Simon looked at the insect egg in his hand with a pitying and compassionate gaze. This child was born at an unfortunate time, right before the complete collapse of The Radiance's seal. His weak will was directly immersed in the plague, and the infection had already penetrated deep into his bloodline. However, it was fortunate that his innocent nature had not yet succumbed to madness. As long as The Radiance died and the plague receded, he could still return to normal.
Simon said to Nati and Paya, "The plague has already broken out outside. You two should put on your masks quickly. Don't worry, everything will be fine. I will put this child in a safe place."
Nati silently placed his four-holed mask on his face and began to cocoon. Paya wiped away her tears, displaying the tenacious character of a small insect. "Little one, everything is up to you." After speaking, she also put on her mask.
The Weaver hatchlings busied themselves, helping to comb the silk threads, and then these little ones exerted themselves to hoist the two large cocoons onto the ceiling.
Simon went out, pressed his hands against the outer wall of the round house, and pure Soul Energy surged out, condensing into a seal that protected the small house inside and out, making it impregnable.
This sealing spell was something he learned during his metamorphosis. The knowledge of the Weaver, recorded in the deep silk threads, was released during cocooning and absorbed by Simon, transforming into a kind of talent.
The mask brought many changes to Simon.
Outwardly, he had returned to his normal blue color, rather than the white color that was saturated with Soul Energy.
His two Nails dissolved within the cocoon, imbued with Simon's fighting spirit, and formed along with Simon's body, becoming a single Nail.
Soul Energy was contracted into the dream, no longer scattered. The mask served as a conduit, and now all the Soul Energy Simon used was extracted from the mask. The mask had two ways to replenish its energy: one was to absorb energy from his own dream, which replenished quickly; the other was for the mask to absorb dissipated Soul Energy when Simon struck enemies.
With the mask's buffer, Simon had stronger control over Soul Energy, no longer needing to worry about becoming like the mistakes and follies in the Soul Sanctum due to overuse. Now he could safely devour wandering residual dreams, which was a great piece of good news.
The mask could also store spells, allowing Simon to cast quickly, including teleportation, light blades, seals, energy balls, and so on. The only drawback was that the mask's energy storage was not large, making the spell casting intervals somewhat long.
In addition to sealing, the mask granted Simon the ability to gather, which meant consuming energy to restore injuries. It was fast and effective, essentially turning him into an eternal war machine.
After cataloging the changes to his body, Simon's next plan was to go to Dirtmouth on the surface.
Before setting off, he inventoried his belongings: one cloak, one lantern, one Nail, one pouch, some geo, two Charms, one claw hook, one crossbow, and one round shield.
Many of his items had not melted; in fact, only the Nail dissolved with him. This remained a mystery; could the Nail also be a living creature?
Simon gently caressed his Nail. This was his unique weapon. Its surface had a very distinctive pattern, similar to the mask, with many large mottled areas, like a stone beach scoured by a river, with flowing patterns interspersed with block patterns. The sword body had a delicate texture and reflected light as brightly as a mirror.
The more Simon looked, the more he liked it. He swung it gently, and in the dim Underground, it was as if he held a bright moon.
After confirming the thoroughness of the cottage's seal one last time, Simon carried the egg, holding it carefully in his arms, and set off.
On the way, he encountered unusual and terrifying enemies.
The Gruz's abdomen swelled with a faintly translucent blister, constantly dripping hot, thick liquid. They flew around erratically, and the liquid fell like a rain of hellfire, making their area extremely dangerous. These unstable Gruz would explode upon death.
The Vengefly became enormous, faster, and much stronger, posing a significant threat. They exploded with a wide radius upon death.
The reanimated Husks would spit thick liquid, and some would charge like suicide trucks, exploding upon approach with astonishing lethality.
In the infected Crossroads, if one did not remain vigilant, they would inevitably be caught off guard by sudden attacks.
The abruptly changed environment here made Simon extremely uncomfortable. The disgusting liquid blisters accumulated into walls, blocking paths, and once broken, they would surge and overflow, making one hesitant to act.
The Black Egg Temple was in the Crossroads, so the situation here was indeed the most critical in Hallownest, and the closer one got to Hallownest, the stronger that will became, and the more terrifying the symptoms of the plague.
The strange smell and abnormal temperature made it unbearable for Simon. He decided that once Nati and Paya emerged from their cocoons, he would take them to other places, such as the Mantis Village or the Queen's Gardens. In short, they could not stay before the final battle.
Full of worry, Simon moved carefully and cautiously. When he saw an enemy, he would simply throw a light sword from a distance to kill it.
Many paths were blocked by liquid blisters, so Simon constantly changed his route. He encountered a fork in the road where many Aspid Mothers drifted aimlessly. These pathetic and cruel creatures had distended abdomens filled with Aspid hatchlings. When encountering enemies, the Aspid Mothers would not hesitate to give birth to their young, sending them to deal with the foes. To be honest, these degenerated Aspid could not be compared to the Primal Aspid of Kingdom's Edge; no matter how many there were, they posed little threat.
Continuing onward, Simon passed the station and was about to take the Stag Beetle directly to Dirtmouth when he suddenly remembered a good item nearby that he could pick up, so he turned into a side path.
Along the way, there was the corpse of a giant, infected insect, lying prone on the ground. This was a Husk Guard, known colloquially as 'Brother Dragonfang' or 'The Discourager King,' a resurrected large Hallownest Crossroads Guard Husk. Now, it could not stand upright, its body covered in orange-red veins like blood vessels.
Further ahead, he saw a massive empty suit of armor. This was the armor of Hegemol, one of the Five Great Knights. The statue of this knight was the one outside the City of Tears gate. Now, he was dead and forgotten, and his armor was occupied by a maggot, transforming into the False Knight.
Simon patted the armor, sighed, and then returned to the vicinity of Brother Dragonfang's corpse to search for a secret passage.
The secret passage was in the superior affinity of the tunnel. Simon tried for a while, and a section of the ceiling broke, revealing a wide path.
Entering it, the place was full of spike traps, normally difficult to navigate. Simon could fly, so he passed through smoothly and then arrived at a nest.
The place was teeming with Aspid. Aspid Hunters and Aspid Mothers thrived here.
After killing the Aspid blocking his way, he delved deeper into the nest.
Simon then found the corpse of a giant Aspid Mother in a high cave. A Charm lay beside the corpse, apparently the pure will of this corpse had condensed into the Charm.
The Charm's shape was an abstract Aspid Mother, named Glowing Womb. It required two Charm notches, and its effect was to draw Soul Energy from the wearer to produce hatchlings, which would sacrifice themselves to protect their parent.
Simon himself was unwilling to use this Charm, but he did not discard it either. He carefully put it away, placing it with the Gruz Charm.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
There should be... around 20+ advanced chapters?
[email protected]/Greyhounds
If you guys wanna check it out.