Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 170: Eleventh Daughter (1)

While running, he had to dodge the reapers' attacks as they blinked into existence beside him, aiming for his legs. He was incredibly fast thanks to his agility, but the reapers' movement skill gave them the upper hand. The other termites had waited patiently in the cave, fully trusting the reapers to finish the job. That’s when he noticed something else.

The termites were all female. From the human half‐mages to the pixies, and the workers and similar creatures were likely female too. But the reapers were clearly male. Did that mean that there might be even stronger specimens in the hive? In the insect world, males were almost always weaker than their female counterparts. He really didn't want to meet a termite that was even stronger than those reapers. This was getting worse by the second.

In the cave, Thalion didn't waste any time. He just jumped over most termites into the next tunnel while all the insects in the cave attacked him. This turned out to be pretty good for him, as the reapers had to stop for a moment and couldn't follow him without getting hit. Thalion didn't waste any time attacking the termites with a shadow claw, that ripped through multiple incoming attacks before killing a termite worker.

He just focused on getting out as quickly as possible. The reapers were already catching up, but only slowly. It seemed that their blinking couldn't be used all the time and had a cooldown. They also often got hit by attacks from the other termites, who in panic were trying to hit Thalion. It was also interesting that the aura of fear the reapers exuded didn't impact the other insects at all. Could they target someone with their aura, or were the other termites all immune to it now?

No, they couldn't all be immune to it. How should that have worked? It was not a poison, after all, so the only way to defend against it was with the soul defenses he had learned. Beasts didn't have a system shop to buy such information, so how had this all even worked out? So many questions, but he probably wouldn't get an answer soon.

He shot through the tunnel from time to time, slashing at the reapers behind him. That he had put all his free points into agility lately was a boon, as it made it very difficult for the reapers to close in. The next cave he entered was ten times bigger than the last one. Had he run deeper into the hive? Thalion asked himself in panic as he saw the creature sitting in the middle of the cave. It was the big version of the murder pixie. Well, to say it was more powerful than the murder pixie would be an understatement.

Eleventh Daughter of the Hive Level 80

That was a weird race name, even for an insect, Thalion thought while sprinting to the next tunnel that seemed to look upwards. Currently, the Eleventh Daughter was sitting in a giant magic circle that was empowered by ten of those half-human mages. It was not something to empower the termite but rather for cultivation or body-tempering.

As Thalion was halfway through the cave, the Eleventh Daughter looked at him, and it was as if his mind had been hit with a sledgehammer. He even lost his footing for a second and stumbled to the side, which earned him a scratch from one of the reapers that had caught up.

Thalion immediately returned with a swing that even landed on the reaper's upper body and left five deep cuts. Next, he was slammed against the wall, and bones even broke from the intense force. A telekinetic attack, Thalion thought, while trying to free himself.

His darkness was already melting through the invisible barrier pressing him down. The reapers didn't attack anymore but stood back with their heads held low as the Eleventh Daughter came closer, one arm outstretched toward Thalion.

Probably the one she used to channel that telekinetic force. Thalion could pull through the barrier with his tendrils, but a moment to breathe and get a good look at the surroundings was welcome at that moment. The Umbral Predator was not his strongest form at the moment. His sword, his armor, and all the upgrades the Sanguine Thorn had received made his human form decidedly the strongest in such a situation.

Also, he had a year of training in his human abilities, in contrast to the Umbral Predator. He definitely had to switch soon in order to escape or put up a fight. The Umbral Predator was definitely at its limits in what it could do, while his human form had many more options. Normally, he would have welcomed such a fight, as it would help him learn and become stronger. If it weren't hundreds of meters underground in a disgustingly strong termite hive.

"Mother will be pleased when I bring her your body," the Eleventh Daughter said in an almost melodic tone as she came closer.

With every step, the tension mounted on Thalion, and he activated Abyssal Devourer to free himself. Black tendrils shot out from his body in the direction of the eleventh daughter, completely annihilating the telekinetic skill that had pinned him against the wall.

The moment he was free, he transformed into his human form but still contained his aura. He wanted to surprise that thing at the worst possible moment with the mental attack of his armor. It probably wouldn’t have much impact anyway, as the termites were the origin or at least it looked like they had experimented a lot with the outsiders, judging by the Reapers.

As Thalion reached out with his senses, he was surprised to notice that the Elventh Daughter wasn't connected to an outsider. This was all so interesting. How did they summon the outsiders, and how did they control them? Or did the Reapers control them? Too bad he didn’t have time to ask right now.

Thalion had observed the entire cave and noticed one tunnel near the ceiling, which hopefully was the shortest way out of this hellhole. Sadly, he had to fight for his life before getting a chance to fly that far, especially with such strong opponents. Time was against him too, as it wouldn't be long before more termites entered this giant cave, which looked quite empty with only Thalion, the Reapers, the few workers, and the eleventh daughter inside.

Thalion immediately acted after transforming and shot a jet stream of fire at the eleventh daughter.

"You can't hide from us, no matter which form you wear," the eleventh daughter said harmonically but now with a sinister undertone.

The Eleventh Daughter just held one hand up, and the flames crashed into an invisible shield, which neither cracked nor moved under the impact. Thalion unleashed multiple red vines from his right hand to attack the Reapers, who were now coming for him with incredible speed.

He didn’t want to use Sanguine Thorn because he feared the termites would bring the remains of the skills to the queen. That had probably already happened, but the thorn was much stronger now than last time, and he really didn’t want the queen creating a counter to all his abilities. He could call the Blood Thorns back with Blood Harvest, but he didn’t want to reveal that ability yet. There was also the chance he might escape without needing it.

Thalion had to retract his vines after the Reapers dodged back for a moment. He stopped his jet stream of fire and spun to the side, narrowly dodging another telekinetic attack. Thankfully, his title had warned him early enough. Otherwise, he would have been paste on the wall.

The telekinetic skill hit the stone wall, carving a three-meter-deep hole in it and sending stone splinters flying everywhere. Yep, his armor would have a hard time reflecting that.

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So far, the eleventh daughter had only used two skills, both in a different league from anything he had fought before. He still couldn’t believe how that thing was so strong with such powerful skills without the help of an outsider, but there clearly was none on her.

He had trained for a year in the Golden Palace. Not just trained. He had learned from a master, while this insect only had the tutorial and no system shop.

The next startling question was: when had the eleventh daughter been born? Was it before his first visit to the hive or after? It had to be before. Anything else would be absolutely ridiculous. Somehow, Thalion felt it was the latter because if such a strong beast had been born back then, the hive wouldn’t have been that weak.

It was also crystal clear that the queen’s chamber he had visited last time had never belonged to the true queen and leader of this hive. If that was her daugther the true queen had to be a real monster.

Thalion spun to the side to dodge one of the black energy spears a Reaper shot at him and countered with a red slash from his sword in the direction of the eleventh daughter.

The Reapers were too quick for such an attack to hit, and he wanted to use the attack to gain more information about the true powerhouse.

Runes lit up in dark green light all over the chitin armor of the eleventh daughter, and she moved with inhuman speed, even faster than the Reapers.

Great, Thalion thought with disappointment, another one who’s super fast.

He had hoped she would evade by beating her wings and shooting upward, which would have given him an opportunity to get closer to the tunnel. Well, the situation looked bad anyway, so it didn’t make much difference if it got even more screwed up.

The Eleventh Daughter didn’t waste a moment and a swarm of dark green needles shot at Thalion.

Thalion used Telekinetic Dash to evade the needles and saw how they created holes in the stone behind him. From the stone came a sizzling sound as dark mist exited the holes, likely due to the acidic power of that strange spell.

Next, he had to dodge a long green claw extending from her insect-like hand.

The eleventh daughter moved with incredible speed and precision. Even Thalion, with his high agility and swordsmanship, had a hard time keeping up.

The movements of that thing were just different. The elegance with which she dodged his attacks and found the perfect moments for counters or strikes was simply alien. Thalion had to use absolutely everything not to die. He relied on his title as an alert against incoming Reaper attacks and to analyze the movements of the eleventh daughter.

The power of her blows drove him back, even when he deflected them to the side. This was bad, but he did everything he could to hold on. He fought against the eleventh daughter, both of them moving at incredible speed, but neither could gain the advantage. However, Thalion was beginning to adapt to her movements.

He started to anticipate her claw attacks and managed to predict the needle-like projectiles she sometimes shot at him. He was gaining momentum, and the heart of the Sanguine Thorn made him stronger with every moment.

So far, he had relied solely on his swordsmanship, but now he decided to kick it up a notch. Vines shot from his right arm at the termite just before the moment of impact, but she reacted swiftly and jumped back.

One of the Reapers appeared behind Thalion, slashing at his back while the others fired their dark projectiles. Thalion ducked and activated Tectonic Slam by smashing his fist into the ground. Both the Reapers and the eleventh daughter struggled momentarily.

Seizing the opportunity, Thalion flashed forward and struck at the daughter with incredible speed, also using the vines of the Sanguine Thorn to increase the pressure. She countered with a telekinetic blast, forcing Thalion to backflip over it and land elegantly behind the eleventh daughter, who now had to block two skills the Reapers had originally aimed at Thalion.

This was the moment Thalion had waited for. He fully flared his aura and activated Blood Harvest on the eleventh daughter. Their minds were probably strong, and he didn’t have high hopes of overwhelming even one of them, but this was his best chance.

At worst, it would irritate her long enough for him to land a solid blow. The Sanguine Thorn had thirsted for the blood of these termites since the fight had begun and poured all its willpower into the skill, seeking to rip the blood from its target.

Sadly, the Eleventh Daughter seemed to have excellent mental defenses and a strong soul. She only stumbled slightly. Thalion used the distraction to sever one of her wings and slice off her right arm at the elbow.

Before she could retaliate, he had already turned into mist form and shot upward with incredible speed, directly into the tunnel above. Now that the Eleventh Daughter was in pain and no brown mist in the tunnel, he thought it was worth a try.

It was still a huge risk—one he hadn’t wanted to take earlier because he had hoped to escape as an Umbral Predator. But now, he had no choice.

Thalion surged through the tunnel, easily repelling the fear effects of the Reapers. So far, things were looking promising. He was shooting upward, nearing the exit. He could already see the light reflecting off the tunnel walls above.

There were some termites in the tunnel, but they hadn’t expected him and were too slow to land an attack. What was not too slow was the dark green mist rushing after him.

Had the Eleventh Daughter used the same skill as the pixies to follow him? Was she really confident enough to defeat him without the Reapers?

Yes, she was insanely powerful—but Thalion was hard to pin down. Even if he couldn’t kill her, he was confident he could escape.

Thalion finally exited the hive and shot into the air between the dense tree crowns, which melted into mush as the dark green mist passed through after him.

How much mana does that thing have? he thought, feeling a bit more relaxed now that he was outside the hive.

He was now confident he would make it out alive. Thalion turned to the right, where he saw smoke rising from the trees he had obliterated before entering the hive.

With incredible speed, he shot in the direction of his base. He couldn’t travel the whole way in mist form, but he was confident his recovery rate was better than the termite’s.

How could that termite possibly recover faster than me? I have the Sanguine Thorn, the amulet, and most importantly, the power of the outsider.

If the thing behind him could regenerate faster, there would be no way anyone else could defeat that hive. After all, she was only the eleventh daughter, which implied there were ten more.

Was the first stronger than his current pursuer? And if so, by how much? Or was it the other way around, where the newest model was the best?

After traveling a few kilometers, his resources were down to twenty percent. He deactivated the skill and unleashed a jet stream of fire at the green cloud. Burning things had always worked for him so far.

The eleventh daughter appeared, dodging the stream of fire with a beat of both her wings, now glowing with dark green light.

Wait, two wings? And her arm was back as well?

What was going on?

This had to be some sort of illusion. Thalion was sure even he couldn't recover a lost arm that quickly.

He was almost out of mana and his opponents aura made the air vibrate around her as she starred at him with hate burning in her dark eyes.