CHAPTER 931: I’M A LORD NOW, TOO!

Slaughter. Death. Weaving. Lorelia repeated the cycle, driven to exterminate every last enemy who had harmed her master and Mistress. In the relentless carnage, the darkness-shrouded Blackstone City was transformed, becoming a world made entirely of silk.

She had no idea how many enemies she killed. By the time her consciousness returned to normal, there was not a single living dark creature left in Blackstone City.

Lorelia crawled to the top of the city wall, to the bodies of Orion and Lilith. She lay down beside them, just as she had when she was a small child. She felt so tired. A wave of exhaustion washed over her, and her eyes fluttered shut as she fell into a deep, deathlike sleep.

Red Moon Valley, Lorelia city.

Orion’s true form materialized, startling Soraya from her watch.

"Lorelia has advanced. I’m going to check on her."

Orion gave Soraya a quick embrace and, before she could reply, stepped into the underground caves, heading for Lorelia’s Nest.

Soraya stood stunned for a moment, but a joyful smile quickly spread across her face. "So the little one finally advanced! I knew something strange was going on with her lately!"

She didn’t follow Orion inside. As a broodmother herself, she knew their particular quirks.

The moment she set foot in the Nest, she would likely be attacked by the cave spiders.

Orion was different. His bond with Lorelia extended to her children; the young spiders would not reject him.

Entering the Nest, Orion saw that Lorelia had evolved into the form of a young woman, perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old.

Tear tracks still stained her cheeks, as if she had cried herself into a profound slumber.

After sensing her aura for a moment, Orion let out a slow sigh of relief. The violent fluctuations in her energy had calmed and stabilized. Lorelia’s advancement had been a success.

He moved closer, intending to cover the girl with a blanket. But the moment he approached, Lorelia’s eyes snapped open.

Crimson. Slaughter. Ice. Despair and darkness. That was the storm of emotions Orion saw and felt in that first instant. But it was all swept away in the next, replaced by sheer, unadulterated joy.

"Master?"

Perhaps because she had just woken up, her mind was still foggy, unable to distinguish reality from the Dreamscape. Seeing a living, breathing Orion before her was both a shock and a wonderful surprise.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Orion’s voice was placid as he reached out and ruffled her hair. It was a habit of his, a gesture that had always worked on Lorelia since she was little.

Feeling the familiar warmth of his hand and smelling the strong, familiar scent of her master, Lorelia’s mind finally cleared.

"Master... Master... Master, I missed you so, so much!" she wailed, throwing her arms around him. "Master, I had a long, long nightmare. It was so scary, so scary. Master, I’m homesick! I want to go back and see Blackstone City!"

Orion said nothing, simply letting her cling to him like a Squiddy. Her emotions were once again in turmoil; she needed patience and comfort.

"Do you not know what happened?" he asked after a long while, when he felt her begin to calm down. He gently peeled her off his body and gave her a playful flick on the forehead. "Sense your own aura. Your own body. See what’s changed."

Lorelia nodded, instinctively obeying. A moment later, a shriek of delighted, triumphant surprise echoed through the entire underground cave system.

"Aaaaah! I advanced! I’m a Lord now, too!"

"Master... Master... I really advanced!"

"Master, am I amazing or what?"

"Master, I’ll conquer the world for you..."

She was so full of herself she was practically floating.

But I know the truth, Orion thought. To forge her own Lord’s Stone like that... there is a terrifyingly ferocious will to kill hidden deep inside her.

"Come on. Soraya has been waiting outside for a long time."

Orion started to walk out, ignoring Lorelia as she scampered gleefully around the Nest. Seeing him leave, Lorelia followed, scampering on her newly formed legs, wobbling this way and that with a huge grin on her face.

"Sister Soraya, look! Look at me! I’m just like you now!"

"Sister Soraya, I can wear dresses, too!"

Soraya just shook her head, smiling as she took out a dress she had prepared and helped Lorelia put it on, which sent the girl into a fit of giggles.

Half an hour later, Soraya and Lorelia appeared on the city walls of Red Moon Valley. They came to stand behind Orion, gazing together toward the west. In the seas to the west, the allied forces and the Dragon Faction were still at war.

"Master, are we going to join the battle now?" Lorelia knew Orion’s moods well. If he was staring west, it meant the situation there was likely not optimistic.

"It’s ninety-nine percent naval and air combat over there. I don’t need you for that." Orion pulled his gaze back and turned to face them.

"Lorelia, prepare yourself. A war is likely to break out in the southern part of the Titanion Realm. The enemy will be the dwarven Tribe and the Northern Coalition."

He then proceeded to explain the entire situation between Torin, the human kingdom, and the dwarves in detail.

Lorelia’s advancement was perfectly timed. Orion planned to let her rest for a while, then hand the southern war over to her. It would be the perfect opportunity for her to familiarize herself with battles between Lords.

"Master, I will defeat the enemy for you and claim more territory for the Tribe!" Lorelia declared, puffed up with confidence. "I am the most powerful Lord, the weaver of the Dreamscape, the greatest Lorelia Queen!"

Her newfound transcendent power had her feeling invincible. Orion didn’t say much. It was a common phase for newly minted Legendary-level Lords. The feeling would pass soon enough.

He turned to Soraya. "You continue to guard this place. I’ll notify you if anything changes."

Soraya nodded. Feeling Orion’s intense gaze on her, she knew what he was thinking, and a blush crept up her cheeks.

Seven days later, the teleportation array activated. Orion, Lorelia, and a contingent of high-level cave spiders were transported back to Blackstone City. From there, Orion and Lorelia crawled out from the underworld and into the underground fissure.

Sensing Lorelia’s arrival, the small spiders hidden in the rock crevices swarmed out of their holes, hissing a welcome to their returned queen.

"I am finally home!" The familiar bottomless abyss, the familiar underground fissure—this was the place she had guarded for so long. She knew every inch of it.

"Prepare yourself," Orion said, and with that, his form vanished from the fissure.

Lorelia didn’t mind. She led her children on a tour, revisiting every familiar place, every beloved corner where she used to love to sleep.