"Huff… Huff… Huff…"

Meris's chest rose and fell erratically, steamy breath escaping her lips as she leaned her back against the frost-touched wall of the small cave she had managed to find during her escape.

The event that followed her instinctive decision to save the cat was something Meris couldn't put into words. She had simply acted on instinct — something she had always done — and it had almost gotten her killed by that frost snake.

It was a Grandmaster-ranked snake, after all.

And that was what made it abnormal. How could a Grandmaster beast have entered this spot, the one she called Ice Refuge, when none had ever dared cross its boundary before?

Meris didn't know what had changed, except for one thing: the snake had been chasing a cat, and it had been hell-bent on capturing it.

The same cat that was now…

Meris slowly lowered her head and looked at the creature sitting calmly in front of her, utterly unbothered. Its fur was a luxurious shade of violet, glowing faintly with a regal hue, and its silver eyes — sharp, slit pupils gleaming like glass — were so beautiful and pristine that Meris felt a twinge of jealousy. They were like two polished mirrors of ice, reflecting the world in perfect clarity, leaving nothing unseen.

In them, Meris could clearly see her reflection, and it wasn't something she'd ever want Kaden to witness.

She looked like an abandoned vagabond, a homeless girl who'd been wandering the streets for years.

She shook her head, pushing the thought away. Now wasn't the time to worry about her appearance. She had a quest to complete, and for some strange reason, Meris felt that she had finally stumbled upon something that might lead her to the real path of her quest.

She smiled sweetly at the cat, who didn't seem the least bit grateful for being saved.

"Hello, kitty," she said, her tone gentle.

The cat didn't react, merely raising an eyebrow…if that was even possible for a cat.

Meris scratched her head awkwardly. "Hm… maybe you don't understand me. How am I supposed to talk to you, then? Is there a language for cats?" she muttered softly under her breath and then, as if struck by genius, her eyes brightened.

She grinned and parted her lips.

"Meow?" she said, wearing the confident smile of a woman convinced of her brilliance.

The cat shivered in pure horror, its silver eyes widening.

Meris noticed, and, misunderstanding completely, assumed it was finally understanding her. Motivated, she continued eagerly, "Meow meow? Meow—!"

"Stop it-eow!" the cat suddenly screamed, terror ringing in its voice as it stared at Meris with open disgust.

The voice… was female.

Meris froze, shocked to hear human words coming out of a cat's mouth. Her silver eyes locked with the creature's own silver gaze.

The cat clicked her tongue. "Why was it me they sent to fetch you-eow?" she grumbled.

Clearly unwilling to waste another second in Meris's company, the cat's paw began to glow with a deep silvery light. She slammed it against the floor, and instantly, a massive runic formation bloomed beneath them, blazing with blinding radiance.

As the light swallowed them both, the cat spoke one last time to the still-dumbfounded Meris.

"Little kitten of the Elamin, you have been called. Welcome to the City of Cats."

The light engulfed them completely, and they vanished from the cave, leaving behind only the echo of Meris's bewildered voice:

"Did this cat just call me kitten?"

…

Meris was not the only one going through a rather weird evolution quest. Inara, too, was having the same issue. Though the reason for it was not the same.

She was still in the Graveyard of Monsters, where The Will first spawned her and where she found the legacy of Echidna.

Honestly, she had no idea where the Graveyard of Monsters was on Fokay. She had asked her mother, the other Silver Crowns members, and even the Red Crown… but none of them had ever heard of this place.

That made her feel apprehensive and rather uneasy to be in a place no one knew, but at the same time, it made her feel strangely elated. She thought, what if I succeed in clearing whatever this place is and make it mine to control?

Wouldn't she basically have a territory of her own? One Waverith might even use if there were rare resources hidden here?

She was sure the Hero would be happy and proud of her.

But all of that had been her thought before she got her Legendary quest. Because after she did, that whole little dream she had about this place dissolved into smoke that was swept away by the howling wind ruffling her green hair.

After all…

{The Graveyard of Monsters is but a small piece of land belonging to the domain of The Orders.}

{Echidna, Mother of Monsters, has chosen you as her heiress, a successor to uphold her legacy and bring forth again to the world the terror of monsters.}

{Create your first Master-ranked monster, and obtain the allegiance of one Grandmaster-level monster in this graveyard.}

{Build your strength. Prepare yourself, for your existence will soon be known to The Orders, and the barrier blocking this graveyard will cease to exist.}

To say Inara was shocked would be the same as saying the color white was white. Yet at the same time, she wasn't completely surprised. Echidna had told her from the very beginning that accepting her legacy meant accepting her enemies and her battles.

She had agreed, knowing well that no great power came without at least a little thorn at the side to prick you and make you bleed.

But only now did she realize that her enemies had been far too close from the start, only kept away by a barrier that would soon crumble.

Her heart began to race, understanding the gravity of her situation. But there was no time to waste on useless thoughts.

She needed to rank up and unlock more of her abilities. And for that…

"Create a monster. A Master-ranked one." Inara muttered as she sat on the cold ground, her back leaning against the tombstone where she had met Echidna.

Creating a monster was easy for her. But she had never managed to create even an Intermediate-ranked monster, let alone a Master-ranked one.

So this task was difficult, painfully so, and she had been thinking about it for two months while also trying to gain the allegiance of one of the Grandmaster monsters in the graveyard.

She tried. But none of them even looked at her.

Of course, they didn't kill her — her status protected her — but to them, she was still unworthy of their support and better off proving herself first.

Inara tried explaining that such a time might never come if they stayed stubborn, but monsters couldn't be reasoned with.

After a failed negotiation, she did the next thing she knew best.

She cursed.

She cursed all of them, even went as far as cursing their ancestors. The monsters grew enraged but could do nothing except growl and ignore the insolent Inara.

And now…

She huffed, anger burning in her eyes. "Just you wait, you fucking disobedient beasts. I won't forget you, and when I come back again, you'll either kneel or be food for others so they might grow stronger."

She muttered coldly, her words laced with venom, causing a sharp chill to course through every Grandmaster monster that had refused her so far.

Suddenly, she stopped her cursing, sensing something squirming on her left cheek. Her eyes shifted in their sockets to glance at it, and there she saw her favorite leech, the fat one she named Faty affectionately.

Faty now had a brown hue tinting his slimy green skin, setting him apart from his other siblings.

"You hungry?" Inara asked, but Faty shook his little head and spoke to his mother in that strange, silent language only they could understand.

Inara tilted her head. "You found a weird tombstone buried in the ground?" she said, curious. "Where?"

She immediately stood and followed Faty's instructions, and soon stopped, staring down at a small pit no larger than a coin.

It had been created by Faty, who was essentially the digger of their group.

Inara raised her right leg, slowly a green light shrouded it up to her knee. Then she slammed it down on the pit with a resounding bang, causing the earth to collapse completely.

She sank deep into the soil because of it, but not for long. Soon she reached solid ground, and there, in front of her, was a tombstone.

It was indeed strange: slimy and wet, and somehow, just by looking at it, one could swear it was moving… as if something slithered inside.

The tombstone glowed faintly blue, a hue Inara had come to associate with the Grandmaster rank.

Giving Faty a quick kiss — earning herself a happy squirm before he went back to brag to his siblings — Inara pressed her hand, coated in green mana, against the tombstone. It glowed intensely, and in the next instant she found herself somewhere else entirely.

She was used to that by now, so she focused quickly and looked around. Then she recoiled instinctively at the sight before her.

Maggots. Millions…no, billions of black and white maggots shifting and writhing together in one grotesque, horrifying mass, filling her green eyes completely.

The snake on her neck hissed violently, showing its revulsion.

Inara only stared as, slowly, with her presence, the maggots began to gather, coalescing into a humanoid form, its face a living carpet of writhing flesh.

The creature smiled, and some maggots fell from its lips to the ground. "I pay my respects to the Heiress of the Womb of Monsters," it said, voice deceptively sweet, bowing its head toward Inara.

Inara fell silent for a moment before her own smile twisted into something inhuman. Her eyes shifted, becoming a blend of every monster she carried within her.

She parted her lips, and a layered, monstrous voice escaped her mouth.

"You," she said, her grin splitting wider until her face seemed to tear in two, "I want you."

—End of Chapter 298—

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