Edward and Anwen were also waiting for a reply. Basil must’ve entered the pa.s.sage after all the others had arrived in the Great Maelstrom. According to the time, there had to be a reason he had made a beeline for the Constellation Well.
Basil narrowed his eyes. “How come you’re all here?”
At this point, forces from the Empire, the vampire, the demonkin, and arachne races had all gathered here. Apart from the Imperial group’s relatively clear intentions, the others were all planning something in secret.
Noticing something, Qianye sized Basil up from head to toe. The arachne glared back, but Qianye paid him little heed as he observed the target in detail. Basil’s large figure became clearly reflected in Qianye’s eyes.
For some reason, Basil felt inexplicably uncomfortable after being stared at by Qianye. It was as though the latter’s gaze possessed highly penetrative properties—the arachne felt as though he was being touched and penetrated. At this rate, all of his secrets would be revealed.
Basil s.h.i.+vered at the thought of this. A faint layer of light appeared around him in an attempt to stop Qianye’s eyes. The arrogance on his countenance had vanished, replaced by a deep sense of apprehension. He took two steps to the side, putting some distance between him and Qianye.
The latter wasn’t about to be careless because of Basil’s show of weakness. The power this arachne had displayed during his arrival and subsequent retreat was far above his peers. Judging from Eden and Anwen’s reactions, this Basil was probably a genius-level character who shouldn’t be underestimated.
Just now, Qianye had used the Eye of Control to test Basil’s strength and reaction, increasing the force by a minuscule amount each time. Qianye gained a good understanding of this arachne’s true strength after the probe. This was yet another enemy that would require his Shot of Inception.
Edward waved at Basil, saying, “Brother Basil, why don’t you join our side.”
Basil hesitated momentarily. He then glanced at Eden and Anwen before moving to Edward’s side. His large body moved at such speed that several vampire counts were toppled over as a result.
Basil laughed loudly. “Sorry, I just molted recently, so I still can’t control my strength well.”
Edward’s expression was somewhat ugly. This wasn’t a plausible excuse for someone at their level. The arachne was clearly taking advantage of the situation to establish his might, but this wasn’t the time to read too much into things.
Anwen was somewhat surprised by the development. “When did the arachne become so friendly with the vampires?”
The arachne used to support the werewolves in their battle against the vampires, hoping to weaken the latter race in the process. It was already a good thing if the two parties didn’t start fighting on sight. There was no way they would stand together like this.
Anwen and Eden exchanged meaningful glances. With Basil and Edward joining forces, in addition to the group of vampire experts, the demonkin had fallen into a disadvantage. Anwen and Eden had no important business in the Constellation Well. The latter was just pa.s.sing by, and Anwen was only looking to produce an origin crystal for Bai Kongzhao. The vampires and arachne, on the other hand, looked like they were determined to claim this location. Perhaps the blood rod wasn’t as simple as it looked—just what was the arachne here for?
Anwen chuckled. “Your Excellency Basil, what are you here for? Let’s hear it and see if we have room for negotiation.”
Basil laughed loudly. “I was just on a stroll.”
Edward said gloomily, “Do you think we will tell you? You can forget about the things, just leave quickly.”
Eden turned to Qianye with a cold smile. “Interested in working together? Let’s finish these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds off first.”
Even Qianye himself wasn’t expecting this offer. He was immediately tempted by the offer and wanted to agree immediately.
Disbelief was plastered onto Edward and Basil’s expressions. The arachne pointed at Eden, saying, “Are you trying to betray the Evernight Council?”
“Nope, I just wanted to kill those vampires. This has nothing to do with you if you just stand aside.” Eden had drawn his sword.
Basil scratched his head and looked at Edward with an awkward expression. “I’ve already promised Edward, so I guess I can’t get out of this.”
Eden nodded. “Then get ready to fight.”
Anwen was at a loss. “Wait, Eden, are you really going to fight?”
Eden said while keeping his gaze fixed on the other party. “How is it justifiable to see vampires and not kill them?”
Anwen felt that this logic was flawed somehow, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He also hated the vampires, but not to the point of ignoring everything else. Technically speaking, didn’t Qianye also have a vampire bloodline? He could be considered a half-vampire by any measure. How come Eden wasn’t bothering with him?
Edward had no intention to discuss further. He drew his sword silently and got ready to do battle. All the vampire experts fanned out in a battle formation. With a shrug, Basil also went into position.
With the battle ignited, Qianye made up his mind to draw East Peak. Regardless of the situation, it would be a good thing to remove a couple of experts from the equation.
It was at this point that an indescribable sensation washed over the scene. It descended slowly from above like a giant net and enveloped everyone within its power. Everyone s.h.i.+vered subconsciously, almost as though an unknown danger was about to fall upon them. Even Qianye wasn’t an exception.
People looked around in alarm, while Anwen and Eden exchanged surprised glances.
The sky turned somewhat dark. It was as though a thin gauze had blocked out the sunlight, causing the daylight to darken. There was a faintly discernible figure in the muslin shroud that no one could clearly see. Even Qianye, who possessed the Eye of Control, couldn’t quite discern her illusory projection.
However, this aura was deeply etched into Qianye’s heart.
This was the greatest enemy of his life, the Demoness.
Qianye’s figure flickered and appeared several meters back. Several gauze-like shadows swept silently across his previous location. These shades had no tangible ma.s.s, but they became extremely sharp the moment they came into contact with the ground, leaving several mirror-smooth cut surfaces in their wake. If it wasn’t for his quick retreat, Qianye might’ve lost a few limbs by now.
Everyone’s expressions changed drastically. This ruthless shadowy attack had arrived without the slightest of warnings. Any other person would’ve found it difficult to escape this calamity without Qianye’s seemingly-foreseen reaction.
The Demoness fame was resounding throughout the entire Evernight, and most geniuses at the scene felt a deep shadow in their hearts regarding this name. Apart from Anwen, the Demoness was never among their compet.i.tor’s list, nor was there a reason to. It was just like how no one would compare themselves against Zhang Boqian in the Empire; even Lin Xitang was a bit inferior in comparison.
After escaping this attack, Qianye simply stood there with his sword in hand, gazing at the distant sky.
A distant voice echoed in the air, “You improved quite fast.”
“Thanks for the praise,” Qianye said seriously. A compliment from the Demoness was perhaps even more valuable than an Imperial medal.
Everyone began to react at this point. Eden formed a full ceremonial greeting toward the air, saying, “Your Majesty, you’ve come as well.”
Anwen smiled wryly. “Do you really have to stand at a higher place?”
“That is fitting of our situations.”
Anwen shook his head helplessly. “It’s not like I wanted this young lord position, don’t overthink it.”
The demoness snorted coldly, her face full of disdain.
Anwen stopped speaking and waited for her to continue.
The person’s silhouette became clearer at this point. Her fair figure was now visible to the naked eye, but her appearance remained hidden behind a misty shroud. She descended slowly and stopped a hundred or so meters from the ground. “Edward, Basil, tell us what your little secret is.”
Edward and Basil were momentarily silent and at a loss. They hadn’t imagined that the Demoness would actually come to the Great Maelstrom. With her around, the demonkin would hold an overwhelming advantage. If they didn’t divulge the information, they wouldn’t be a match even when working together, but their name would be entirely destroyed if they were suppressed just like that.
The Demoness seemed to have seen through their thoughts. “Your races have both obtained ways from humans to strengthen yourselves using star power. That’s why you ran over here in secret, hoping to absorb the energy here. Am I wrong?”
Edward was calm enough, but Basil said in surprise, “How did you know?”
“Humph, how could Her Highness not know of such an important matter?”
Basil became silent. Edward, on the other hand, was left wondering which highness the Demoness was referring to.
The Demoness said, “Hand over all of your items and split it between the three races. As for me, I’ll help you produce a drop of origin blood each.”
Edward and Basil exchanged glances, and then nodded after a moment of contemplation. The process of forming origin blood from absorbed star power was dependent on the operator. The Demoness was far more powerful than anyone here, so the origin blood produced by her would be the best.
This meant that they actually weren’t losing out. It was fine even if the origin blood formed by the Demoness could only be used by the demonkin. They could just sell them to the demonkin at a later date, and it would surely fetch a good price.
Now that the three races had reached an agreement, all gazes fell upon Qianye.
“You guys start producing origin blood first, I’ll go deal with that meddling fellow.” With that, the Demoness drifted toward Qianye.
Eden frowned slightly, but he didn’t say anything.
Edward waved his hand, saying, “Twilight, stay behind. Everyone else, seal off the area.”
The vampires spread out in all directions and took up important positions around the Constellation Well. Edward produced a box and opened it, revealing a neat row of more than ten hexagonal blood rods. Basil also took out a box containing a dozen white egg-like objects.
Edward’s eyes went wide. “You brought so many? Just for yourself?”
Basil said, “The arachne have always been abundant in vitality, I alone am enough.”
Edward said nothing more. He distributed some of the blood rods to Anwen and explained how to use them. Basil picked out some of the white spider eggs and pa.s.sed them to Eden.