Chapter 1280: Ugly Spider? (Part 1)
In order to obtain the Connected Heart, Adam had to fight a suitable opponent, but first, he had to somehow get Ureyn to leave his mill.
It seemed that Gareyna should have helped him with this, because she was much stronger than Ureyn and therefore had a higher status in their society.
But, in practice, this was not possible.
No one could force another monster to leave its mill, even if it was a Lord who addressed an Elder.
This was not their assumption or theory; Gareyna had tried many times to talk to Ureyn over the past few months and even years, but he simply ignored her.
Well, if the right, peaceful way didn’t work, then why not use another?
It seemed that they could simply attack Ureyn’s mill. Adam or Gareyna, either of their attacks would be strong enough to force Ureyn out of his mill.
However, this would immediately be noticed by everyone else, especially the monsters from the Black Cut. For Adam, this would be a real problem.
Gareyna would not be able to protect him from something like that. Sure, she was a Lord and quite powerful, but not powerful enough to handle the pressure from the strongest monsters of the Forgotten Mills.
Order was maintained in their lands, albeit only at the highest level, as this was most important for both the mill owners and the Renegades, who maintained contact with this territory.
What happened to the weaker monsters or those who did not own their own mill was not so important, neither for the Renegades nor for any of the three factions.
So, Adam had only one choice left—he had to provoke Ureyn. But to elicit a reaction from Ureyn, something substantial was needed, not just simple shouts or taunts at the foot of his mills.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Gareyna had one option: Nollura, an Arachne in one of their Nests that filled the rifts in the depths of the Forgotten Mills.
Several years ago, when Ureyn was much weaker, Nollura defeated and humiliated him. It wasn’t that Nollura was more capable or talented than Ureyn, but rather that Ureyn was in a hurry.
He wanted to progress too quickly, faster than he could. So, he didn’t stand a chance against Nollura, who was several stages ahead of him at the time. However, Ureyn was confident that he could win because he had never lost before.
In general, Ureyn had to face the harsh reality that not everything happened the way he wanted it to.
It didn’t break him completely, but it was a heavy blow for him.
Even after he became much stronger than Nollura, he did not return to her Nest. Deep down, he accepted this defeat and did not intend to take revenge because it would not be the victory he wanted.
What was the point of winning if he was already much stronger than her?
However, due to his young age and fiery temper, Ureyn still harbored hatred for Nollura. He couldn’t return to the past and couldn’t enjoy victory in the present, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and move on.
He was still not wise enough, like Gareyna or Targon, to understand that his defeat by Nollura was a valuable experience for him and a real miracle that he had survived. He should have cherished that moment.
But… Ureyn only wished for her death, yet he couldn’t do it himself because of his own beliefs.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
“Tsk. That Ureyn, there’s definitely something wrong with his head,” Adam complained, scratching the back of his head.
Silvana appeared next to him as they stopped at the edge of a deep rift. A cave full of cobwebs protruded from the wall—the entrance to the Arachne Nest. That was where Adam’s target was, because he had come here to fight Nollura.
“Well, his story isn’t much different from yours. There are only two key differences between you. The first is that he’s a monster. The second is that, unlike you, he gave up.”
Adam clenched his teeth. He disagreed with Silvana.
“No, there’s one more.”
“Hmm?”
“He was on this path much longer than I was. It’s been several years since he gave up, and he was on this path much longer than I was. Where is the guarantee that the same thing won’t happen to me as happened to him?”
Tap.
Silvana’s hands fell on his shoulders, slowly sliding down to his chest in a gentle embrace.
“Well, you only have one guarantee—yourself. Unfortunately, even I can’t change that if you decide to give up. However, I will always support you because no matter how risky or even crazy your ideas may be, in the end, we always ended up on the winning side, on the side of the survivors.”
Adam said nothing, he nodded deeply and jumped into the rift.
Gareyna did not go with him. She had no business in this rift, her power level was too high for that, and if she attacked the Arachne Nest, it would raise questions among the others and attract unnecessary attention.
However, she could see everything clearly from the top of her mill, at least until Adam jumped down.
“Hmm, he jumped. I think he’ll be back pretty quickly. That young man… Hah, it’s a good thing Targon sent him to me, otherwise, he would have killed Ureyn or any of the other five monsters the Connected String sent him to.”
Ting.
She tapped her spoon on the cup rim before taking another sip as her gaze moved to Ureyn’s mill.
“I know this will be unpleasant for you. Several defeats—that’s what broke you, but that’s exactly what will help you get back on your path. We monsters need people like you, but not in such a pathetic and broken state.”
For a moment, her gaze darkened, then returned to normal as she waited patiently for Adam’s return.
As soon as he heads to Ureyn’s mill and the String Duel begins, it will shake all of the Forgotten Mills, drawing everyone’s attention, but they will only be able to watch as one rises and the other falls.