The Queen (3)
“Oh, you’re here. Welcome.”
The first to greet Emilia was Seojun.
Emilia instantly realized this human man was the true master of the lair and the contractor of the hatchling.
“Emilia, Queen of the Lili tribe, greets the master of the lair.”
She bowed politely, carefully gauging his reaction.
She worried inwardly that if this man had a violent temperament, things could go wrong.
After all, if he were truly that sort, she might not receive help at all—instead, the situation could worsen.
But.
“You’ve had a hard time. Come here. Let me introduce you to the others in the lair.”
Her worries had been unnecessary.
She could feel the warmth in the man’s heart and finally relaxed.
Thud-thud-thud!
At Seojun’s gesture, the scattered guardians rushed over in an instant.
The master of the lair—the hatchling himself—was among them.
Twitch!
Emilia instinctively trembled at their overwhelming presence.
Every single one of them radiated the immense aura befitting a guardian.
She found herself shrinking back without realizing it.
Yet the guardians all spoke to her warmly, one after another.
『Queen of the Lili tribe, welcome!』
“Popo!”
“Chuuu!”
“Awooo-!”
“Oh my, the Queen of the Lili tribe has arrived. Welcome!”
Every voice was kind.
Were these truly the guardians of a dragon’s lair?
Even the hatchling felt pure and gentle.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Emilia, Queen of the Lili tribe.”
Her tension had eased considerably as she greeted them.
“Popo!”
“Chuu”
“Awoo-”
“You’ve truly worked hard. Let’s get along from now on, Your Majesty.”
‘Ah…’
Emilia nearly burst into tears.
Why did those simple words “you’ve worked hard” strike so deeply in her heart?
Just then—
“Grrr…”
At the sudden sound, Emilia flinched and instinctively ducked her head.
It was a beastkin boy with snow-white hair.
Merely meeting his gaze made her feel as though her breath had stopped.
The aura he carried was overwhelming, like an endlessly vast and deep ocean.
‘Ah…’
Emilia shrank back and managed to take a single step away.
“Azkai! You’re scaring the Queen of the Lili tribe.”
“Huh…? I didn’t do anything though…”
“You didn’t do anything? You just growled, didn’t you?”
“Hah, that was a yawn…”
“Still, be careful. A frog can die from a stone thrown without thought.”
“Yes… I’ll keep that in mind.”
At a single word from Seojun, the beastkin immediately lowered his tail and became docile.
Watching that, the fear that had been pressing down on Emilia moments ago vanished like a lie.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Ah, I haven’t even introduced myself yet. My name is Park Seojun.”
“Park Seojun…”
Park Seojun.
The three syllables etched themselves deeply into Emilia’s heart.
“Would you like me to show you around the lair?”
Seojun kindly guided her through the lair himself, explaining everything one by one.
“Ah.”
A soft exclamation escaped Emilia’s lips as she looked around inside the lair.
Rare elixirs and spirit herbs were lined up everywhere.
“Lunadria.”
“Baekyang Herb.”
“Gujijayeop Herb.”
“Even Mandragora… and Seondo.”
She couldn’t help but marvel at how abundant these spirit herbs were—ones so difficult to find outside.
Yet what surprised her most was something else entirely.
“E-Eldrias…?”
Her eyes widened.
She had never imagined the sacred tree Eldrias would be here.
“O sacred tree…”
Emilia offered a reverent greeting to Eldrias, just as Lucien had done.
Her face was filled with respect and awe.
Then she suddenly turned her head toward Seojun.
With sparkling eyes, she spoke in an expectant voice.
“C-Could I come again later?”
“Of course. Come whenever you like.”
“Thank you. Ah! And though I’ve exhausted my power for now, once it recovers… I should be able to help Eldrias grow.”
“Help Eldrias grow?”
“Yes!”
Her power, Dawn of Life—the very ability the grotesque beings had coveted.
It could unlock the potential of plants, induce evolution beyond their limits, maximize vitality, and create resonance.
With that power, she could naturally accelerate Eldrias’s growth as well.
‘Oh.’
Seojun was impressed, realizing Lucien’s words had been no exaggeration.
No wonder those beings had moved so persistently to capture Emilia.
She was truly a being blessed with life itself.
“Then, would it be possible for those as well?”
Seojun asked, pointing to the Seondo, Mandragora, Baekyang Herb, and Lunadria.
“Yes, it’s possible.”
“······!”
Seojun cheered inwardly at her answer.
If those spirit herbs grew stronger through her power, his own growth would accelerate dramatically.
Compared to the slow accumulation of experience so far, he felt he could reach Level 70 much faster—and even Level 100 wouldn’t be out of reach.
‘I’m getting impatient.’
The beings he encountered outside the lair were all monsters at Level 200 or 300.
Next to them, he couldn’t help but feel like the lowest of the low.
But if he steadily absorbed the strengthened spirit herbs under Emilia’s Dawn of Life and trained himself,
reaching a transcendent realm like theirs would no longer be just a dream.
‘For the time being, there’s no need to search for new elixirs.’
Seojun thought rescuing Emilia had been a stroke of genius.
“Come now, Your Majesty. You must be hungry. Try some of our lair’s pride—Shine Muscat, kiwi, and cherry tomatoes before you go.”
Seojun treated Emilia with even greater hospitality than before.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. There’s plenty, so eat as much as you like!”
The warm atmosphere continued.
Thanks to Seojun’s sincere efforts, Emilia gradually shed the awkwardness and distance she had felt toward Seojun and the guardians of the lair.
Late at night.
“Zzzzt!”
“Zaaak!”
The wolf spiders were rapidly moving toward the central area.
“Zzzzt!”
“Zaaak!”
They communicated with their characteristic sounds,
then—
Swish!
They scattered in different directions in an instant.
Their movements were efficient, searching for traces.
“Zzzzt!”
One of them suddenly stopped.
It had found something.
A trail crossing the ground.
The trace of some being that had passed through at high speed.
“Zaaak!”
The moment it tried to follow the trail—
Sasa-sasa-sasa!
Faint black figures were charging toward it like shadows.
“Zaaaaak!”
The wolf spider instinctively tried to retreat, but the black figures were far faster.
“Awooooo!”
With a roar, the black figures leapt onto the wolf spider’s back.
Crunch!
Crack!
Their attack was precise and systematic.
One bit into the wolf spider’s neck with sharp fangs,
another climbed onto its back and pressed down hard.
Yet another bit into its legs, sealing its movements and completely subduing it.
“Z… Zzzzt…”
The wolf spider gradually lost strength and finally collapsed with its last breath.
“Awooooooo-!”
“Awooooo!”
The shadow wolves that had succeeded in the hunt let out victorious roars.
“Awoo-”
“Awooooo-!”
Yet they were not satisfied with hunting just one wolf spider.
Dozens more targets remained.
Even so, they did not rush.
The night was long, and they had plenty of time.
“Awoo!”
The shadow wolves began moving again.
After wandering for so long, they had finally found a home.
Those who dared to invade their territory
would never escape the assault of those once called the nightmares of the night.
The far northern hemisphere.
Alexei gazed at the monster wave approaching from afar.
“Hmm…”
His brow furrowed deeply.
New species of monsters had clearly been added this time as well.
<Replica Zalares>
<Replica Velgram>
<Replica…>
“What in the world…”
Ever since he first hunted monsters like <Replica Grim Reaper> and Ghost last time,
one or two of those creatures had begun appearing mixed in with every monster wave.
As a result, the difficulty of the waves had risen considerably, and Alexei had to fight under constant tension each time.
Just when he felt he had adapted, mantis and spider-type insectoids had appeared this time.
‘What exactly are these beings?’
The new enemies before him were all Level 80.
Even though Alexei had already surpassed Level 80, facing them repeatedly was never easy.
The one saving grace was—
‘They’ve only got their instincts left.’
Their intelligence had dropped significantly.
Since they moved purely on instinct, Alexei could continue fighting efficiently even when facing multiple at once.
That was why, though he couldn’t avoid minor injuries each time, he could secure victory without suffering fatal wounds.
‘Hoo.’
Alexei let out a deep breath.
Stopping these creatures wouldn’t be a big problem this time either.
‘But this change is what worries me.’
This strange transformation of the monsters that had begun at some point.
It could never be seen as a good sign.
He could only hope this change wouldn’t spread like wildfire across the plains and engulf the entire Earth.
‘I need to find the cause before that happens.’
He had already shared the situation in the community of Earth’s strongest, now twelve thousand instead of ten thousand.
Among them, the archmage Arthur Bennett had actively stepped forward to investigate this change.
If he moved, the cause would surely be uncovered soon.
So—
‘I’ll focus on what I can do.’
Alexei raised his fist.
Zzzzzzzzzing!!!
A massive amount of ice-attribute mana gathered in his fist.
He thrust that power forward.
Kwaaaaaaaa!!!
The cold released from his fist froze a quarter of the wave solid.
On the surface, it was an impressive result.
But—
“Tsk.”
He sighed inwardly as he looked at his tattered gauntlets.
‘If I had equipment that could fully handle the power of extreme cold, I could’ve taken out more than a third at once.’
With a regretful expression, he charged straight into the wave.
“Kyaaaaah-!”
“Kiiik-!”
The mantis and spider insectoids marked with the <Replica> title—moving only on instinct—rushed toward him.
“Come.”
Alexei clenched his fist and spoke.
“Let’s see just how strong you lot are.”
Around that time.
Strange changes were being detected in dungeons and portals across Earth as well.
A team composed of mid-tier superhumans around Level 40–45.
They were clearing a dungeon called <Ghost Forest>.
It was an ordinary dungeon where monsters like forest crows and forgotten warriors around Level 40–45 usually appeared.
However, the atmosphere was different this time.
While clearing the dungeon—
“Samaaat—!”
“······?”
The superhumans turned their heads at the unfamiliar cry,
and came face to face with monsters they had never seen before.
「Replica Giant King Mantis, Lv50」
「Replica Giant Shield Mantis, Lv50」
「Replica Giant Broadbelly Mantis, Lv50」
“W-What is this?”
“Mantises…?”
“Crazy…!”
The newly appeared monsters were giant mantis-type creatures.
Facing them—beings with higher levels and more imposing presence than the usual dungeon monsters—the superhumans couldn’t hide their tension.
“Huh?”
After Emilia left, Seojun—who had been preparing to level up by consuming spirit herbs—suddenly widened his eyes.
He had come across an unexpected story on the Superhuman Net, where superhumans shared news.
“Dungeons with giant mantises and giant spiders suddenly appearing?”
The news was heating up the Superhuman Net.
Stories about the new monsters appearing in dungeons spread instantly, and both anxiety and curiosity rose among the superhumans.
“No matter how I look at it, they seem just like the giant mantises and giant spiders Archeron fought.”
Seojun narrowed his eyes.
Replicas.
Could the replicas of the beings Archeron had hunted be appearing in Earth’s dungeons?
“This…”
For some reason, the thought that this incident was connected to his own actions wouldn’t leave his mind.
“It feels wrong to just pretend I don’t know.”
From what he’d heard on the Superhuman Net, fortunately, it didn’t seem like Level 100+ monsters like the ones they had faced here had appeared.
Most were around Level 40–50.
The worst-case scenario had been avoided, but even that seemed to be a heavy burden for many superhumans.
“It’s not like I can make bug repellent and sell it.”
As Seojun muttered to himself with a frown—
‘Chuchu?’
At the word “bug repellent,” Chuchu’s ears perked up.
‘Chu!’
Chuchu quickly made up his mind and jumped to his feet.
Whoosh-!
He dashed straight out of the lair.
His eyes were sparkling.
Lately, Archeron had been hogging the master’s affection. This was the perfect chance to turn the tide.
Whoosh-!!
Chuchu’s steps grew faster and faster.
His target was the <Marigold>.
A precious herb known for its excellent bug-repelling effects.