“Spider Queen.” Qianye glanced down at his body instead of looking up. Several threads of translucent silver had wrapped around him and Little Zhuji at some point. These unassuming spider webs had actually dragged them out of Spatial Flash.
When looking up afterward, he saw a faintly discernible projection in the sky.
The Spider Queen was in her human form, gazing down at the world with pupil-less silver eyes. Although she could be described as beautiful, no spectator would be in the mood to admire her beauty. Even as a projection, that ten-meter frame of hers was constantly emitting suppressive might even more terrifying than the physically present Noxus.
“Who would’ve thought even you would appear? Looks like I’m far more valuable than I had anticipated,” said Qianye.
The Spider Queen said, “Your value is immeasurable to the Demon King, but there’s something even more important to me. If you cooperate, I’ll let you live.”
Qianye wasn’t intimidated by the Spider Queen’s presence. He looked up into the beautiful lady’s eyes, saying, “You’re only here as a projection. It won’t be that easy to kill me.”
With that, a coat of feathers appeared around Qianye and dissolved the sticky spider webs.
The Spider Queen smiled. “It’s a good thing for the young to be brave, but all I need to do is lock down your Spatial Flash. If we get into a serious fight, Noxus will do most of the heavy lifting. Besides, that girl won’t be able to escape even if you can.”
Qianye’s heart sank as he subconsciously hugged Zhuji tightly. He had already discovered that he could only clear the webs around himself and not Zhuji. He might be able to flee with Spatial Flash, but the girl wouldn’t be able to.
Watching Qianye’s expression, the Spider Queen laughed. “Don’t be so nervous. The Demon King wants the Book of Darkness, but I have no interest in it at all. I used a projection and came here not to kill you but to work with you. Of course, I will also express my sincerity before we discuss.”
“Discuss? Sincerity?” Qianye frowned ever so slightly.
“Precisely.” The Spider Queen flicked a finger, shooting out several webs at lightning speed. In the blink of an eye, they pierced into the bodies of the Secret Sword Emissaries who were still alive.
Once the webs had pierced their bodies, the sword emissaries lost control of their origin power and blew up one after another. There wasn’t even a corpse left behind.
“Now that the troublesome fellows are gone, we can get down to business.” The Spider Queen raised her hand gently, drawing Little Zhuji into her grasp.
Qianye panicked as his arms felt lighter. A radiance flickered behind him as Dragonsgrave and the azure blade appeared in each of his hands, yet he didn’t dare to attack for fear of hurting the girl.
He could only watch as Zhuji clawed at the giant projection like a little kitten, growling in menace.
The Spider Queen watched her with great interest, and Noxus’ eyes also lit up. As someone from the arachne race, not being suppressed by the Spider Queen’s aura meant that her bloodline was undoubtedly powerful.
“I’m Zhuji! Let me tell you, if you bully me and my papa, I’ll…” Zhuji bared a mouthful of steely fangs.
“How is biting better than poison?” The Spider Queen pointed out with a smile.
Zhuji glanced at her and then at Noxus. “It’s useless against you, also useless against him.”
“How sharp,” the Spider Queen praised. She then shot out a spider web and asked, “Can you use this?”
Zhuji looked a bit puzzled. She tried fl.i.c.k.i.n.g her fingers after a good while, but what she shot out wasn’t a spider web but instead a sanguine thread.
It wasn't just the Spider Queen and Noxus, even Qianye was surprised. This little girl didn’t just shoot out any blood-colored thread—it contained the power of Life Plunder, a top-grade vampire talent.
Noxus’ brows locked into a frown, while the Spider Queen gazed deeply at Zhuji. Her gaze pierced through her body and saw through everything.
Moments later, she said, “She has the bloodline of an ancient vampire, but her body is of our arachne race. Strange, how can two races merge together?”
Noxus was delightfully surprised as he listened. All was good as long as the lass was an arachne. A power like her ancient vampire bloodline only served as welcome additions to her arsenal. There was no such thing as too many powers like Life Plunder.
The Spider Queen seemed to have discarded her doubts as well. The question of bloodline fusion would not yield an answer even in several hundred years, especially since the ancient vampire bloodline only remained in Lilith and some old great dark monarchs and princes.
All of them, with the exception of the Queen, were so old that they could only remain in slumber. After the recent calamity that was the Demon King, no one could say how many of them were still alive.
The only exception was Nighteye and Qianye. Nighteye was an awakener, while Qianye’s bloodline had been a mystery all along.
The Spider Queen’s line of thought was the same as Noxus. As long as Little Zhuji was an arachne, she could ignore the other aspects. They might even gain some benefits from Lilith because of that vampire bloodline.
She glanced at Qianye and said, “Give her to me. An arachne has to be in the arachne nation to truly m.a.t.u.r.e.”
“No!!!” Little Zhuji struggled with even greater ferocity.
More and more silvery threads landed on her body as she moved, binding her tightly. The threads stretched and moved as she flailed about; it almost seemed like they were about to break.
The Spider Queen watched with an expression of praise. She shot out some more threads and bundled the girl into a cocoon. “She’ll follow me and learn the arachne race’s peerless secret arts. All resources at my disposal will be made available to her, realizing her talents to their maximum potential. She might even be able to approach the Sacred Mountain before long, and in the near future, there will be a seat for her at my side.”
Qianye seemed thoughtful and much calmer than before, but he didn’t retract his aggressive stance. “She’s already in your hands, why ask me?”
Qianye gazed at Little Zhuji with a sigh. “I don’t think I have a choice here.”
The Spider Queen said delightedly, “You won’t be disappointed.”
“No! I want to follow Papa!” the little lass roared and started biting through the spider webs.
The Spider Queen patted her head gently. “It’s not that he doesn’t want you. He has no other choice. He’s being hunted down by the demonkin, so you’ll only serve to slow him down.”
“You’re the ones hunting him down!”
The Spider Queen smiled. “That was the case, but not anymore.”
Noxus shrugged and put away his weapons. This was the first time he had seen the Spider Queen so patient. She was actually thinking from another person’s perspective and even explaining it to the girl.
Among the supremes of Evernight, Lilith was aloof and treated all life with contempt. The Spider Queen was known for being ruthless and merciless. Only the Demon King was gentle and more approachable.
Qianye suppressed the unwillingness in his heart. He knew this was the best outcome under the present circ.u.mstances. The vast power disparity aside, Zhuji would not have any secret arts to cultivate at his side. She was fighting out of instinct all this time. On the other hand, it wasn’t safe for her with the Demon King on his trail all the time.
These words seemed rather effective. The little lass glanced at Qianye and then back at the Spider Queen with a nod.
Delighted, the Spider Queen said, “I’ll start teaching you immediately once we return!”
“How long will it take for me to become powerful? Will three days do?” The little fellow glanced hopefully at the queen.
The Spider Queen was shaken, but her expression remained unchanged as she said, “Thirty years!”
This time, it was Noxus’ turn to be shaken. He almost slipped and fell after hearing Zhuji’s reply.
“Too long!”
The Spider Queen glanced at Qianye. “That’s not long at all. Rest assured, your papa won’t die even when the world is coming to an end.”
The girl was doubtful. “Really?”
“Of course.”
Qianye’s expression darkened. He felt that he had spoiled the girl too much; it wouldn’t be too bad to give her a bit of a spanking.
The Spider Queen left with Zhuji a while later.
She clearly attached great importance to the little girl. She would rather expend energy to maintain her projection than entrust the task to Noxus.
Qianye felt a bit relieved after seeing that the girl was being treated well.
Noxus didn’t leave with the Spider Queen. Instead, he tossed Qianye a case and said, “These are from my personal stash, perhaps they might come in handy.”
Qianye opened the container to find two origin bullets isolated from one another with origin power. One of them was a heavenly monarch bullet, while the other contained the power of a great dark monarch.
The great dark monarch bullet didn’t contain Noxus’ aura but some other unknown expert’s energy.
Since Qianye could channel both Evernight and daybreak powers, he could use both of these bullets. With such powerful ammunition, Dragonsgrave, and the Wings of Inception, Qianye could give the demonkin a big surprise—even if it were the Masefield Clan Lord coming after him.
Qianye picked up the box and said, “Then I’ll be taking this. There’s something else I wanted to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“How is the council tracking me?”
“Oh, that… the council’s head prophet, Prince Predica, is the one tracking you with prophecy. There are some ways you can escape the scrying…”
Next up, Noxus explained the principles of Evernight’s prophetic powers and how to avoid them, especially the tips and tricks regarding demonkin prophets. He explained things in great detail without hiding anything, even the secrets the arachne had learned about the demonkin.
The arachne race’s attitude toward Qianye shifted drastically after obtaining Zhuji. They were now in a neutral stance, and Noxus clearly didn’t want Qianye to fall into the demonkin’s hands. Regarding his intention to weaken the demonkin while helping Qianye, that was unavoidable.
Of course, there was no guarantee whether or not Qianye could utilize Noxus’ tips effectively. After all, it wasn’t that easy to escape a prophet. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have such a high position in the Evernight Council.
Especially Predica, who was known as the Prophet of Apocalypse, and had just gone through a second awakening. Noxus’ understanding of him was merely from their short interaction during this mission. This information was quite useful for Qianye. At the very least, he was now guarded against some of the demonkin’s strange abilities.
Qianye said after listening seriously, “It looks like I must thank you.”
Noxus said, “No need. We might be opponents in the future, but you’ve proven yourself as someone worthy of respect.”
Qianye smiled. “I actually want to prove I can defeat you.”
“Perhaps in the future but not now.”
“I’ll be leaving now, take care of Zhuji.”
“She’s called Zhuji, is she? Nice name.”
Qianye took to the air and flew off into the void. Noxus watched as Qianye’s figure vanished into the distance. Then, he finally went back to his fleet.
After entering the void, Qianye contacted the Martyr’s Palace and returned to the airship.
The Earth Dragon’s voice echoed. “Master, where to?”
“Serafis Continent.”
Serafis meant the “first descent of darkness” in the demonkin language, and it was one of their core territories.
