Chapter 265: 265: Suspicious Array

|[Are you ready?]| I asked the jittery serpents near me.

Cygnus nodded in a stoic way that reminded me of Typhon, followed by Delphine who looked at her surroundings in amazement. We were in the underground, each of us waiting around for the Veladrys to finish their creation. 

Cygnus and Delphine were the closest serpents to me, with one on either side, followed by Artemis who waited with Apollo. Morgana, on the other hand, was the furthest away and the most nervous.

I made sure she and Apollo stayed ahead of me at all times so I could watch them – which didn't exactly make for a comfortable experience, but it was essential for my peace of mind.

However, while Apollo busied himself with looking at the bottom feeders moving through the underground cells, Morgana remained ramrod straight, her eyes focused on the Veladrys as they worked.

There were several of them with us, each one playing a part in fostering some plant growth or another.

In fact, the underground was packed full with flowering plants, some of which were the poisonous garden Artemis collected and other important samples for the traps.

But the more I looked, I was disappointed to find the majority of the plants here were simply decorations – an invasion of weeds.

It was almost the same as outside with most of the ceiling covered with pink leaves and I wasn't exactly thrilled to see the Veladrys had changed the once dreary underground.

It was like they couldn't help leaving their traces everywhere! And I could feel my dissatisfaction rising.

I was even more upset to learn that this tunnel supposedly linking both of our lairs together was going to originate from within my cave.

Why, you ask?

According to the Veladrys, it was because the Nymph 'wanted' one for convenience. It wasn't some necessity or anything important – she just wanted an easier way to get from her side of the forest to mine.

And I found myself asking why this was necessary. She didn't even ask me if I wanted one, and this was my cave!

If she really wanted to see me, I could easily fly to her as I'd always done before.

Why was there such a need to invade my privacy when we weren't even that friendly?

When I mentioned this, the Veladrys gave no straightforward answers, all seemingly refusing to meet my eyes. It was quite frustrating because the underground was already busy without any of their additions.

Aside from the bottom feeders and the myriad of tunnels Typhon created, there was the sealed tunnel leading to the Middle Stratum, as well as the broken wall leading to the massive cave filled with sword flies and bat creatures.

If that place was opened, the creatures could rush in and potentially destroy everything!

The delicate balance in the underground was already quite precarious, with any wrong move potentially bringing a world of messiness and I made it clear to them that nothing should be rushed.

Fortunately, the Veladrys were very attentive to my concerns and only manipulated the areas I directed them to.

As a result, the underground was being transformed in a very careful way, with none of the walls or existing tunnels being touched.

Instead, the passage linking the pink forest to my cave was created from the ceiling, with the network of roots already present, bourgeoning in thickness until the sands around them were slowly excavated, with solid roots forming a stairway to link the top with the bottom.

As the Veladrys manipulated their shapes, sands rained down from the ceiling as the passage they created widened.

It wasn't very complicated, it's only important feature being a width and height that was large enough for myself to fit through, and for several Veladrys to walk through it at the same time.

With nothing to do, my serpents and I watched the passage covered in sinewy roots begin to take shape. However, it was mostly silent as all of us were nervous – including me.

After visiting Sylrin, I made sure to order the Abyssal monsters to guard the cave to protect the nestlings from harm, in event of anything happening while I was gone.

Right now, I could see them patrolling the area as red dots on the Atlas, along with several more dots that suddenly appeared where the Veladrys cannibalised my forest with their pink trees.

The battle had given them a surplus of corpses to use, and since most were converted to new trees, the area of forest around my cave was now weirdly eerie and silent.

The Veladrys effectively acted as a warning for other monsters, and many had stopped passing through the area entirely.

Besides, since the Abyssal monsters arrived, the typical monsters that could usually be found around my cave had drastically reduced in number – with the exception of the Alpha and his pack.

Due to these two new factors, the threat level for my nestlings had drastically reduced.

Still, I wasn't exactly sure what was happening with the Alpha wolf. He followed the Abyssal monsters to hunt, and I even saw him interacting with Sylrin, although he took off rather quickly.

However, he wasn't part of my Pit, and neither was his pack as the counter had not increased as much since after the battle, remaining at a scary [7015].

After taking Lyra to heal his pack, Ophelia seemed to think she was close to convincing him, but I persuaded her not to – there were already too many Pit Members and we didn't need more.

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I was fine with us coexisting like before, as long as the Alpha did not become a problem. I already had enough dangerous 'allies'.

[Finished!] A Veladrys excitedly announced, her flowery dress sweeping past Morgana who flinched. [We can enter now.]

I swallowed nervously, a cold chill spreading down my spine. 

Rather than approaching, I hesitated, and the Veladrys tilted her head in confusion at my stiffened form. Why did it feel like I was about to enter a battle, when I was simply meeting with an 'ally'?

In the end, we all entered the pathway, with the Veladrys leading the way. Morgana and Apollo followed soon after, while Artemis and Cygnus stuck closely to my side.

I was beginning to think Typhon gave them strict instructions to protect me, because the tension they felt was quite high.

Cygnus noticeably flinched at every budding leaf or tiny insect he passed, with Artemis acting in the same way – although he would occasionally stop to sniff at the leaves. 

Delphine, on the other hand, was very different from them. 

She was a bit like a fish out of water, with plenty of curiosity. Every new thing she passed was an amazing sight to behold. She even pursued the glowing insects that flitted around in the tunnels, against the wishes of Cygnus.

The only exceptions to this pleasant atmosphere was Morgana who didn't even look around, and Apollo who occasionally snuck glances at her.

I made it a point to pretend I didn't notice, but I was curious to know just how much he and the other nestlings agreed with the claims Morgana had made.

As much as I trusted Typhon and Ophelia – Morgana did bring up some odd points about them, which made me question a lot of things. For one, they were too perfect.

They had always been exceptional, even as hatchlings and I never really thought to question it further.

I now realised this was because, unconsciously I viewed them through a similar lens as myself, which made their achievements seem ordinary compared to mine.

This should not have been the case and now that I noticed my mistake, I was beginning to question why they were so brilliant, to the extent that all the nestlings around them felt supressed enough to rebel, or in Morgana's case, to even attempt to kill them.

Another major difference was how they acted in relation to me.

Typhon did not seem to be afraid of me, and neither was Ophelia – moreover, they were almost affectionate, which struck me as odd.

Since I returned, most of the nestlings treated me like a stranger.

They stayed away, they didn't speak as much when I approached them, they even refused to look me in the eyes, it was like they were treating me like some omnipotent being, and I didn't like it.

Even now, although Cygnus and Artemis were close by, they maintained a noticeable distance away and I could tell my presence made them uncomfortable.

I was starting to miss the days when the nestlings didn't really care and climbed all over me like I was their cushion, and I sighed. 

Now it was like they were too scared to make any mistakes – which wasn't very fun.

Aside from maybe one or two nestlings who acted the same, I realised I hadn't really spoken to the other nestlings, which made the current atmosphere quite awkward.

Which was why It was quite amusing to watch the Artemis and Delphine discover new things. They probably spent too much time training, so this was a good opportunity for them to have fun - if the Nymph didn't try to kill us all. 

Either way, I had to fix my reputation soon.

Unfortunately, the sloping pathway ended before I could attempt to break the ice, and we emerged outside to the pink forest.

I was surprised to see several Veladrys waiting for us, their vibrant appearances glowing under lights from several sources.

There were luminous plants and several clusters of glowing insects dotting the trees, so much so that the forest was thoroughly illuminated.

The forest seemed to have been rebuilt to resemble my cave.

There were cocoon like rooms woven out of tree roots, whose insides were lined with soft grassy growth that resembled fur.

Aside from this, there was also tons of food with each welcoming Veladrys holding an array of brightly coloured fruits, with a spread of meats that would appeal to any monster, not far behind them.

There were even cushion-like mushrooms for everyone to lounge on.

Seeing it all was amazing, but highly suspicious – It was like the Nymph had put together everything she thought a serpent would like!

However, while her accuracy was terrifying, the colourful banquet seemed rather dull, because the main star of the event, the Nymph, was missing from the scene.

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