Lord

"Teacher, is… is this a war?" Rosaline asked, shocked.

"It appears so," Ivette nodded gravely.

From Abyss Base to the vast Ish Island, her observations of the Aberrations led her to a clear conclusion: they were solitary creatures, lacking any semblance of society. Only in their second stage did they develop intelligence comparable to human infants. In such a scattered state, they posed no threat to her peaceful life on Ish Island, as long as she didn't court disaster herself.

However, if a war were to break out, the situation would be entirely different. Firstly, they would undoubtedly possess a common will, whether it be the individual will of a high-level Aberration or a connected hive mind. This would drastically alter their social structure, uniting them into a single force, and then they would begin to expand outwards. Sooner or later, this would threaten the two of them, who resided in Ish City.

And then there was the Twin-Blade Demon, which had seemingly reached the third stage, possessing intelligence comparable to humans. What role would it play in this Aberration war…

As the front lines advanced, the Grayport faction suffered continuous defeats.

After Ivette piloted the hovercar into an unnoticed blind spot, the two of them reached the deepest point with almost no resistance.

Standing atop a tall building, they saw a massive flesh and blood creature in the city center plaza. Most of its body was hidden beneath the collapsed ground, with only a petal-shaped opening exposed. Beneath its translucent, scarlet skin, crisscrossed with thick blood vessels, a colossal, grotesque embryo seemed to be gestating.

"It should be something like a 'Mother Nest'. The Aberrations outside are either attacking it or defending it, which means this thing is the 'leader' of both sides," Ivette frowned. Her last visit to Grayport City was many years ago. To her, perhaps only a fleeting few or even over ten years had passed, but this was enough time for the Aberrations to evolve a Mother Nest. She wasn't sure if she should say it, but the passage of long years had made her sense of time rather abnormal.

"So, what should we do?"

"Nothing, it's too dangerous." Ivette shook her head and looked towards a corner of the ground.

It was a Giant Scorpion, its size comparable to a small truck. What made their scalps tingle was that its back, covered in thick black carapace, was embedded with dozens of human-like eyeballs. These eyeballs, hidden beneath the gaps in the carapace, occasionally peered out, taking in everything around them in a full 360-degree sweep.

Looking at its bizarre yet complete form, and its stillness as it lurked in the shadows, completely unaffected by the battle at the front, Ivette couldn't help but suspect it was also a third-stage Aberration. Like the Twin-Blade Demon, it possessed considerable intelligence, which was why it was deployed to specifically guard the Mother Nest.

"Teacher, over there… the Twin-Blade Demon!" Just then, Rosaline tugged at Ivette's sleeve.

Ivette turned her head and saw a black figure with four wings on its back in a nearby building, also looking down at the situation below.

Suddenly, it seemed to sense the gaze from the other side. It slowly, eerily turned its head, the muscles around its mouth twitching unnaturally, pulling upwards.

But before it could reveal the unsettling, almost human smile that had haunted Rosaline's nightmares, four blue-white rune circles lit up beside Ivette, unleashing several beams of Wrath of Thunder towards it.

This attack speed was beyond that of ordinary spells. Blue and white lightning instantly reached the Twin-Blade Demon.

Sensing this immense potential power, the Twin-Blade Demon's smile abruptly stopped. It immediately drew back and fled, spiraling in arcs in mid-air, like a mosquito being chased by an electric racket, a pathetic sight.

Finally, after dodging for so long but still getting hit by a jolt of electricity, the Twin-Blade Demon, with a hole burned through one of its wings, dared not linger any longer. It gave Ivette a deep look, turned, and vanished into the gaps of the ruined buildings, leaving no trace.

As evening fell and the war between the Aberrations temporarily ceased, Ivette and Rosaline, no longer mere observers, drove their hovercar back to Ish City.

The outcome of the war was somewhat unexpected. The embryo within the Mother Nest had finally emerged.

It was a fat giant, about four or five stories tall. Its bloated abdomen contained a massive maw filled with countless thick tongues, capable of engulfing a dozen Tide Worms at once and digesting them rapidly.

With the aid of this War Giant, the Grayport faction had managed to reverse the tide, forcing the Tide Worm army to retreat.

Including the Giant Scorpion that lay dormant beside the Mother Nest like a guardian, two new third-stage Aberrations were added to Rosaline's notebook, respectively named "Gluttonous Troll" and "Hundred-Eyed Scorpion Demon".

"It's terrifying, the speed at which these Aberrations evolve…" Rosaline sat by the table, clearly disturbed.

"If there's a Mother Nest, the Ish mountain range and Luya City to the far north might have had them long ago, but the Mother Nest in Grayport City probably appeared in the last few years." Ivette lowered her gaze, beginning to ponder their current predicament.

"What do we do, teacher? Should we do something?"

"Tomorrow, we'll investigate the Ish mountain range and the vicinity of Luya City to ascertain the situation," Ivette said. "If there's a significant disparity in strength, we can consider intervening on the fringes, supporting the weaker side to maintain their balance of power."

This was the best plan she could devise at the moment. After all, their current combat strength, in terms of third-stage elites, Rosaline could perhaps match one elite, while Ivette herself might be able to fight 3-4 elites simultaneously. It sounded good, but it came with a risk to their lives. Instead of taking such a great risk, it was better to choose a less dangerous method of deterrence.

However, just as this conclusion, concerning their future survival strategy, was about to be finalized—

Ivette suddenly turned her head, her cold gaze shooting like an arrow towards the manor outside the floor-to-ceiling window, bathed in the orange lamplight.

Rosaline followed her gaze, her heart suddenly skipping a beat.

From the shadows, a tall, slender, dark figure with tattered, four-part wings slowly emerged, standing silently at the boundary of light and darkness.

The Twin-Blade Demon!

Why was it here?

Almost instantly, Rosaline wanted to grab the Alloy Combat Blade by the door. Even Ivette narrowed her eyes, walking towards the main entrance while preparing a magical bombardment.

But to their surprise, the Twin-Blade Demon did not assume a combat stance. It stood still, waiting patiently.

Then, as the two of them approached, it slowly opened its mouth. Awkward and unrefined words, as if just learned, from the Black Tide Language, came sputtering out intermittently—

"Human... mages..."

"A Lord... is about to be born..."

"If we don't hurry... we..."

"Will all die...!"