Chapter 175: Cauldron and The Glowing Figure
The great elder—or in other words, the venom elder—stared at Aaron for several long seconds.
Her small figure remained perfectly still despite the crushing pressure of his aura. Only the faint trembling in her limbs and the steady trickle of white, resin-like sweat running down the side of her face betrayed the strain she was under.
Aaron watched her quietly.
He couldn’t tell what exactly was going on inside that tiny head of hers, but he knew one thing for certain—it wasn’t anything simple.
This woman had already proven that she was far from stupid. If anything, she was one of the most cunning individuals he had met in this cursed forest.
And he had absolutely no intention of underestimating her.
Still, he wasn’t some brainless brute either.
Over the past few days he had carefully studied her behavior, her tribe, and the other tribes scattered across the mushroom forest. The other elders had unknowingly taught him quite a few things through their reactions alone.
Some might say it was foolish to shortchange her by bringing gold shrooms from only four tribes when they had clearly agreed on five.
But Aaron disagreed.
In fact, in his opinion, even stealing from two tribes—maybe three at most—would have been more than enough for the venom elder to win that so-called grand feast she seemed obsessed with.
Yet she hadn’t asked for two.
She hadn’t asked for three.
She demanded five.
Which told Aaron something important.
Her goal wasn’t just victory.
It felt more like she wanted the other tribes completely humiliated.
Or destroyed.
The venom elder suddenly coughed into her palm.
The sound snapped Aaron out of his thoughts.
She slowly lowered her hand and looked up at him.
"Alright," she said calmly, her voice steady despite the circumstances. "Before I decide anything, I have an important question."
Aaron nodded slightly.
"Shoot."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Did you reveal who sent you?"
There was a strange weight behind her words.
"Did the other tribes find out who was behind the heist?" she continued slowly. "Did anyone see Alyssa?"
Aaron fell silent.
For a moment, the clearing became eerily quiet.
"No," he finally replied in a flat voice. "They didn’t."
It was a lie.
Back at the Lingso tribe, he had allowed their members to see Alyssa and even speak with her. He needed their translation bead, and letting Alyssa interact with them had been the easiest way to get it.
Unfortunately for him, the stealth elder had absolutely no intention of letting this negotiation go smoothly.
She smirked wickedly.
"Yes, they did."
Aaron’s eyes flicked toward her instantly.
"The Lingso tribe members interacted with Alyssa," the stealth elder continued smugly. "And I’ll bet my entire tribe that their elder already knows who’s behind the heist."
Her gaze shifted toward the venom elder.
"Melissa."
The venom elder—Melissa—slowly turned her head toward Aaron.
Her glare was sharp enough to cut through stone.
"Is that true?"
Aaron exhaled heavily through his nose.
"You asked your question and you got your answer," he said, his tone growing tired. "So now choose."
He gestured lazily with one hand.
"What path is our lovely relationship going to take?"
His sarcasm was impossible to miss.
Melissa scoffed.
"Heh. That’s real funny."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You break your end of the bargain so blatantly and expect me to hold mine?"
She spat on the ground.
"Fuck off."
Aaron nodded once.
"Alright."
For half a second, the venom elder almost felt relieved.
Maybe he had given up.
Maybe she had won this exchange.
But then her instincts suddenly screamed.
Aaron’s leg blurred.
His foot shot out like a cannon.
The massive kick connected with the closest mushroom building.
The structure tore free from the ground instantly and went flying through the air like a kicked soccer ball.
The venom elder watched in horror.
There had been several mushfolk inside that building.
They had been peeking through the carved windows, curious about the confrontation happening outside. Aaron’s oppressive aura had already pinned them to the ground, leaving them helpless spectators.
They never even understood what was happening.
The building disappeared into the distance.
Whether they were dead or merely crushed under the wreckage, Aaron didn’t care.
Not anymore.
The moment negotiations collapsed, the venom tribe lost its protection.
Aaron swung his leg again.
Another building flew.
Then another.
The destruction began to escalate rapidly.
Sometimes he kicked the structures clean off the ground, sending them soaring across the forest like projectiles.
Other times he simply stepped down on them, collapsing the hollow mushroom interiors with a sickening crunch.
At one point he kicked one building straight into another, destroying both in a thunderous crash.
And occasionally, when the angle looked particularly good, he launched them like balls into the distance so far that it would take the tiny mushfolk hours to even locate the wreckage.
"W-WAIT!"
The venom elder screamed at the top of her lungs.
Aaron’s foot froze mid-motion.
He slowly lowered it and looked down at her.
His gaze was cold.
"What?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"I’m just flattening the ground before I dig this entire city up and bury it several feet underground."
Melissa felt her stomach drop.
The look in his eyes was terrifying.
There was no hesitation.
No bluff.
No exaggeration.
If she didn’t stop him right now, he would absolutely do it.
Every single one of her people would die.
"Wait," she said again, her voice suddenly much smaller.
The smug, calculating expression she always wore was gone.
Now she looked like a desperate woman being cornered by a monster.
But Aaron wasn’t fooled.
He simply stared at her silently.
Waiting.
"D-Don’t destroy my tribe..." she whispered.
Her shoulders trembled.
"I’ll go bring the antidote."
Aaron hummed softly.
"Alright."
He studied her for another moment before finally withdrawing the pressure of his skill.
The invisible weight vanished instantly.
Melissa gasped as her body suddenly felt light again.
Without wasting a second, she shot to her feet and sprinted toward the massive mushroom structure behind her.
She disappeared inside.
The clearing fell quiet.
Aaron waited.
His instincts were uneasy.
A faint warning pricked at the back of his mind, telling him that Melissa might still try something desperate.
But he didn’t have much of a choice.
As much as he wanted to rampage through the entire forest, he knew the truth.
The poison would kill him eventually.
Right now the situation had narrowed down to two possibilities.
Mutual survival.
Or mutual destruction.
And despite everything, Aaron didn’t particularly feel like dying today.
Two minutes passed.
They felt agonizingly long.
Finally, the venom elder emerged from the building again.
Her expression was colder than before.
In her hands she carried a strange object.
It resembled a small cauldron, intricately crafted from hardened mushroom resin and decorated with glowing carvings.
"YOU STILL HAVE IT?!"
The stealth elder suddenly shrieked.
Her voice was filled with equal parts excitement and dread.
Melissa ignored her completely.
Her gaze remained fixed on Aaron.
"Pay for your sins, monster."
Before anyone could react, she slammed the cauldron onto the ground.
It shattered instantly.
Cracks exploded across its surface before the entire object burst into fragments.
Something poured out.
Ethereal wisps of pale blue energy spilled into the air like escaping spirits.
The moment they appeared, the entire clearing erupted into chaos.
A violent wind exploded outward.
The gust was so strong that several mushfolk were lifted off the ground and blown away like dry leaves.
Even Melissa wasn’t spared.
She was thrown backward by the sudden surge of wind, crashing through the entrance of her own building.
Aaron barely moved.
The wind was insignificant compared to the things he had already endured.
But something else made his stomach tighten.
A strange, piercing instinct stabbed into his mind.
It felt like a needle lodged inside his senses.
And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull it out.
He stared at the glowing wisps.
They were gathering together.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
The pale blue energy began converging in the center of the clearing, forming a floating sphere just above the ground.
The wisps themselves looked oddly familiar.
They resembled the souls rising from soul sand in that block game he used to play.
Tiny ghost-like bodies with wide open mouths.
They swirled faster and faster.
"T-T-The E-Empress..."
The stealth elder whispered.
Her voice trembled between awe and terror.
Aaron felt goosebumps crawl across his entire body.
Every hair on his arms stood upright.
His instincts screamed at him.
Like Spider-Man’s Peter Tingle going berserk.
Without hesitation, Aaron immediately withdrew his aura skill.
The last thing he wanted was for this mysterious "Empress" to think he was trying to attack her.
Everyone in the clearing watched the phenomenon unfold.
No one dared blink.
The raging wind gradually calmed.
Meanwhile the sphere of energy grew brighter.
The wisps condensed tighter and tighter until the glowing ball began to change shape.
A silhouette formed inside the light.
A humanoid figure.
Aaron frowned.
The figure kept growing.
Larger.
And larger.
Until it reached nearly the height of his shoulder.
Then a voice echoed softly through the clearing.
"Who... woke me up?"
It was feminine. Lazy. Utterly mesmerizing.
He couldn’t even begin to compare the divine voice to anyone he had heard before.
It was magically addictive.
The glowing figure lifted one hand to her face as if stifling a yawn.
"I-It was me, Empress!"
Melissa burst out of her ruined building again, shouting urgently.
"I need your help!"
The radiant figure slowly turned around.
Her glowing form faced the small gold-capped mushfolk.
"Ah... right."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Who are you again?"