Basil was never one to go soft. He might be a bit lenient toward weak insects, but he had always been fierce when facing his enemies.

He had planned to hold back a bit against this girl because he could sense an inexplicable sense of connection with her. This feeling puzzled him deeply.

He immediately decided to intimidate this little lass first before questioning her origins. He needed to find out why she was here.

Basil rushed over and slammed into the girl with his shield, swinging his axe out of habit. He suddenly realized halfway through that he might’ve used too much force. So, he spun the axe about and smashed downward with the backside of the weapon.

At the moment of that attack, Basil suddenly realized that he hadn’t figured out what race that little fellow belonged to. This was definitely not his usual way.

Clang! Basil felt as though he had slammed into a mountain.

The silence in this ancient forest was broken as trees fell down one after another. Blocks of soil were flung into the air, along with the trees growing on it. The birds and beasts of the forest were startled as they did their utmost to flee from the source of this calamity.

Two figures rushed out from this disastrous scenery—one was running and the other was chasing.

The one at the front looked incomparably miserable, and it was actually Basil! He looked like a scavenger at this point—the beautiful combat robes on his body had been shredded apart, and his armor was in tatters, with a large piece missing at the back. The arachne’s hair hung loose, and his face was unrecognizably swollen as he fled for dear life.

Zhuji was hot on his trail. She had a shield in her left hand, an axe in her right, and was wearing a golden helmet on her head. All of these things belonged to Basil.

She was noticeably faster than in the past, even a bit faster than Basil. She caught up to him in a flash and knocked him down with the shield.

Basil cried out while trying to resist. “Wait! Stop, listen to me first! Ah, not my face!”

Little Zhuji didn’t care about his complaints at all. She kept Basil underfoot and gave him a good beating.

With no other way out of this, Basil channeled his energy and erupted in a golden sphere of light. Boundless strength welled up within him as he pushed Zhuji away and got up, shouting, “We’re from the same race! Why can’t we talk nicely?”

Zhuji rolled her eyes. “Who’re you calling the same race, ugly?”

“Nonsense! This duke isn’t ugly…” Basil hadn’t finished talking when his vision went dark. Zhuji had slammed her shield in his face and stomped him to the ground for another round of beating.

This had happened countless times already. The two were playing a game of “Listen to me! Listen to me!” and “No! Not listening, not listening!”

Basil protected his face as best he could, ignoring other vital areas. Zhuji’s attacks would be lighter if he didn’t resist that much, but the problem was that she didn’t keep her hands to herself. She began plucking Basil’s equipment and ornaments one after another.

“Is this… a robbery?” Basil felt a bit distressed.

As he saw it, Zhuji was just a kid who had barely passed the infant stage. Yet, she was beating him black and blue with just her physical strength. She was a rare genius, one that wouldn’t appear in a thousand years! And it was clear that this lass had never learned any advanced secret arts, let alone the top-grade ones.

Since discovering that Little Zhuji was an arachne, Basil simply couldn’t attack her at all. He didn’t dare to use any of those ultimate arts in his possession.

Yet, he was not a match for the little lass in terms of physical strength and he couldn’t suppress her entirely with origin power, either. This made it difficult for him to control his damage output. His fear of going too hard on Zhuji left him in a position where he was being beaten black and blue.

He might look fairly miserable, but he didn’t mind it all that match. This little kid was bound to get tired at one point.

Little Zhuji looked fairly happy after beating up the enemy. She pressed Basil to the ground and pucked her lips, her gaze looking rather distant.

All of a sudden, Basil felt as though he had been doused with icy water. The terror of impending doom gripped his entire consciousness! With a loud cry, he erupted with origin power and struggled free from her grasp, moving hundreds of meters away in the process.

Little Zhuji hadn’t expected that this beaten-up fellow still had the strength to escape. The translucent thread of ice she had just spat out struck the ground where Basil had been lying.

The attack opened a small hole in the ground, extending downward for an unknown distance. A circular area of grey spread out rapidly from this hole, destroying all life in its wake; even the ancient trees withered upon contact. In the blink of an eye, Little Zhuji had produced a hundred-meter zone of death.

Basic gasped. Even with one of the top poison-resistances in the Evernight World, one afforded by his golden bloodline, he would be in deep trouble if that poison had struck him.

He was pleasantly surprised but also scared and drenched in cold sweat.

Little Zhuji was not happy that she had failed to kill Basil. She jumped up and pounced at him with increased speed.

A startled Basil felt even more alarmed as he looked at the girl’s puckered lips. How could he dare let her close in on him? An opponent he couldn’t attack yet could threaten his life, now this was even more lethal than fighting a prince or a great monarch.

Basil immediately shot into the sky and accelerated a total of three times as he disappeared into the void. He had clearly utilized some kind of life-saving item.

Zhuji swung her fists angrily at the escaping arachne. But her anger turned to delight when she looked down on the ground. There was a pile of ornamental items for her to count. If it wasn’t for these things, it might’ve been possible for her to give chase. However, she just wasn’t willing to let go of these treasures.

Her face was full of smiles as she took inventory of the loot.

As a special genius who had been nurtured by the Spider Queen herself, Basil had broken through to the duke rank after entering the Great Maelstrom. This proved that he was an expert with both strength and potential. The items he had on him were also fitting of his current status; there wasn’t a single inferior piece.

Little Zhuji didn’t know that much about the items’ market value, but she could tell how much origin power they contained or whether the origin arrays were well crafted. This was especially true of the golden armor—each and every piece was an extraordinary work of art. It was one of the best both in physical and origin power defense.

Just from her combat instincts, Little Zhuji took a great liking to the armor and thus yanked it off of Basil. She was now picking up everything piece by piece and putting it on herself. However, the armor wouldn’t quite fit her as it was made for a burly arachne warrior.

The little lass refused to take it off even so. She sensed Qianye’s distant call at this point and promptly responded to him.

Qianye walked out from amidst the trees and saw a highly disproportionate “arachne” warrior. He was startled at first glance but he soon didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

Little Zhuji was clad in a suit of golden armor, with a few pieces missing, holding a shield in her left hand and an axe in the other. The oversized helmet piece was hanging loose, so she needed to tilt her head upward in order to see. Also, she didn’t have any spatial gear, so she had simply tied everything to her waist with a vine. Clanging sounds followed her wherever she went.

Qianye shook his head. “Where’s the enemy?”

“I beat him running, but I got all of his things!” The little girl was excited.

Qianye put his hand on his face with a sigh. “Why didn’t you kill him?”

“Ah…” The little lass let out a surprised sound. “I was so busy yanking things off of him that I forgot.”

Qianye snorted. “His things would have been yours after you killed him anyway.”

“Oh, right!” The girl slapped her forehead.

Qianye saw right through her acting. “You wanted him to return, so that you can rob him again!”

Zhuji hopped over and clung to Qianye’s arm. “Ah, how did you know? Actually, it’s not that I like to rob people! But his things are so shiny, I like them.”

Qianye was speechless, puzzled as to when this girl became so greedy. Was it an arachne instinct to like all things that glitter? He had never heard of such a trait before.

Looking at the armor that had been badly fastened, Qianye said helplessly, “Take it off.”

“No!” The answer was absolute and decisive.

“It’ll affect our movement, we have to leave this place quickly. I’ll keep them for you. Don’t worry, I guarantee you won’t lose a single piece.”

With Qianye’s promise, the girl reluctantly removed her armor and handed it over for storage in Andruil’s space. The storage space wasn’t small, but Qianye had stuffed it full of things, so every bit of space was valuable. If it wasn’t for Basil’s armor being a top-grade item, Qianye would be more inclined to toss it away.

After tidying up their things, Qianye and Zhuji left in a certain direction.

…

Out in the void, several figures could be seen flying toward a giant warship and entering one by one. Predica sat leaning against the sofa in a giant, well-decorated hall. His expression was unfathomable, and no one could tell what he was thinking. A tall figure stood before the cabin window, staring at the large continent that filled the viewport.

Minica and Pedro walked in one after another, keeping a deliberate distance between them.

Once inside, Grand Duke Minica said, “As a genius of the arachne race and a candidate for the warlord position, how could you lose so quickly? You didn’t even inform me, so that I can help out.”

Pedro was shrouded in shocking killing intent. “Do the demonkin have only arrogant bastards left? If you doubt my strength, I don’t mind going into a life and death duel with you. Show me how powerful the Dark Eye of the demonkin race is.”

Minica laughed coldly. “Everyone knows that combat is not my forte. If you want a duel, there are others in my race who can accompany you.”

Pedro rebuked, “Then shut up if you don’t know how to fight!”

“Unfortunately, this is a time for reflection and I must offer my opinion. As for the final evaluation, I’m sure the warlord will decide.”

The man in front of the window turned back, unmoved by the daggers-drawn atmosphere between the two. “Basil will return soon, let’s wait for him.”

“Very well.”

Minica and Pedro sat down in different places, causing the temperature in the room to drop sharply.

Hurried steps were soon heard in the corridor as Basil staggered in, almost tripping in the process.

Seeing his tattered clothes and swollen face, even Warlord Noxus was surprised. “What happened to you? Did you run into Qianye?”