The insects continued their attack intending to exhaust their prey, advancing carefully so as not to be torn to pieces by the sudden gusts of wind that lashed against them. After noticing that the woman stopped resisting, they began a race towards the cocoon. Some used the vines, while others spread their wings, flying around until they got permission from the swarm queen to eat.

Mara then decided to resort to her last option: suicide.

If she concentrated a tiny amount of aether and shaped it into a thin blade like Zagan, she would be able to pierce her heart and save herself a gruesome death. However, she only had one chance.

‘If I fail, then…’ There was no need to imagine what would happen next.

Mara began to shape the aether dagger clumsily. The dull yellow energy grew and burst like bubbles. After several attempts, a small ball was created in the air before her chest. It changed shape several times until it finally began to resemble a blade.

Aether manipulation was not her strong suit, but her tenacity was not as flimsy as many thought. Due to this, it was no wonder she had been the apostle's exclusive servant for many years.

The insects began to land on her, specifically on the cocoon almost reaching her chest. Soon the threads would cover her completely and she doubted her power would be enough to get through them.

The dagger was ready. Trembling and crying, Mara pointed the sharp end at her heart. Her eyelids drooped from exhaustion, and white spots began to appear in her field of vision. If she didn't act quickly, she would faint.

‘I must not fail. Focus, damn it,’ Mara scolded herself, biting the inside of her cheek.

Just as she gathered the courage to carry out her last task, the mixed screams of a woman and a man echoed from different directions, causing her to lose her concentration and, as a result, the blade she had worked so hard to shape disintegrated like specks of light in front of her eyes.

Before she could sink into despair, something slammed violently into her back. A loud thud echoed through the place as something embedded itself in the ground, while the cocoon swayed and spun out of control. Too dizzy and scared to see what it was, Mara closed her eyes and waited for death, fervently hoping it would be quick and painless. However, nothing happened. The cocoon slowly came to a stop and the soft groans of a woman sounded above her head.

A surge of energy coursed through her body like an electric current. The maid's eyes snapped open, now filled with hope, and tried to turn her head over her shoulder, but she could not identify who it was. The woman behind her said several unintelligible things, gasped, and began moving again, making the cocoon sway harder.

“Help… me…” Mara mumbled with difficulty as she suppressed her nausea with all her might.

“Eh?” The woman let out her voice with a hint of bewilderment. She hadn't noticed that the cocoon was a person.

A pair of pale vines and long strands of turquoise hair appeared in Mara's blurry field of vision, who could no longer distinguish up from down. Her face was red and swollen, and the dirt, along with tears, mucus, and blood from the multiple cuts in her skin, had turned her into a complete mess.

Mara felt the energy that had surged like a last breath quickly leave her body. Her eyelids closed against her will and her vision turned completely white, although her tenacity was such that she still did not lose consciousness.

Meanwhile, the other woman was in a comical position, with her legs and arms outstretched, wrapping the cocoon in a tight hug to prevent herself from falling. In the presence of the new intruder, the insects retreated in fear, moving their antennae from side to side.

“No buts, I said, let us down!” the woman shouted indignantly in a language unknown to the maid.

A bloodcurdling screech echoed throughout the cavern, rattling the walls. Although she knew it came from the insect swarm's queen, the woman reproached it again in a stern tone. For a moment, Mara had the absurd illusion that both parties were talking, but she quickly dismissed the idea.

The palm's vines and gigantic yellow leaves shook in protest, shaking the other cocoons hanging from its branches. The insects around them scattered in a matter of seconds, returning to their hiding places, disappointed at having lost an appetizing delicacy.

The woman said something more and the threads that held Mara's cocoon in the air loosened, making it slowly descend until it touched the ground. The queen squealed helplessly like a child grumbling after having snatched away her favorite dessert. However, the woman turned a deaf ear to its complaints, concentrating on how to cut the slimy threads without harming the girl inside.

“What a mess…” The veil covering the woman's face billowed with her breath as she sighed.

After several days of wandering around the different floors of the island, she had finally found a person, although the poor girl was not in the best condition to answer her questions. The problem was, how to cure her? When she turned towards the palm tree to ask the insect queen for help, a voice startled her.

“Sister Mara!” The paladin ran, looking from side to side in search of his companion. Her aether had completely disappeared, making Zagan think of the worst outcome.

The woman looked to the opposite side from where the voice came from. The trunk of the palm tree was wide enough to cover her, so she hurried to hide just before the paladin appeared in the distance.

“Don't you dare touch him,” she warned the beast at the top of the palm tree.

The queen stopped pulling the strings she had prepared to attack and stood still, reluctantly obeying. Only then did the woman stop glaring at it and cautiously peeked out, trying to make her presence go unnoticed.

‘Wait, why did I hide?’ she wondered as she realized that she had done something unnecessary, but her body had moved on reflex.

She pursed her lips, resisting the urge to hit herself for missing a good opportunity. If she had stayed by the injured girl's side, she could have boasted about having rescued her and thus gained the man's trust. However, it was too late to do that.

When Zagan arrived at the scene, his eyes widened when he saw a motionless lump in the distance. He immediately recognized Mara's shaggy blonde hair, who was lying face down on the ground, and immediately ran to her aid.

As soon as he turned her over, he saw how the maid frowned and tried to focus her eyes, babbling incoherently before losing consciousness. The tension left the paladin's body, relieved to see that, despite her injuries, Mara was not at risk of death. He then cut the slimy threads carefully, using an aether dagger, finally freeing the girl.

Although the garments worn by the members of the Sacred Creed were of excellent quality and high resistance, the servants' robes were not made for combat like those of the paladins. After being dragged a long distance, Mara's clothes were in tatters; the gray pants and long tunic were torn all over, and the wounds on her chest, stomach, and back were severe. In the area of ​​her breasts, her skin had been burned by friction, and dozens of cuts caused by roots and stones could be discerned. Furthermore, dirt, grass, and leaves mixed with her blood, forming scabs that adhered to her torso.

Zagan knew he had to take her quickly to the apostle for treatment, or her wounds could become infected and her condition would worsen. The white pearl on his bracelet sparkled, and a dark robe appeared out of thin air. Then, he carefully wrapped Mara and carried her in his arms.

The woman hidden behind the trunk watched the purple-haired man's quick actions in amazement. Although it was difficult to recognize, she noticed that his gray uniform was similar to the rags the girl was wearing, confirming that they belonged to the same group.

‘How did he do that?’ Her confusion and curiosity increased when she saw a robe appear out of nowhere.

The man turned to go back the way he had come and the woman prepared to follow him cautiously. After all, they were the first humans she had encountered in this nest of beasts and perhaps her only way out of the island.

However, just as he took a step, the man stopped suddenly, staring at something. The veiled woman followed his line of sight and discovered her scepter embedded in the ground.