Chapter 108: Ophelia
Ren looked up when Aris spoke. He had already sensed the presence of this person much faster than the others had.
’This presence, this is definitely the person that they were talking to in the forest. I guess they want me to meet this person.’
A lady stepped out of the shadows, her skin so pale it could be considered paper. Somber hair flowed down to her back, and she had deep red eyes. She had a stunning, slim figure that fit into the web-like beautiful long gown that she had on. Her hands were gloved in the same material up to her elbows.
She carried a soft smile on her face as she walked in. Her gaze landed on Ren for a few seconds and then shifted to the entire room.
Each of the forest lords, aside from Ren, rose to their feet and bowed their heads.
"Greetings, our lady."
’Hmm? They seem scared of her. They are forest lords, and yet someone made them bow. I guess it’s safe to say that they are not the strongest in the forest,’ Ren thought as he looked at them.
She raised her hand and signaled them to have their seats, which they did immediately.
"It’s nice to meet you, young dragon," she said, with an emphasis on the "young," as if to remind Ren of his status.
"I am Ophelia, a monster just like you," she said with a soft smile.
"Ren Crimson," Ren replied with a neutral tone, not sounding respectful or disrespectful.
"It seems everyone here is afraid of you, so I presume you are of a higher rank than a forest lord," Ren continued.
"Haha, what a weird way to put it," she said, "but yes, you can say that. In a way, I am an overseer. I was once a forest lord, three hundred years ago, but I soon left that to chase new and better things," she explained calmly.
’Three hundred years ago? Shit, she is old. No wonder she has this presence. She is definitely not someone I want to mess with recklessly, but she already messed with me by sending one of her spiders to my home.’
"Three hundred years, whoa, that’s a long time," Ren replied.
"Tch, are you calling me old?" she asked and pouted.
’More like ancient.’
"No, no, I’d never. You look stunning for that age," Ren replied.
"Oh? You are sweet-mouthed. Well, do not let appearances fool you when it comes to beings like me. I can be very, very manipulative. What you see might not even exist," she said, then snapped her fingers. The ground opened up, and another chair rose up. She sat down and crossed her legs with elegance.
"So now, Ren, tell me, why is a dragon here in this forest?" she asked while still keeping her smile.
’Hmm? Getting into the serious questions, I see. Well, that’s fine, I’ll play.’
"I was abandoned by my mother, and then I simply tried to survive, and boom, here I am," he explained casually.
"Simply tried to survive? Abandoned? You seem massively talented. Why would any dragon abandon you?" she asked.
"Honestly, I don’t know, and I’ll probably find out soon enough, but until then. That’s aside, what is the goal of this here meeting? Is there something I am meant to be a part of, or is this all for talks?" Ren asked.
Her smile widened when she heard that. "Well, each of us has our agenda, and I have mine as well, one that is very great. If you want to be a part of it, I could tell you," she offered.
The other three were stunned when they heard her offer to tell her secret plan to Ren, something that she had hidden with all her might and had taken so many years to plan and cover.
"Hmmm, nice offer, but I have an organization to run and get set up. There is also a looming threat inside this forest, and I’d like to prepare measures to stop it before it goes farther."
When he said that, he looked right at her and noticed a slight frown form on her face.
’Yes, that’s it, realize that I know what you are doing and panic into a rush. Try to do it faster when I am not prepared.’
She later let out a smile. "I see. Well then, I’ll be wishing you good luck with that," she said. "I hope you stop whatever it is."
Ren heard the way she said that and immediately felt that something was wrong.
’Something feels off.’
[......]
At that exact moment, over a thousand spiders the size of small puppies were rushing through the forest. Their target was nowhere inside the forest, but rather the town of Raven.
The spiders burst out of the forest and rushed there in their numbers, filling out the plain in seconds. People from the town spotted them, and their immediate reaction was that a monster wave was headed their way.
The alarm bells rang out loudly, and the people of the town rushed into their homes while the adventurers and guards rushed out to fight. They saw the smaller spiders and believed that they could take them, even in their numbers, because of their size.
But when the first line of spiders arrived, the situation changed. One fired a web so thick it stopped the attack of a guard and proceeded to spin the web around him, swing, and land on his neck.
The spider bit into the neck of the screaming man and started fusing right into him. His pig-like scream got louder and then faded into nothing after a while, and the man collapsed to the ground.
A few shocks later, the guard rose to his feet with eyes burning red and grabbed his sword. He rushed at an adventurer who was busy fighting and thrust right into his side. He held the dying adventurer still until a spider bit him and fused into his body as well.