2148 Guardian Spider Do you recognize these people of the Buddha and Dragon?” Han Sen asked Kahn. The two had instructed their teams to stay away from the bodies. Kahn examined the corpses, and after a while, he said, “I think this Buddha is Marquise Grass. He’s always had a pronounced limp, because his left leg is a little shorter than his right leg. Look, that has to be him. As for this Dragon fellow, I believe he must be Dragon 123. His wings aren’t as broad as the wings of the average Dragon. These two were fine the last time I saw them, so whatever happened to them must have been rather recent.” Han Sen looked at Yuya. Yuya was also looking at the bodies, and he said, “Aside from their skin and their scales being stripped, there doesn’t appear to be any other forms of injuries. Their muscles and skeletons are all intact, so it doesn’t appear as if they were hit. At the same time...” Yuya tapped his chin in thought. “These guys were too strong to have been killed by being skinned. They must have taken internal injuries or something.” “Are you saying this was caused by some sort of power that can bypass the body’s protection and deal damage within? I know Yinyang Punch and Pierce Body can do what you have described, but from the way these bodies look... I don’t think they were slain by either of those powers. Their bones would have incurred much damage and their muscles would have tom and bled, if they were victims of those techniques,” White Real said, stepping carefully around the bodies. Yuya considered that. “If it was not a geno art such as Pierce Body, it had to be something else that is just as invasive. Perhaps a small bug of some kind.” “That could very well be it, yes.” White Real nodded. “In that case, we’ll have to take a look inside their bodies and see.” Kahn signaled for one of his Demon Marquises to approach. His subordinate drew a knife and approached a Buddha corpse. Yuya stopped the Demon Marquise firmly, though. “I think it would be unwise for us to meddle with their bodies.” “What if there is something in there? We might fall into the same predicament that these two did!” Kahn said. “If something is inside them, then it doesn’t seem to be dangerous as long as it remains inside the corpses. If we cut a body open and let it loose, things could go badly for us. I think we should just seal the bodies and ignore them,” Yuya said. “That’s a bad idea.” Kahn shook his head. “What do you think, Han Sen?” “Do as Yuya has instructed,” Han Sen said. “Fine. If that is your decision, then we will do things your way. But my people are not good at using sealing powers,” Kahn said, while opening his arms. Han Sen nodded. Yuya found a Marquise that was good with sealing powers and had him create a Bai Sema to encircle it. They very carefully avoided moving the body as the sphere of protection went up around it. Han Sen kept eyeing the plain room that they had entered. There was a door on one wall that opened into a hallway, but no one knew where it led. “Yunyi, can you determine anything about the layout of the palace?” Han Sen looked at Yunyi. “I can try, but all I have is a hall to go on. It isn’t very much. I need to get a better look at the place before I map it out,” Yunyi said. “Yuya, you and some of the others should guard this place. I will go have a look around with Yunyi,” Han Sen told Yuya. “That is far too dangerous. I should be the one to go, with a few others,” Yuya said. Han Sen refused to let Yuya come, but he did allow a few Marquises that were decent at scouting to accompany them and map the trail. Han Sen was confident in his Demon Bug Bai Sema. Even if they encountered a King class foe, they’d be fine. “I will come along with you guys,” Kahn said. “Sure.” Han Sen gave him a nod. But before they could enter the hallway, the Demon Marquises that were barricading the room’s entrance started to shout. “There are xenogeneics higher than Marquises attacking our shields! I cannot hold them off.” “Head for the hallway and block off the door of this room instead,” Kahn ordered quickly. They now had no choice but to move forward. Han Sen, Yunyi, and Yuya were up front. They moved towards the hallway alongside the rest of their Sky Palace teammates. Once everyone had entered the hallway, they slammed the door shut. It wasn’t very well fortified, so they used sealing powers to reinforce the door and bolster its strength. As they did, a strange hissing sound came from within the room. It was fortunate that they had reinforced the door in time. The hallway led outside, where several paths wandered deeper into the city. Each path led to a palace. They took the right path, which seemed to head to the closest palace. The giant palace was very clean, and there was a giant metal statue standing in front of it. It seemed to depict an actual Giant, but it somehow looked a bit different. When they reached the interior of the construct, they found the corpses of a vast number of Dragons and Buddhas. “This is weird. I thought there was an alliance between the three races here. Why have we only seen the corpses of the Dragon and the Buddha? Where might the bodies of the Destroyed be? Surely, they could not have all escaped successfully,” Yunyi said with visible confusion. “It is strange.” Kahn nodded in agreement. He walked around the building before coming to a stop near a statue. Han Sen looked at the statue and felt a sense of foreboding. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 Katcha! As Han Sen observed the statue, he heard a crunching noise. The mouth of the statue suddenly opened, and when it did, red lantern eyes shone from deep within it. “Formation!” Han Sen commanded. Yuya released his powers, and light swords flew out of his body. Each blade flew to hover over a Sky Palace member’s head. Everyone stood motionlessly, allowing the light swords to touch their heads. Markings appeared on their foreheads, allowing Yuya’s thoughts to be channeled into everyone through the sword marks. When they had just established their formation at Yuya’s direction, the thing inside the statue decided to emerge. It was a metal spider. Its colors were black and white, and its eyes were like chunks of copper. The metal spider did not wait around; it immediately charged at the assembly. Behind it, an endless stream of spiders continued to skitter out of the statue. The whole hall was thrown into disarray. Kahn commanded his Demons to fight, but without Yuya’s flawless coordination, they had no hope of being as effective as the Sky Palace team. Both sides were intently focused on protecting their own, as well. Han Sen and the others listened to Yuya’s commands. They maintained a tight formation as they fought the spiders, and before long, they were killing the spiders in droves. When Han Sen saw Yuya’s power in action, he thought about Ning Yue. Ning Yue was an exceptional commander, and his will had always been strong. With someone like that among Han Sen’s forces, the entire team would be far more powerful. “Xenogeneic Marquise Guardian Spider hunted. Xenogeneic gene found.” After Han Sen killed one of the metal spiders, a scream erupted from inside the statue. A red spider began scrambling out of the statue’s mouth.