Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

After hearing the full account of the battle from the two gods, Sterl nodded slightly.

It was mostly as he had imagined. From the moment the mother body descended into Thorn Cage Hell, it had completely disregarded any resistance from this layer of Hell. Instead, it had started consuming everything in its path, gathering energy to be transmitted to other Hell layers for reinforcement.

As for the resistance from the God of Dark Gnomes and the God of Evil Wasps, it had already been factored into the mother body's calculations.

At the current rate, within half a day, the forces of Thorn Cage Hell would experience a critical gap, causing the entire defense to collapse, without being able to raise any significant opposition.

It was a perfect example of multitasking, with everything completely under the enemy's control.

However, Sterl's sudden appearance had completely disrupted the mother body's calculations. There had been no time to react, and all of the invading forces were wiped out.

"It seems the Will of Hell isn't entirely useless. If the mother bodies can transmit energy, they should also be able to transmit information," Sterl thought to himself.

"But from the looks of it, the mother body in Thorn Cage Hell has no knowledge of my existence. It's likely that the information from the mother body in the Fourth Layer of Hell was completely intercepted and blocked by the Will of Hell."

Sterl speculated.

However, destroying the millions of Silver Spider swarms, along with dozens of Silver Mantis and Earth Wolves, hardly counted as breaking the power of the mother body.

This was because Sterl had not made a move himself, and neither had Boris and the others made any soul-based attacks.

The Thorn Bushes that formed under the Will of Hell were capable of injuring souls, but their power was extremely limited. At most, they could cause wounds, but they didn't have the ability to annihilate souls.

In other words, though the invaders seemed to have suffered heavy losses, the reality was that all that had been lost were nutrients the mother body could easily produce at any time.

When those creatures' bodies were completely destroyed, their souls had already returned to the mother body, awaiting reincarnation.

As for the nutrients, they were simply by-products from the mother body's consumption of the material resources from Thorn Cage Hell.

In essence, the supposed counterattack that seemed so dramatic had not caused any real damage to the mother body's forces.

Of course, none of this was known to Boris or the others. As for Val and Goda, the God of Evil Wasps, they were completely unaware, and they believed they had achieved a great victory and that the situation was already settled.

"Master, how about we strike directly and completely destroy that mother body, ensuring that it won't be able to rise again?" Boris said cautiously, his eyes filled with killing intent.

Having learned from their experience in Venomous Swamp Hell, they knew all too well that the true mastermind behind everything was an exceedingly hideous, massive worm. All of the monsters had been spawned by it.
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And the speed at which the mother body bred these creatures was incredibly fast—on average, a new batch would be born every five minutes. If they didn't wipe them all out, the enemy would soon be able to gather another million-strong Silver Spider army and launch another ferocious attack.

"What… What? They will come back? Didn't we already kill them all?" Val and Goda were shocked. They had thought they had won a great victory, only to realize that such monsters could still regroup.

Had Master not arrived in time, they could hardly imagine how tragic their fate would have been.

Realizing this, a look of lingering fear appeared on their faces, followed by deep relief. With Master now in control, no matter how many monsters came, they were all doomed.

Although they didn't know exactly how powerful Master was, seeing how Boris and the other nine gods treated him with such respect, they were sure his strength was terrifying beyond imagination.

"Not yet," Sterl said, glancing at Boris before shaking his head lightly.

"It's not the right time. The mother body now knows of our existence, and it must have prepared for us. Perhaps it has already set up a trap, waiting for us to walk into it. We've already missed the best opportunity to strike."

He paused before continuing, "Also, even though I destroyed the mother body last time, it still took some toll on me. I need some time to recover to ensure everything is foolproof."

"And even if they come back again, so what? Cannon fodder will always be cannon fodder. They're nothing to worry about."

Sterl said this without the slightest change in his demeanor.

To be honest, if he went now and killed the mother body, who would gather the souls of these creatures for him?

After all, he was essentially a mercenary summoned by the Will of Hell, a part of the Hell faction. He couldn't just recklessly hunt down the souls of Hell's creatures himself, could he?

So, he needed a scapegoat. And these invaders were perfect for the job.

He needed to wait—wait until wave after wave of these monsters had been dealt with, until he had harvested all the souls of these Hell creatures. Only when the mother body had been sufficiently fattened up would he make his move.

Boris blinked in surprise, looking at his master, who appeared perfectly unharmed and radiated a powerful, vigorous energy.

Given how he looked right now, how could anyone believe he had overextended himself? Wasn't this clearly an exaggeration?

However, just as the thought crossed his mind, Sterl shot him a brief glare. Boris immediately froze, a shiver running down his spine, and he quickly swallowed his words.

What the master says goes. If the master claimed he was exhausted, then speaking up now would be like exposing the master's lie, wouldn't it?

A chill ran through Boris, and he quickly snapped back to attention.

"Quick! Protect the master and get him to rest!" he barked, his voice sharp, before relaying a telepathic message to the other nine followers nearby. He then turned to Val and Goda.

"You two," he said, with a mixture of urgency and a hint of threat, "since the bulk of the invader army has already been wiped out, it's up to you to handle the remaining remnants. Remember, under no circumstances are you to disturb the master during his recovery. Do you understand?"

Though Val and Goda were still a little confused, deeply puzzled by the fact that Sterl didn't seem to be exhausted at all, they immediately sensed the intense, unspoken threat in Boris's eyes. They quickly held back their doubts.

"Yes! Rest assured, master! Even if we must fight until the last of us falls, we will not allow these insects to disturb you in any way!" they declared.

Sterl couldn't help but smile slightly at the exchange, though it was almost imperceptible.

At least Boris reacted quickly. If he hadn't, Sterl wouldn't have minded teaching him a harsh lesson.

With this excuse in hand, he could now openly execute his plan. However, acting the part required full commitment. So, he left behind four or five followers to help Val and Goda maintain order, and then retreated to the rear of the army, feigning rest.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before another swarm of Silver Spiders came rushing in.

This batch of puppet spiders was only about a million strong, but their advance was slow and their numbers scattered. They seemed more like scouts, probing the battlefield for any unexpected developments.

Clearly, the mother body was in a state of confusion, unsure what had caused its previous defeat.

By the time Sterl had already retreated, these scout-like Silver Spiders had only noticed a few more divine-level powers on the side of The Thorn Cage Hell.

And with that, the swarm was quickly wiped out by the approaching reinforcements.

Sterl stood at the back of the battlefield, watching the scene with interest.

Sterl believed that once the mother body realized that the forces of The Thorn Cage Hell had only added a few strange new deities, it would surely lower its guard and dispatch even stronger forces to resolve the situation.

At that point, Sterl would simply need to let his followers ease up just a little bit, and then the scattered million-strong army would soon be completely wiped out. When that happened, it would be Sterl who saved everything and ended it all.

As expected, after the last batch of scouts was eradicated, an entire hour passed with no further attacks.

Val and Goda both thought that the assault had ended. However, at Sterl's command, the massive demonic army began slowly advancing toward the mother body's location.

Half an hour later, after the enormous legion had moved a few hundred miles, the mother body's accumulated power finally arrived!

After crossing a mountain range, the army suddenly saw, in the distance, a silver-white line rising from the horizon.

The line seemed to cover their entire line of sight, stretching out like a silvery screen, as though it intended to envelop the entire world.

Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that this wasn't just a line, but rather a white disaster made up of countless Silver Spiders!

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

"Oh my god, so many... so many monsters! How could there be this many?!"

"Quick! Form up the battle formation, don't panic!"

In that instant, the demons of The Thorn Cage Hell, who had regained their confidence, were almost driven to collapse. The endless silver-white flood seemed to have no end in sight, with the numbers easily exceeding ten million!

Not only that, but above the tide of white spiders, large silver-white clouds were rapidly closing in on them.

Upon closer inspection, these clouds were actually swarming with winged, silver-white creatures, each over half the size of a human and with an odd shape.

These flying creatures had heads like Two-Tailed Scorpions, their savage mandibles glinting with cold light, while their bodies resembled Evil Wasps, streamlined and covered with smooth exoskeletons, providing excellent defense.

Furthermore, their tails had three long, flexible stingers that made one's blood run cold.

These monsters were clearly a fusion of the Two-Tailed Scorpion and Evil Wasps, perfectly inheriting the advantages of both species. They were nothing short of abominations that should not exist in this world!