Chapter 164

"Since we haven't seen each other for a while, let me repeat the rules..." A clear female voice echoed in the large hall.

"First, do not spill tea while drinking it. Second, do not touch flowers while looking at them. Third, do not mess up the tidy room." Yak hesitated for a moment before saying, "Fourth, please pay attention to personal cleanliness and hygiene. Fifth, unless absolutely necessary, please keep a distance of three meters from me."

"...I'm surprised you still remember."

"You're really the only one among my friends who's a clean freak; it's hard not to remember you."

At that moment, Yak, sitting there, looked at the tea placed in front of him and smiled helplessly.

Kneeling on the ground was another person, a figure wrapped in a large white robe. Brown antlers perched atop her head, but her face was mostly covered by bandages, obscuring her eyes and forehead. Judging from the remaining half of her face, one could roughly determine that she was a beautiful girl.

However, as a monster, it's supposed to have an attractive body. Obviously, this isn't a normal human; it would be problematic if it weren't good-looking.

Beneath the white robe, the body was wrapped in bandages. Only the mouth and nose were exposed.

This is a house with a pure wooden structure, exceptionally tidy, with everything clearly categorized. In the valet room, Yak and she each occupy one end, with a tray of tea in front of them.

“You did manage to get a lot of tea.” Yak looked at the tea on the cabinet, which was a huge glass jar filled to the brim with green tea leaves.

“I have seeds, I grew them myself.” She paused and said, “The taste is probably not as good as what you buy from merchants in various places, but these are all we have here to serve you.”

“I think it’s great, really.” Acton paused and said, “You’ve carefully adjusted the flavor.”

“After all, I’ve had a long time to adjust its taste.” The girl paused. “Speaking of which, because I’ve been in the Chaos Region for so long, I’m now a bit osteoporotic and might not be able to lift the knife anymore.”

She stood up, turned around, and prepared to bow deeply to Yak before retreating to the back room.

"It is very impolite, but this outfit is really troublesome. If we are going to have a chat, I might consider changing into something that is easier to move in."

“You’ve also saved up a lot of clothes, just like the retirement life you wanted back then.” Acton paused. “You have an endless supply of tea leaves and plenty of clothes to change into.”

"Isn't it good? Why do I have to have some grand ambition? I think this is very simple. After all, I'm just an ordinary fairy deer, and I've never had any lofty aspirations." After she finished speaking, she was about to enter through the back door.

Ark hesitated as she looked at the things that had been hanging behind her: a greatsword and a longbow lying horizontally.

Those are two weapons passed down from ancient times, things that cannot be made. Even if a swordsmith makes a replica, it won't even have half the performance, and it's still a consumable item. The real ones can repair themselves even if damaged.

The reason why Ark is strictly forbidden from touching this thing is because he knows it can repair itself. The reason these two things are bandaged is because he broke them.

Although they were used to slay the demonic species, resolving the situation before the church could fully engage in its battle against the monsters, they ended it all in the simplest way possible—by eliminating the very cause of the whole mess—before it truly escalated into war.

But in Linas's view, it was Ark who ruined her most important possession. And ultimately, letting someone else use her things had reached the limit of her tolerance.

Not to mention it was even broken, or rather, it was stolen and used by someone else.

By the way, Lina is her name.

Speaking of which, are they repaired now? Ark was tempted to peel back the bandages and see what was inside.

How long does it take for a girl to change clothes? It seems like it takes quite a while. I should go check now...

You'll get killed.

Yak rested his head on his hand, thinking unwillingly, "If I push her too far and she uses her artifact, I'm definitely doomed."

So he could only sip his tea slowly until she came out of the room a few minutes later.

She changed into a relatively practical set of sportswear, which made it even more obvious that her whole body was wrapped in bandages.

“It’s beautiful,” Yak nodded in appreciation.

“You can’t see any of my body parts, so how can I be beautiful?” Linas said with a smile. “Perhaps you will be disappointed, but there is no beautiful body under my bandages. I’m just using them to cover up my ugliness.”

“But even so, you still have Denok completely infatuated with you.” Ark shrugged.

But right after he said that, Lina's lips twitched, and an invisible killing intent gathered around her.

However, the murderous aura disappeared after only half a minute, replaced by that familiar smile.

“Are you trying to provoke me?” Lina said softly. “I admit you’ve been very effective.”

"Ha, ha, don't want to talk about it?" It felt rather strange for Ark to say "ha" with his mouth open, because he was still expressionless. "That shouldn't be the case. He hoped to see you one last time until the very end."

It felt as if something was gripping Ark's shoulder tightly, leaving firm marks.

"Let's leave this topic here. Until now, I'm still prepared to be patient. After all, you're a benefactor to me." Her voice grew increasingly deep, more and more like a monster expressing its anger.

“Sorry, I went too far.” Ark shook his head, indicating that he had no intention of continuing to offend. “Then would you be interested in hearing my reasons for this?”

“Be careful, then I’ll be careful too. My eyes are covered now, so if I’m not careful, I might hit too hard.” Lina sighed, realizing that she was indeed angry.

I haven't gotten angry in a long time, after all, it's been a very long time since I've seen anyone here.

Seeing someone only once every few years, someone who was once a partner who had risked their life together, and then getting so angry upon meeting that they wanted to kill—that really made me feel like a vicious, murderous person.

"You just said you had osteoporosis and couldn't even lift a sword, but it seems you're still very strong."

"If you really intend to say it, then do it quickly and keep it brief."

After a moment of silence, Yak sighed helplessly.

"To put it simply, he came looking for you." Acton paused, "But judging from your reaction, he must be dead. I didn't see him on the way, so he must be dead."

"Is he dead?" Lina asked, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pretty much, it's practically suicide. He was planning to walk directly from that city to Lingsen." Acton paused. "He definitely died on the way. I think you have reason to know about his death."

“I understand now.” Linas walked to the cabinet next to her and took out some more tea from the tea canister. “I think this is a good thing to have a drink. I need some wine now. Did you bring any? I’ll buy some.”

“I’ve kept it. It wasn’t for you, but I do have some wine.” Acton paused. “I’ll find you a good drinking buddy later… Do you hate him that much? At least nominally, he’s your husband.”

"Let's leave this topic here; I don't want to dwell on it any longer."

“Okay.” Yak finished the last bit of tea and looked outside.

It was a fairly pretty and tidy garden, but this place was still a chaotic region, making it very difficult to cultivate plants.

However, through another visual perspective, it becomes clear that these plants are essentially monsters.

"Speaking of which, this place is so well hidden, where did you get your food from?"

"Monsters do not need to eat."

"Still a fasting person, huh? I'd forgotten about it after so long."

"At least I have tea to drink."

......

A black shadow moved through the giant vines and finally stopped at the top.

Chris looked around and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he was the only one there.

Although he was a little embarrassed to say it, he really needed to go outside here to replenish his magic. These trees absorbed a lot of magic, and he could only recover a very small amount of magic each day in this place where elves lived.

Therefore, if he wants to quickly recover his depleted magic power, he must go outside here. And as the Elf King said, he needs to increase his size.

Since her true form had already transformed into human shape, there was no way to change that. Therefore, she could only learn from his dwelling place and use the spider webs connected to her to expand the area for absorbing magic power in order to accelerate her recovery.

Leaving now is obviously not a good idea, so we have to get as close to the outside as possible. Besides, there are tall trees everywhere that can be used as support, so it doesn't seem like a problem to spread out a spider web here.

However, it's best not to be seen by anyone.

White spider webs shot out in all directions, leaving white threads on all the visible trees.

Unlike the usual ones, this spider web is very fragile. If it's purely for absorbing magic power, then it's easy to retrieve later and consumes less energy.

In just an instant, the once clean rooftop was quickly stained with a white plague, and the surrounding area within several hundred meters was covered with fine gauze.

The little spider breathed a sigh of relief and slowly closed its eyes. Its four spider legs waved around it for a moment before it got covered in webs.

He slowly closed his eyes, and his long-standing fatigue finally began to subside.

Sleeping and eating can actually restore magic power, but the amount is very small for him.

His total magical power was too great, while the volume of magical power he absorbed was too small. It would take decades to fully recover normally, and even maintaining this state would take several years.

The reason why spiders, as monsters, must form spider nests to increase their size by thousands or even tens of thousands of times after becoming a calamity is that, although maintaining this size consumes more magic power, they can also obtain a larger amount of magic power to replenish the consumed magic power.

They can also use this magic to condense food for monsters to feed their own kind.

Logically, according to the habits of this species, the little spider should now leave the human population and find a dangerous yet relatively safe place. Then it should spin a cocoon, transforming into a giant spider nest, allowing the chaotic magic to transform into chaotic monsters within the web, all of which will be gestating within its parts.

"Um, I can..." Noni said, pulling up a piece of spider web and looking at the white silk with her small blue eyes, her heart fluttering.

A portion of a Chaos Cataclysm's domain used to replenish magic power is even more effective for an ordinary monster, or rather, a weakling, than a regular magic core.

"It's fine to eat, but I'm really sorry if it doesn't taste good." The little spider looked at Noni. This little guy was usually just a black ball, and he hadn't even noticed that Noni had turned into a piece of candy in his pocket.

But thinking about it, why would I carry candy in my pocket?

"Happy!" Noni shouted, then began to eat the spider webs in large bites.

However, as soon as it finishes eating, new areas will be covered by the spreading spider silk, so the amount it can eat is still very small.

He was feeling a bit drowsy. The problem was that his spider silk could only serve one function, such as protection as clothing, sensing for alerting, and now, energy transfer.

This is a relatively safe place, so there is no need for protection.

The little spider thought this to itself, its eyes tightly closed.

Then it suddenly opened, its eyes turning pitch black, with red lines converging towards its purple pupils.

It's not safe.

He grabbed Noni and vanished into the white spiderweb in an instant.

"My lord?" Noni looked at the little spider hiding in the grass with a blank expression. It was curled up in a ball, and its spider legs had disappeared.

This is so that the little spider can completely eliminate its presence; it cannot yet ensure that it remains unnoticed by anyone when releasing its spider legs.

*Don't make a sound.

These are words transmitted directly into his mind through consciousness; if spoken aloud, they would be noticed by someone with highly sensitive senses.

Noni hesitated for a moment, then transformed into a bracelet on the little spider's wrist.

The little spider breathed a sigh of relief, but felt a deep sense of self-reproach.

It's my own fault; I went too far without realizing it.

The entire sky was covered in white spider silk; everywhere you could see and notice was covered in white spider silk, blotting out the sun.

That's gone too far.

It pressed its hand to its chest and coughed violently.

This only made her weaker; her already meager magic power was now even more depleted.

But we can't show anything unusual right now, because something incredibly powerful is right outside.

There's no need to think too much about why it came about; it's simply because the sky has turned white. The white silken curtain should be cut down; it's useless except for being an eyesore.

It's something condensed from one's own magic power; if you pay attention, it's easy to find yourself. To monsters, it's as easily identifiable as their scent.

The atmosphere outside was very quiet, so quiet that it was as if nothing was there.

But in this quiet place, at least two terrifying things exist.