Chapter 66: Audience
Lin Yan walked into the crimson nest, her hand on her sword, her senses on high alert.
But Diana simply chuckled.
If Queen Arachne had wanted to kill her, no amount of vigilance would have saved her.
Not even her uncle, Lin Ye, had dared to venture so deep into the nest.
But that had been a different time. Lin Ye had been here as a threat. Lin Yan was here as an ally.
And Queen Arachne, wary of the current situation, wouldn’t attack her without reason.
Besides her vigilance, Lin Yan was also observing the nest’s interior.
It was less a nest, more a… living creature.
The walls were lined with pulsing veins, strange organs beating with a rhythmic pulse, the air circulating as if a massive lung were breathing…
“If this is a living creature, it’s terrifying…”
She suppressed a shudder, her expression a mask of calm.
A short while later, they reached the heart of the nest.
The number of guards had dwindled, and now, there was no one, only a dead silence.
“My mother prefers not to be disturbed. Only her children are allowed in her chambers,” Diana explained, seeing Lin Yan’s confusion.
“It seems Queen Arachne has many children,” Lin Yan said, raising an eyebrow.
“But few she trusts.”
Diana stepped aside, revealing a large door, and gestured for Lin Yan to enter.
The entrance to the nest had been like a gaping maw, but this door was literally a mouth.
It was ten feet high and three feet wide, lined with sharp, pointed teeth, some still dripping with blood.
And near the door, something was moving.
Lin Yan looked closer and saw several bloodshot eyes, and she stumbled back, startled.
“Scared, Legendary Knight?” Diana chuckled.
“Are you sure this is Queen Arachne’s palace?” Lin Yan asked, her hand on her sword, her [Time Stop] Authority held in reserve.
If Diana made a move, she could freeze her in an instant.
And with her superior close-combat skills, she could kill her.
“Don’t be so tense, Legendary Knight~” Diana purred, but then a low, raspy voice echoed from within the door.
“Diana, bring her in.”
Diana’s expression changed, a flicker of fear in her eyes. She quickly knelt. “Yes, Mother.”
Silence. Diana stood up, relieved.
She had almost pushed her luck too far.
She looked at Lin Yan, her playful demeanor gone. “Legendary Knight, you heard her. Please, enter.”
Lin Yan looked at her, a faint smile on her lips.
She hadn’t expected Diana to be so… afraid.
She sheathed her sword and walked through the terrifying door.
Diana followed close behind.
Unlike the rest of the nest, the interior of the palace, despite the gruesome entrance, was surprisingly… normal.
A vast hall with a polished stone floor.
The ceiling was adorned with the latest in Imperial lighting devices—a popular export among the nobility.
The walls were lined with bookshelves, and a large, ornate chair sat in the corner, its design strange, difficult to imagine a normal human sitting in it.
On the other side of the room was a long, rectangular conference table, likely where the Queen met with the other beastkin leaders.
And in the center of the room, a massive bed, shrouded in layers of white webbing, like a human mosquito net.
As Lin Yan looked around, the same voice from before spoke.
“A familiar aura. A descendant of Lin Ye?”
Lin Ye, the Legendary Knight who had been stationed at the Wild God Altar, was someone Queen Arachne remembered well.
“He is my uncle,” Lin Yan said, looking towards the bed, and saluting. “Lin Yan, Legendary Knight of the North Empire, greets Queen Arachne.”
“Hmph, another strange human custom,” the Queen muttered, and the webbing parted, revealing her true form. “Speak. You came to see me so urgently. It must be important.”
Lin Yan looked at her, stunned.
She had heard stories of the terrifying Queen Arachne, had seen her children, and had imagined what she might look like.
But she hadn’t expected her to look so… ordinary.
Delicate features, a calm, gentle expression.
But her lower half… was the grotesque body of a spider.
Eight legs, covered in sharp teeth and eyes, writhing, just like the door.
“The same expression as Lin Ye when he first saw me,” the Queen chuckled. “I know I’m not as beautiful as my daughters, but there’s no need to be so surprised.”
Diana knelt, her head bowed, not daring to look at her mother.
“My apologies. I was… rude,” Lin Yan said, looking away.
The contrast between her upper and lower body was too jarring. She was struggling to maintain her composure.
“Humans are always so quick to judge what they don’t understand. I’m used to it,” the Queen said, standing up, her eight legs moving with a surprising grace as she walked to the strange chair and sat down.
“Save your surprise for next time. It’s almost teatime, and I’d like to read for a while.”
So that’s what the strange chair was for.
Lin Yan composed herself. “Isabelle has appeared.”
“Where?” the Queen asked, her tone casual.
“We believe she has entered the Wild God Altar. She may even be near the nest,” Lin Yan said.
“What!” The Queen’s pupils constricted.
