Chapter 307: Sacred Beast Essence pool

Melancholy, despair and sadness.

These are the emotions one tend to associate with a tunnel full of skeletal remains, especially in a tunnel made from a giant monster spider’s remains.

That being said, while this particular mood influenced Zhen Liu, Nausicaa and the kaijin to some degree as they continued to walk down this horrible tunnel, the latter were feeling something in addition to those three aforementioned feelings.

Dread.

For reasons beyond them, they were feeling a looking sense of dread developing in their stomachs and they couldn’t figure out why.

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[Hey guys...you, uh...you guys getting a fuzzy feeling where our stomaches should be? Like something bad is about to happen?,] Hurricroak asked her compatriots.

[Indeed.]

[Yup...]

[Cool, cool...none of y’all can contact Logos or Pathos right now, right?]

[Correct.]

[Yes...]

[Right...so...what’s the plan here?]

[Pardon?]

[I mean... we’re all sensing that something is clearly wrong in this place, and usually we’re pretty certain we can body most threats, but... something feels off here. Like there’s something big, nasty and...]

[Similar...to...us...]

[Yeah. That. And I’m pretty sure this time, we’re going to need a plan in case things go tits up...can’t believe I’m the one saying that.]

[Not...good...]

[Exactly.]

[Hmmm. Seems to me, we only need one plan to be honest. A very simple one at that,] Nepherage answered.

[Oh? What plan is that?]

[To fight like the monsters we were made to be.]

[Huh...]

[Huh...aight, I can dig that.]

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<Shit! Even our connection to the other kaijin are getting fucked up! Please tell me you figured something out by now?>

=I’m trying, I’m trying! I can’t...oh fuck, that’s why?!=

<Why, what? Why, what?!>

=That thing is just naturally releasing energy at the same frequency as us, it ain’t even trying to block us. I gotta change it if we’re going to reconnect.=

<Well then do that!>

=I’m trying! It’s been a couple hundred years since we had to do anything of this sort. Fucking array bull...hold up.=

<What?>

=I have an idea on how to speed this up, but we’re gonna have to get... anachronistic.=

<Oh, chaos yes.>

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"Altogether now, attack!"

"Ora!"

"HISS! HISS!"

BOOM!

’Holy shit, this is intense!,’ Belios thought to himself as he and his classmates coordinated their attacks against a particularly nasty Thunderfang Tarantula that was blocking their way.

Immediately after breaking into the Infernal Spider Queen’s corpse, the expedition was attacked by a literal army of spider aether beasts of all shapes, sizes and tiers, pouring out from the inside of the Queen’s corpse.

Were they her descendants, who had taken residence inside her body?

Opportunistic scavengers looking to claim her power for their own, but failed halfway through and now just mill around her body like bums?

Perhaps they were guardians of sorts, making sure that no one except for those they deemed worthy as being able to claim the power within for their own?

Who knows.

The thoughts of beasts had no place among the affairs of men. At least, that’s what a few of the students thought as they fought the spider beasts, as well as one of the leaders.

Lead by Frederick and the professors, the History and Alchemy division students fought through wave after wave of spider aether beasts, making sure to take ground after every wave, slowly but surely pushing their way deeper and deeper into the remnants of the Spider Queen.

Surprisingly, none of the students died during this offensive. There might have been a few superficial injuries here and there, but there weren’t any casualties.

While some would say this was just sheer dumb luck, but those present to the situation couldn’t help but attribute it all to Frederick Anterio’s military know-how and charisma.

Even Belios couldn’t help but get swept up in the fever of it all, despite his own minor personal misgivings of the adventure.

Frederick may have lied for a good cause...but he still lied nonetheless.

Regardless, Belios was already in the thick of it, so he might as well go all the way.

"This is the last wave! Let’s go!"

"HURRAH!"

After non-stop fighting for the last fifteen more or so minutes, the expedition finally broke through the last line defense and entered into what looked to be a circular chamber of sorts.

The animal studies personnel of the group recognized this part as being the sternum of the great spider, i.e., where the head was located.

"We di-whoa..."

"Yeah...whoa..."

"Is...is that what Sacred Beast Essence looks like?"

"Guess so...damn..."

"Man, check out that core! It’s huge!"

"Don’t you mean cores?"

"Huh? What’s that weird looking bump?"

"I...I think that’s a giant lacewing head?"

"Oh. Oh."

As the expedition entered the sternum, they found that there were no more spiders in their way. Instead, they were struck with a sense of profound energy suddenly coming down upon them like a force of heaven and had come across what was essentially enough wealth and power that could turn any one of them into elites in their respective regions.

In the circular chamber-like sternum was not one, but two aether beast cores of the eighth tier that both had natural arrays carved on their surfaces, resting stop what appeared to be intricately carved pedestals. If one were to take a closer look however, one would realize these pedestals were chitnous remains grown in a particular shape.

One radiated a feeling of darkness, power, domination, that it was an apex predator and that all beneath it was just simply...prey.

On the flip side, the other core radiated a feeling of freedom, breeziness, as if one could go anywhere at anytime...but undercut with a profound sense of fury, ready to explode at any moment, if anyone tried to stop them.

It wasn’t too difficult for the expedition goers to put together that these were the cores of the fabled Infernal Wolf Spider Queen and Cataclysmic Wind Storm Lacewing, hell, the latter’s head was poking out of the ground.

However, neither of these cores truly attracted the attention of the expedition members.

Instead, their gazes we’re drawn downward at a strange looking pool that the pedestals were sticking out of, that appeared to be a mix of two different colored liquids.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that before them was a pool of the Sacred Beast Essence they were after, not only that, it was of two different beasts.

Greed and desire filled the students eyes, but the professors and Frederick held them back before they decided to step forward.

"My word," Frederick muttered in shock, "it’s here. Just like that old seer said it would be..."

"Looks like you were right Mister Anterio, Professor Festeroy said while he scratched his bearded chin, "there was indeed Sacred Beast Essence to be found in Insect Hell."

"Not just that. It’s completely untouched! There’s enough essence here it to make at least a hundred eighth tier aether pills and elixirs, with enough left over to make at least half dozen ninth tier pills!," Professor Zelini pointed out in an excited tone, "looks like you’ll be able to fix up your father and then some."

"Huh? Oh yes, my father...," Frederick trailed off.

Nobody in the room to notice that weird change in tone in Frederick’s voice the moment his father was mentioned, well...nobody but Belios that is.

’That...why did that sound off?’

Maybe it was just a tone of relief, a burden that was removed from his shoulders and now he could finally relax...but it also sounded as if...he might have been lying about that bit of his father too.

"Alright then, students get ready to-"

"Now hold on, good sirs. I need to check one last thing."

The professors were just about to instruct the students on securing the room and preparing vessels to which to extract the Sacred Beast Essence, but then they were interrupted by Frederick’s sudden command...and change intonation.

"That old alchemist provided me a tool to which to test out if the Essence before is compatible with his recipe. A weird procedure to be sure, but...you know how alchemists are."

"Oh. Uh...okay then, go ahead..."

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’Huh...maybe I’ve played too many video games back on my old world...but this is clearly a fucking boss room door,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he and his group paused and stood before a rather ostentatious door.

The door in question looked rather strange, what with all of the unnatural curves scattered about it’s design and the unusual protrusions here and there. It took Zhen Liu all of five seconds to realize the door was made of bodies...or at least what was left of the bodies.

’Hmmm. Maybe I should-huh?’

*Crackle*

Zhen Liu paused as he swore he heard radio static go off in his head. He was about to chalk that up to his own nerves, but then it happened again, only this time, it was joined by the voice of Pathos suddenly screaming at him.

<MILORD, DON’T TOUCH THAT FUCKING DOOR!>

’Oh...that’s not good.’