Chapter 122 - Nirvana In Fire
The events of the Capital were something no one would have ever wished for. Homes were destroyed and lives were lost. Some lost their sons and daughters. Some lost their fathers and mothers. Regardless of the losses, it wasn't limited to just commoners but the nobles, whom fought valiantly on the upper walls were also included.
The damages and wanton destruction ensured, that the development of the Capital had suffered a serious setback, but perhaps, only after the Capital experienced such a trial by fire, would they finally be able to move forward like a phoenix reborning from the ashes.
A fire had been lit in the hearts of the commoners. The powerlessness they felt as they watched their loved ones died, they never want to experience it again. After tonight's event, the people welcomed the first ray of dawn along with a strong thirst and conviction for power.
Outside of the royal palace gates, commoners, nobles and aristocrats alike, have gathered for one purpose; they demanded answers.
Why they have not been made aware of such abominable existences living right under them. Why did the royal family kept such important information secret?
Depending on the royal family's answer, they could lose the faith of the people and cause mass emigration from the Capital.
Of course, only the nobles and aristocrats had the wealth and means to leave and have no problem living elsewhere. The commoners have been left with nothing and weren't capable of such feats.
After the crawlers had been dealt with, the queen requested Crazy Don to make a clean sweep through all the Lower Districts with his flames to remove all the corpses and noxious fumes.
The Lower District was an uninhabitable zone and the people would not be able to rebuild their homes so long as these two problems weren't removed.
The Lower East District, or rather… what was left of it, was the only district without such problems after Crazy Don's great display of fireworks.
At this moment, several brazen and unscrupulous commoners had rushed into the Lower Districts, while the rest were gathering outside the royal palace.
In their eyes, whatever was left in the Lower District had become free loot and they wanted to salvage whatever they could find. Unfortunately, after Crazy Don made his rounds, everything had already been reduced to ashes.
They turned their eyes towards the mountain of charcoal that was still emitting incredible high heat.
Surely the body of a high-level monster would have some precious materials they could collect and sell to merchants. However, these commoners had no way of getting closer without burning themselves.
Suddenly, there were moments within the mountain of charcoal and it further crumpled down like it had lost all solidity and kicked up a wave of billowing dust. The scavengers all retreated in there.
When the dust settled, they were surprised that at the center, stood a beautiful young woman with lustrous fair skin and silk smooth black hair with few strips of crimson red. Her naked body seemed to have been sculpted by the heavens and accentuated her celestial beauty, without a speck of obscenity.
"Beautiful fairy, where are your clothes? Did they… hehehe… get burnt away? How about we have some fun?" A scavenger said lasciviously.
The young woman's city-toppling beauty had aroused his lust and made him unable to think straight. He didn't care whether his words were able to move the woman. A person who could walk around naked, couldn't possibly be chaste and pure.
Neither he nor the other scavengers would have thought that the person in front of them was the terrifying spider queen. Other than sharing similar facial features, they were worlds apart.
The one in front of them looked no different than a human, while the spider queen had been enormous.
When the spider queen heard the human's vulgar words, she brows creased but didn't take immediately take action to silence his insolence. Instead, she checked out her own body and curves.
It seems she had achieved nirvana through fire and evolved. Her strength did not advanced, but in this form, her combat prowess seemed to have been optimized. Speed was no longer her weakness.
"Hehehe… thank you for the treat." The scavenger took the spider queen's silence and show of curves as acquiescing and inviting.
The spider queen immediately felt her personal space being invaded, when the human got too close. She flashed him a look with her crimson eyes and the person instantly froze on the spot. It was as if his soul was taken away with one glance and instilled great terror into his being. He started to break into cold sweat.
"Insolent human. You think you are worthy of this Queen?" Queen Arachnia said repulsively. How can an insignificant human be worthy enough to touch her new sublime body? It would only sully her body and make her feel like she had just stepped in dog shit.
"M-Mercy-"
The spider queen wrung his neck and separated the head from his body, before he could finish pleading for his life. The spider queen proceeded to drink the blood dripping from his head, but she immediately frowned at the taste and toss the head away.
"M-Monster! Run!"
The other scavengers ran for their life, the moment their saw the spider queen attempt to drink human blood. That was no fairy! That was a demoness!
But how could these ordinary commoners be able escape from a Transcendent? It was as easy as lifting a hand for the spider queen to kill them all. She did not move from her spot. Instead, spider threads shot out from her fingers and diced them into pieces.
At this time, Lilith was the only person left, who knew the spider queen survived and even undergone a transformation. She looks less threatening, but she was definitely more menacing.
"Ew… that thing is still alive. Those humans are so doomed."
Lilith felt a bit grossed out that such a grotesque monster would turn into such a voluptuous woman.
"Hmm… I have seen enough… I should return home to report back to his majesty."
Lilith decided. She had already lost her cover of the night and could easy be seen in the sky if anyone bothered to look up. It was no longer safe for her to stay.
She only felt great pity that she can't warn the humans. She would only be attacked by them if she tried. She knew about the hostility between their races.
However, coming from a multi-beast tribe, she wasn't narrow-minded as to hate all humans. In fact, she felt closer intimacy with the humans that shared her appearance compared to the other beast races. Her hatred was solely trained on the human garrisons that shot down her clansmen at the Great Wall.
When Lilith wanted to leave, she was shocked to find out that the spider queen had been eyeing her with cold interest.
"Oh no! I've been discovered!" Lilith exclaimed.
She tried to flee, but an extremely fast spider thread lashed out at her. She narrowly manages to avoid being split in half by the spider thread, but it had clipped off one of her wings.
"Ahhhh!"
The pain made her wail in pain as she started to plummet from the sky. There was no way to support her flight with only one wing. She could only try to reduce her falling speed and flee as far as she could before she hit the ground. At the very least, it would increase her chances of survival.
Queen Arachnia just watch as the little peeping bird drop out of the sky into another district. She did not pursue to make sure it is dead.
Why would she need to expend so much effort to ensure the death of an ant? She wasn't that bored. Whether the little bird lives or dies, that is its fortune.
It was a different story for the humans that were ogling at her body covetously with lascivious eyes. They had to die for their insolence.
But she had to admit they still had eyes for beauty, but then she frowned again. Although she felt there was nothing wrong with showcasing her natural beauty to the world, she didn't want to attract flies.
Many strands of spider threads shot out from her fingers, before being skillfully weaved into a beautiful white dress for herself.
"Since I have a new body akin to a human, from this day forth, I shall be known as Arana." Arana proclaimed to herself without any audiences.
Evolution was much harder than cultivation. Although, the humans tried to kill her, she only felt thankful for being able to evolve.
As for the death of her children, she didn't feel anything. They were only food to her, but since her taste had changed, she wagered that her children would no longer taste good.
"I will take my time to explore this beautiful surface." Arana licked her lips veraciously and glanced at the rising sun. There's bound to better things to eat in this colorful world.
The Crawford Kingdom had unknowingly left behind a disaster, but also been spared from it. The spider queen had decided not to pursue their race for their transgression.
It wasn't because the spider queen had become human and had a human heart. It was simply because the humans did not taste good.
If the people knew this, they wouldn't know how they would feel about it.
As long as the humans don't offend her, she will leave them be. But if they are unrepentant, she wouldn't mind wiping them all out. She only needed three things in life to be happy; eat, sleep and play.
The spider queen quietly slipped away as the people continue to gather outside the Royal Palace…