Chapter 248: 248: Troubling Developments

It was the end of the second wave and Arsinoe's team had just returned, after scoring several victories.

Compared to the first wave where they were attacked on all fronts by hordes of creatures, she and her team could attest that the second wave wasn't as bad.

Perhaps the scorpions were running out of steam.

This time, only two of the larger ones appeared, along with several smaller ones.

Ophelia took down one of the larger scorpions by herself and drove the second into one of the pitfalls with bottom feeders, for one of the teams to finish off, and everyone on her team got their fair share of prey, in a relatively easy battle.

Yet, Arsinoe wasn't happy.

Although her team was one of the strongest, with all four members including herself and Europa, having already evolved.

But this time, it was not her team that took the creature down – another team had beaten them to it.

The culprit was Cygnus, who led a team that stood on par with hers, along with that abominable protégé of his – the two snatched every decent prey she encountered with their speed, before she even knew what was happening.

Arsinoe didn't know how, but whenever that smirking protégé of his passed her, her vision became blurry from the gust of wind, so much that by the time she could see, the prey was dead, with the duo already on their way, causing her to lose every single time.

Because of her strange trick, she wasn't able to prevent the prey she sought out from being stolen!

And afterwards, there weren't as many opponents so the battle became boring.

Just where did a serpent as fast as Cygnus appear from?

And why hadn't she noticed her before?

However, on entering into the dimly lit cave, the first serpent she encountered was Cygnus, with the culprit at his side.

[Don't cause any trouble!] Europa started to say, but Arsinoe already stormed past him.

[You! What did you do?!] Arsinoe fumed as she hissed at the two, but Cygnus remained calm.

[Arsinoe.] He greeted her mildly. [You look well.]

Arsinoe ignored the look of ridicule and they both glared at each other.

But then, she heard a giggle from his side, and turned to look at the nameless smiling snake.

Although the serpent didn't say anything, her purple eyes glinted at Arsinoe in amusement, making her more enraged.

Wasn't this a clear provocation?

Unfortunately, with Europa hovering anxiously at her side, as if scared she would do something, Arsinoe couldn't act.

Instead, she swallowed her anger – how could she show her team members her bad side.

[You won this round.] She amicably declared to Cygnus. [But I won't lose to you next time.]

Cygnus merely sighed, refusing to get involved. [It's not a competition.]

As if! Arsinoe trembled in fury. 

Fortunately, Typhon had begun to speak, so she used this opportunity to excuse herself from the two. 

These were targeting her, and they had the guts to pretend. Arsinoe vowed to get her revenge in the next battle when she defeated the most powerful prey.

Typhon was instructing all the teams to assemble so she went over to assist him, along with Europa who healed all their injuries. Lyra on the other hand, was kept back for severe injuries, although there were none so far.

Due to all the careful planning, the nestlings had suffered no casualties in this round, and because most of them were unscathed, they focused mainly on recovering their stamina.

Ophelia was doing a headcount on the platform, to make sure no one was missing when Apollo approached her.

The once timid serpent was now something of a saviour to all of them, so Ophelia listened carefully.

But after hearing what he had to say, she lowered her voice to not alert anyone.

[Are you sure of what you're saying?] Ophelia asked.

Apollo nervously nodded. [I looked through most of the tunnels, they are fewer than before.]

Ophelia glanced over at Typhon to see he had gone outside to keep watch. If what Apollo reported was right, she would have to tell him the troubling news.

[Show me.] 

----

Outside, Typhon was making note of which traps were still functional, as he scanned his surroundings with [Heat Sense].

On the surface, it didn't look like the forest had changed much. Yet, a series of tunnels appeared under the ground, illuminated due to the heat of the living bottom feeders inside.

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It was necessary to know exactly where each trap was on the surface, in order to send each team towards them in the next battle.

Once a trap has been triggered, they could no longer be used for a time, due to the corpses of the monsters killed inside.

Instead, a thick layer of poisonous plants were grown to cover their openings during battle, until the moment when he could sink the corpses much further into the ground, to enable those traps to be used again.

He was doing so now, but he felt something was amiss about today's battle.

Somehow, their victory had come too easily, and this didn't sit right with him.

It was possible most of their forces were destroyed by those ape-like monsters. However, it troubled him that there were still so many.

This was already their second attack, and it came not long after so many were killed in the first. Typhon had lost count of how many of those larger scorpions had died, as well as numerous smaller ones.

Yet, surely this wasn't all they had?

To be able to contend against them for so long meant they must have tougher creatures. If their fortress of a den was anything to look at, the creatures must spawn rapidly with several at a time. Perhaps they even had a queen.

There was a chance some of their toughest creatures were still alive and Typhon didn't want to get lured into a false sense of calm, because he was sure they hadn't exhausted their numbers yet. 

And so, he began creating more traps in anticipation of an imminent attack on a larger scale. 

Back in the cave, the Veladrys had received yet another demand from her Queen Mother. And in the absence of Ophelia, her eyes locked in on the brooding dark snake that had just returned from outside.

Her Queen Mother wanted her to insist on more reinforcements, but it seemed their plans were already set in order, which made the Veladrys depressed.

Was she really useless here?

The Veladrys forced herself to approach Typhon, but she soon found her path blocked by a speckled serpent with jewel pink eyes, that gave her a rather angry stare.

She recognised the serpent, it was the same one she met when she first arrived.

Back then she didn't dare to approach her so casually, but now that she was larger, it seemed she had gotten braver. 

The Veladrys frowned as she established a telepathic link. [What do you want?] 

[If you need something from Typhon, why not ask me?] The serpent coolly replied.

The Veladrys cursed her bad luck. Although the words were calm, she could feel the murderous intent reeking off this serpent, like daggers piercing her skin.

[That's none of your concern.] she replied, but the serpent refused to leave.

What problem did all these serpents have with her? 

However, as the Veladrys began to think of a peaceful way to remove the obstruction, Typhon headed towards her. Seeing this, she smirked at the speckled snake who had no choice but to retreat.

[My Queen Mother would like to assist with more reinforcements in the coming battle, if there is another round.] She said as she approached Typhon.

To her surprise, instead of refusing like before, Typhon nodded. [Tell your Queen Mother we agree. But keep them on standby, until they are required.]

Speechless, the Veladrys agreed with a wide smile, once again feeling several daggers piecing her back.

----

Meanwhile, in another part of the cave, Apollo was consulting with his captain.

Ophelia had joined him in the underground and the two went on to investigate a problem with the bottom feeders. Earlier, Apollo had told her their numbers had drastically reduced, and this was not through their loss in battle.

[Are you sure there's a leak somewhere?] she asked Apollo who nodded.

[I can't stop thinking they are less than before.] He replied. [Before we could use up all our food reserves feeding them, but now they are so little.]

Ophelia peered into the cells filled with bottom feeders that fed into the tunnels underground and thought there was nothing amiss. The tunnels were still filled with the writhing creatures.

[I think some may have escaped.] Apollo insisted. [If we don't have enough, the traps will lose their effect.]

It was a very serious issue, but Ophelia couldn't think of how there could be a breach when everything in the cells was exactly the same. The unhatched worm eggs were still there, even Morgana's crypt and the large cell filled with her creatures. 

But if what Apollo said was true, they were in deep trouble.

Ophelia peered down into one of the larger tunnels and stopped. She recalled Arsinoe saying Galahad had vanished from the underground. Was it possible that he did something?

The tunnels were connected to the traps outside. If Galahad wanted to leave the cave silently, he only had to follow one of them. Yet, Ophelia's thoughts darkened.

With Hestia with him, it was a simple matter to weaken some of the tunnel walls on his way out, to bring the entire system down. She scanned the tunnels, and when she found no obvious gaps, she decided to follow one of the safer pathways to search properly.

She hoped she was wrong, but as she ventured further in, there was a lingering feeling of discomfort in her heart. Perhaps the thought of there being a breach scared her – these tunnels were built to surround their cave after all.

But would Galahad really do that?

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