Chapter 50: Drive the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf

Where is Mama Maria?

Mama!

Xiao Mashan peed her pants again—shshsh, so dumb, all she does is call for Mama.

Big brother, Kevin hit me again.

When the hypnotic spell shattered, the real disaster arrived.

For some people, a few unruly kids in front of them were already hell; if thirty or more children erupted at once, it was likely utter despair.

“Want a candy? Fruit flavor.” The arachnid’s six arms produced candies of every color, vivid and fragrant, clearly expensive.

“Don’t rush. I’ll help you change your pants. Xiao Susie, lend me your skirt.” Two arms pulled free to tidy the child’s clothes.

“Kevin, don’t bully your little brother.” Two more arms pulled free to discipline the brats.

At this moment, Li En had to sigh—thank goodness Lari was here.

Her six arms moved swiftly: changing clothes, handing out candy, swiftly punishing the brats.

This scene left Dimon stunned—he’d truly never seen a “man” so fond of children, so fiercely maternal.

Meanwhile, Li En himself put on new gear and adjusted his equipment for better combat readiness.

Honestly, Lari’s gear was impressive—especially this armor.

The silver armor wasn’t just high-quality material; it bore defensive enchantments against fire, acid, and electricity.

With multiple enchantments and magical metal, this was surely the work of a master craftsman—even including arachnid-specific weight reduction (anti-gravity) modifications. Li En didn’t dare guess its value.

A standard knight’s armor started at forty to fifty gold coins—enough for ten months’ rent on Li En’s house. Without Shaliman’s gift, he could never have afforded it.

Enchanted armor was even more absurdly expensive; even minor enchantments doubled the price. This level of magical armor could serve as a knightly family’s heirloom for generations.

And this wasn’t even her most expensive item.

The most expensive was now on Li En’s feet.

“Boots. They fit alright, right? Looks like they’ll work—good.”

Watching Li En try on her boots, Lari’s face flushed with a strange blush.

This micro-expression made Dimon stare longer—he wondered if this guy was acting odd.

Wait, hadn’t Lari been clinging to Brother Li En before? And Brother Li En hadn’t resisted… Dimon spun around abruptly, deciding to pretend he saw nothing and heard nothing.

“Nice. I never expected you’d have these Jipin speed boots—you never used them.”

Li En was genuinely surprised. Speed boots, strength gloves, and Holy Power Shu —Suer had said these were the three essentials for a novice Holy Knight to become combat-ready quickly.

These boots carried a built-in “Speed Boost” spell, granting near-doubled running speed for short bursts—ideal for melee who needed to charge.

Li En had dared ask for strength gloves and Holy Power Shu , but never even dreamed of these speed boots.

Pure speed-enhancing enchanted gear was astronomically expensive, and demand was virtually limitless—almost no transcendent would refuse faster movement.

Even spellcasters cursed their lack of legs when danger struck.

For a Holy Knight like Li En, clad in heavy armor with no inherent speed, velocity had always been his greatest weakness.

Sometimes, missing a single step in a charge meant the difference between life and death. Even though speed boots only lasted briefly, they helped immensely in offense and defense.

After being trained by Suer, Li En knew how useful they were and had inquired about their price.

When he heard they cost thousands of gold coins—and were unobtainable even at that price—he wisely gave up. He couldn’t even scrape together ten gold coins.

“...Then again, your sword technique is too refined, your footwork too fast. You don’t need to worry about closing distance.” In Li En’s view, Lari truly didn’t need speed boots.

Among knights, Lari, who followed the Speed-Sword path, was among the most agile. The Holy Knight’s short-leg weakness barely showed on her.

Besides, she was rich enough to own a war beast mount—there was a world of difference between a Holy Knight with and without one.

Her sword style didn’t require speed boots to force-close distance with enemies.

“...Really great. Really great.” But short-legged Li En? He truly needed them.

Li En tested his gear while adjusting his armor.

“Let me help you fine-tune it.”

“Sure, thanks.”

It was a composite armor—main piece plus many modular attachments. With Lari’s help, Li En could adjust the tightness of many components.

Lari, as an arachnid, was bulkier than Li En’s “degenerated lizard-man” frame; the armor fit a bit loose and needed further adjustment.

The left and right arm openings allowed good mobility, but the four rear (auxiliary limb) gaps left the back nearly defenseless.

No time to modify now—just make do.

“Big Brother Lari, any more candy?”

Only two sentences had passed before Lari was dragged off again to manage the children.

“Mama, Maria Mama, where’s Mama?”

The worst were these kids who kept crying for Mama.

When one child cried for Mama, soon all of them started calling for Mama.

“Your mothers…” Facing the crying children, the honest Holy Knight opened her mouth, unsure what to say.

Better short pain than long suffering. They’d find out sooner or later. She gritted her teeth and spoke.

“Your mothers? They’re waiting outside. Go find them with Brother Lari. Oh, and your mothers have tasty treats—hurry, or they’ll eat it all.”

But Li En directly trampled on Holy Knight virtues and told a lie.

“I knew Mama went to the amusement park first! Brother Lari, hurry and take us to find her!”

Watching Lari being dragged away by the children, Li En smiled and continued assembling his gear, preparing for the coming battle.

Perhaps in the future he’d properly explain and even apologize for his lie—but not now.

“...I’ll free your mother now.” I am just a warrior now.

Not letting this “mother” appear before the children again—perhaps this is all I can do now.

Li En touched the Hero’s Sword on his hand. Though its exterior hadn’t changed, he vaguely sensed something within had shifted—something different.

Before, it had been completely unresponsive; Li En could only treat it as a “sturdy” good sword.

Now, he felt a faint connection between them.

“It… acknowledged me. Well, just a little.” The connection was extremely thin. Li En tried to draw on its power—but nothing came.

Probably, to unlock its true power, one needed the proper Hero hardware—like a class or bloodline.

“Whatever. Better than a plain sword. At least it’s progress.” Li En himself was surprisingly philosophical.

If it truly fully awakened and unleashed all its power, Li En would have to flee immediately—he’d be recognized for sure.

“Li En.”

At that moment, a female voice suddenly echoed directly into his mind.

Was this a transcendent ability?

“Look up, idiot.”

He snapped his head up—and saw a giant gray serpent.

It… she stared at Li En silently, flicking her tongue.

Those eyes showed clear delight. Li En was even more startled—he’d just read joy and relief on a snake’s face.

He wondered if he was going mad.

“Thwack!”

The gray serpent dropped a large sack right in front of Li En, still holding it in her mouth.

“It’s me, Shaliman. Here’s some stuff—you might need it.”

—

While Li En was busy flipping through books, in a corner of the cave, Maria continued happily hunting.

She still held one human head in each hand—one still humming a tune.

She urged the small beasts beneath her to hasten the final hunting season.

It seemed that, shedding her disguise, her spirit had grown younger.

With her help, scattered squads couldn’t resist the beast horde—they were hunted down one by one.

So far, the slave market had suffered heavy losses.

More and more small beasts had evolved, sprouting broken horns. At this point, she stopped feeding them and instead harvested the mercenaries, turning them into “Little Horns.”

Two masked figures stood silently behind her.

Protection? Surveillance? Or both?

“Haike is dead.”

One of them spoke calmly.

“Useless.”

The brief exchange ended the discussion of a companion’s fate—no humanity between them.

Dead was dead. One less waste to share food and duties.

Their greedy eyes fixed on the sack of “Little Horns” Maria carried. For them, “dieting” was a necessity to preserve humanity.

But for their eternally hungry selves, it was also a painful suppression of instinct. A little snack right here shouldn’t hurt—why not eat Maria too? Then they wouldn’t have to worry about exposure.

“Maria?! Hand over the goods—I’ll let you keep a whole corpse!” A sudden roar halted their internal chaos.

Guided by a shadow, “Volcanic Howl” Kewierdufu finally blocked his intended target.

He stared fixedly at Maria, noticing the human heads she carried—especially the lifeless skull of his third-in-command.

“...Forget it. Die. I’ll find what I need on your corpse.”

(End of Chapter)