Chapter 561: The Fallen Hive (Patreon)

Spiders were annoying creatures, and that especially was true when they lived in large swarms and were the size of a school bus. The stupid nets were almost everywhere, and Thalion wondered how they could even move through the dense webbing. It looked like someone had thrown a veil over the jungle, and below it black spots shot around.

He was now a few hundred meters above the jungle in the form of the Heavenrend Wyvern of the Rime Tempest and began to contemplate if it was the right form. Sure, he could bombard the spiders from above, but he initially wanted to get a bit of close-combat experience.

Yet landing in such a vast net with multiple D-grade spiders in the area couldn't be a good idea, and after what had happened in the ocean he really didn't need another experience where he got bitten from all sides. Maybe he was simply too strong for the spiders to hold him, but it was a gamble Thalion didn't want to take.

The next form that could work would be the Eclipsari, Consecrated Scion of the Void. It should definitely be able to dissolve the webs with its darkness. The issue here was that even when he created a hole, the spiders likely had methods of quickly repairing the webs or even firing webs over him. As Thalion circled over what had to be one of the swarm's outposts, he came to the conclusion that he wanted to try out something new.

So far he had held back from inflicting beasts with his curse. Until now mostly because he had no idea how fast the curse could spread and because he didn't want his enemies to come up with a counter.

That he couldn't control those inflicted with the curse was just another minor point. The last part was partly solved now with his new skill, Consecrated Bloodlink. It should allow him to see through the eyes of the spider and maybe even give it commands. Until now he hadn't tried it out, and the spiders could be good testing dummies.

The downside was that should he be unable to control those overtaken by the curse, it would spread quickly through the web, and in a worst-case scenario it might even lead to an all-out attack on their base in the spiders' desperate attempt to gather more blood.

Under great effort Thalion didn't turn into his human form and blast the spiders with a bunch of Blood Spears. He really wanted to try it out, but the risk of something going wrong was too great. Thinking about it, the spiders had no chance of avoiding the curse at all. If one spider went on a rampage, the others could only take it down by biting it, which would inflict them with the curse.

No, no. He had to find a lone beast he could experiment on before he randomly fired Blood Spears down at those ugly spiders.

After a few annoyed huffs Thalion decided that if everything was too dangerous, he would just blast them with his breath attack and fly back to calm down and focus. The third system event being so close now started to put some pressure on him too. On the flight back Thalion decided that he wouldn't fight anything until the system event and just focus on his soul, blood, and body tempering. He trusted his fighting skill and didn't want any more bad experiences against D grades.

"You just calm down. Drink something cold and enjoy the sunrise." Thalion told himself. Then his eyes narrowed when he saw someone flying toward him. It was an elf who used some sort of whirlwind to blast himself forward, and his long white hair was flowing like a curtain behind him.

"Thalion, Sir. Maike wants to speak to you immediately. She said that it's important and can't wait even a second." The elf almost shouted at him. He really was on edge, which was quite rare for an elf. They usually stayed calm unless something extraordinary happened or someone insulted their "natural superiority."

"Sure. What is it about?" Thalion asked, but the elf just shook his head and pointed in the direction of their faction over and over.

"Okay..." Thalion thought, not really sure what to make of it, and sped up, leaving the elf behind, who was unable to keep up with the speed of the Heavenrend Wyvern.

It only took half an hour until his base came into view, but Thalion couldn't make out anything special. The dome wasn't active, and they certainly weren't under attack. What could Maike want from him? Maybe the gods had gotten him a new form or new information about the Convergence? Thalion frankly didn't know what the issue could be.

He shifted back to his human form when he flew over Maike's house and shot downward with Scarlet Maelstrom, only to reform right before her door. With his eyes he could see the blood through walls, and there were a lot of strong D grades in the rather small room. Thalion first thought that this was about some incursion, but that idea got trashed the moment he opened the door and spotted the First Daughter and the Eleventh Daughter.

"How exactly did you five come through our defenses without a fight?" Thalion blurted out the moment he stepped in. He was on edge and ready to go all out at any moment.

That Kaldrek was handing Jack and Josh a drink while also scurrying around for some food Thalion didn't understand.

"Oh, Thalion, good that you are here. I suspect you know the First Daughter and her siblings?" Maike said in a casual tone. She also had a drink in one hand, and Thalion slowly began to doubt his eyes. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

"Yes, that doesn't explain why everyone here has such a casual demeanor. Can someone bring me up to speed on what has happened here?" Thalion constantly checked his title, but he couldn't feel any sense of danger. That didn't ease his mind. Those five were all D grade and likely some of the most dangerous individuals currently on the planet. To let his guard down now wasn't a good idea.

"To make it short, the termites lost against the incursion. Those five are the only ones who survived and have now joined our faction as subordinates. Isn't that great?" Kaldrek offered before turning back to his cupboard. "Okay, what for the ladies? I honestly have no idea what insects like to drink."

"I never tried human drinks before, so give me the same you are drinking." the First Daughter said. She looked so wrong in the room with her height of over three meters. She even had to bend her knees slightly to not hit the ceiling.

Even with his title telling Thalion that he was hearing the truth, he still couldn't believe it.

"You lost? How is that even possible?" Thalion blurted out, standing in the open doorway like an idiot.

Kaldrek of course was completely relaxed. "Now come down, Thalion, and sit down on the couch. We can speak about everything over a drink. No need to talk about details with an open door."

Thalion very slowly walked through the room, not taking his eyes off the five stupidly dangerous insects before also very, very slowly sitting down beside Jack, who looked like he was really holding himself back from saying something.

Not even sitting for a second, someone knocked loudly on the door, and when Maike opened it, four elves placed two more sofas on the other side of the room for their guests before they almost sprinted out of the room, not wanting to stay in close proximity to the First Daughter and her sisters for longer than necessary.

"Awesome. Now please take a seat, everyone." Kaldrek said in a good mood, handing every termite a drink and placing a tray with meat on their knees to share. He constantly hummed while doing it. Thalion was only calming down very slowly, and he didn't trust this alliance in the least.

He still remembered that the termites had experimented with Outsiders in the tutorial and used humans as test subjects. Also, how was an incursion able to destroy their hive? He simply couldn't believe it. There was also the pressing question of how the hell they had found his base. There was no way they had run into this base by sheer accident.

"Phew, quite the tension in the air, but I would be ready for some good old talks to make sure we become good allies. Eh?" Kaldrek said when sitting down after giving everyone something to drink and both sides a tray with food. Thalion noticed Kaldrek had given him the Krakenink again. Kaldrek really was a good host. Thalion had to give him that.

"To start off, everything Kaldrek said is true. We only seek to find a new home to start again." the First Daughter began in a calm voice. "Our hive has been destroyed, and our mother is slain. We need a strong faction that adopts us.

None of the blessed factions will do so, and we reject the laws of the termite gods, which is why none of us has a blessing. It makes us Outsiders, and we wandered through this world for weeks until the show was broadcast. That you have a faction was all new to me, and since you are one of the rare humans who, like us, reject blessings, the conclusion was only logical."

Hearing her speak, Thalion fully focused on his title to make out the slightest sign of a lie, but he didn't find anything. That eased his mind slightly, but there still were many questions he needed an answer to. First of all, what incursion had been strong enough to wipe out that termite hive?