Chapter 920 — The Void
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
In the hills outside the city, the giant white spider still crouched quietly atop the summit. The wild winds of the network world could not stir her body in the slightest, and the chaotic data and information instead calmed rapidly around her.
The city's safety was already assured, the network's overall load was improving, and this sudden storm seemed about to pass. Yet Naritil had not relaxed in the least. Invisible threads were spreading outward from the void around her, covering the sky, the earth, the flowing water, and every mind behind it all like an immense web. Everything in the neural network was gradually becoming the tips of her silk, and her perception spread out as never before.
In that moment, the "neural network" verged on perfection. It began to reorganize itself in the manner it had been designed for at the very beginning, and to operate as its name suggested.
Duvalt stood on the high ground near the hill, watching Naritil's work from afar. He could see the way the threads spread, and at the same time he was drawing on his own power to help Naritil extend her perception further and search for the "outsider" that meant to wreak destruction.
Then, at some instant, one of the "silk threads" on that vast web was suddenly plucked unnaturally.
Perhaps it was merely an accidental touch, perhaps a probe born of excessive curiosity, perhaps a provocation emboldened by daring. Whatever the reason behind it, the thread... had been plucked.
The web-weaving spider vanished from the hilltop in an instant. She had already traced that plucked thread, and in this world built of minds, her speed outstripped the swiftest, most fleeting thought of any human.
Duvalt caught only the single sentence she left behind: "I'm going to feed! You stay here and keep watch!"
The old man in the black formal wear, standing on the high ground, was taken aback for a moment. He shook his head with a helpless smile and muttered to himself: "...Since splitting into two individuals, I feel more and more like a nursemaid..."
Just then, a few leaping golden runes appeared out of thin air in the air beside the old man. The runes trembled and gave voice: "Duvalt, this is Semler. How are things on your end?"
"Naritil seems to have found the intruder's trail, and she's gone off to feed," Duvalt said offhandedly. "Things here are gradually stabilizing. But until Naritil sends word, I wouldn't advise shutting down the city shield."
"Good, understood."