Chapter 48: Chapter 48: The Queen

The cave mouth yawned wide behind the waterfall, mist tangled around jagged stone teeth.

Inside, darkness swallowed light just after five steps.

Mariana raised his palm and a faint glow like star bloomed from her fingertips, illuminating silver strands thick as rope that crisscrossed every surface.

Both of their mouth opened wide with awe.

There, hundreds of dark spiders, each the size of a large cows were glued to the webs.

Their multiple eyes reflected the light like scattered obsidian, and their mandibles clicked in an ominously slow rhythm.

Their aura was very ominous and dark.

[ Void Spider ]

[ Level: 20 ]

Their levels were twice than Mariana.

Still, she was calm . “Level 20 swarm. The Queen must be deeper inside. Those are just the workers.”

Adonis then scanned the walls. Aether Silk gleamed in thick sheets, pulsing with faint blue-white veins.

They amount was enough to imprint the Ether Net ten times over.

“We need the silk from the upper layers,” he said to her. “The are very pure. But the Queen guards the heart chamber.”

Minos cracked her knuckles. “Do you have any plans?”

“Yes. You will distract the swarm, amd pull them outside into the ravine. Then I will slip in, harvest the silk, and meet you at a safer place.”

She tilted her head playfully, “You sure you don’t want the fun part?”

“No. I only want the silk.”

She grinned, showing all teeth. “Fine. But if the Queen shows up early, I’m blaming you.”

“Deal.”

Minos stepped forward.

Flash!

Her Sword, Astral Dominion materialized in her grip, emitting a bright starlight.

She slammed the flat of the blade against a support strand.

The webs sang like struck harp strings.

Every eye in the cave snapped toward them.

“Oi, ugly!” She shouted. “Come get some!”

The swarm were provoked by the daring intrusion at once.

Clatter, clatter, clatter…

Hundreds of spiders dropped from the ceiling, skittered across walls, poured toward the entrance in a black tide.

Minos laughed wildly and sprinted out through the waterfall, Astral Dominion flashing behind her like a comet tail.

Adonis waited for 3 second.

The cave was now emptied except for stragglers too slow to follow.

Taking the chance, he moved.

Whoosh!

He leaped onto a thick web strand with perfect balance.

The magical silk held his weight without tearing.

Next, he climbed toward the upper wall hand over hand, where the densest threads hung untouched.

Below, the skittering faded. Outside, Minos’s shouts echoed through the ravine.

“Come on! Is that all you’ve got? My grandmother moves faster than you all!”

Adonis laughed at her antiques, before reaching the first large sheet.

He summoned his Chaos Sword and channeled some Ether into it. As a result, it became incredibly sharp.

One precise cut, and the silk peeled away precisely.

He rolled it carefully, tucking the bundle into his cloth bag.

Second sheet. Third. Fourth.

He was sweating, despite his boundless stamina.

The mystical silk drank ambient Ether like a sponge. And every cut sent a faint vibration through his arms.

He was on the eighth sheet when the cave went unnaturally quiet.

No chittering noise. No wind howling through the entrance.

Then, a deep ancient voice echoed,

“Bearer of Taboo Physique, wait.”

Adonis froze, knife halfway through the silk.

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. It didn’t seem hostile, but also wasn’t friendly either. It was simply… ancient.

He turned slowly to look at a single massive eye opened in the deepest shadow of the ceiling, easily ten feet across, pupil slit like a cat’s, iris swirling with every color of void.

Adonis’ heart rate accelerated.

It had to be the Queen.

He didn’t realise she was there all this time. She had simply been there the entire time, just watching.

She was terrifyingly powerful. Not even System showed her infor.

Adonis lowered the knife but did not dismiss the Chaotic Harem Sword.

“You can speak now?” he said calmly.

“No. I was observing you since you crossed the waterfall. Your aura, it reeks of Chaos. Taboo. Forbidden. Yet you did not attack my children wantonly. I am curious why you did that.”

Adonis tilted his head. “I am just here for the silk. Not corpses.”

“But, most humans take both.”

“I’m not one of those humans.”

The eye narrowed, “How odd! The mark of the Chaos follows you like shadows. It is ancient. It is Dangerous. Even I feel an unease.”

Adonis smiled faintly. “I am flattered.”

“Do not mock me, child. I have guarded this nest for 3 centuries. I know power when I see it. And I know greed.”

She shifted her position a little and the entire cave trembled.

Following that, the Webs shook as well..

“I know why came here. You seek the silk to forge an Ether Net following a lost technique. One that would make Ether dance to your will like obedient flame. Am I correct?”

Adonis’s smile disappeared. “How do you know that technique? Its from Age of Gods.”

“Its because I met some people like you. They came here long ago. Unlike you, they were arrogant and greedy. Some died screaming when the Net rejected their vessels. Some barely succeded. ”

Adonis pondered seriously. “So there are some people who knows the lost mechanisms? Who could they be?”

Adonis stepped onto a higher thread, bringing himself level with the eye.

“My Queen, then you should know why I need the purest silk.”

The Queen’s pupil contracted. “Yes. And I know you will die if you fail. But I also know you will succeed where they failed, because your Physique was born of Chaos itself. My Sillk will not reject you. It will embrace you. And that terrifies me.”

Silence ensued for a few seconds.

Adonis spoke then, “Are you going to stop me?”

“I am considering it.”

“Buzz!”

He raised the Chaotic Harem Sword. Its chaotic Violet-black light buzzed along the edge.

“I was trying to avoid that.”

The Queen laughed in rumble like thunder.

“Bold. I like bold. Very well. Take your silk. But know this, Chaos King: every strand you cut binds you tighter to Chaos. One day it will demand payment. And when that day comes, even I will not envy you.”

Adonis seemed unbothered as he replied, “I’ll pay whatever it asks.”

The eye closed slowly.

“Then go. Before I change my mind.”

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