Chapter 245: Dark Circle

Chapter 245: 245: Dark Circle

While the Queen took her time cuddling her little one, they stayed there, admiring the tiny snake with smiles.

After a while, the Snake Queen looked up at Ayra and her daughter with a smile.

"Thanks a lot for your help," she said gratefully. "I’m extremely grateful for your help... I don’t even know what we would have done without you..."

The snake standing by her side also expressed his gratitude. "We would have lost our lineage without an heir if you hadn’t helped us today..."

"We’re extremely grateful to the Blessed Female and her daughter for their assistance," another added as they all bowed in appreciation.

As they did so, Ayra held Ally close with a smile. "You don’t have to mention it at all. We only did what we should."

Commander Lynn then approached and asked, "But how did all of this happen?"

Lord Zark also added, "How did a great S-rank beast monster lineage like yours end up going through such a crisis? The curse... how did it come about?"

They fell quiet.

The snakes stared at one another hesitantly for a while before the Queen slowly smiled.

"I guess we fell into the tricks of those who were more powerful than us..." she began.

"What happened?" Ayra stared at her. She could tell something had happened, and she needed to know. "I could feel the inner energy of everyone here..."

She looked around before finally saying, "And it didn’t seem good at all. It’s like everyone has the same damaged, sealed energy inside..."

She hesitated before asking again, "What happened?"

The Snake Queen hesitated once more before finally speaking.

"The Black Circle Monsters did it..."

As soon as she mentioned that name, Commander Lynn and the others paused.

The tribe lords stared at each other, exchanging glances. Commander Lynn and Nyx had both clearly heard that name before.

At that moment, it was obvious that they knew about them, just as the snakes had expected.

"They...?" Commander Lynn inquired, as if making sure he had heard correctly.

The Queen nodded. "Yes. The same S-rank monsters you encountered years ago..."

Silence fell as Ayra stared at them. She had a feeling there was some information she wasn’t getting, so she asked further.

"What’s it about...?" She turned to Lord Ash. "What are these Black Circle Monsters?"

Lord Zark hesitated for a while before speaking. "They’re the monsters who attacked our tribe before we took control. The ones who destroyed everything and killed many of us..."

Ayra paused.

At that moment, she understood why they had all reacted that way.

She stood listening as Commander Lynn continued, "They’re an extreme group of wild monsters. S-rank wild monsters who dominate the Wild Woods. No one knows precisely where they are or when they’ll move..."

He continued, "But wherever they go, they destroy. It’s never good news when they appear."

As he explained, Ayra slowly nodded. She could imagine such a scenario—bandits who ruled the jungle through sheer power and fear.

The Queen nodded with a soft sigh as she explained, "We encountered them, and they demanded that we join them with our skills. They needed our abilities for their tribe."

"But I wasn’t willing to let any of our men join them. I refused, and they took out their anger on our entire tribe."

She continued, "Destroying us all wasn’t enough for them. They wanted to do worse, so they damaged our inner energy..."

"It left us handicapped in many ways. Our energy levels decreased, which made survival in this wild forest even harder."

"And that also affected our females’ ability to give birth. Every cub delivered ended up dying before it could even hatch... Without such energy, it was impossible for us to continue our lineage, and that was their aim. They wanted to kill us all in that manner."

As she explained everything, Ayra and the rest listened quietly.

Now they understood what had happened.

"That’s bad..." Ayra sighed. "They’re probably waiting around for you all to die..."

The Queen nodded. "We don’t know where they are, but I expect that the next time they return, they’ll be expecting us to have already fallen." She smiled softly. "That’s why I’m forever grateful for your help this time."

Ayra nodded with a smile. "Don’t mention it. Anything to help."

Ally bit her lower lip before looking up at Ayra. "Mama, let’s help them with the others too..." she said, tugging gently on Ayra’s clothing.

The Queen smiled. "Thanks a lot for your consideration... But we don’t wish to bother you any further."

But Ayra smiled as she stared at them. "Coming here, I’ve already made the decision to be of help. So I’m more than happy to do that."

As she said that, they stared at her in surprise.

One of them asked, "Does that mean...?"

Ayra smiled. "I’ll try and be of help in any way I can."

As she said that, her mates turned to stare at her.

Lord Zark spoke up. "The Black Circle are S-rank monsters with immense power. It’s hard to work against them in any way..."

Ayra nodded. "Yes, I know that."

"Then do you still want to try going against their curse?" Lord Vale asked.

Ayra hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes. That’s exactly what I want to do right now..."

They stared at her, worried that she didn’t fully understand what she was up against.

Even the Snake Queen looked concerned. "I’m scared that would be too difficult..."

She added, "I understand that you wish to help, and I’m extremely grateful for your consideration. But I’m also worried..."

Another snake added, "Yes. Their skills are no joke. Undoing what they’ve done would be extremely difficult and draining for anyone. We wouldn’t want to put you at such a risk." ℴℴ𝘮

The Queen nodded. "Doing this is already more than enough for us... We wouldn’t want to put you through more than that."

They all tried to convince her, but Ayra had already made up her mind to take the risk.

She desperately wanted to help the S-rank Snake Tribe through this crisis.