Chapter 58: Chuchu’s Great Ambition

“Ah, you are here. Welcome.”

The first to greet Emilia was Seojun.

Emilia immediately realized that this human man was the true owner of the lair and the one bound by oath to the hatchling.

“I am Emilia, Queen of the Liri Tribe. I offer my greetings to the master of the lair.”

She bowed politely, carefully gauging his reaction.

She could not help but worry inwardly about what might happen if this man had a violent temperament.

If that were the case, not only would she fail to gain help, the situation could worsen.

But—

“You have been through a lot. Come over here and greet the rest of the family in the lair as well.”

Her worries were unfounded.

She felt the warmth in his words and relaxed.

Tap tap tap!

At his gesture, the scattered Guardians gathered in an instant.

Among them was also the hatchling, the owner of this lair.

She flinched.

Faced with their overwhelming presence, Emilia instinctively trembled.

Each of them possessed the immense aura befitting a Guardian.

Without realizing it, she drew her neck in.

Yet the Guardians spoke to her kindly, one after another.

“Queen of the Liri Tribe, welcome!”

“Popo!”

“Chuuuu!”

“Awoong!”

“Oh my, the Queen of the Liri Tribe is here. Nice to meet you!”

Their tones were warm.

Were these truly the Guardians of a dragon lair?

Even the hatchling felt pure and gentle.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Emilia, Queen of the Liri Tribe.”

She greeted them with much of her tension eased.

“Poo!”

“Chuu.”

“Awoo.”

“You have truly been through a lot. Let us get along well from now on, Your Majesty.”

‘Ah…’

Emilia nearly burst into tears.

Why did the words ‘you have been through a lot’ strike her so deeply?

Just then—

“Grrrrr…”

At the sudden sound, Emilia flinched and instinctively shrank back.

A horned youth with snow-white hair.

Just looking at him made it feel as though her breath might stop.

The aura he carried was overwhelming, like an endlessly vast and deep ocean.

‘Ah…’

She stiffened and barely managed to step back.

“Azkai! You are scaring the Queen of the Liri Tribe.”

“Huh? I did not do anything…”

‘You did nothing? You just growled.’

“That was a yawn…”

“Still, be careful. A stone thrown without thought can kill a frog.”

“Yes… I will remember that.”

At the man’s words, the horned youth immediately lowered his head and became meek.

Seeing that, the fear weighing on Emilia vanished as if it had never been there.

“Oh my, I apologize. Ah, I have not introduced myself. My name is Park Seojun.”

“Park Seojun…”

Park Seojun.

Those three syllables etched themselves deeply into Emilia’s heart.

“Shall I show you around the lair?”

Seojun personally guided her through the lair, explaining everything along the way.

“Ah.”

An exclamation escaped Emilia as she looked around.

Rare spirit herbs and elixirs were arranged everywhere.

“Lunadria.”

“White Sun Grass.”

“Guji Leaf Grass.”

“Mandragora… and even Immortal Peach.”

She could not hide her admiration at seeing so many precious herbs that were rarely found outside.

But something else surprised her even more.

“El… Eldrias?”

Her eyes widened.

She had never imagined that the Sacred Spirit Tree, Eldrias, would be here.

“Oh, Sacred Spirit Tree…!”

Like Lucien, Emilia offered a reverent greeting to Eldrias.

Her face was filled with respect and awe.

Then she suddenly turned to Seojun.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, speaking with hopeful anticipation.

“Um… may I come again sometime?”

“Yes, of course. Come whenever you like.”

“Thank you. Ah! And although my strength is depleted right now, once it recovers… I may be able to help the Sacred Spirit Tree grow.”

“Help it grow?”

“Yes!”

Her power, Dawn of Life, which made the aberrants covet her so desperately.

That power unlocked latent potential in plants, drove evolution beyond limits, maximized vitality, and allowed resonance.

With it, she could naturally accelerate the growth of Eldrias.

‘Oh.’

Seojun marveled, realizing that Lucien’s words had not been exaggerated.

Now he understood why they had pursued Emilia so relentlessly.

She truly was a being blessed by life itself.

“Then, would those be possible as well?”

Seojun asked, pointing at the Immortal Peach, mandragora, White Sun Grass, and Lunadria.

“Yes, they are.”

“…!”

Nice.

Seojun cheered inwardly.

If those herbs grew even stronger under her power, his own growth would accelerate dramatically.

Considering how slowly he had accumulated experience until now, not only reaching level seventy, but even pushing toward level one hundred no longer seemed unrealistic.

‘I am getting impatient.’

The beings he encountered outside the lair were all monsters at level two hundred or level three hundred.

Compared to them, he felt like the smallest of small fry.

But if he continued refining himself by steadily absorbing strengthened herbs under Emilia’s Dawn of Life,

Reaching a transcendent realm like theirs would no longer be a dream.

‘I will not need to search for new elixirs for a while.’

Seojun thought rescuing Emilia had truly been a masterstroke.

“Well then, Your Majesty. You must be hungry, right? Please try the pride of our lair: shine muscat grapes, kiwi, and cherry tomatoes.”

Seojun treated Emilia even more generously than before.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, it is nothing. We have plenty, so please eat as much as you like!”

The warm atmosphere continued.

Thanks to Seojun’s sincere efforts, the awkwardness and distance Emilia felt toward him and the Guardians gradually melted away.

Late at night.

“Bzzzt!”

“Zraaak!”

Wolf spiders moved swiftly toward the central region.

“Bzzzt!”

“Zraak!”

They exchanged information with their characteristic sounds, then—

Shraak!

They scattered in different directions in an instant.

They were moving efficiently to track traces.

“Bzzzt!”

One of them suddenly stopped.

It had found something.

Tracks crossing the ground.

Traces of something that had passed through at great speed.

“Zraak!”

As it moved to follow the trail—

Ssssshh.

Faint black shapes rushed toward it like shadows.

“Zraaaak!”

The wolf spider instinctively tried to retreat, but the black shapes were far faster.

“Awooooo!”

With a roar, the black shapes leapt onto the wolf spider’s back.

Crunch!

Crack!

Their assault was precise and coordinated.

One bit sharply into its neck.

Another pinned it down from above.

Yet another clamped onto its legs, completely immobilizing it.

“Zz… zzzk…”

The wolf spider gradually lost strength and collapsed with its final breath.

“Awooooo!”

“Awoooo!”

The shadow wolves let out victorious howls.

“Awoo.”

“Awoooo!”

But they were not satisfied with hunting just one wolf spider.

There were still dozens of targets left.

Even so, they did not rush.

The night was long, and they had plenty of time.

“Awoo!”

The shadow wolves began to move again.

After wandering for a long age, they had finally found a home.

Those who dared trespass into their territory would never escape the attacks of the nightmares of the night.

The frigid northern hemisphere.

Alexei gazed at the monster wave surging in from afar.

“Hm…”

His brow furrowed deeply.

Once again, new species of monsters had clearly been added.

Replica Zalaris.

Replica Belgram.

Replica…

“What in the world…”

Ever since he first hunted monsters like the Replica Grim Reaper and Ghost,

These creatures began appearing one or two at a time whenever a monster wave arrived.

As a result, the difficulty of the waves rose sharply, forcing Alexei to fight under constant tension.

Just as he felt he was adapting, this time mantis- and spider-shaped insectoids were mixed in.

‘What are these things?’

All of the new enemies before him were level eighty.

Even though Alexei had already surpassed level eighty, facing them every time was far from easy.

The saving grace was—

‘Only instinct remains.’

Their intelligence was severely diminished.

Moving purely on instinct allowed Alexei to fight efficiently even against multiple enemies at once.

Though he could not avoid minor injuries, it was why he managed to win without suffering fatal wounds.

‘Hoo.’

Alexei let out a deep breath.

Stopping them again would not be a major problem.

‘But this change worries me.’

This strange mutation that began at some point.

It could not be seen as a good sign.

He could only hope that it would not spread across the entire world like wildfire.

‘Before that, I must find the cause.’

He had already shared this situation with the community of Earth’s strongest, once called the Ten Thousand, now the Twelve Thousand.

Among them, the Archmage Arthur Bennett was actively investigating the phenomenon.

If he was involved, the cause would surely be uncovered soon.

So—

‘I will focus on what I can do.’

Alexei raised his fist.

Ziiiiing!

Massive ice-aspected mana gathered around it.

He hurled that power forward.

Kwaaaaaah!

The freezing blast from his fist froze one quarter of the wave solid.

By results alone, it was impressive.

But—

“Tsk.”

He looked at his tattered gauntlet with an inward sigh.

‘If I had equipment that could fully withstand this frigid mana, I could have dealt with more than one third at once.’

With a regretful expression, he leapt boldly into the wave.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Kiiiiiik!”

Mantis and spider insectoids bearing the title Replica, driven only by instinct, rushed toward him.

“Come.”

Alexei clenched his fist.

“Let us see just how strong you are.”

Around the same time.

Strange changes were being detected in dungeons and portals across the world.

A team composed of mid-tier transcendents around level forty to forty-five.

They were clearing a dungeon called the Ghost Forest.

It was normally an ordinary dungeon where monsters like forest crows and forgotten warriors of similar levels appeared.

But this time, the atmosphere was different.

During the clear—

“Samaaah—!”

“…?”

An unfamiliar cry rang out.

Turning toward the sound, the transcendents came face to face with monsters they had never seen before.

Replica Giant King Mantis, level fifty.

Replica Giant Shield Mantis, level fifty.

Replica Giant Broadbelly Mantis, level fifty.

“W-what is that?”

“Mantises…?”

“This is insane…”

The newly appeared monsters were enormous mantis-shaped creatures.

With higher levels and far greater pressure than the usual dungeon monsters, the transcendents could not hide their tension.

“Huh?”

After Emilia left, Seojun, preparing to level up by consuming spirit herbs, suddenly widened his eyes.

He had come across unexpected news on the network used by transcendents.

“Dungeons where giant mantises and giant spiders suddenly appear?”

The news was setting the network ablaze.

Stories about the new dungeon monsters spread instantly, stirring both anxiety and curiosity.

‘Wow, what are these things? We almost suffered a major disaster today.’

‘Same here. Completely unexpected enemies…’

‘Their intelligence is very low, but their physical abilities are strong. They are fast and good at ambushes, so magic-type transcendents are taking heavy losses.’

‘What is going on all of a sudden?’

‘But their names all start with Replica. Are they copies or something?’

‘No idea. People are talking about that too.’

“They look just like the giant mantises and spiders Archeron fought.”

Seojun frowned.

Replicas.

Could it be that replicas of the beings Archeron hunted were appearing in Earth’s dungeons?

“This…”

For some reason, he could not shake the feeling that this situation was connected to his own actions.

“It feels wrong to just ignore it.”

From the reports, it seemed that monsters in the high one-hundred-level range like those here had not appeared.

Most were around level forty to fifty.

The worst-case scenario had been avoided, but even that was a heavy burden for many transcendents.

“I cannot exactly sell insect repellent.”

As Seojun muttered with a furrowed brow—

‘Chuu?’

At the words ‘insect repellent,’ Chuchu’s ears perked up.

‘Chuu!’

As if making a decision, Chuchu sprang to his feet.

Flash!

He immediately dashed out of the lair.

His eyes sparkled.

Archeron had been monopolizing the master’s favor lately, and now a perfect chance had appeared to reclaim the spotlight.

Flash!

Chuchu’s steps grew faster.

His target was marigold.

A precious herb known as a powerful remedy against insects.