NOVEL WEB Chapter 164: Skully's Investigation
"What do the injuries look like?" Aina, who was also present, turned to Nyx and Serena with a serious expression. She then pointed at the mutilated panther-like beast, to which both girls nodded, erasing any lingering doubts from everyone.
Something was indeed helping them.
Naturally, they didn't suspect it could be one of Nox's beasts. After all, he was away—a fact known by everyone in the barony—and he went everywhere with his beast companions. Clearly, whatever this thing was, it was on their side. It was both good and terrifying at the same time.
Good because this mysterious entity was helping them.
Terrifying because they didn't know anything about this entity. What were its intentions and goals? It was a mystery, as Celine thought. The unknown was the most frightening existence.
What they didn't know was that this was not the first time the mysterious entity had eliminated beasts that were coming close to the Cromwell Barony. If only they had walked some distance, they could've witnessed a trail of dozens of beasts strewn across the landscape like discarded toys.
"Now, what do we do?" Elvin asked, scratching his head with furrowed brows. It had been confirmed that something was helping them out, but they'd be foolish to place their trust in an entity they had no knowledge of.
The entity had even somehow snuck into the town... what if it had a change of heart and attacked the children and elderly? These thoughts weren't far-fetched. After all, there had been times when even protectors had turned into destroyers.
If Nox were here, he would compare this situation to a comic book back on Earth, where a caped vigilante was always cautious of the alien, even coming up with plans to eliminate it if it ever turned against humanity.
Nathan sensed the weight of the collective gazes of the others. He shifted, locking eyes with everyone. The baron knew he had to make a decision. Fortunately, he had already made one in the meeting the previous day. Now he only needed to tweak the plan, which wasn't too hard to do.
"I'll head to the capital as planned, but I want the rest of you to keep a close watch on those helping us. If possible, find them."
Everyone nodded in agreement, a serious expression crossing their features.
Then Nathan whistled. A moment later, a piercing shriek was heard through the sky as a powerfully built wyvern descended from the sky and landed on the ground, raising a brief dust storm all around.
Doombringer's yellow eyes flashed as it bent its neck in submission and respect before Nathan. Nathan gently patted the scaly wyvern's head, and the beast closed its eyes, pleased.
Before Nathan could jump on the wyvern and take off, Nyx called out.
"Grandpa, can I accompany you?" Her crisp voice cut through the air. Nathan stared at his granddaughter for a while before looking at Aina, who shrugged.
"Alright, climb on," he relented eventually with a nod.
A few minutes later, Nathan and Nyx mounted the wyvern and took off in the direction of the capital.
"I hope he doesn't cause trouble there," Aina muttered in a low voice that was audible enough for the others, and they nodded in agreement.
---
That same night, behind the Cromwell Manor, a tall figure wearing suspiciously thick clothes with a hood was looming before a wall covered with moss and vines. The figure's oversized clothes fluttered in the wind. Underneath the hood, a pair of shimmering, orb-like eyes gleamed.
"Now, how do I open this wall?" Skully muttered to himself. After discovering the hideout, Skully hadn't reported to Nathan immediately because he wanted to carry out his own investigation... after all, he had his suspicions.
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For the next thirty minutes, Skully attempted to open the wall, but it was futile.
When it crossed an hour, Skully was starting to become annoyed. He had witnessed the strange way the reddish figure had entered—it had simply stood there, and the walls had effortlessly parted.
"Maybe someone opened it from the inside. Let's try a different approach, then." Skully's eyes glowed intensely, and a beam of green laser shot out. Using the laser as a cutting tool, he aimed to carve through the moss-covered stone. The green laser hissed as it made contact with the wall, creating a trail of scorched earth and dust in its wake.
Within minutes, the wall collapsed, revealing a wide circular impression as large as Skully's frame.
"I knew it!" Skully exclaimed as he immediately passed through the opening and stepped into a tunnel crowded with red, carapace-covered ants.
Zttt-Zttt
As soon as Skully stepped into the tunnel, the ants threw hostile looks at him, their massive mandibles snapping together with audible clicks. These monsters were the size of full-grown humans, with gleaming red carapaces and fierce red eyes.
Sensing the hostility, Skully raised his hand and spoke in a neutral tone. "I mean no harm. I just want to have a conversation with you—"
Skully wasn't able to finish as one of the ants lunged forward with the intention of crushing him with its mandibles. With a heavy sigh, a sword made of bone materialized in his skeletal hand.
The second ant lunged at him, but Skully swiftly sidestepped, his movements fluid and controlled. He landed an accurate, non-lethal strike with his bony blade, slicing through the tendons of the ant's legs, causing it to collapse without harm. The others shrieked, charging at him recklessly.
Shing! Shing!
Skully's eyes flashed with a green pulse, and with a swift motion, he spun through the swarm, using his blade's flat edge to deflect strikes and disarm the ants without causing permanent damage. His strikes were swift, cutting just deep enough to weaken the creatures' mobility but not enough to end their lives.
"I don't want to fight you guys! I just want to have a word with your master!" the skeleton shouted, but the ants didn't pay attention and threw themselves at him. Skully was slowly getting irritated as the entire tunnel trembled as if it would soon collapse.
"What did I even expect from these mindless savages? I thought they were supposed to be one of the most intelligent species!" Skully couldn't help but complain.
---
"My lady, you don't have to do everything yourself."
"There's a reason I'm your husband."
Inside the lavish chamber, the black carapace-covered Ant King had long heard the disruption. The humanoid insect looked at his wife with an affectionate gaze. She was pregnant yet again; the Ant King didn't want her to burden herself with the colony's affairs.
The Ant Queen smiled warmly at her husband's words. Her delicate insectoid features softened, and her usually sharp mandibles relaxed. "You always worry about me, my love," she said, her voice like a gentle hum. "But I am fine. The eggs are developing well, and our children will be strong."
The Ant King's gaze lingered on the queen's swollen abdomen, adorned with intricate, gemstone-encrusted armor. "I know you're capable, but I'm here to share the burden," he said, his antennae twitching as he stood up and started to stride toward the commotion. His eyes shone with an intense light, eager to face the creature that had dared to infiltrate their nest.
The Ant King's booted feet carried him through the tunnels. He could hear the distant boom that suggested fierce fighting. The Ant King increased his pace and soon arrived at the tunnel where the intense fight was going on.
The tunnel floor was littered with countless groaning ants. They weren't dead but had received heavy blows that left them temporarily paralyzed. Standing in the midst of the groaning ants was a single creature.
A creature the Ant King had never seen before in his life.
A skeleton.
Regardless, this didn't quell his anger, and a powerful aura exploded from his body.
Meanwhile, Skully narrowed his green, orb-like eyes as a sense of realization washed over him. "This ant looks like the one belonging to that pipsqueak," his eyes widened further in realization. All this while, he had just been fighting overgrown ants.
"Could it be..."
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