into an afterimage, melting into the shadows of the rock wall just a second before the earth spiders could spray a web of silk to block the passage.
【Myriad Manifestations - Flower Shadow Dual Flash: Earth Slash】
Boom!
Along with the name of her self-created ultimate technique, countless pale dust particles and gorgeous petals burst apart in the narrow passage.
The sudden confusion and mana disruption threw the five giant spiders into a chaotic, screeching frenzy.
Midst the beautiful, swirling shower of falling flowers, Qimeng burst out from the shadows.
The Scythe Blades condensed on her arms transformed into two savage arcs—one vertical, one horizontal—slashing in a violent cross!
Splat!
The earth spider in the very front didn't even have time to raise its legs to block before its leg joints were cleanly severed by the mana-infused Scythe Blades!
Immediately after, the dual blades pressed forward, violently slashing into the fatal joint connecting its head and abdomen. Dark green, highly toxic fluid sprayed everywhere as the giant beast collapsed with a mournful shriek.
Seeing their companion instantly killed, the remaining four earth spiders waved their forelegs through the distracting scale powder, unleashing a torrential wave of silver-white silk.
With a flick of her wrists, Qimeng swept her Scythe Blades in a perfect arc through the air, shredding all the silk to pieces.
At the same time, her waist bent backward with unbelievable flexibility, narrowly dodging a hideous, giant claw sweeping in from the side.
“Next is this move—Aerial Drop!”
Kicking off the rock wall, she used the momentum to leap up, grabbing a protruding stalactite overhead to swing herself upward.
The moment she reached the peak of her arc, her entire body's mana erupted, and she plunged from above with the terrifying impact of gravitational acceleration!
Boom!!!
The crossed Scythe Blades tore through the air with a piercing screech.
They smashed right through the second earth spider's thick, prized carapace. The violent impact slammed its massive body into the ground, and the resulting shockwave sent the surrounding spiders stumbling backward.
However, in the dark passage behind them, even more earth spiders were approaching.
“Killing the small ones only for the big ones to show up? What is this, a wave defense? I'm not here to grind mobs.”
Qimeng made a decisive choice, showing no desire to linger in battle.
She retracted her Scythe Blades and dodged to the side.
Utilizing Shadow Step once more, she melted deep into a nearby rock crevice, leaving gracefully amidst the spiders' furious roars.
Relying on the cheat-like navigation of her root network.
Qimeng navigated through the complex underground fissures for about seven or eight minutes, shaking off the pack of rabid-dog-like pursuers behind her.
“Whew... Just the entrance was guarded by five High-tier Novice beasts, and there were reinforcements behind them. The danger level of this place is indeed slightly beyond my expectations.”
Qimeng leaned against the rock wall, taking a deep breath.
A few drops of milky-white sweat trickled down her forehead, carrying a refreshing scent of vegetation.
Since she had already spent more than half of her stored mana as fuel, returning empty-handed was absolutely not her style.
With a cold gaze, Qimeng continued to press forward.
Strangely, however, as she went deeper, the spider webs that had originally covered everything began to thin out, and the number of magical beasts drastically decreased.
According to the feedback from her roots, the earth spiders seemed to be deliberately avoiding the core area ahead.
“Which means a terrifying monster lives ahead, one that even they themselves dare not provoke?”
Anyone else would have had weak knees by now, but Qimeng's lips curled upward instead.
Since those little spiders didn't dare approach, as long as she didn't disturb the boss inside, that area would actually be the perfect blind spot and safe zone.
She quickened her pace, passing through the last few narrow corners.
In an instant, the space ahead suddenly opened up!
What appeared before her eyes was a massive, natural underground cavern over ten meters high and as large as several soccer fields.
Countless crystalline stalactites hung from the ceiling, the dripping water echoing throughout.
And right in the center of this spider web, which was covered in deathly white silk,
crouched a gargantuan creature that sent a shiver down one's spine at first glance.
Its torso resembled a massive stone millstone, with eight hairy legs spanning five meters long.
On its brown, hard carapace, mottled patterns resembling a crying human face were printed.
Around its head, a total of sixteen blood-red, tyrannical compound eyes—eight pairs in total—were distributed!
It radiated a massive, completely undisguised aura of oppression.
Mid-tier Intermediate magical beast, the Crying-Face Spider Queen!
Qimeng froze.
She drew back her body, hiding in the shadow between two massive stone pillars, suppressing her breathing to the absolute minimum.
Mid-tier Intermediate, and on its absolute home turf covered in its own webs.
If she fought it head-on here, setting aside her chances of winning,
just burning through all her remaining mana reserves would make it an absolute deficit of a deal.
But since she was already here, slipping away with Xiaomi wouldn't be a loss.
Stepping onto the cavern floor, her roots had already sensed Xiaomi's location.
She scanned through the crevices and found a familiar figure inside a silk cocoon near the edge of the cavern.
She was still alive; her wings were still twitching, just wrapped tightly in spider silk.
What an incredibly troublesome, useless vassal.
Qimeng sighed.
If she pretended not to see her own property being bullied, where would her dignity as the ruler of the forest go?
She leaped onto the edge of the cavern, landing soundlessly with Shadow Step.
The giant spider was still crouched in the center, not yet noticing her approach. Apparently, her tree demon trait of blending into nature was doing its job.
She skirted along the cave wall, reaching the silk cocoon wrapping Xiaomi, and sliced open the outer layer of silk with her Scythe Blades.
Xiaomi rolled out from inside, covered in sticky threads.
Her wings were still bound, a clump of white silk was stuffed in her mouth, and her eyes were red. She had clearly been crying but was trying to hold it in.
Qimeng disgustedly picked up the sticky idiot with one hand, dangling her like a kitten.
She lifted the sticky fool off the ground.
“My, isn't this my majestic Defense Captain? How is it that after just a few hours, you've turned into such a pathetic, embarrassing sight?”
Rate on N.U.
