Devouring Monarch: Rebirth of the Profane Phoenix - Chapter 430

Chapter 430: Arachneas – City of Silk Part 2

Although the danger of the empire seemed to have faded, in reality, it was far greater than before.

Thanks to Helia and Sigurd for sending letters and troops to head back to the eastern border and capital, Asura would soon have reinforcements. While they promised not to destroy any of the remaining forests, the last that was devastated by his magic a week earlier was now different.’

“So you’re telling me this soil is now ideal for tilling and farming, because of being mana enriched?”

In the southern wastelands, the new nickname for the area that used to be home to many monster races that now flocked southeast to a strange part of the continent that was protected by a vast canyon preventing most creatures from entering.

“Yes, Prince Asura!” A lovely pink spider on the gigantic screen created with mana showed how she hovered over the ground on her lovely webbing that covered the enormous mass of land. The girl used various tools and her long legs to evaluate the land to see if they could salvage the land he ruined.

Although most who tried to escape perished, Asura checked using the Valkyrie that many of the monster races escaped with one or two tribes away from the disaster.

‘It seems that something in my magic caused the earth to enrich the soil.’

Honestly, Asura didn’t forgive himself for this incident. He understood his outburst caused thousands, maybe more deaths and erased several clans that existed for thousands of years in the beautiful forest.

“Then could I ask you to make a detailed report on the soil condition? You can work with the workers from Silvara. I give my permission and hope that you can decide the best future for this land. Is that okay with you Rasha?”

The pair were sitting on the soft silk cushions, with his head resting on her spider body, while she used her front legs to apply a special honey mixture to his hair, which helped make it healthier and shine with a lovely scent.

“Of course, there you have it, Mafuyu. Can you take care of it?” Rasha spoke to the pink spider that was rolling on her webbing. With her pink eyes gazing at the pair while she showed a sinister smile.

However, Asura knew this smile was just because her breed of arachne struggled to smile or show emotions well. They showed their joy, like Rasha, with their legs, as they were shaking in the air and tapping her webbing lightly. ‘Now that I know more about them… how cute are these girls?’

“Hmmm? Are you going to cheat on me?” Rasha leaned down, her lovely red eyes covering his vision while she dug two of her legs into his thighs with a cute pout on her lips.

“Of course not, my lovely little spider.” Asura was caught red-handed while Rasha rested her human torso on his chest and pressed her face against his neck. He was not defeated by the soft sensation of her breasts that was easily felt because of the soft silk cloth and its thin layer.

“Hehe~, you’re the best Asura.” She licked his cheek, with the tip of her tongue having a smooth, wet feeling, and a sweet scent flowed from her saliva, having a strong whiff of the delicious honey she ate.

‘I’m being spoiled by her again…’

Although the pair of them wished they could spend all day relaxing this way, there were things the pair needed to do. Even the poor elder was now helping Shizuka and the others to rebuild the messy library and council chambers.

The elders tasked the pair of them with exploring the western mines, which contained iron and copper; though the arachne rarely did any blacksmithing, some of their clan had males from the dwarf and monster races that could make basic tools and equipment, so the two mines were important.

***

Asura, Lucia and Rasha headed out the western gate, a large stone structure that was both beautiful and easy to defend. While looking at the city, he felt lucky that the betrayal didn’t cause the beautiful city to take too much damage. However, he worried quite deeply about certain aspects of the forest to the west.

The western forest and the central forest were the only regions that didn’t get attacked by the empire. However, the pair noticed that the forest seemed to change a little—with small footprints and other signs of humans—they became vigilant.

‘I don’t think any of my troops have come this way. Let’s be safe.’

“Rasha, Lucia, be on guard; there are footprints from humans and no monster trails. This means that either some of my men have broken orders and come this way. Or the empire might actually be planning to attack this city, if not for revenge but maybe pure conquest with the weakened monster kingdoms now a fraction of their former selves.”

“Okay~ I will scout ahead and try to make a path to find if other arachne have used this area in the past week.” Rasha used the thick webbing created by her spinnerets to swing her body up the tree. She kept her ruby eyes open for any signs of her kin.

However, it was strange that there wasn’t a single sign of any arachne near the mines or the path leading to them.

“Something doesn’t feel right; I will go on ahead with the troops. You stay with the miners, Rasha.”

“Uuuu… If that is what you wish, Asura, but you better be careful.”

‘I’m counting on you to protect them Lucia.’

Although he came with the two women, it wasn’t just them. Asura and the girls needed miners and surveyors to tell the state of the mine or if anyone else had been tampering with it, so along with fifty troops and the twenty miners. Asura headed forward to scout, his black wings expanding wide as he flew over the forest, keeping his eyes open for anyone or anything.

He reached the old mine, and it seemed that there was a recent battle there. Asura landed on the ground, moving his feet across the earth as he tried to sense if there was anyone around, but there were only a few dried corpses, both human and monster… Thankfully, there were no arachne corpses.

‘I’d hate to show Rasha her kin’s corpses.’

With that in mind, he headed into the mine, using his magic to illuminate the tunnels, but as he went deeper and deeper, there were no traces of a battle. He finally made it to the bottom floor of the mine, a place where it looked like there was a storage area with discarded minerals, ore and tools. It seemed that the first mine was fine. After the battle, nothing else happened.

‘Though I will probably have to station some valkyries and knights here to protect them in the future… The empire will not sit back.’

“Ah! Are you sure we should not be going, Prince Asura?” A female voice echoed in his ears, and when he turned back, a young woman stood near the entrance of the mine. The lovely Rasha was standing on the ceiling, her human body hanging with her arms folded; she liked to walk on the roof upside down, it seemed.

“I’ve checked the mine. This one is fine with a bit of work and support added. It will be back for good.”

“Then can we go look at the other mine?” She jumped from the ceiling and walked towards him, her slender legs tapping the rocky ground and creating a clicking sound as the tips of her spider legs moved across the rock.

“Yeah, I will leave some knights and miners here and have them meet up with us afterwards.”

‘I think the next mine is too far west for us to deal with it so soon… the iron mine, why did it have to be so far?’

The pair returned to the exit and found the miners were already at the entrance, though he noticed something different from how they held the pickaxes in their hands and their eyes that seemed to glow in the light.

‘Ah I see… they also loved Arachneas and wanted to get back to work.’

Asura turned to face the dwarves, who looked excited and smiled, “All right, men. I want you knights to guard these dwarves with your life. They are the lifeblood of Arachneas. I will head to the iron mine to check if the Empire are in the area, So I implore you to protect my little princesses important people!”

“Yes, Prince Asura! We will lay down our lives to protect them!” The Valkyries and the Knights knelt with their swords pointed towards the sky while they looked at the pair with their shining eyes and serious faces.

After the battles Asura realised the Knights and Valkyrie began to work well together, with aerial and ground attacks, not to mention they seemed to have more respect and awe for Asura himself.

“Good. Then head back and start working on the mine. Rasha, shall we go?”

“Fufu~ yes we should, Asura.” The pair headed into the forest as he watched the Knights and Valkyries stand guard while the Dwarf miners carried and moved the messy rocks from the entrance of the mine and worked hard to clear the rubbish.

‘I just hope those bastards didn’t get their filthy paws on the iron ore.’

He didn’t know if it would be safe or not, but this time, he would not let Rasha scout from the air, nor would he expose himself using his wings. Instead, his magic sonar was set to maximum, and a huge portion of the forest was now within his grasp.

‘I see… a unit of fifty maybe their own miners and knights?’