Shally knew, of course, that the other woman was mocking her. But she merely replied with a blank expression, "Madam, who do you think I am? I have plenty of time. For more than a year, all I've done—besides fleeing and growing stronger—is study this Enlightener relic."
She beckoned, and four purple crystal cocoons floated up behind her. They were much smaller than the one "Madam Now" had sealed inside the nanocasket, but anyone could tell they were part of the same set.
"I still haven't fully mastered their power, but I've sensed the mother body through them, and even communicated with it. Perhaps your senses were already being interfered with back then."
Madam Now fell silent for a moment. The insect swarm's young-looking ruler couldn't see the other woman's expression, but she could sense the satisfaction of having gained the upper hand. With her arms crossed, she had the octopod limbs on her back grip the Leviathan's nest crystal, looking down at "Madam Now"—the powerful psychic who had once seemed utterly beyond her reach.
In the past, even when she encountered one of the Thirteen Faces, or a particularly powerful enforcer, all she could do was flee in disarray. Even now, relying on her own individual strength, she was no match for the other woman. But that was only when she was a psychic who was human. As ruler of the swarm, she had already gained the high ground.
It was all thanks to the swarm. And the Leviathan's mother nest was the one sacred treasure that could let the swarm evolve once more.
The demonlike wings she had spread, organs that also resembled a spider's limbs, slowly began to crystallize in the purple glow of the Leviathan's nest.
"Do you understand, Madam? This treasure and I are destined