Chapter 352 – Empress Finas’ Fang
Disguise was dispelled the moment Nie Yan attacked the two Arachne Guards. He would have to wait a day for it to go back off cooldown. As such, he could only rely on his stealth skills from now on.
Nie Yan pondered for a moment before replacing his Crawler Ring which was still on cooldown with the Pygmy Ring.
After recalling Paladin Khalisi, Nie Yan snuck out of the building while in stealth. He carefully tread through the shadows, occasionally encountering Arachne in his path. Without a skill like disguise, it was almost impossible to pass through such a monster dense region undetected.
Nie Yan took every step with caution for fear of slipping up in even the slightest. He turned a corner and spotted seven Elite Arachne with sinister appearances up ahead. They carried giant scythes and tightly patrolled the area.
This block of the street was sealed off by them. Nie Yan spotted the dancing light of a bonfire with the shadows of figures swaying in the distance. It appeared the Arachne were holding some grand event like a ritual sacrifice.
The Elite Arachne had blocked off the path ahead, leaving a single gap guarded by giant scythes whose blades were ready to come down at any time.
Nie Yan wondered if the Pygmy Ring could prove its use right now. He activated Pygmy Transformation as his body rapidly shrunk to a third of its original size.
What a fascinating skill!
Everything around him appeared much larger, including the huts, piles of junk, and seven Elite Arachne up ahead, who looked even more frightening than before. It was like Nie Yan was transported into a world of giants!
Nie Yan was a little disoriented, but he quickly adapted to this new perspective. He leaped over a massive boulder and stuck to the nooks of the huts as he made his way toward the bonfire.
A large mouse popped out of a hole in the side of a hut while chewing on something in its front paws. It looked around warily before returning from where it came.
Nie Yan was frightened by the appearance of this mouse. From his perspective, it was as large as a wolf!
With his shrunken size, Nie Yan’s speed saw a steep decline.
Nie Yan slowly approached the Elite Arachne. He lamented at how large they were compared to him. He couldn’t even reach to their shoulders even if he jumped with all his might. Meanwhile, they could send him flying with a simple sweep of their scythes.
The Arachne started to stir as if they sensed something. Nie Yan quickly halted his steps. They looked around but failed to find anything, and then returned to their passive states after muttering some unintelligible words.
Little did they know Nie Yan was actually right beside their feet! He slipped through the gaps between their legs and ducked out of their sight behind a corner.
It was easier than Nie Yan expected!
Nie Yan passed through a narrow alley and arrived at an open square. There was an altar with a blazing bonfire at the center surrounded by a dense crowd of Arachne. An Elder Arachne stood high atop a platform. His skin was old and wrinkled like tree bark, and his back was so badly hunched even taking a single step was difficult. He held a wooden staff in one hand and in the other a crimson thorn, which glittered brilliantly under the glow of the flames.
A young Arachne girl was bound to a wooden pole above the bonfire. She wore a fatigued expression on her face.
The Elder Arachne mumbled out some gibberish and waved its staff as magical energy began swirling around his hand.
They seemed to be performing some sort of ancient ritual.
Nie Yan could hear voices speaking periodically, but he sadly couldn’t understand their meaning.
Bennett’s soul started to bounce around wildly. It immediately flew toward the thorn in the Elder Arachne’s hand.
Nie Yan’s gaze focused on the thorn. It was roughly five inches in size and looked like the fang of a creature, with veiny patterns on its surface. It emitted a red lustre, as if it were sculpted out of ruby.
A voice seemed to clamor in Nie Yan’s mind: “Get it! Get it!”
The Elder Arachne emitted a loud hiss before mumbling out a series of strange syllable. He suddenly lifted the thorn and stabbed down in the young Arachne girl’s arm. The thorn seemed to come alive, its veins pulsing wildly as it sucked her dry of her blood while emitting a bright red glow.
Around 15 minutes later, the ritual ended. The dying young Arachne girl was carried down from the platform. The Elder Arachne inserted the thorn into the center of the altar.
Bennet’s Soul was circling around the thorn.
Quest Progress: Acquire Empress Finas’ Fang.
It turned out the thorn was the fang of Empress Finas!
It should be a quest item, Nie Yan thought. It wouldn’t be easy to obtain Empress Finas’ Fang with so many Arachne around. He confirmed he could still use the Unknown Transfer Scroll and felt reassured.
Still in his diminished form, Nie Yan tiptoed toward the altar while avoiding the spiders all around him.
An Arachne walked in his direction, but Nie Yan hurriedly rolled behind a rock. He proceeded with even more care, hiding behind rocks and patches of grass wherever possible.
The crowd of Arachne began celebrating after the ritual was over. Nie Yan had no clue what was going on because of the language barrier, nor did he really care. He had his eyes set on Empress Finas’ Fang and nothing else.
The Elder Arachne sat several meters from the altar. His withered husk of a body looked like it could collapse at any moment. However, Nie Yan knew this old bag of bones was absolutely the most dangerous being among them.
Nie Yan suspected the Elder Arachne was a Lord-class monster. Not daring to be negligent, he activated Shadow Waltz to further increase his stealth.
Nie Yan’s stealth was extremely high, almost on the level of Great Thieves at Level 70. However, he still couldn’t afford a single lapse of judgement.
Prudence allowed a ship to sail for 10,000 years!
It seemed the Elder Arachne had gotten bored as he stood up from his heat and startered wandering farther and farther away from the altar.
An opportunity! Nie Yan took the chance to creep closer to Empress Finas’ Fang.
The Elder Arachne suddenly turned back to look at the fang. Reassured it was still there, his expression relaxed a bit as he looked around carefully.
Nie Yan froze in place as cold sweat dripped down from his neck. The Elder Arachne’s gaze was piercing like a dagger, causing his hair to stand on end.
Discovering nothing, the Elder Arachne finally turned and slowly walked farther away from the altar.
When the Elder Arachne had wandered more than 10 meters away, Nie Yan rushed toward the altar and grabbed Empress Finas’ Fang. At this moment, he felt an intense burning sensation in his palm. He heard a sizzling sound and saw smoke rise up from his glove.
The unexpected sensation caught Nie Yan off guard, causing him to reflexively let go of the fang, which fell onto the ground.
A damage value of over 1,000 floated up above his head and his figure slowly became visible.
Not good, I’ve been found!
The surrounding Arachne began clamoring angrily, pointing at him and making enraged screeching noises. Several of them even furiously charged toward him.
The Elder Arachne turned around and let out a deep hiss. He waved his staff and spat out a few syllables as black magical energy started swirling around him. The shadows surrounding Nie Yan seemed to come alive and shot toward him. A heavy pressure descended on him, threatening to crush his very being.
Nie Yan activated Gale Step, relying on the first three seconds of invincibility to avoid the Elder Arachne’s spell. He tossed Empress Finas’ Fang into his bag. If it wasn’t for this skill, he would’ve immediately released his grip!
The venom on Empress Finas’ Fang was simply too potent. Just a few seconds of skin contact was enough to kill him.
The Elder Arachne let out a string of curses and sent a wave of black lava surging in Nie Yan’s direction.
With a loud bang, half the altar was destroyed. However, Nie Yan was already gone.
The moment he secured Empress Finas’ Fang, Nie Yan crushed an Unknown Transfer Scroll. His vision blurred for a moment before yet another gloomy scene revealed itself to him. It seemed to be a desert of some sort, but Nie Yan disregarded it. He opened his map to check his coordinates and set out toward Valitin Village.
Nie Yan checked his status bar and noticed something strange.
Fury of Elder Arachne Kasil: You have incited the wrath of Elder Arachne Kasil. He is searching everywhere for your trail.
After reading this debuff, Nie Yan didn’t dare to take any risks. He immediately crushed a Haste Scroll and began sprinting towards safety.
Nie Yan dashed through the wilderness. He was extremely far away from Valitin Village. It would take him at least half an hour to get there. After passing through a stretch of barren wasteland, a silhouette appeared in his path less than 15 meters away. It was Elder Arachne Kasil!
Kasil waved his staff, blotting out the sky with black clouds which rained down torrent of flames.
Nie Yan had no idea how this damn spider fogey caught up to him so quickly.
Just as he was about to be engulfed by Kasil’s spell, Nie Yan once again crushed an Unknown Transfer Scroll and teleported away.
Nie Yan reappeared in a dense jungle. He ascertained his location before immediately running towards Valitin Village at maximum speed. Using all the speed boosting abilities at his disposal, he dashed out from the trees and flitted across a vast grassland.