"Run!"
"Now! Immediately! Run!"
"Don't look! Don't look! You'll die!"
Tess's spiritual perception frantically urged her to leave quickly. She no longer cared if what was under her feet were hyphae or something else; she stepped directly onto them.
The originally viscous and docile hyphae instantly became agitated.
Countless hyphae stood upright, and twisted filamentous structures connected to the hyphae on the cellar ceiling, forming a wall of hyphae that completely blocked Tess's escape route.
It's over... I'm dead... Tess never dreamed that after five or six years of failing to digest the 'Thief' potion, she, known as the Benevolent King of Thieves, would die here.
"Gods, goddess of hope, goddess of justice... any god will do..." Tess haphazardly made some church prayer gestures with her hands.
But they were clearly not very standard. Tess still muttered, "Help me tell Shirley, Amy, Stella... that Sister Tess is going on a long trip and won't be able to bring them food anymore..."
When she mentioned those names, Tess's voice carried a hint of a sob.
"Also, please bless them for me... I'll definitely be a rich person in my next life and donate money to you all."
After doing all this, Tess's heart seemed to calm down a lot. With trembling hands, she pulled out a brand new dagger from her embrace.
Her grip on the dagger was incorrect, and her trembling hand seemed to lack strength, but she still turned her head to look at the egg.
"Hoo..." Tess exhaled, lowered herself slightly, and whispered, "Since I'm going to die anyway, let me see... who exactly you are..."
Instantly, the 'Thief' ability activated, and Tess's figure was covered by a shadow, disappearing from her original spot.
The next moment, a mass of shadow appeared above the giant egg, and a sharp dagger stabbed out from the shadow, directly into the crack of the strange egg.
"Clang—"
A sound of metal clashing rang out. Tess's dagger was like it had stabbed a steel plate, and it was directly flung away.
Her attack seemed to trigger some defensive mechanism. Instantly, a massive amount of hyphae surged towards her, filling the sky and creating a sense of horror and despair.
Countless hyphae wrapped around her in layers, binding her in mid-air, with only her face exposed.
And the direction her face was pointing was precisely where the strange egg was located.
"Heh heh... just as well."
Tess let out a helpless laugh. "Might as well see what it is that's killing me."
Tess watched in despair as the egg became covered in cracks. Finally, with a "crack—," it completely shattered.
Except for the hyphae suspending Tess, all other hyphae gathered above the giant egg, hanging down one by one, emitting a blood-red light, like countless thin light strips.
Countless light strips illuminated the strange egg, seemingly transmitting some kind of energy.
The entire cellar was enveloped in a blood-red glow, and in this terrifying and eerie atmosphere, a black, twisted long horn pierced through the eggshell.
The moment Tess saw that sharp horn, she already guessed what kind of terrifying creature would be inside.
And she herself would become the first nourishment for this terrifying creature to descend into this world.
In Tess's desperate gaze, another long horn also pierced through the eggshell, shaking violently from side to side like a wild beast.
The eggshell constantly fell to the ground, where it was caught by the hyphae.
It seemed the hard eggshell had reached its limit, splitting directly down the middle.
Tess forgot to breathe, staring blankly at the scene before her.
She watched as half of the eggshell slowly fell towards her, and with each inch it dropped, Tess's mood sank an inch, accompanied by a constantly rising Fear.
This process of the egg breaking made Tess realize that what was inside the egg was definitely a long-horned Object of Horror... huh?
Tess froze.
The eggshell had completely peeled off to the side.
The hyphae were still the hyphae, the horns were still the horns, and the eggshell was still the eggshell.
But what was inside was beyond Tess's imagination.
A young girl, about seven or eight years old, with dragon horns, appeared inside the egg.
Her pure white long hair was stained with some viscous nutrient fluid. Her eyes were tightly closed, her small body curled up, wearing no clothes, and her long eyelashes trembled, as if she would open her eyes at any moment.
Finally, under Tess's gaze, the young girl opened her eyes, one golden and one red vertical pupil, staring directly at her.
The young girl slowly extended a slender, cute, and slightly chubby little hand, picked up a piece of eggshell, and held it up.
"Awoo—"
She took a big bite.
Tess stared dumbfounded at this absurd scene.
No, with such a huge commotion, it wouldn't be strange for any monster to emerge.
Why did a cute little girl come out?
It completely ruined the tragic atmosphere that had been building up.
Cute as she was, and as much as she wanted to touch her, Tess knew she couldn't rely on the little girl's appearance to determine her combat strength; this might just be a trick to confuse her.
Perhaps this was a monster that, to others, would appear as a terrifying long-horned monster, but due to some hallucinogenic factor, she was seeing something she liked.
For example, a white-haired young girl.
Tess, suspended in mid-air, felt a tickle in her heart.
"Damn it... even if it's fake, I really want to pat her head and kiss her!"
"I'd die without regrets!"
Apparently noticing Tess's struggle, the young girl sitting in the eggshell glanced at Tess, her big eyes full of confusion.
But she still extended her hand, gave a gentle wave, the hyphae scattered, and Tess was slowly lowered to the ground.
Tess stood rooted to the spot, watching the young girl gnawing on the eggshell. She didn't know whether to leave or approach.
Turning her head, the direction of the stairs was still blocked by hyphae, with no possibility of escape. Tess gave up on running, hesitated for a moment, then prepared to communicate.
"Um... Your Excellency, hello." Tess tried to keep her tone respectful. Seeing no reaction from the young girl, Tess repeated, "Your Excellency? Boss? Master? Miss..."
Even when she changed the address to "little friend," the other party still didn't react. Tess knew that there might be some communication problems.
Wait... just born... could it really be in an infantile state, like a child who understands nothing?
A crazy idea formed in Tess's mind.
"I've taken care of plenty of babies at the orphanage; I definitely have a knack for looking after children..." Tess thought, slowly moving closer to the young girl.
Picking up a piece of eggshell from the ground, Tess waved it towards the young girl: "Hi~ tsk tsk tsk..."
Tess made sounds to attract the young girl's attention while waving the eggshell in her hand.
This trick seemed to work, because upon seeing the eggshell, the young girl crawled towards Tess with almost no hesitation.
Half an hour later.
Tess sat by the oil lamp, holding a sleeping young girl dressed in her own vest and pants. The eggshells on the ground had all disappeared, and the hyphae were also gone.
"Should I run?" Tess looked towards the entrance, where there were no longer any hyphae blocking the way.
But Tess glanced at the young girl in her arms and sighed again.
"Oh, devil, if you transformed into this to confuse me, then you've succeeded... I truly have no resistance to children..."
Tess couldn't bring herself to leave a young girl who seemed incapable of self-care in the basement and then just leave.
After gaining sufficient energy, the next awakening might reveal a monster.
But what if it was still a young girl who seemed incapable of self-care?
"Sigh..." Tess swayed the child in her arms while humming a lullaby.
Every moment she was alive now felt like a bonus. Tess didn't mind pretending nothing had happened, enjoying the time as if she were taking care of her younger sisters again, only to be eaten as food by the awakened monster later.
One could only say that the monster had transformed too well; this endearing appearance made it truly difficult to abandon her like this.
As Tess hummed a lullaby and thought about past events, unbeknownst to her, the young girl in her arms slowly opened her vertical pupils, staring intently at her.
This gaze was not the innocent and confused look from when she first hatched, but rather filled with a coldness... and killing intent... that did not belong to her appearance.