Preview: They were dumbfounded and could only continue fighting while composing the thoughts in their minds into words to console one of their Masters.

Incandescent red and sizzling blood sprayed on the glowing mud of the lava swamps. A ketus’ life was cut short as Yhaele pierced it straight inside its mouth, directly piercing it from the inside. The spear tip came out of its back as its blood gushed out.

“Huff, that’s 23rd now.” Heaving a sigh of relief, Yhaele stopped his work as the quota for 100 Ketus blood was finally reached. His body groaned in agony as the muscles all over his body went slack from the soreness.

Killing the Ketus was a major pain in the ass for Yhaele. Just their hard indomitable scales alone pose lots of troubles, there’s also their immobilizing steam. They are nightmares for any biological creature made of flesh and blood as they have pores for the steam to drill in.

He kept hunting these bastards inefficiently until his 13th kill that he managed to luckily hit the thing inside the mouth, piercing directly to the back. Since then, he kept repeating the same sets of actions through trickery and sneak attacks.

Thankfully, he found out their weakness or he’d have to deal with such irritating creatures for a much longer time without the yield he has now.

His mind continued churning as he thought and simulated scenarios if he ever meets creatures like this one in the future. Always planning ahead is the reason he lived until now.

While he continued pondering, the Magma Golems cheered at their victory as they finally won. The simple-minded buffoons didn’t even care about the fact that they were almost abandoned and got their numbers intentionally culled.

“Hurrah!! Hurrah! Praise the masters! Praise the Lord of Tentacles and Ensnarement! Praise the Lord of Trickery! We follow thee to battle!” They cheered for their Masters and added another honorary name to Sunirae’s title. It was added because of what they saw on the battlefield.

The ability of the roots to ensnare a target and suck the life out of it by producing thorns or piercing it outright made it a nightmare not only for the Magma Golems, but also the ketus.

The Magma Golems were greatly relieved that such ability wasn’t used on them but on their opposing camp. Just thinking about such painful death, one slow but brought endless pain and discomfort made their bodies flicker in fear.

A group of roots came flying in their direction as it struck the ground and dragged the main body over.

She went closer and personally inspected and brought the Cockroach King’s egg. Putting the tiny object in the midst of the blood-stained battlefield. The tiny egg starts to absorb the blood all around as it visibly declines like a receding tide. Its surface had a more glossy glow, and it seemed to be more reddish and rounder than before. It started emitting a faint smell of blood as though signaling that it needed more.

The blood that spread on the battlefield wasn’t enough to satisfy it so she dragged a hundred carcasses of Ketus nearby and brought the tiny egg to them one by one.

The carcasses slowly lost their blood and moisture as they shrank rapidly. Their once plump parts became as thin as mummies that lost their blood and only the dried flesh and bones remained.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Pendra felt that it was a shame. Truthfully, consuming a corpse or meat with blood is the best way to eat them. Not only is the taste wonderful, the power coursing through the blood is also most active and fresh. To only consume the flesh would mean that most of the power you’d most likely obtain are greatly diminished and you’d only be picking up scraps.

Sunirae finished feeding the egg the hundred corpses of Ketus and drained them of their blood, making a striking visual impact on them. They looked like corpses that had been abandoned on the site for years without anyone touching them.

Sunirae observed the object as her voice echoed. “Mmm, not enough. It seems like we really do need to collect a hundred different types of demon blood.” She felt that it was troublesome as they needed to increase their strength and descend as quickly as possible.

But remembering their plan, she recalled that they could actually put them together as they could gather strength and gain intel regarding the 3rd Gate while hunting for the prey to hatch the roach. It made her delighted and swayed happily.

“Oh!” She finally remembers the Magma Golem awaiting her affirmation at the side and responds. “You all did well! Therefore, I will appoint a leader for you guys and give him a name personally! Hehehe, be honored! Be happy!” Her formal tone and childish words at the end exuded positive and cute vibes as the foolish Rock Demons hurra’d to her declaration.

The smart and timid Magma Golem who was saved by Sunirae’s roots earlier felt its entire being in cloud nine. How cute… Oh, no wait, How great and mighty! He corrected his thoughts and immediately knelt and bowed his head like everyone to express their gratitude and worship to the Lords.

Her roots were wriggling as Sunirae was thinking on who to promote. She remembered about the demon who raised questions at the beginning despite his fear and started to look for him. He was the only Magma Golem she was familiar with, so she planned on promoting him if he survived.

The roots pointed to his direction as he felt confused on what was going on. He felt nervous yet strangely excited. W-what? Is it pointing at me? Am I to lead the Magma Golems?

Although wary, he stood up and awaited further instructions from Sunirae.

“Zenolith” A cute and cheerful voice directly echoed in his mind as his shock didn’t diminish but increase. What? It really is me..? He couldn’t believe it but he still the necessary actions and procedures to present his gratitude. He knelt, lowered his head on the ground and shouted “I obey your decree and will!” His voice thundered in the now silent and solemn battlefield as all the other Magma Golems watched in envy.

Very good. He is at least a bit smarter than others. Sunirae praised herself inwardly for being able to come up with a good leader in a short amount of time.

Zenolith thought long and hard about the reasons he was appointed. I don’t think I am that much stronger than others. If there’s anything I excel at, it would be intellect. So, was I chosen due to that?

Yhaele just watched from the side as he felt that she made a good choice. A wise choice and a good candidate. Was it a fluke or intentional? Such thought only served to worry him more as his sensitive identity might be brought closer to light even closer.

Pendra watched in satisfaction at the new subordinates. Finally, he could have someone to use and order around, rather than the other way around. He would no longer need to constantly worry about the troubles his master gave him, as others would shoulder upon them. Finally, he could just freeload off her without doing anything!

Heh. This sure feels good. Same thought popped up in Sunirae and Pendra’s minds at the same time.

Sunirae counted their numbers and found that they had been significantly lessened. Most probably only around a hundred or so. She mulled as she realized that she hadn’t enslaved most of these Magma Golems yet. “Do any of you have any leadership ability to control your kin?”

The Magma Golem were perplexed at the complicated word structure but Zenolith answered almost immediately “Yes, but it is only acquired by Chieftains which you have killed.” His tone sounded slightly rude but his kneeling posture fixed the atmosphere.

Sunirae immediately got back onto thinking about how to solve this. “If I appointed Zenolith as the leader and you acknowledge him, would he obtain the said skill?” This time, simple words finally penetrated the thick skulls of Magma Golems and understood the question.

“Yes.” a deep and sonorous voice echoed, making the air tremble and vibrate.

“Yes, in theory.” Zenolith’s answer was differed from the rest, making him stand out and feel awkward from the gawks of his comrades. “Ahem, I mean that it’s only in theory and we need to test it out before verifying.” His deep and rough voice continued as he spoke his mind that other Magma Demons can't comprehend.

“Mmm, that does make sense. Alright! You all! Obey Zenolith and his instructions! And he will be directly under him! His words are my words. I will pass on orders through him in the future!” An imposing aura came from the sunflower despite its tiny adorable visage, causing the kneeling Magma Golems to lower their heads even more.

“Yes!” Although slightly unwilling, they couldn’t differ from the will of the Lord. Their words turned into actions as they pledged their allegiance to Zenolith, albeit unwillingly.

Sunirae was satisfied as she prepared her Slave Branding technique she copied from a certain someone.