Chapter 429: _Older Than Every Civilization

Unknown Hellish Location

[Decision finalized!]

[Aether cores sold.]

[SeductionCoinsTotal: 13,090,000.]

Ambrose would’ve loved to have immediately browsed through the system’s shop.

But he had a problem.

A big, hairy, multiple-limbed, scary-ass problem.

He’d managed to slip away from the Queen spider, pulling Beherath and the undead fox back into his shadow. Then he hid within a valley surrounded by mountains.

It should’ve been safe once he found a cave to hide in... right?

WRONG!

Every hair on his body rose on end when he got close to a cave. He gritted his teeth, removing the hand he used in clutching his burst left shoulder.

That presence...

[WARNING: Queen spider appears to have your current location locked.]

Aura had barely given that warning when the entire valley trembled.

Entire sections of every mountain collapsed instantaneously, forcing him to create a spatial bubble to shield himself. More rocks began sliding down, the storm above crackling even louder.

The queen.

Even without appearing directly yet she was already making such cataclysmic changes.

SCREEEEKKK!

Her screech split the sky.

Golden and blue lightning rained down upon the valley, incinerating tonnes of stone and rocks in a blink. Multiple bolts struck his space bubble.

"Argh!" He strained.

In another blink, he teleported to another location hundreds of meters away from the valley.

’I can’t continue like this.’ A thought opened the system shop to him. ’Pull out items that can bring me back to full health and aether reserve.’

The screen flashed once.

It instantly scrolled through the countless items it had locked away, highlighting the ones capable of doing what he wanted.

Instant Revival beans.

The system had once given him two of these as rewards.

Now, as a purchasable item, it was priced at five hundred thousand coins.

For just one?

’Do you pull these prices out of your ass or something?’

[Sweetheart, those are fixed prices. Besides, you’ve got millions now, and this is an emergency.]

’Easy for you to say.’ He hid behind a hill, throat locking from all the smoke and sulphur. ’Anything else?’

There was a potion that could not only bring back his strength, vitality and aether to their max but could also turn him into a titan for five minutes.

Interesting in theory.

Unnecessary to him.

[You only think that because it’s 800,000.]

’Again, that’s crazy.’ He clicked on the revival bean. ’Whatever. Give me this one.’

[Item purchased successfully.]

Silver light flashed before him. In a heartbeat, a glowing green bean appeared, landing on his waiting palm.

The system’s screen suddenly turned red.

[Ambrose, watch out!]

BOOMMMMM!

"AHH—!" His eyes bulged as the world around him collapsed faster than spatial awareness could ever sense.

He managed to spin his neck around to see what happened exactly. The Queen spider had moved with frightening speed, using a single leg to break through his hiding spot like it was a pebble hiding an annoying roach.

The SS-Rank was thrown through the air, landing on the ground over a kilometre away with a crash that could’ve easily been mistaken for a meteor.

Ambrose bounced across the broken earth another three times before finally digging his heels into the ground. A crater formed beneath him as he came to an abrupt stop, his entire body trembling violently.

Pain flooded every nerve in his body until it became impossible to distinguish one injury from another.

Blood dripped from his lips while his left arm hung limply by his side. Every breath felt like jagged glass scraping through his lungs.

[HP: 4,870/100,000.]

"Shit." His fingers instinctively tightened around the glowing green bean.

Without wasting another heartbeat, he tossed it into his mouth.

The moment it dissolved, warmth exploded throughout his body.

Cracked ribs snapped back into place one after another. Torn muscles knitted themselves together beneath his skin. His shattered shoulder straightened with several audible pops while the cuts littering his body sealed themselves as though time itself had reversed.

The exhaustion weighing on his soul vanished just as quickly.

Aura’s notifications cascaded down his vision.

[HP Fully Restored.]

[Aether Reserves Fully Restored.]

[Negative Status Effects Removed.]

Ambrose slowly exhaled, flexing both hands before rolling his neck from side to side.

"Now that’s more like it." He stretched out a hand.

Grave Keeper shot back into his grip from somewhere beneath the rubble.

The familiar weight settled comfortably in his palm... but something immediately felt wrong.

His eyes lowered.

The cracks running along the black blade had spread considerably further than before, reaching almost halfway across the weapon.

"You’ve been through hell too, huh?"

Before he could inspect it any longer, another deafening screech shook the heavens.

The Queen Spider descended from the smoke, each step flattening hills beneath her colossal legs. Golden and blue lightning danced across her massive body, illuminating countless crimson eyes that all locked onto the tiny human standing below.

Ambrose planted Grave Keeper before him.

"Come then."

He was about to launch himself forward when Aura suddenly interrupted.

[Ambrose...]

Something in her tone made him pause.

"What?"

[I am detecting another energy signature.]

His brows furrowed.

[Below the queen spider.]

Ambrose’s gaze instinctively swept toward the ground beneath the gigantic spider.

"What do you mean below her?"

[I... do not know.]

That answer alone made his heartbeat falter.

Aura always knew.

Even when she lacked information, she usually had theories.

Now... Nothing.

[Correction.]

[The signature was not detectable until this exact moment.]

Before Ambrose could question her further, the Queen Spider abruptly froze.

The bloodlust pouring from her vanished almost completely.

Instead of attacking, she slowly turned away from him.

A low rumble spread across the land.

The mountains surrounding the valley began vibrating so violently that entire cliffs collapsed into clouds of dust. Lightning from the raging skies abruptly changed direction, every golden and blue bolt converging toward a single mountain several kilometres behind the Queen.

The enormous spider lowered her body, not in fear nor submission, but with the unwavering vigilance of a guardian returning to her post.

A crack split the mountain from its peak to its base.

Brilliant golden light spilt through the fissure.

Then another crack appeared.

Within seconds, thousands of glowing fractures covered the mountainside like veins beneath stone.

Aura’s voice became almost inaudible.

[Life signatures detected.]

Ambrose’s pupils constricted. "What?"

[Correction.] She paused. [No living signatures. Only... remnants.]

The mountain finally split apart with a thunderous roar that echoed across the world.

Beyond the collapsing stone stood ruins so colossal they made the Queen Spider resemble little more than an insect.

Broken pillars stretched into the storm clouds.

Shattered statues towered over mountain peaks.

Ancient structures, weathered by an unimaginable passage of time, slumbered in absolute silence beneath the golden radiance.

Aura spoke again, sounding quieter than he had ever heard her.

[ERROR.]

[Records unavailable.]

[Estimated age exceeds every civilization currently recorded within my archives.]