Chapter 99: Veil of Abyss
He swiftly entered the room whose gate the spider had been guarding. The moment he entered, he found that he was right. In the room, there were at least two hundred eggs neatly arranged in rows.
The rest of the tribe members also entered the room, and they too were astonished by the sheer number of potential monsters they would have to face. When they gazed at the eggs, their initial thought was to destroy them, but stopped themselves when they noticed Thala was doing nothing and was just standing there thinking...
"From the looks of it, the eggs should probably hatch within a week. I don’t think we could eat these but the guardians of his majesty are monsters as well, which means they could consume these eggs as a food source," he thought, considering the potential use of the eggs instead of just destroying them.
He promptly shared his idea with the group, and everyone was in support of it. He left them behind to guard the eggs and made his way out of the prison to inform his majesty about the entire incident.
While exiting, he encountered Kairo, Jawari, and Esha, the ones who had remained outside. He instructed them to head towards the eggs as well.
After walking for another two or three minutes, he exited the prison and started searching for Dhruv. He soon located Dhruv, who was once again deeply immersed in his training. Even though Dhruv had previously mentioned that he could be informed of anything during his training, he hesitated to disturb him.
Thala quickly devised an alternative plan and set out in search of Azarex. After finding Azarex he told everything to him and about the potential use of the egg.
"Very wise of you not to disturb the master for this minor task. Let me call Alaric, and then we can go and investigate these eggs of yours," Azarex remarked.
After Azarex spoke, he remained still for a moment as if he was calling someone and not long after that a creature began to materialize in front of them.
When he noticed the arrival of Alaric, Thala quickly bowed to him. After Azarex had finished explaining everything, the three of them started making their way towards the eggs.
After walking for another five minutes, they finally reached the location of the eggs. Seeing Azarex and Alaric, the rest of the tribe members also bowed.
Looking at the eggs, Azarex asked, "Is this the only cluster, or have you perhaps found many of them?"
After hearing the question, everyone exchanged glances, contemplating who would respond. To their relief, Thala stepped forward and replied,
"This is the only cluster we have found, but I suspect that there might be more of these," Thala conveyed.
"Reasons for your suspicion?" Alaric asked as he carefully examined one of the eggs.
Thala had anticipated this question because if he were in their place, he would have asked the same thing. However, he had also prepared an answer to the question.
"Because if there weren’t any more of them, then the spider would probably not have allowed us to trap her in this place. She should have made every effort to divert us as far away from the eggs as possible," Thala explained.
"Hmm," Alaric was satisfied with their answer. He then turned to Azarex and instructed him, "Bring some of your spider-type undead creatures here to guard the eggs."
Azarex silently nodded in response to the suggestion. He paused for a moment to command his undead to come to this location and clear the area while ensuring the protection of the eggs.
When Azrex had finished his command, Thala directed the group to advance towards a route they hadn’t explored yet. During their journey, they stumbled upon two table, which was made out of wood.
"Wood," Selena exclaimed as she gazed at the wooden tables. She quickly suggested that they should bring the wood out of the prison.
The group had no objections to her request, so they allowed Selena and Aelios to go retrieve the tables. Each of them carried one table in their hands. After traveling for a while, Selena looked back and realized they had moved out of the group’s radius. She glanced at Aelios and said,
"My goodness, the guardians of his majesty are truly scary,"
"Pfft! So, that’s why you were so eager to get out of prison. I thought you weren’t afraid of anything," Aelios teased her.
...
Meanwhile, the group continued walking in the hopes of encountering another monster. As they turned a corner, their luck finally seemed to shine, as they came across the remnants of some webs...
The moment Alaric noticed the webs, he swiftly instructed, "Stay right beside me."
He started moving toward the webs, and after a minute of traveling, the monster finally dared to reveal itself by launching an attack with a ball of venom.
Alaric didn’t even break his focus, and a shield materialized in the path of the venom, effectively blocking it. The shield’s diameter was precisely matched to the venom, so he didn’t waste any mana. Alaric signaled everyone to halt in their tracks and spoke with a calm expression,
"Veil of Abyss."
Then... there was no then, In an instant, all that surrounded them plunged into an abyss of darkness. The entire world succumbed to this inky void, leaving nothing but an impenetrable shroud of obscurity as far as the eye could fathom. This ominous veil of abyss covered the world for a mere five seconds before reluctantly receding to its origin.
"She is dead," Alaric announced, "Azarex, instruct the undead to come here as well. The eggs are just ahead of us."
"Dead." Thala and the group finally emerged from what felt like a nightmare after hearing that word. Their scalps were covered in sweat, and each one of them was trembling from the tension and fear they had experienced.
’...W- What w.. was that ’ Thala couldn’t help but shudder when he recalled the scene. He remembered how he felt like he was trapped in that world of nothingness for eternity and not just five seconds.
"Let’s move to the next area," he heard Alaric’s voice, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t look at Alaric the same way as before. The experience had left a deep and indelible mark on him which he was sure he wasn’t going to forget.
