Void Beetle Evolution Guide

Just as Kaisa was about to confirm with Wild Hunt whether she had gone off course or overtaken the path, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes ahead.

She quickly surveyed the terrain. There were many trampling marks on the ground, making it easy to be spotted if she hid behind the rocks. Moreover, it was the height of summer, and the tree canopies were very lush, making it an even better place to hide.

Kaisa's figure flickered, and before her afterimage disappeared, she was already on the tree in a flash. Her speed was so fast that it was impossible for the naked eye to catch it.

A tall, giant stag parted the bushes and appeared in Kassa's sight. She squinted in confusion. There was clearly the sound of someone's footsteps, so why did she only see a stag?

Kasha did not move rashly, but remained motionless in the tree.

Sure enough, a figure slowly emerged from behind the giant antlered deer. He was draped in a cloak covered in vines, blending seamlessly into the environment, and would be difficult to spot if he weren't moving.

She observed the man and the deer carefully; their relationship didn't seem like that of hunter and prey, but more like that of partners.

The forest ranger placed some of his supplies on the deer's back so it could carry them, and the deer, while clearing a path ahead, would occasionally look back to make sure the ranger was keeping up.

The ranger came to rest under the tree where Kai'Sa was. As she watched the ranger take the water bottle from the pack on the giant antler deer's back, Kai'Sa immediately disappeared.

The next second, the forest ranger, while drinking water, habitually looked up at his head, but seeing nothing, he looked away.

Suddenly, the giant stag beside him snatched his cloak, and he said with a laugh, "Old friend, are you thirsty too?"

The giant stag released its head, and the sentry looked in the direction that had been obscured by its large antlers, where the silhouette of another stag could be vaguely seen.

Compared to the giant antlered deer, this deer is larger, with a thick mane covering its neck and a tail that is longer and more graceful than a fox's tail.

"Gray antlers, bony armor on its forehead... Good heavens, this is a majestic stone-horned deer, how did it get here?"

Legend has it that these magnificent stone-horned beasts existed even when the Forbidden Forest was still very young. Their antlers bear a resemblance in texture to the ancient trees. The forest ranger, who had clearly only heard of these creatures in legends, was utterly awestruck upon his first encounter.

The giant antler deer called out a few times, and the stone antler deer immediately looked over, neither running away nor approaching. The forest ranger then came to his senses and said to the giant antler deer beside him, "Old friend, we have to drive it back into the stone forest. This place is too small for it, and its huge antlers could easily get stuck in the trees."

After saying this, the woman and the deer left. Shortly after they left, Kai'Sa deactivated her invisibility from the tree and looked meaningfully at the path they had taken.

"Those stone-horned deer seem to have escaped from the magic-suppressing stone forest. If we follow them, we can find the stone forest."

Just as she was about to doze off, someone offered her a pillow (a metaphor for a helpful gift), and Kasha's lips curled into a slight smile. She followed the footprints, and about an hour later, the dense jungle around her gradually thinned out.

As she emerged from the lush forest, what appeared before her were towering trees, each over ten meters in diameter and nearly a hundred meters tall.

These giant trees are entirely pale, their bark covered with a crisscrossing network of cracks, all perfectly regular. Their diameter decreases evenly from bottom to top, like a ladder, making them resemble ivory towers. The crowns at the top are covered in golden leaves, many of which have fallen and accumulated on the ground, covered in dust, but the golden hue of the fallen leaves is no less vibrant than that of the crowns, as if time itself has left no trace on them.

"This must be the Anti-Magic Stone Forest." Kasha was amazed by what she saw and stopped walking, no longer following.

Chapter 522 Lux's Self-Rescue

On

She looked up at the sky, and a leaf just happened to fall.

The leaf fell in a straight line, not drifting gently. Kasha reached out to catch it, but the weight of the leaf was unexpected; it felt like being hit by a piece of tile.

Kasha frowned, holding the heavy leaf in her hand, and could feel the magic power within her slowly flowing into the leaf.

"These leaves are draining my magic power. That's it, this is the Anti-Magic Stone Forest."

She snapped her fingers again, releasing an arc of electricity into the leaves. Watching the bright arc disappear into the leaves, she finally understood why this forest was called the Forbidden Magic Stone Forest.

All parts of these pale, giant trees draw magic from their surroundings, acting as a suppressor of magic. When this effect is strong enough, it becomes akin to banishing magic.

Kasha discarded the leaves; these things were everywhere in the forest, forming a thick layer under her feet. If it weren't for her armor, direct contact would have drained her magic as quickly as sinking into mud.

As she moved, the leaves rustled and clicked against each other. Once she stopped, the Anti-Magic Stone Forest was utterly silent, without a single insect chirp or bird call.

Looking at the towering trees around her, Kasha felt a sense of absurdity. She actually had to find a huge tree stump in this kind of place, all while avoiding the eyes and ears of the forest rangers.

"Bring Katarina over first." Kai'Sa summoned Wild Hunt to teleport Katarina over, saving her a long journey.

Although it was her first time teleporting over a long distance, Katarina, whose innate magic was teleportation, no longer felt uncomfortable with the drastic changes in space.

She looked around at the giant trees and exclaimed, "So this is the foundation of Demacia. Everything related to the anti-magic stone, whether it's their weapons or their city walls, comes from here."

"Weapons? Can magic-suppressing stones be used to make weapons?" Kaisa asked.

“Of course, steel forged with anti-magic stones is called Brilliant Steel,” Katarina replied. “Brilliant Steel is a top-tier commodity in the Bilgewater black market, a coveted item for captains. The reason for this is that anti-magic stone powder is added during the forging process, making it remarkably effective against the undead of the Soul Eater Night.”

"It's alright." Kasha didn't react much. This level of power was only suitable for ordinary people and couldn't be considered a divine weapon.

"In Mithril City, there is a colossal statue made entirely of anti-magic stone. If it absorbs enough magic, it will come to life. It was thanks to this colossal statue that Demacia won many magical wars and gradually gained a foothold in Valoran."

"I've heard about that. By the way, isn't the Crown Guard family's fiefdom located in Mithril City?"

"Yes, that castle is built on a high mountain waterfall, making it even more defensible than Xiongdu."

As the two were exchanging words, a huge bird suddenly flew overhead. They immediately concealed themselves to avoid being caught by the bird's sharp gaze, demonstrating excellent tactical skills.

As an extremely important strategic resource, the Anti-Magic Stone is coveted by various forces. If it is not strictly guarded against, it will suffer huge losses. Therefore, dragon riders often patrol the skies above the stone forest.

“They’re dragon riders. Their lair shouldn’t be too far from here. Thanks for giving me a ride. I have to go now.” Katarina said goodbye to Kasha and headed north, leaving Katarina alone in the Anti-Magic Stone Forest to search for her target.

"I hope everything goes well," Kasha muttered to herself, then got up as well.

……

The next day, Cassie went to the basement to check on Lux's condition.

She decided to come down only once a day, so that she would have enough time for the fear to fester in the darkness alone, while also maintaining her mystique.

Furthermore, she wanted Lux ​​to understand that this was a one-time opportunity, and if she didn't perform well, she would have to continue going hungry until this time the next day.

As soon as she opened the wooden plank, she saw an oak barrel against the step, and inside the barrel was a girl who was unconscious, her arms swollen and covered with bruises and abrasions, with not a single patch of undamaged skin.

After a moment's thought, Cassiopeia roughly guessed what had happened during her absence, tracing the events in her mind.

Shortly after drinking the anti-magic potion, Lux began gushing out liquid. Having been experiencing this for several days in a row, the repeated bouts of diarrhea caused a burning pain in her delicate anus.

My lips were cracked from dehydration, all the water I had just drunk came back up, and my throat felt as dry as if I had swallowed a pile of broken glass.

Her already empty stomach began to churn violently under the influence of the medicine, as if accusing her of being an incompetent master. Even prisoners in the dark dungeon wouldn't be so hungry that their eyes were practically glowing green.

But the worst part was sitting naked in that puddle of yellow liquid. Because it was less concentrated, the smell wasn't as strong, but the warm, moist sensation made her want to die.

Disgusted, filthy, wanting to vomit... Lux felt a mix of emotions; she couldn't bear it even on the first night.

If this continues for too long, the wooden tub will fill with excrement, and just imagining that sticky, obstructive feeling will give her nightmares.

She couldn't just sit and wait to die. If she didn't try to save herself, she would only sink deeper and deeper into the mire, until in the end... she even began to hate herself.

Lux began her futile struggle. Her magic was sealed by the anti-magic potion, and she didn't have enough power to open the barrel from the inside, so she could only try to escape with the help of external forces.

But there was nothing in the basement except for the iron hooks on the ceiling; she couldn't see anything useful.

Finally, Lux focused her gaze on the steps in the distance, hoping to make the barrel roll quickly over and hit the right angle of the steps, thus breaking the barrel.

However, she regretted it as soon as she shook the barrel and knocked it over. Since her arms were sticking out of the barrel and could not be pulled back, the fall directly crushed her hands, fracturing them on the spot. The pain almost made her faint.

Lux, afraid of waking Cassiopeia, bit her tongue to stifle any sound. (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

But the thought of her arms being crushed every time the barrel rolled around, enduring this excruciating pain again and again, brought tears to her eyes.

Having taken the first step, Lux decided to see it through to the end, lest the suffering she was experiencing be in vain. With a determined heart, she struggled to control the barrel as it rolled towards the steps.

Unfortunately, Lady Luck wasn't on her side. The barrel never rolled fast enough, and when it finally reached the edge of the steps, her arm bumped right into the corner of the step.

Normally, accidentally kicking a corner of a table with your toe can cause someone to curl up in pain, let alone Lux, whose arms had already been repeatedly crushed, being sandwiched between the rolling barrel containing her and the steps, almost made her faint from the pain.

The successive blows caused Lux ​​to give up the struggle, followed by a long sob. She hated her own powerlessness, unable even to save herself, and felt she might as well be dead.

But now even suicide has become a luxury for her. Her severed arm is starting to ache, and apart from still having some feeling, she is no different from being crippled, let alone strangling herself.

Even in her miserable state, the filthy yellow liquid didn't forget to coat her entire body as the wooden tub rolled around. As it gradually dried with her body heat, it left a sticky feeling on her skin, constantly agitating her already extremely sensitive and fragile nerves.

As if things weren't bad enough, Lux was further devastated when she seemed to hear the rustling of mice foraging in the darkness. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and fainted from the combined torment of labor pains and agonizing anxiety.

Chapter 523 The Punishment

Aside from imagining Lux to be a little more ruthless and stubborn, Cassiopeia's conjecture about what happened was almost identical to the truth.

When Lux awoke, she found herself back in her original position. Not only that, but as punishment for her misbehavior, her arms were now suspended in a sling.

"To break your arm just to escape, are all the Crown Guard family members this ruthless?" A hissing voice came from the darkness. As a candlelight flickered on, Cassiopeia's sinister face appeared, along with the horned demon behind her who had been watching her intently with the same smirk as if she were prey.

“She doesn’t even need to do anything; she can drive herself crazy,” Evelyn chimed in with a grin.

Lux was too weak to speak; her voice was completely hoarse, and she could only utter a few incoherent syllables.

"Ugh..." Seeing Cassiopeia reach for her severed arm, she thought she was going to torture her wound, and instinctively closed her eyes to prepare for the pain to come.

"It seems you're recovering quite well." Lux slowly opened her eyes in confusion after hearing Cassiopeia say this.

The other person's fingers rested on his almost healed severed arm. The bruises, abrasions, and terrible hematoma caused by the fracture had healed a lot. Apart from being covered with some dust and blood and no longer clean, he had little feeling; it was just that his arm had gone numb from being in a sling for too long.

“Judging from your expression, you seem quite surprised,” Cassiopeia said. “I begged my master to heal you, otherwise you would have been a dancer without arms.”

After this incident, Lux revealed a stubborn expression, glaring hatefully at Cassiopeia. The latter smiled fearlessly: "Heh, I'm not saying this to make you grateful, but to make you understand that your life and death are in our hands. If you don't obey, I can make even death a luxury for you."

"It's about time to give you an anti-magic potion." Cassiopeia wiped Lux's mouth again, her fingertips tinged with a fluorescent glow.

That was the potion Lux spat out; the anti-magic stone powder inside was glowing because it had absorbed her magic.

Does this mean that Lux's excrement after drinking the potion will also glow because it contains indigestible powder? What a twisted sense of humor.

Thinking of this, Cassiopeia chuckled to herself. Lux still refused to drink the medicine obediently, so Cassiopeia had to force her to open her mouth and drink it. (The rest of the text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated gibberish.)

“Speaking of which, I also asked my master for another potion.” Then Cassiopeia pulled out a syringe filled with a grayish, gelatinous liquid: “To punish your disobedience, you won’t get a single bite of food or a drop of water for the next three days. But you won’t starve to death, because once I inject this, your body will develop abnormally, turning you into a greasy pig. Just the fat breakdown alone will be enough to keep you from eating or drinking for several days.”

"You beast!" Lux glared at Cassiopeia, but she couldn't make Cassiopeia's hand holding the needle waver in the slightest.

She was unable to resist; her arms were tied to ropes hanging from the ceiling, and her head was stiff from the fall that had left her dangling in the air the night before. Her neck was wide open, and Cassiopeia slowly pushed an injection into her.

Lux suddenly broke down, screaming a series of meaningless shrieks. The moment the injection was injected, she could feel something spreading inside her.

"Will I really turn into a pig?" Evelyn asked curiously.

"It's just a description, but turning a person into a monster isn't impossible."

Cassiopeia took out her treasured Naganeka venom, which could turn people into half-human, half-snake monsters. As long as the Wild Hunt could break the curse, transforming people into monsters wouldn't be difficult.

"Well then, we'll see each other again in three days. Don't break your arm again, okay? If you find out too late, you might not be able to save it."

Cassiopeia bid farewell to Lux with a cold laugh. As the candlelight faded into the distance, the basement returned to darkness, with only the sound of flesh and blood growing wildly filling the silence.

……

Syndra drove the carriage eastward and "successfully" arrived at Green Tooth Peak, which Katarina had mentioned.

Not long after setting off, she couldn't stand the bumpy ride of the carriage and chose to fly across, passing the checkpoints along the way.

Such arrogant behavior naturally attracted the attention of the legion, which dispatched a large number of demon hunters to capture her, and even had the assistance of dragon riders.

Faced with Syndra's immense magical power, the magic seekers' anti-magic stone emblems they carried were instantly bursted upon entering her domain.

They had never seen anything like this before, and were so frightened that they didn't know whether they should continue the pursuit, nor did they dare to let the archers and dragon riders launch an attack rashly.

After seeing that Syndra was simply passing by and had no intention of damaging the checkpoints along the way, they could only watch from a distance and let her be.

As its name suggests, Green Tooth Peak consists of two parallel, opposite peaks shaped like canine teeth. Because they are covered in green vegetation, they are green, hence the name Green Tooth Peak.

The forest between the two peaks resembled the tongue of a giant beast; it was so dense that it was a deep green, and sunlight could not penetrate the canopy, making it appear almost black.

Since the carriage couldn't navigate through such dense jungle, Syndra abandoned it and plunged into it.

Half an hour later, she was bitten by a mosquito on her toe and became extremely itchy. She started cursing the Wild Hunt for sending her to this remote mountain forest.

"Who told you not to wear shoes?" Wild Hunt said gloatingly.

"There aren't any bugs this nasty in Ionia." Syndra rubbed her toes vigorously, but the more she rubbed, the itchier they became, and her anger level rose higher and higher, showing a tendency to flatten the entire forest.

"Alright, alright, it won't itch if you wrap it up."

Wild Hunt controlled the armor to cover Syndra's slender, rounded toes. The warm touch, like being licked by a tongue, made Syndra shiver.

"Did you do something unnecessary?!" Syndra demanded through gritted teeth.

"I was just helping you reduce the redness and swelling," Wild Hunt didn't deny.

Just as Syndra was about to lash out, she suddenly noticed a figure staring at her from a tree not far away.

It wasn't a sentry lurking in the jungle, but a humanoid bird demon perched on a tree branch. Its hawk-like head was covered in magnificent indigo feathers, and its scarlet eyes cast a sharp gaze, watching her every move.

The thought of her mutterings being witnessed made Syndra determined not to let the harpy get away with it. However, just as she was about to make her move, the harpy spoke first.

"Did you also come to this Forest of No Light to escape the pursuit of the Demon Hunters?"

Chapter 524 Blood Curse Bird Demon

The bird demon's voice was surprisingly young, like that of a teenage girl, a stark contrast to its fierce appearance.

The goodwill emanating from the other person made Syndra stop, but she didn't readily believe him. Instead, she cautiously asked, "Judging from your appearance, are you perhaps a Vastaya?"