*** Rhea’s POV ***
My knuckles turned white as I tightly gripped my axe. Harvey and Robin froze in place, their faces stony. The spiderlings were packed tightly together from the floor to the walls of the cave.
“Robin… ditch the bag.”
At my words, Robin dropped his backpack without argument. Harvey’s dagger was in his hand, and Robin pulled out the mace she’d been carrying in her backpack. Her hands were sweaty. As an adventurer, I have been in many dangerous situations. There were times when I almost lost my life. But I had never faced death as clearly as I did now.
“Don’t think about anything else. We have to get through this first.”
I tried to reassure Robin and Harvey, but even I could tell it was meant for myself. If we fell here, the hero behind them would not be saved, fighting against that.
“Fucking spider. I thought it was a little odd that she let us go.”
Harvey said, his voice shaking with fear.
“I guess she didn’t care if we went or not in the first place.”
“Hold your weapons steady because we’ll have to go all in to get home alive.”
What would happen next, I tried not to think about; there was no chance we make it past them, but I would still try it. I grabbed my axe and drove the blade into the gills of the spider as I leaped toward them.
*** Elroy’s POV ***
The light that emanated from the Holy Sword was modest and silent, like mist. Too pure to be sunlight, too bright to be moonlight. It was too quiet to be a thunderbolt but too destructive to be a candle. If I had to describe it, it was like galaxies and clusters of stars shining in the distance or meteors disappearing over horizons and ridges in long, sweeping strokes.
“What the… what was that?”
Alarm could be heard in Arachne’s voice. My body rose, stretching like a puppet, drawn to the light. It was as if someone had threaded threads through my limbs’ joints, bones, and muscles, tugging at them to lift me up. The power flowing into me from the holy sword was violent.
“How… you were dead…”
My ears buzzed, my bones, flesh, muscles, and blood ringing as every cell in my body took in the power flowing through it. The pain of breaking bones and tearing flesh now seemed like a joke. My body was collapsing inward and expanding outward at the same time. ‘I don’t think I’ll be able to hold out much longer. Please end soon.’
I gripped the Holy Sword with both hands and regained my balance. Its light became more intense. A mighty torrent of magic surged through my body like a gun, and the Holy Sword a bullet that would pierce everything. I shot toward Arachne.
“Leave me alone!”
Cobwebs rushed at me. Spinning at my feet like a snake, they formed a noose and grabbed my ankles. After getting caught, the webs spread like a net, clinging to my body.
“I’ll end this right now!”
Arachne bared her teeth and grinned viciously. She moved her hand, pulling back lightly, and the web stretched taut, trying to pull me down. The web under tension began to stretch with the sound of tearing fabric.
“…Why?!”
I refused to be dragged. I could feel the tension as if hundreds of horses were pulling at my body, but I didn’t budge like a deeply rooted old tree. The pain earlier now seemed worth this power. Arachne gave me a look of horror, then pulled with even more ferocity.
“Let’s see how long you can keep this up. I’ll rip you limb from limb.”
My body and cobwebs were screaming. I tugged at the web, trying not to be distracted, but the balance between me and Arachne remained unbroken and tense. But the spider had the upper hand while I was tangled in the net she made, unable to wriggle free. While we were playing tug-of-war, the baby spiders that had slowly begun to surround me were ready to bite my body.
That’s when I heard the voice in my head once again.
(Resistance is not always the answer. Use the power you’ve received.)
The moment I understood the meaning of the words, I relaxed my body. The web pulled taut like a bowstring lost its tension when I gave up holding on. ‘Stick to the basics.’ I focused all my senses on the sword’s tip, recalling the movement when I stabbed the Ashen Bear to death. The magic of the Holy Sword, scattered like fog, settled on the Holy Sword and emitted a stronger light.
The sound of fighter jets ripping through the air could be heard. It was the sound of intensely concentrated magic power tearing through the air. The pressure on my body increased. It felt like the wind and the air would tear me apart. I pulled my arm through the pressure, ready to cut off Arachne’s life.
I threw myself forward, intending to pierce her stomach. At the last second, Arachne threw caution to the wind and pulled her web, sending her flying into the other side of the opening.
The Holy Sword carved a giant crater in the wall of the pupil, causing it to collapse. I broke out in a cold sweat at the sheer power of the attack.
“…But the attack didn’t reach.”
I felt the blade slice through something, but it didn’t seem to pierce Arachne’s body as I had intended. I looked at the green fluid splattered across the floor. I followed the trail of blood through the rising dust and found Arachne.
“You… you… you!!!”
Arachne’s “upper body,” or the junction where her female body connects to the spider’s, had been cut and was about to fall off. The section of the spider’s stomach was also spilling out entrails as if torn by a sword wind, and the three pairs of legs attached to its sides twitched and twitched.
“I will surely devour you-!”
Arachne’s voice trailed off, replaced by a horrible noise like a knife scraping against metal. Zzzzzzzz. Arachne’s mouth was ripped open as if it were a zipper.
Arachne reached down and scooped up the baby spiders like a shovel with her hand. No, I wouldn’t call it a hand; the “arm” that had once resembled a human’s had been replaced by a three-legged spider’s.
Squeak, squeak.
The baby spiders were sucked into Arachne’s mouth without resistance, like water down a drain. I tried to attack before she fully recovered, but I flinched from the venom she sprayed everywhere.
As I faltered, the voice came back, seemingly annoyed.
(Tsk-tsk. You don’t even know how to use me.)
I tried not to listen to the nagging in my head and twirled my sword. Having swallowed dozens of baby spiders in one fell swoop, Arachne’s upper half shriveled and lost its human form, beginning to melt like a candle.
With the sound of shattering shells, Arachne reappeared. The human torso was nowhere to be seen; it was just a giant spider this time. The human part was strangely beautiful, but now it was just a giant, disgusting spider.
SCREEEEEEEECH
Her human voice could not be heard, perhaps because the vocalization organ had changed with the disappearance of the human half. It was a waste to call it by its name. The Spider Monster.
The Holy Sword glowed once more. The pain that had been eating away at me was slowly becoming familiar. As the pain dulled, my body relaxed, and I felt I could finally use this power to my advantage.
“…Part of me wants to test it out by killing you as slowly as possible.”
I muttered under my breath. The spider monster cried out sharply as if in response to my words.
“Thanks for letting me do this.”
Before I’d awakened the Holy Sword, I’d just swing it randomly, but now I could see the path to follow. I could read the traces of the sword’s course in the flow of magic that started in my heart and traveled through my body, down my legs, and into my arms. I raised the sword and pointed it at the spider creatures. Their escape path was cut off as the wall crumbled under my first strike.
KIIIIIIIEEEEEEE
The spider beast scurried away with its remaining young. It told me to use my power. I lowered the hilt of my sword, never taking my eyes off them. I didn’t need to overwhelm them with my speed and strength, so I had no reason to run after them.
One step at a time. The head of the first baby spider flew through the air. Before it could separate, the next spider’s body split in two. The next spider’s belly was pierced, and a flash of light cracked open the mass of spiders that spilled out.
*** Rhea’s POV ***
“…Robin.”
This is the third time I’ve called her. There was no answer from Robin. Judging by how her body stirred slightly as she slumped over, she wasn’t dead yet. I turned her head to look at Harvey, who lay beside her. His condition was not much different from Robin’s.
They would be eaten by spiders if left to their own devices, paralyzed from head to toe. We had no more healing potions. There was no way to detoxify the poison slowly building up in their bodies from the spider’s bite.
“I can’t last much longer.”
I felt my muscles begin to stiffen from the poisoning. I couldn’t even clear a path, let alone let one of them escape. I staggered and moved my arm, pulling the axe from a spider’s body. The spider shuddered at my feet, flipped over on its belly, and died.
Click, click, click.
The spiders were slowly swarming to the vicinity of their dying prey. Harvey’s lantern on the ground illuminated the spiders, casting shadows over the adventurers’ heads.
One of the spiders made a sudden lunge, only to have its head split open by my axe. The more I moved, the faster the venom traveled through my veins. I used her mana to slow it down as much as possible, but I couldn’t stop it forever.
“Kuh–”
One by one, the spiders began to pounce on us, each blocked by my shield or chopped off by my axe, but they were undeterred and continued to attack until my breath stopped. With each spider, my movements became slower and slower.
Frozen.
My legs went completely limp. I collapsed to my knees in front of Robin and Harvey.
Death was always on my mind. As an adventurer, I never knew when I would die. I carried a will on me. It wasn’t uncommon for one or two companions to return tomorrow as a shredded corpse. Adventurers made a habit of saying that they never knew when they would die. I would never admit it, but I was preparing for my own death.
But when it came down to it, I was afraid. Preparation did not mean readiness. I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes. “I want to live….” I told myself, even though all hope was going out like a candle in the wind.
“Hero….”
Was he still down there, holding out hope, despairing like her, or had he already been hunted down and devoured by the Spider? It was a bizarre position to be in, to see a spider as the last thing you see before you die. I slowly lowered my fluttering eyelids.
A crashing sound echoed from the depths of the anthill. The spiders clicked and stirred, then suddenly, in unison, they returned to the burrow. I blinked like a sleepy person who’d just run woken up and jerked my head in the direction they’d disappeared.
The space filled with noise was now empty, and the only sound was the occasional breathing of Robin and Harvey. I held my breath, sensing the flow of magic that had begun to stir in the depths of the space.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
KIIIIIIIEEEEEEE
I heard it all. Metal clashing, the sound of tearing flesh, the screams of spiders, the crash of something heavy against the wall. The banging sounded like a giant drum beating. The sound was like a huge drum, beating in time with my slow heartbeat, growing louder and louder.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I saw a familiar figure when the sound reached the area directly before me.
The wall of the anthill burst open, and a baby spider emerged from the scattered dirt, its legs flailing. It stretched out its forelegs in desperation, only to be stepped on by the foot of someone walking up from behind, spilling its blood and brain fluid on the floor. The foot brushed the spider’s carcass aside and began to walk slowly.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The person moved and stopped in front of me, who had fallen to the floor. The hilt of the sword glowed faintly in my eyes like a lantern.
“Is everyone alive?”
At the sound of the Hero’s voice, a smile spread across my face.
Translator’s Corner
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Also sorry for the inconsistent spacing of s. They should all be fixed soon.
-Ruminas
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