Chapter 1014: The effective way -3
An entire day later-
Whoosh
Keri launched forward with all her might. Her power as a mid-level martial empress caused the ground to bend dozens of meters under her feet with each step.
Rustle Rustle
The dense forest and the small creatures resembling eight-legged lizards and felines of various sizes and shapes couldn't slow Keri down in the slightest. In fact, it was noticed that some plants with simple awareness moved out of their way in fear of being crushed!
After reaching a particularly dark and tangled spot, she stopped for a moment, scanning her surroundings carefully, then shouted loudly:
"The happy cat doesn't live long in the jungle!"
She then hugged herself and closed her eyes.
Hummm The ground beneath her feet split open and swallowed her whole, then with another Hummm, it closed again, and the forest returned to its complete silence.
Whoosh Keri felt her surroundings shift rapidly, the air lifting her short hair upwards. She was falling fast, through a very narrow space that barely fit one person, so tight she could almost smell the dirt brushing against her nose!
After a few seconds of free fall, Keri's feet finally hit the ground with a Bang. She opened her eyes and began walking forward confidently.
"I'm back."
What Keri opened her eyes to was a massive underground cavern. As far as the eye could see, there were numerous single-story houses made of mud bricks and narrow streets where barely two people could pass side by side. The only dim light illuminating the place came from "stars" on the cavern ceiling, but upon closer inspection, it was clear they were large glowing insects!
"Big Sister Keri!"
"Leader Keri has finally returned!"
Several children with furry ears and chubby paws ran toward her, arms open and beaming with joy. Following them came several elderly individuals, and soon a group of eager young adults appeared. Though Keri had just arrived, hundreds of people of different ages were already gathered before her.
But Keri did not rejoice at this sight. All she did was nod and pat the children's heads. What she saw now was the result of cramming their relatively large numbers into a confined space. No matter how big the cavern was, they had been hiding in it for hundreds of years, and it had become too small for them. Yet finding other suitable hiding places had not been an easy task.
"Captain, have we won yet?!" One young man's eyes sparkled, and the rest fell silent, waiting for her response.
Weeks ago, Keri and several fighters had left to try to reclaim the planet after intelligence reported that the Marshal had departed. This was the first time she had returned.
"We're very close," Keri replied in a way that didn't satisfy many, but she didn't elaborate further. She left them and walked away.
Creak In the middle of the cavern, Keri found a house that looked no different from the surrounding filthy homes. She opened its door slowly.
"My queen... Mother, I'm back!"
"...Keri, is that really you?"
There was only one person inside the house: an elderly half-cat woman, extremely frail, sitting on a broken chair in the center of a large room. Upon hearing her daughter's voice, she barely managed to move her hand toward the door to touch her daughter, but she couldn't lift a finger. Her hollow white eyes spoke volumes about the state of her vision as well.
"Yes... yes, it's me."
Keri took a few steps forward, knelt before her mother, and licked both her hands. A stream of tears poured from her eyes, tears she couldn't hold back.
Although this wasn't the first time she'd seen her mother in such a state, she cried every time. This woman had once been of great renown- she was Queen Tao.
Years ago, when Keri's grandmother died, her mother was the youngest of her siblings, just a small child unable to do anything about the unfolding events. She had no faction of her own, while the others each insisted on becoming the new leader, busying themselves with their own internal and external agendas alongside their small bands of followers.
It wasn't until this small girl grew up and gained strength that she was able to subjugate the Kingdom of the Sad Night Cats once again, uniting them under Queen Tao's banner to stand against the greedy invaders.
But alas, soon after achieving this, Zanox struck again, orchestrating a second plot that destroyed the kingdom's cities and spilled the blood of millions of innocents.
On that day, Queen Tao led all her remaining soldiers into the Valley of Darkness and attacked Zanox with a heart devoid of hope. The battle was a face-to-face confrontation; neither she nor her followers intended to return alive.
However, Zanox had no intention of engaging in a fight to the death. After exhausting her army through continuous withdrawals, he managed to isolate Queen Tao from her forces and attacked her with several of his generals. By the time her army caught up to her and managed to drive Zanox and his followers away, they found her on the brink of death.
Her energy gathering center was destroyed, and scattered injuries across her spirit domain rendered her nearly lifeless. Anyone else would have died instantly, but she clung to life, screaming in rage and fury. Yet, her anger toward Marshal Zanox did not heal her, and they had no means to cure her. She became what she was now.
The only reason the remnants of the Kingdom of the Sad Night Cats agreed to give her all kinds of life-extending resources was because her daughter, Keri, had already been recognized for her talent. To this day, she is their crown princess and their unofficial queen. "You've returned early, my daughter... Are you done? Have you killed Zanox's followers?"
The elderly Queen Tao tried to speak, but her toothless mouth made her words hard to understand.
"We're getting close, Mother. Unexpected issues arose, and new invaders appeared. But they're a group of fools-we killed their leader easily. I've come to seek your permission to issue a general mobilization order. We need to gather our entire army and wipe out all the invaders in one swift strike."
Keri's eyes gleamed with intent to kill.
"Well done. That's how you deal with greedy invaders-by using their own methods."
Oddly, Queen Tao's hollow eyes gleamed with an even darker killing intent.
"Do it... You have the queen's blessing. Take the royal seals and send them to all the clans, commanding them to send their full forces here within three days at most... Any tribe that refuses to comply-my blessing is yours to kill them all."
"..." Keri nodded firmly, her eyes resolute, then turned and left the house with the utmost
respect.
Of course, she didn't actually need permission; the royal seals were already in her possession. No one acknowledged Queen Tao's authority anymore. Keri was their current ruler, though she refused to take the title. She merely wanted her mother to feel that she was still alive, with a voice and influence.
"..." Queen Tao lowered her head once more, returning to a state of profound silence, crushing loneliness, and excruciating pain. The only thing that gave her the strength to endure this torment was her desire to see the day when Zanox was killed and the blood of the Great Serpent Empire's soldiers drenched the earth!
But the silence didn't last long.
At that moment, she heard a voice as if it came from beneath the ground:
"Oh, that was touching, I almost cried..."
"Who?!" Queen Tao whipped her head around in terror, but then-
"Aah-!"
The ground split open and swallowed her whole, then it closed slowly, her voice along with
her week body, sealed underground.