The Spider

It looked terrifying on the surface, but the three present had long since moved beyond the stage of judging things by appearances alone;

To them, as long as he wasn't dead... that was enough.

The Queen wielded her authority, and a gentle light enveloped the wounded Dragonkin;

As though time and space were reversing, the rotting parts of his body were cleansed and healed at an accelerated pace... but the swelling in his chest grew even more violent!

The Queen reached out, her hand slipping into the Dragonkin's chest without the slightest resistance, and pulled out a foul-smelling lump of flesh;

It seemed intelligent. Sensing that it had fallen into the hands of some powerful being, it gradually stopped writhing.

She crushed it in her grip. A spider-like creature manifested amid the mangled flesh... dead.

"Parasitic?" Ivy asked curiously.

"Mm." The Queen answered, though her lovely brows drew together slightly;

This thing was naturally nothing remarkable. Its level of power was not high... at least, to a Sovereign, it could be crushed with a casual gesture.

But there was one very important problem:

She actually could not discern this thing's origins?

The Queen had lived for endless ages. Though she rarely left the Elf Clan after becoming a Sovereign, rarely leaving did not mean she lacked knowledge;

The clan would send her all kinds of materials, even living creatures, for her to study;

As an alchemy grandmaster, how could she afford to be poorly informed?

But now, she was certain that the lump of flesh in her hand was not formed by some secret art, but a living creature of some kind;

Yet it was not any creature from her memories...

Moreover, although its life level was not high, it gave her a faint, indistinct sense of danger...

Ivy looked