Chapter 264: Arachnid Transformation

The female leader, accustomed to it, paid it no mind.

But the others present all showed disgust, and the murmurs died instantly.

The aranea girl, her eyes filled with fear, carefully placed the bowls and dishes on the tray.

When it came to a female dark elf who had painted her face white, she spat loudly.

"Don't touch my utensils, damn it."

"Leiya." The female leader warned softly.

"Sorry, Leader Anas."

After the aranea girl finished all of this, she did not leave immediately.

She held the tray, her expression timid, lips parting but words unspoken.

Leader Anas noticed she had something to say and made a gesture of praise to Lady Luo Si on her chest.

"Yuna, do you have something to say?"

"Yes, Leader Anas."

"Speak. We are all favorites of Lady Luo Si; no need to be shy."

"Then, when can my sister Yufi be released?"

Anas shook her head, her face filled with sorrow.

"You know, Yuna, your sister Yufi publicly slandered Lady Luo Si and enraged everyone. I didn't execute her—only imprisoned her—because I've already faced immense pressure."

"But—but my sister is a 'Tester'; she shouldn't be—"

"A failed 'Tester.'"

Anas cut her off. "You are too, Yuna. I once placed great trust in you two sisters, expecting you to become the strongest warriors. But you both failed, and now you're this weak."

Yuna's shoulders hunched slightly; tears fell. Her mouth opened, but she had no words.

Pitiful.

Anas did not look at her again, only gestured vaguely toward the door, signaling her to leave.

The girl dared not disobey. Her massive spider lower body moved clumsily as she bowed and exited the room.

Watching her leave,

the dark elf named Leiya spat loudly again.

"Leader, aren't these two sisters—failed products who couldn't pass Lady Luo Si's test—just an eyesore? They don't even boost combat power, and until they adapt to their bodies, they're clumsy and useless, even for basic chores."

"Shut up, Leiya."

Female leader Anas scooped a large spoonful of orange paste from her bowl, frowned, and shoved it into her mouth.

"Even if aranea dark elves are twisted, lowly creatures, they still represent Lady Luo Si's will. Keeping them near you serves as a reminder of what awaits those who betray Lady Luo Si."

She paused.

"Besides, they are Lady Luo Si's backup rations."

The aranea Yuna left the kitchen.

While the head cook wasn't looking, she had secretly kept back leftover food—a half-bowl of orange gruel.

It wasn't rice gruel, but a mixture of insect eggs and a subterranean fungus.

In the Fear Chamber, there was no food; all dark elves carried provisions brought from the real dimension.

Yuna secretly wrapped it and wedged it beneath her waist, against the spider body's joints.

A small skirt covered it; no one would see.

This was a new trick she'd just discovered about her body.

Newly aranea dark elves still remembered the habit of wearing lower garments, even though there was nothing to conceal.

Yuna pretended to be disposing of trash.

She passed through chamber after chamber in the cave, each like a nest.

She didn't know when the spider queen named Luo Si had appeared in the dark elves' vision—perhaps fifty years ago, or two hundred.

Her parents despised history.

It was the tragic moment they were defeated and banished to this lightless underground world.

Such parents were not uncommon among dark elves.

Thus, Yuna and her sister Yufi knew nothing of the surface world, only their parents' endless indoctrination of hatred toward traditional elves.

Yuna descended further.

She reached a shallow shore of blood and bones.

The advantages of her aranea body showed here.

Tall enough leg segments, durable exoskeleton, and decent grip.

Moments later,

Yuna arrived at a room filled with orange flames.

Outside the door stood a common dark elf hidden in shadow.

Yuna handed him a crystal-like mineral she'd long hoarded.

The guard nodded, stepped aside to let her in, then bowed his head and dozed off.

"Sister."

"Y-Yuna."

The room was silent, save for the soft crackling of orange flames.

The response came from an aranea, covered in wounds, barely alive.

She was suspended mid-air, all eight limbs severed, green blood dripping continuously.

Her bare spider torso sent a chill through the heart.

"I brought some food."

"You eat it. After failing Lady Luo Si's test, you expend tremendous energy."

Yuna stubbornly shook her head.

She practically pushed the gruel to her sister Yufi's lips.

Yufi, helpless, opened her dry mouth.

Not long after,

the half-bowl of gruel gone, her spirit seemed to improve slightly.

"Sister, do you regret saying those things?"

"Never, Yuna. Taking in dark elves is merely Luo Si's plan to ascend to godhood. Her heart is full of madness, savagery, cruelty—she is no good master. To worship her means nothing—at least not in this awkward, godless age."

"I don't understand."

Yuna lowered her eyes, filled with sorrow and submission.

Yufi's sharp gaze softened: "Sorry, Yuna. I've made things hard for you. You don't have to listen to me."

"Since you were captured, Rolen, Vasily, Shuri, Grinberg—all of them changed. We grew up together, but now they look at me like I'm lower than a slave."

As she spoke, tears fell; she couldn't accept this reversal.

They had all been close friends of the two sisters, once promising to live together after their coming-of-age ceremony.

"It's not because of me—it's the aranea transformation. They all see aranea as a symbol of shame."

Yuna said nothing, and slowly began to cry.

As her sister, Yufi felt heartbroken; she gritted her teeth:

"Yuna… Yuna! Let's escape! Get out of here!"

The young aranea girl blinked her tear-filled eyes:

"But where to…"

"To Aiselong! It's big enough! Tolerant enough of non-human races! And go west! There's a Windwall Forest—remote, no dark elves there. We'll live quietly there for the rest of our lives. Just you and me."

Crack—

Luo De crushed a leg bone underfoot.

In this decaying, half-damp environment, the bones had become brittle.

He gazed far off toward the battlefield between the spiderweb ruins and the botanical garden.

He had just tried 【Chain of Far Speech】—and failed, without doubt.

It seems Long Hun Nao Lin's power has not yet recovered enough to let her skills pierce dimensions.

The dragon soul girl has indeed been sleeping constantly lately.

Since obtaining the dragon body materials, Luo De had not seen her again.

Come to think of it, he actually missed her crying face.

"Here we are—the edge of the botanical garden. Last time, I and those three kids were dragged in right here."

Sharon snorted beside him.

(End of Chapter)