“As expected of the Lady…”
Just as Amisa had resolved to strive harder even in her middle age, another sigh of admiration came from behind her.
Before Ileya could say anything, the Head Maid’s expression turned cold.
“Arthur… so you’ve decided to show yourself now?”
“Ah… heh… this lad is still an ordinary person, he had no chance of surviving that earthquake.”
Hearing Amisa’s words, Arthur’s old face flushed red, and he subconsciously lifted Franlot, who was in his hand.
“So what?!” Amisa took a step forward, her eyes icy as she stared at the old man whose power likely surpassed hers by more than a little.
Yet her imposing manner showed not a trace of fear.
“What do you think the Lady saved you for, helped you recover your memories, allowed you to follow her? To provide for you in your old age and see you off?”
Hmm… Amisa’s words made Arthur’s cheeks alternate between pale and flushed.
But he had to admit, the words of the Head Maid before him were right. The Lady indeed had shown him immense grace.
If not for her, he might still be muddle-headed in a cage at the slave market. Yet his own performance clearly did not match this grace.
He couldn’t even make excuses for himself anymore.
If he lacked the ability, that would be one thing, but… the awkward truth was, he wasn’t incapable of helping the Lady resolve the earlier situation… yet he had been too busy protecting Franlot to free up his hands.
But… what Arthur hadn’t expected was that the group of Antfolk and even that Sandworm had been dealt with by the Lady in a matter of moments.
Such power… could it be that the Lady has already become a Transcendent of the Fifth Rank or higher?
If both sides had been locked in a stalemate, or if the Lady had shown even the slightest sign of being at a disadvantage, Arthur would have acted without hesitation.
But… ah~ Forget it, it’s futile to say anything now.
“My apologies, Lady… it was my failure.” Arthur slowly bowed to Ileya.
However, compared to the previous two times where she had been somewhat polite, Ileya’s attitude now was noticeably colder.
“Mmm, if there’s nothing else, let’s continue forward…”
She didn’t spare Arthur another glance because of his power. Insmouth started walking, turning to move ahead.
Then she turned to look at the indignant Amisa.
“Oh, and go find Holly… where did that guy fly off to?”
Watching Ileya’s retreating back, Franlot muttered resentfully under his breath.
“Tch… what’s with the arrogance? Really knows how to play the moral high ground…”
He already held a grudge against Ileya, and now Arthur was being cold-shouldered because of him… deepening his resentment towards this Lady.
“Shut up!” Seeing Franlot gossiping like a petty person behind their backs, Arthur frowned and hissed in a low voice!
“I…” Franlot wanted to retort, but seeing Arthur’s dark expression, he could only shrink his neck in frustration.
In his heart, he curled his lip even more disdainfully.
This old thing, acting like he’s someone to me…
At that moment, Ileya, who seemed utterly disappointed in Arthur’s performance, allowed a slight curve to lift the corner of her mouth.
Disappointment in a person doesn’t happen overnight, or from a single moment of clarity.
Especially with someone like Arthur and that lad, these “Destined Master and Disciple.”
Ileya constantly suppressed Franlot in matters Arthur considered trivial, repeatedly indulged Arthur’s favoritism towards him, even slightly appearing to sacrifice some of her own interests…
Then she showed her current dissatisfaction, yet didn’t give Arthur any substantive punishment.
For someone like this old thing, with high moral standards and relatively normal values… this situation was what made him most uncomfortable~
Once this dynamic was established… these two “Destined Master and Disciple” would naturally develop a rift.
Accumulated over time… even if they were previously strangers, not even blood brothers could escape such erosion.
Of course… these matters were just something the Lady did casually~
Arthur still had value to be used, as for that Franlot… Ileya hadn’t even placed him in her eyes.
The main purpose this time was actually…
Thinking this, the Lady slowly closed her eyes.
Her consciousness instantly sank into her [Underworld].
At the edge of this world of death, beside the endless wall of Black Mist, Ileya had cleared a square plot of land about the size of a football field.
And that Sandworm and several Antfolk were now lying in the center of this land…
What surprised her was, it was one thing for that giant Sandworm to still have a faint breath… but that robust Antfolk with two pairs of wings on its back…
It wasn’t dead either, currently clinging to life, seemingly in great agony…
Such tenacious vitality~ As expected of ants, right?
But unfortunately, this place was filled with deathly energy. Normal creatures, without the protection of her aura, could not survive in this Underworld.
Just like fish out of water, or humans without oxygen… they would struggle for a few minutes before dying completely.
“Ugh… ugh…”
And that was exactly how Milonglong felt now.
He was like a person deprived of oxygen, or a fish out of water…
Being alive in such a place was pure torment, a torture!
It felt as if countless earthworm-like tendrils of deathly energy were all over his body, and once they found the slightest gap, they would ruthlessly burrow inside!
The reason he was still alive now was because of the Contract.
He and the Son of Sand he had raised since childhood had a Contract similar to life-sharing.
High-ranking Antfolk who had the chance to raise a Sandworm companion would do this…
Because Sandworms had tenacious vitality, the Antfolk were the absolute beneficiaries.
But today, Milonglong could feel that his Son of Sand was at the end of its rope… now lying on the ground, without even the strength to lift a single ventral foot, just waiting to die.
And wasn’t he the same?
But… where was this place? Beneath that black swamp of death… could such a space exist?
Was this… the underground world?
No… as an Antfolk, he was very familiar with the underground beneath the Gobi.
Antfolk didn’t have human eyelids, so he could only concentrate his spirit on his pair of pitch-black compound eyes, trying hard to see everything around him…
But… the moment his vision finally cleared, what he saw made Milonglong instinctively let out a terrified “heh heh” sound from his mouthparts…
Above the misty sky, a pair of crimson eyes hung like two great suns, shining brightly against the dark clouds.
And these eyes…
Milonglong recognized them! No, or rather, they were deeply imprinted in his memory!
They were the eyes of that human, that woman!!
She… was… watching him… like a curious little girl looking down at the toys in a box, ready to be picked…
“Ugh… uh…”
Instantly, the feeling of being dragged into the Underworld assaulted him again. That sense of suffocation made Milonglong’s entire body tremble…
He struggled to lift a hand, he wanted to crawl… to escape this demon’s gaze, but…
Clearly, he no longer had that chance.
Thump…
He died. A proud Antfolk warrior, the son most favored by King Tuku, in his final moments, was actually scared to death on the spot by a pair of human eyes.
As Milonglong’s life force was severed, the Sandworm also let out a final mournful cry from its throat and died completely.
Wind.
Ileya’s consciousness, projected above the Underworld, was somewhat bewildered.
She knew how the other had died in the Underworld…
“Huh…? Am I that scary?”
She muttered to herself subconsciously, and below, gusts of Yin Wind began to blow.
The Goddess’s Sigh had begun again.
And as the time of the “Goddess’s Sigh” gradually lengthened… the corpses on the ground also began to move.
Those winged Antfolk with physical flaws, missing limbs or broken legs, were the first to rise stiffly.
Then came those who had been beside Milonglong and were swallowed last.
It wasn’t until the wind was about to cease that Milonglong finally climbed to his feet again…