SWNOVELXO Chapter 285: X really did mark the spot
Moments later, Delilah's voice rang out from atop the Four-Winged Blood Bat.
"Rayden, you can let go. I've tamed it!"
Thunderhawk Rayden didn't release its grip right away. Only after the Four-Winged Blood Bat pulled its own claws free did Rayden grudgingly loosen its talons and beak.
To be fair, it hadn't gained much of an advantage in this aerial battle. A nearby swarm of invisible butterflies was waiting to launch a fatal strike at any moment, so part of Rayden's focus had remained on them.
Still, once Delilah subdued the Four-Winged Blood Bat, Rayden ignored its wounds and let out an excited series of chirps before bolting off toward the invisible butterflies, which had just escaped the arrow tower's firing range.
Delilah, handling her first tamed flying mount, hesitated for a second. But the instant she saw Thunderhawk Rayden dive, she urged the Four-Winged Blood Bat to chase after it.
However, the invisible butterflies were cunning. After leaving the arrow tower's kill zone, they paid no attention to the thunderhawk or the Four-Winged Blood Bat, fleeing instead into the depths of the dark countryside.
Meanwhile, at low altitude, the Enchanted Butterfly still tangled in battle with Lilith suddenly slammed into her, then used the force of its backward push to flee the scene as well.
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On the city wall, Lysinthia, who'd been fixed on a shadowy corner, abruptly furrowed her brow and gave a soft "huh."
"What is it? Something up?" Slagor, who was quite jumpy about staying alive, had most of his attention on Lysinthia and the butterfly-assassin, even while scanning the battlefield.
"Mm. That butterfly-assassin seems to have left."
"Seriously?"
"I'm not sure. From what I can sense, it's gone."
"You mean, it could be using some kind of hidden skill that even you can't detect?"
"Yeah, it's possible."
Lysinthia's expression grew grim. She retracted her sword, adopting a guarded stance. Seeing this, Slagor didn't dare relax, summoning a watery shield around himself.
But nothing happened, no sudden attacks. The threat on the city wall never materialized.
Outside the city, a fierce clash still raged. The tentacle monster and the eight-armed Night Stalkers cried out in misery before each was cut down, lifting the siege on Blackstone City for now.
Even so, regular dark creatures still swarmed the walls, so the horde bloodline warriors weren't letting up.
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While Blackstone City was locked in that struggle, the underground fissure battle was winding down.
On the surface, this was because the spider population near the crevasse was huge, plus Rockwell and Thundar's strength presented a serious threat.
Another big factor was that no Alpha-level subterranean creature emerged from the bottomless abyss—there was no real leader among them.
Deep down, however, the real reason was that after the last dark creature invasion, Lilith had placed the pink seed in an ice coffin. The strange fragrance wafting throughout Blackstone City had been fading ever since.
"Looks like the numbers of those underground beasts are dropping so fast that we don't even need to lift a finger anymore!"
Rockwell and Thundar stood by the bottomless abyss, listening to the screeches and howls of the subterranean creatures and little spiders tearing each other apart. They wore expressions of cool indifference.
"The more they wipe each other out, the better. Once those creeps are all gone, whatever's down there will be paradise for us."
Rockwell, who'd been standing guard from the start, knew quite a bit. Orion hadn't always bothered to keep him in the dark.
"Rockwell, are you saying that down there…" Thundar turned, looking spooked by what seemed like a pretty big revelation.
"It's a safe haven our mighty Lord discovered for us. But I won't lie to you, it's a nasty environment, and it won't be easy to survive."
He nodded toward the bottomless abyss. "And as you can see, a whole bunch of subterranean monsters are living down there."
...
"Down there belongs to me, too!" Spider Queen Lorelia called out, scuttling to the edge of the abyss while joining the conversation with a playful tone.
"I've got lots of my kids already building nests below. Soon as Master agrees, I can head down there and take a look! But from the looks of it, it's still pretty dangerous."
Rockwell and Thundar kept quiet, guessing at what truly lay behind that seemingly endless pit—and feeling a sense of awe at Orion's foresight.
---
The bottomless abyss stretched downward into the underworld.
At the moment, no more monsters appeared near the passage. Clymene and five giant elders rested near the arrow tower, absorbing the aura of death that lingered there.
"Those damned subterranean creeps, you barely see them around most of the time, but now they suddenly swarm up like crazy!" grumbled Vargrum. He'd picked up a few injuries in the earlier fighting, and some broken bones to boot.
"Clymene, should we send a few little spiders up top for intel?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling uneasy without any word on whether Blackstone City's okay."
Clymene didn't answer right away. She just shook her head, her expression serious.
"Elders, right now, Orion is the one commanding the horde. We need to trust him. My brother is a lord, and our worrying is unnecessary."
Her tone was both low-pitched and proud.
"Our job at the moment is to explore this underworld and claim it as new territory for our tribe."
That declaration made the five giant elders realize X really did mark the spot.
"So everything we're doing now is for Orion?" Mordak, Zorn, Balgor, and Grendel murmured, and the mood suddenly grew heavy.
"In a way, yeah. But it's also for our old tribe and for the strongest horde we hope to become," Clymene said, giving them a meaningful look.
"I figure we've still got years—hundreds, maybe thousands—to live in our current state, and our power will only get stronger."
Once again, Clymene spoke, drawing the attention of all five elders.
"You'll all reach Alpha-level eventually!"
Clymene tapped her own breast, then pointed at the other five elders.
"Once you all advance to Alpha-level, do you really think Orion will let us stay down here? Besides, the death energy here is bound to get thinner over time, and when that happens, this place won't be suitable for us anymore."
Clymene lifted her gaze toward the underground passage. Through the darkness, it was as if she could see the young giantlings playing around in their tents, the bloodline warriors just rotated off duty from the city walls, and even her brother Orion himself.
After a moment, Clymene looked away and glanced at each of her five subordinates in turn.
"Orion has opened a far bigger door for us. All we need to do is wait."
Clymene knew that while these five giant elders explored the underworld, their hearts were growing restless. She sensed it, as an Alpha-level Shade Valkyrie.
"When I was little, my mother taught me a saying: 'If you can pick it up, you must also be able to put it down.' I used to be the giant chieftain, but that honor now belongs to Orion. He's done far better at it than I ever did, and now he's our lord."
"So as for your identities as giants, it's time to let them go."
In a strange way, this was a shift in mindset. Because Clymene was Alpha-level, she could sense certain things on a deeper level.
Vargrum, Mordak, Zorn, Balgor, and Grendel—these five Skeletal Knights—had to shake off their old selves. Otherwise, they'd never break into Alpha-level or grasp the unique powers reserved for Skeletal Knights.
"We should head to that portal area now!"
Clymene stopped trying to persuade them. Some truths needed only a gentle nudge. Whether they could truly let go and gain new insight was up to their own wisdom. She grabbed the warhammer Orion had given her and started walking deeper into the underworld.
The five giant elders stayed where they were, leaning against the arrow tower in silent thought.
…
The void passage fell completely quiet. Sophia didn't show again.
Orion remained on alert at first, then gradually relaxed and withdrew a portion of the supernatural power crowding the passage.
As that force receded, the void passage exuded a boundless, solemn presence that captured Orion's attention. Inside, a membrane-like layer—transparent as glass—stretched from the other world to Orion's.
The sight overwhelmed him. Whenever he concentrated on that membrane, he seemed to hear a chorus of foreign voices praying, along with countless demon deities whispering and snarling.
"So this is the rule-based power of a deity?"
Getting no real result, Orion withdrew his focus. Muttering quietly, he returned part of his mind to the Survivor's Platform.
He had questions.
Hulk: "Everyone, why doesn't anyone sell 'World essence' on the Survivor's Platform?"
This had bothered Orion ever since he got his first dark source crystal. After learning that a dark source crystal was essentially one manifestation of World essence, he'd been really curious.
By all logic, there should be plenty of such items—surely the Emerald Dream Realm and Titanion Realm weren't the only two realms locked in divine war.
Leonidas: "It's not that nobody's selling it. You just don't have permission to see those listings."
Hulk: "No permission? The Survivor's Platform has permission settings?"
Orion was stunned. That revelation made him suspect his own Survivor's Platform might differ from others'. Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire
Arthas: "Demigod-level and above enjoy certain special privileges."
Arthas added this comment when he saw Orion's message.
Leonidas: "As for what those privileges are, don't ask. We'd like to know too."
Reading Leonidas's message, Orion deleted the query he'd been typing.
Arthas: "Basically, if someone puts an item containing World essence up for sale, anyone below demigod-level can't even see the listing."
Arthas: "Of course, crystal cores are an exception, since they're a common commodity!"
Arthas: "And that's the real reason crystal cores can serve as a stand-in currency."
Orion frowned, deep in thought. He picked out one key detail from Arthas's explanation: evidently, compared to crystal cores, dark source crystals were far more valuable.
Why more valuable? Because a dark source crystal can directly boost your power, whereas a crystal core requires all sorts of secret techniques to extract energy. That was Orion's best guess.
Leonidas: "Enough talk about World essence. Once you're around it long enough, you'll figure out why it's special."
Leonidas: "You all seem a little too idle. Any interest in joining me for an invasion on a land forsaken by the gods?"
All at once, his message silenced the Champions Alliance channel. Neither Orion nor Arthas said a word.
…
Necro Realm, Bone Throne.
Arthas abruptly sat up, his hollow black eye sockets emitting a profound aura.
"What are you planning?"
He sent a private message to Leonidas.
"Heh heh heh… I discovered a godforsaken land. The strongest presence there is only a veteran Legendary-level entity. With you and me teamed up, we should be able to wipe them out and raze that place entirely. We might even refine part of its world core. So, how about it, you undead skeleton—interested?"
Arthas wanted that world core badly, but he remained silent.
"So why bring Hulk along?" he finally asked. "He's still only at Legendary-level. Running into an arch lord could be lethal."
"Hah! Seriously, you think someone who can kill Legendary-level creatures while only Alpha-level is weak? Besides, Hulk can build territory. Aren't you the slightest bit curious about what this Hulk can really do? Don't forget, you're the one who told me about his feats. Don't pretend you were lying."
Arthas gave no response, popping a crystal core into his mouth and chewing. When he was done, he messaged Leonidas once more.
"You think he'll agree to this?"
Leonidas's reply came immediately, and it was downright cheeky.
"If he's in, great. If he's not, who cares? Question is, are you in or out? Besides, pushing someone into things is basically your specialty, right?"
Done reading, Arthas ignored Leonidas and returned to the Champions Alliance channel to speak again.