The middle layer was dead silent.
William stared at the lifeless area sprawled before them, not a single sign of habitation anywhere. Something about this felt deeply wrong. The outer perimeter had male lamias on patrol, so logically the middle and inner layers should have even heavier security, right? Yet here they were, staring at wide-open doors with absolutely no resistance in sight.
From his position on Serena's back, William leaned forward. "Is security in the middle layer always this relaxed? Not even a single patrol? If your outer circle got captured, they wouldn't have any time to mount a defense. The entire lamia tribe would be finished."
Serena shook her head, confusion evident in her voice. "No, that's what's strange about this. The middle layer used to have stricter patrols than the periphery. We outer circle lamias weren't even allowed to approach. Getting too close meant execution. Their security was so tight that not even a fly could get through. This situation shouldn't be possible."
Her eyes widened as she spoke, clearly disturbed by what they were seeing. She'd only been gone a week, but returning to the tribe felt like coming back after three or four years. How had everything changed so drastically?
Serena quickly turned to address Alya behind her. "Do you know what's going on here?"
Alya and the other lamia girls shook their heads in unison.
"We have no idea," Alya replied, her eyes fixed intently on the open middle layer entrance. "We never dared approach this area. Our workload's gotten heavier recently too, we barely have any free time. But now that you mention it... middle-layer people come down every day to assign us tasks. Could they have been...?"
Alya's face turned an unhealthy color as the implication hit her. Talking to corpses for who knows how long would make anyone's expression change drastically.
William nodded thoughtfully. "Seems likely. Either way, we should investigate. Maybe we'll find some clues in this dead zone that'll work to our advantage."
His words carried weight. After all, he was the backbone of the outer circle lamias' rebellion now. The gathered lamia girls resumed their movement, passing through the gates into the middle layer proper.
Inside, all the buildings remained intact, but it was like walking through a ghost town. Every structure was preserved, yet clearly abandoned. The eerie atmosphere sent chills through many of the lamia girls. What had the middle-layer lamias gone through? Everything had been fine, so why was it so lifeless now? What method did the inner layer use to wipe out the middle layer without anyone in the outer circle noticing?
These unknown questions kept multiplying in their minds.
"Everyone, listen up," Serena called out, her voice cutting through the tension. "Form groups of four and search the entire middle layer. Don't get too far apart from each other. If anything happens, call for your nearby teammates immediately. We regroup at the entrance in half an hour."
"Understood!" The response came in unison.
The lamias quickly organized themselves, finding partners and dispersing in teams of four throughout the abandoned territory.
Serena's group consisted of Alya, William, and another lamia girl who'd originally joined them at the fox clan. Alya had been excited at first about staying with her close friend, but as time passed, that excitement completely evaporated. The sights and sounds around her were far too stimulating for a lamia girl who'd never experienced anything like this.
Alya's admiration for Serena grew even stronger, especially since the other lamia girl in their group couldn't maintain composure for long before making strange sounds.
They searched multiple locations and houses but found nothing useful.
Half an hour arrived quickly. Everyone reconvened at the middle-layer gates, all returning empty-handed.
Just as William was about to suggest skipping the middle layer entirely and heading straight for the inner sanctum, his senses caught something. A slight movement in the periphery of his awareness.
The instant he detected it, William made eye contact with Serena. She understood immediately. Her figure vanished in a flash.
When she reappeared moments later, she had a lamia girl gripped firmly in her hand.
Serena brought the captive before William. "Master William, she was spying on us. But judging from the footprints I saw, she has accomplices somewhere."
William studied the timid lamia girl. Something about her appearance was different from the outer circle lamias. "She's from the middle layer?"
Serena nodded. "Yes. Only middle and inner layer lamias in the tribe have the right to mate with male lamias. Though the middle layer has far fewer privileges than the inner layer."
William addressed the frightened girl directly. "How many others from your middle layer are still alive?"
Silence. The lamia girl refused to answer.
William kept his tone calm and patient. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. But if you want your accomplices to survive, you need to tell me everything that happened here. We encountered those creatures on the outer perimeter. The inner layer created them, didn't they? If we don't work together now, the only future waiting for you middle layer survivors, is death."
His words clearly resonated with the young lamia. Her judgment wasn't fully developed yet, making her more susceptible to persuasion.
"Can you really guarantee we'll all survive?" she asked timidly, lips pressed together.
"Absolutely. And you'll be living with me from now on. At the very least, we don't have such a brutal caste system. Now, tell me what happened to the middle layer."
After receiving William's assurance, the girl slowly began to speak.
"About a month ago, our middle-layer leaders were summoned by the queen into the inner circle. They were gone for several days. There weren't any patrols outside the inner layer during that time, which was unusual, so we thought about going to ask the queen what was happening. But just as we were planning to do that, the leaders suddenly returned."
She paused, her voice shaking slightly. "We didn't notice anything wrong at first. Then after three or four days, strange things started happening throughout the middle layer. One family disappeared, then a second, then a third. The pattern terrified everyone, so we went looking for our leaders. But what we found... they weren't our leaders anymore. They were monsters wrapped in some kind of dark substance. We lost so many people fighting them. Those of us who survived have been hiding ever since, just trying to stay alive day by day. And then you arrived."
William processed her statement carefully, analyzing each detail. "So the problem originates from the inner layer. I'm afraid your queen is already gone. By the way, do you know anything about your lamia tribe's guardian?"
"Guardian?" The girl looked genuinely confused. "What is that?"
William's eyes widened. He leaned forward urgently. "You don't know about your own tribe's guardian?"
"No, I don't..." The girl's body trembled at his sudden intensity, clearly frightened by his reaction.
William turned his gaze to Serena. She looked equally shocked, her brow furrowed in disbelief. "That's impossible. Even those of us in the outer circle know our tribe has a guardian. How could you middle-layer people not know? Are you lying?"
"No! We really don't know anything about any guardian! All of us in the middle layer only serve the queen directly..."
As those words left her mouth, something clicked in William's mind. He'd just grasped a crucial piece of information.