Chapter 980: Expediting That “Plan”

Above the rippling blue sea, Sein’s entire upper body was wrapped in silver spider silk, except for his head.

He squinted slightly, feeling the gentle sea breeze and warm sunlight against his face.

Beside him, the Spider Queen carried him effortlessly with one hand. With the sharp nails of her other, she tore through the fabric of space once more.

Despite the immense scale of the Magus World and the vast sea separating the West Coast from Blackhaven, the journey would take no more than a week at her speed.

This Spider Queen was undoubtedly an elusive figure within the West Coast, as Sein noticed that she avoided using the teleportation arrays of the major divine towers.

Instead, she relied solely on her own strength to traverse these distances.

Perhaps it was because they had known each other too long, but Sein, still cocooned in silver silk, found himself oddly calm.

Rather than worrying about his uncertain fate, he began mentally calculating the gains he had accumulated over the past few decades.

It was not that he was emotionless—but what good was worrying now?

The pressure and threats the Spider Queen had imposed upon him over centuries had long since been internalized.

What, was he supposed to shiver and cower at every moment or constantly show helplessness just to acknowledge her power?

Sein had long since adapted.

If fate was not something he could control, then he would face it head-on.

And that was exactly why the Spider Queen found him so vexing.

In Blackhaven, beings who encountered her would bow in reverence and fear.

Yet Sein, that

shameless bastard

, was the only person in thousands of years who had dared to stand her up repeatedly!

She thought back to every instance when he had respectfully promised to rush to Blackhaven immediately, only to do whatever he pleased the moment she left.

He even had the audacity to venture into multiple foreign planes for exploration!

Just thinking about it made the Spider Queen grit her teeth in frustration.

The most outrageous part was that Sein had participated in not just one, but three interplanar wars during his time on the West Coast!

Although each war had lasted no more than two years, it had still been enough to drive the Spider Queen mad with rage.

The last time, however, was her final straw.

When she finally tracked that bastard down, he was preparing to join a fourth interplanar war!

If not for the Planar Light’s protection and the blessings of Baxia’s direct family, she would have crushed Sein as she would a pesky insect.

Since outright killing him was not an option, she had other ways to make him suffer.

When they reached Blackhaven, she would teach him a proper lesson—one that would ensure he remembered why a goddess should be respected.

She had already decided that, after everything, she would have someone from Baxia’s family come and collect him themselves.

As the Spider Queen rode the waves over the blue sea, she could not help but wonder, “Who the hell gave him that blessing? That flood dragon? Or that mermaid? Or was it really those two dragon turtles?”

If the blessing came from the mermaid or the dragon turtles, she would have no choice but to acknowledge their authority.

Among the two dragon turtles, one was stronger than her, while the other was on par with her.

The mermaid, though weaker, held significant political weight in Baxia’s family and was practically the face of their family in the Magus World.

After all, the rest of the siblings were not exactly reliable, and their father was nowhere to be seen.

Given all these circumstances, the mermaid’s close ties with the sea races, along with the favor she had garnered from several guardians, made her a formidable figure in her own right.

If the mermaid had been the one to grant the blessing, the Spider Queen would have to release Sein no matter how vexed she was.

The Spider Queen chuckled before saying, “I hope the flood dragon isn’t the one who blessed you. If he’s the one, then I won’t be satisfied unless I squeeze a ton of dragon blood out of him.”

Her chest rose and fell, undulating with barely restrained fury as she glared at Sein, who remained tightly cocooned in silver spider silk.

Feeling her divine gaze pierce through him, Sein inexplicably shivered.

There was, in fact, a reason why Sein remained so unnervingly calm.

Ever since they entered this part of the sea, that vague connection between him and Tourmaline had grown stronger!

After centuries apart, it seemed Tourmaline had returned to the Western Archipelago after her travels through the South Sea of the Magus World.

Sein felt tears forming in his eyes.

He had never doubted the influence of Tourmaline’s family.

She had several powerful older siblings, not to mention an uncle who handed out world-class secret treasures like they were candies!

Tourmaline was the precious baby of her entire family.

With her help, he would surely survive this ordeal.

Sein was already thinking about how he should greet Tourmaline when he saw her again.

The familiar warmth in his chest confirmed it—the Dragon’s Blessing the Spider Queen had detected in him must have come from Tourmaline.

After all, he had only developed this connection with her right before leaving the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

At the time, he had even asked Tourmaline about it, but back then, she had simply smiled and refused to answer.

While thinking about his upcoming reunion with Tourmaline, Sein counted his recent gains.

The second interplanar war he had participated in on the West Coast had taken place in a low-level world known as the Golden Ink Plane.

At the time, Sein had signed only a two-year agreement to serve as external aid.

The plane was rich in graphite-based materials, many of which were highly valuable for Sein’s alchemy experiments.

With the assortment of harvested resources, combined with his growing collection from recent years, Sein was now loaded with all sorts of rare treasures.

These materials alone could keep him occupied in the laboratory for centuries.

It was thanks to his wealth—as well as his two-hundred-year tenure as dean of the Divine Tower of Dark Flame, which came with a considerable allowance—that he could afford such a lifestyle.

Most Rank Two or even Rank Three mages could only dream of traveling like him.

As Sein and the Spider Queen remained absorbed in their own thoughts, a sudden ripple of law power emanated from somewhere to the north.

The fluctuation was something only beings of Rank Four or higher could create.

At that moment, Sein noticed the subtle changes in the world around him.

The sky seemed bluer, the water clearer.

Even the seabirds above let out soft, melodic chirps, and the fish below leaped playfully from the sea, creating splashes.

Human mages like Sein could even sense the pure delight radiating from these low-level creatures.

This was no ordinary Rank Four being at work!

“Why would a guardian appear here? Didn’t the Summer Guardian already leave...?”

The Spider Queen’s expression turned oddly grim.

Sein had already suspected as much—the Spider Queen had indeed been preoccupied for the past century, which was why she had not appeared before him for so long.

The one who had kept the Spider Queen occupied for so long had been none other than the Summer Guardian, who had visited Blackhaven.

The guardian had not come specifically to reprimand her but had merely been on a routine inspection—checking on Blackhaven’s affairs and conducting whatever official business was required.

Still, being lectured by a guardian was something the Spider Queen would rather forget.

Before leaving, the Summer Guardian had even issued a warning: if the Spider Queen caused trouble again, she promised to personally expel her from the Magus World.

The Spider Queen had no intention of testing a guardian’s patience.

And now, she had the misfortune of encountering one head-on—while carrying Sein in her hand, no less.

It was impossible for her to walk away now without arousing suspicion.

As the special law fluctuation drew closer, her expression shifted multiple times, betraying her unease.

However, when the figure finally emerged before her, the Spider Queen exhaled in quiet relief.

It was not the dreaded Summer Guardian or the harsh Winter Guardian.

Instead, it was the Spring Guardian—the most approachable among the Four Seasons Guardians.

Among the four guardians, the Spider Queen was least intimidated by Spring and Autumn because both of them were extremely nice.

Still, the Spring Guardian’s presence was enough to make her nervous because she did not want the guardian to find out about her little schemes again.

Even if Spring Guardian chose to overlook her actions, she would not be able to get away without any consequences once the Summer and Winter Guardians got wind of it.

“Guess I have no choice but to expedite that plan...” the Spider Queen mumbled to herself.

“Look after this slab for me,” she said, pressing the Silver Spider Ring hard onto Sein’s finger.

“W-What...? What did you say?”

Sein looked up at her in confusion.

Before he could say anything else, the ring’s sharp spider fangs pierced his finger.

If the Silver Spider Ring had previously been nothing more than a monitoring tool temporarily placed on him, it had now become his true possession.

The Spider Queen had just forced the ring to recognize Sein as its new owner by completing the binding process.

It was not like she valued him.

She simply did not want him to die too easily in the foreign world connected to the stone slab, as she intended to find out more about it.

Without giving him the chance to question what had just happened, she shoved Sein—still wrapped in spider silk—downward.

Inside the Silver Spider Ring, the illusory gray stone slab began to glow faintly.

“Shi-...!”

Sein barely had time to curse before he was swallowed by the gray light and vanished.