Chapter 14 - Queen Dra'Webra.
Suddenly, an enticing melodious voice resonated from above, calming the agitated army of spiders.
As the noise died out, the voice owner moved past the dim light, casting a horrific shadow of a humongous Queen Spider tiptoeing on a complicated web.
But then, a single web line fell from the ceiling and what came down wasn't the giant horrific spider Queen. But, a stunning blue-skinned curvy humanoid female with violet wavy hair, two dark red eyes, and smooth violet fur covering her private parts.
If one looked at her from the front, they would be absolutely smitten as no monstrous qualities were displaced.
However, the moment they looked at her back, their hearts would be chilled at the size of her abdomen attached to her tailbone.
As Queen Dra'Webra sat in midair, crossing her muscular lean legs, another telepathic message resounded in her mind...This time, the voice was rough and rugged.
'Queen Dra'Webra, everything is going according to the plan. The Daywalkers will reach the Harrowing Forest in less than an hour.'
'How about those early vermins, and especially the red haired girl? Have they perished yet?'
'No, they have already reached the center of the forest. Our ambushes fail every time like they have a great detection skill.'
Queen Dra'Webra frowned in displeasure.
Seemingly sensing her dissatisfaction, the messenger hastily tried to appease her.
'My Queen, I will make sure they will be the first to die. We will move once the forest is sealed. No one and nothing will ruin your precious feast.'
'Nel'Vass, words mean nothing to me.' Queen Dra'Webra uttered icily, 'Bring me results, or you will be the appetizer to my children.'
'Understood...'
Meanwhile, at the depths of the fallen Shadow Castle nest, a devilish humanoid goat with two curvy horns and a long shadowy goatee was seen sitting on a chair made out of rocks.
He was tapping his finger on the armchair with an irked expression.
'Dra'Webra is merciless and loyal only to her hunger. She didn't hesitate to weaken my Lord's nest and leak the information to the humans just to bait the follow-up Daywalker cleaners and feast on them.' He thought to himself, cold sweat covering his back.
'She is a true demon and if I were to mess up her feast, she won't hesitate to eat my crystallized seed.'
Nel'Vass was the only surviving intelligent Tier 3 nightcrawler from the Shadow Castle nest. He didn't survive because he was lucky, he betrayed his own nest after watching with his own eyes how Queen Dra'Webra manhandled his Lord.
In the world of nightcrawlers, there was no such thing as ultimate loyalty, only fear and respect for absolute strength.
The moment Nel'Vass saw what happened to his Lord, his respect turned into scorn, and he didn't hesitate to jump boats.
While this had saved him from falling with the nest, his treatment under Queen Dra'Webra was even worse than a Tier 1 nightcrawler.
That's because Queen Dra'Webra wasn't following the same nesting system as other nightcrawlers, where the nightcrawler's tier and his achievements defined his hierarchy standing within the nest.
She was considered a Lurker Nightcrawler, who hunted after both humans and nightcrawlers to fulfill her hunger, evolution, and her children's endless appetite.
In other words, Nel'Vass understood that his worth in her eyes was next to nothing unless he proved himself.
'F*ck, if I can't even take out a bunch of kids, I might as well commit suicide.' Nel'Vass' expression turned sinister.
...
A while later, the sun was peeking over the horizon, offering its rays of hope and safety.
Shia lifted her head and glanced at the sky slowly being painted in lavender as the first light scattered over the hills.
"Mantis' party must have already reached the forest." Shia rubbed her tired eyelids, "Let's take a rest for two hours. Use SR Drops and get some sleep. I will take the first shift."
Although Daywalkers didn't need the medication to get a natural eight hours of sleep due to their contracted nightcrawler's protection, they still relied on the SR pills heavily.
After all, a two hour of induced coma that provided an equal rest to a six-hour sleep was a true hack in life.
Unfortunately, those free hours of the day didn't come free of cost...
"I can't believe we haven't found a single Blood Crystal Flower." Jamal sighed as he sat down on the ground, feeling disheartened.
"Now, it will be more annoying with Mantis' army snooping everywhere." Sergio kicked a rock in irritation.
"Don't be discouraged." Shia replied calmly, "We did find some seeds at least. If we get unlucky for an entire week straight, we will leave with the forest's soil and give it to my family's botanists to grow me the flowers I need."
"For the rest of the materials, I will just find a way to buy them from the Sunstrike agency. They must have an overstock."
"Wait, this isn't part of the deal." Arthur immediately protested, "Even I know rare graded natural treasures take months to grow at their optimal environment."
"You don't have to worry, your brother will get his recommendation...He made sure of it in the contract." Shia glanced at Levi, who was sitting alone against a tree in silence.
"Oh yea, I forgot..."
After hearing this, Arthur's shitty memory acted up and made him remember the term she was referring to in the contract.
The term forced Shia to fulfill her part of the deal and help Levi participate in the upcoming assembly, even if his method hadn't been checked out yet. After all, it wasn't his problem if Shia failed to collect the materials in the next two months.
"You guys have drops or pills?" Shia asked the Larson Brothers.
"We have neither." Arthur lied through his teeth shamelessly.
Unbothered, Shia threw a pill bottle to Arthur and said, "Keep it with you."
"Woah..." Arthur's eyes gleamed in delight, 'We got two bottles in one day? Life is good.'
Then, he went to feed his brother a pill, but he rejected it.
"It's okay, I am not tired, I will take the first shift with Shia." Levi smiled, "You should get some rest, you have been working tirelessly."
"This is nothing to what I do at the gym,"
Arthur smirked cockily as he flexed his massive muscles, annoying Jamal and Sergio with one move.
"Gym rat."
"Cocky asshole."
They mumbled under their breaths, not wanting to look jealous in front of Shia. Then, they pulled their own SR Drops and poured one drop on each eye.
They entered their tents and waited for the medication to take effect. Just like being drugged with anesthesia, in less than ten seconds, their eyes became too heavy to open. Once they were closed, their minds entered a mimicked deep sleep state.
Since this state lasted for less than two hours, they could dream all they wanted, and the nightcrawlers wouldn't bother them even if they had no contracted nightcrawler to keep watch.
Arthur soon joined them under his brother's insistence, leaving only Shia and Levi awake.
"Do you know anything about tracking?" Shia inquired curiously.
"I know a bit." Levi answered.
"Good, come help me throw Mantis off our back." Shia sneered, "I know that two-faced prick, he will come rushing here to screw with us."
"Oh, okay." Levi stood up, dusting his buttocks. Then, he asked one question, "Is there a tracker within his party?"
"That's the thing, he has a great tracker called Masai." Shia rubbed her eyebrows, "He is rarely wrong."
"I see." Levi smiled serenely, "Leave it to me then."
"Oh? You have something?" Shia raised an eyebrow in intrigue.
As Levi was sharing his plan with Shia, Mantis' massive raid finally reached the forest.
The moment they stepped inside, they separated into their chosen squads and each went to their designated location to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Mantis' main squad headed straight to the center of the forest.
"Shia's party must have already found something precious, we can't stop them, but we can slow them down." Mantis spoke coldly, though, his feminine voice wasn't helping.
If it was up to him, he wouldn't hesitate to eliminate her entire party and ensure that all the remaining treasures would go to his agency.
That's because he wasn't the one funding this expedition, but his agency. However, as its leader, he would be compensated heavily for each natural treasure found.
Unfortunately, it was difficult to make a move against another Daywalker when they were using the NeuraLens.
Those lenses were recording everything each second and transmitting the data to the cloud services of their respectful Holy Region, ensuring that the Daywalkers behave even in the wastelands.
The Daywalkers only agreed to such a breach of privacy due to the Nocturnal Contracts.
The staff responsible for those cloud services were under strict contractual bindings to not peer through anyone's data unless an anomaly occurred, and a warranty was used to extract the data.
Those were the precautions used to protect the Daywalkers from each other. But, if there were one thing humans were masters of, it was finding ways to adapt and bypass the rules...
Unfortunately for Mantis and his army, humans weren't the only ones with the cruel cunningness to harm their own race for selfish reasons...
'My Queen, your food is preparing itself neatly on the plate.' Malak shared with a sinister smile, her eyes turning pitch-black for a split second.
Danny felt a sudden chill on his back as he was riding his camel through the forest.
When he turned around, he noticed Malak's sweet smile while she looked at him...Immediately, the smile washed away the chill, leaving him to smile back, feeling butterflies in his stomach.
"Are you comfortable?" Danny asked while touching her arm.
"You have no idea..." Malak replied sweetly as she leaned against his back.
The same Daywalkers in their squad couldn't help but roll their eyes in annoyance and speed past them, incapable of taking in the cringe.