Chapter 72
Seol descended down the tunnel while being protected by Jamad.
Crumble...
Crumble...
The sharp rocks were unable to scratch Jamad's leather and simply allowed the party further inside.
"It's not here! There's no wall here!"
"Alright, then let's just continue down."
Since Karen and Jamad worked hard to create this opportunity, they were working even harder to make the most out of it.
And not too long after, they reached the tunnel's end.
"It's a sharp drop!"
"Hold on!"
Slide...
After exiting the opposite side of the tunnel, the party was met with open space.
"Huh? It's w—"
Splash!
'Water?'
Seol didn't expect there to be an underground lake of this size beneath the canyon. Seol had sunk quite deep from the impact but Jamad was quickly able to pull him out.
"Pwah!"
"K-Kaaah... I didn't expect a lake."
"Since it looks like we're all safe, we should hurry up and get out of the water."
Splash... Splash...
Now that Karen was out of the water and was removing the water from her armor, the entire party was safely out of the underground lake.
"It took a while to get out of the lake since we fell right into the middle of it."
"Do you think the underground lake here connects to the rest of the canyon?"
"Well... that's not what's important right now."
"I'm just glad that we fell into the lake. We weren't hurt because of it."
"The ceiling is quite high? The cave must be quite big too then."
It was as Karen said.
Seol stepped deeper into the cavern and confirmed the terrain around him.
There were rough stalactites all over the ceiling that also acted as pillars while the ground was slippery yet hard. Also, the cave was huge.
Seol tapped on the raised portion of his cape to confirm things more accurately.
Tap.
[Venta's Mantle activates.]
Gloooow...
[You illuminate your surroundings.]
"Argh, it's so bright!"
- LOL Karen
- *_* My eyes!!!
- Kyrle Disease, it's your time now!
"It's a bit better if you stand in front of me."
"I-It is better. But Master, you have so many strange items that I'm starting to think that you're a general store."
"It's just the results of everything that I've done so far."
"I won't deny that. It's good, it's good to see. Hm..."
Karen looked around at the illuminated cave.
"It's riddled with spiderwebs. Do you see that over there?"
"The ceiling?"
"Yeah, and I now see why there were holes all over the ceiling. The spiders had been climbing up on their webs and digging tunnels up."
And during this calm, a message appeared.
[The main contents of 'Her Last Descendant' have changed.]
['Her Last Descendant' has changed to 'Predator Beneath the Canyon'.]
[ Adventure 11-1. 'Predator Beneath the Canyon'
After a long, thorough investigation, you have discovered the spider's traces. You have avoided Koopa, the Shade Canyon's Predator, and have chased after another predator into its lair.
There is no way the owner of this massive cavern would be missing.
Find the owner of this cave and bring an end to your long pursuit.
However, keep in mind that there is no way the owner of this cave would welcome you.
Objective: Acquire the blood of Anachindria's last descendant.
Hamun's favorability towards you will drop upon failure. The Red Lotus Sword will not be reforged upon failure.
Remaining Time [71:59]]
Seol clenched his fists.
'This was the right way!'
The contents of the Adventure changing was practically proof that Seol was going in the right direction.
Jamad then asked Seol, "What are you going to do now?"
"Huh?"
"That big bird took away the last descendant or whatever."
"No, that spider probably wasn't Anachindria's descendant."
"You had the same idea too, huh?"
"The spider was definitely large but it wouldn't make sense for something like that to be the owner of a cavern this huge. Furthermore, the ceiling and walls are covered in spiderwebs. There was no way it could've done that on its own."
"I agree. A house this big only suits an owner as big. That spider was probably the bigger spider's subordinate."
Karen interrupted their conversation.
"So in conclusion, we have to go forth, right?"
"Yeah, let's go."
But then, Seol heard a whisper.
The voice was as light as the wind.
- Come closer... closer...
Seol's eyes grew wide as he asked the other two.
"Did anyone talk?"
"No?"
"Not me."
"I heard a voice just now..."
"What voice?"
"Did I mishear something...? Let's just go."
As the party pressed forward, Karen placed her hand on Seol's shoulder. And then, she played a childish trick.
"Boo!"
"...What are you doing?"
"You didn't get scared..."
"Stop playing around."
"I'm not playing around, I was just checking something."
"Checking what?"
"You said that you heard a voice just now. What did you hear?"
"It said 'Come closer... closer.'"
"Hm..."
The three looked at each other.
All three of them were experienced veterans of Pandea.
At this point, they all realized it.
"A mind-type spell."
"It can use Mind Control too?"
"That's a fucking pain."
Karen then proudly stepped forth and pounded on her chest.
"Just leave it to me. Mind-type spells are—"
"Because of your Mind Control Resistance? That was sealed."
"Damn it..."
Jamad then stepped forth to warn the party.
"Since there aren't any enemies close to us, it's likely that it's doing a mental attack from very far away. And if you consider that, then it must also be quite proficient at it."
"It would be nice if its main powers were mind-type spells, but it's a spider. All of you remember that, right?"
"Of course. Eight legs and eight eyes... or at least that's what ordinary spiders look like."
"And since it's using this cavern as its base, it must be quite big too. Also, it has more legs than all of us combined."
"Let's be careful as we keep going."
Seol's party continued to dive deeper into the cave with Venta's Mantle providing light.
As Seol looked around him, he was shocked by all of the surprising things that were caught in the spiderwebs. There were old wagons, bowls with rare patterns, and other miscellaneous items trapped in the webs.
Also, there were skeletons.
"It ate so many people."
"...Yeah."
Seol was down after seeing how many people have died to the monster over this long period of time.
'Would Kiri be here too?'
Since it had been over a decade since Kiri died, He might have been one of the skulls rolling around on the floor.
Grab.
Seol grabbed one of the skulls and looked into the empty, black holes left as its eye pockets.
You're also going to end up like me. I didn't want to become like this either...
Seol kept hearing spine-chilling echoes.
Shake.
Seol shook his head and moved the skull over to one side.
And then, once more, Seol heard whispers in his ears.
- Come closer, child... Take in the grace of fire...
Clench...
Seol clenched his eyes.
Grab.
Karen, who had been leading Seol, stretched out her arm and blocked Seol from walking any further.
"Stop."
Before Seol realized it, Jamad had already gotten into position behind Seol.
It was to protect him.
Seol looked at the ceiling and everywhere else around him. He saw red circles all around.
Kiieeeeee!
And all of those red circles were the eyes of spiders.
The frightening thing about them was that despite how quickly their legs moved, they didn't make a sound. Frankly, it disgusted him more than anything.
- For a life of fire... give us your flesh...
"So loud."
"Kill them all," said Seol to his summons.
Kieeeeee!
Spiders, all of which were a similar size to the spider that Koopa dragged away, scurried in from all sides.
[Jamad used Rock Armor.]
[Mountain Fists' Bonus Effect activates.]
[Snowman also receives Rock Armor's effects.]
First, Jamad protected both himself and Seol from the spiders with rocks.
Fwooosh!
Crush!
Jamad lightly swung his arms and crushed the head of a spider.
[You have gained experience.]
[You have defeated a Sulfur Spider.]
Fsss...
The sulfur spider's blood caused a hole in the ground.
"Their blood smells like sulfur. Be careful, elf!"
Leap!
Karen had already defeated a few spiders and was just about to kick the head off another spider.
Splatter!
[You have gained experience.]
[You have defeated a Sulfur Spider.]
"Hahaha! Are you kidding me?! Is this all you've got?"
Frsh!
Multiple spiders shot out their webs at Karen and one even successfully landed it on Karen's shoulder.
"Huat!"
Karen recognized that the spider's web was tough and spun her body around.
Fwirl!
The massive spider was lifted up into the air and was slammed head-first to the ground.
Grab...
Kieee!
Crush!
[You have gained experience.]
[You have defeated a Sulfur Spider.]
"Do you like hot stuff? Me too!"
Karen was completely covered in a gray hue.
Even though she looked like ash, her pupils were still red, like an undying flame.
Her red eyes radiated heat itself.
"I'll kill all of you spiders!"
Crush!
[You have gained experience.]
[You have defeated a Sulfur Spider.]
Jamad, still behind Seol, ripped off a wheel from the wagon.
Throw!
Fwooosh!
Kiieeeee!
Thud! Shatter!
[You have gained experience.]
[You have defeated a Sulfur Spider.]
K-Kieeee!
Seol could tell that the spiders were in shock.
But despite all that, Seol could still hear whispers in his ears.
- Do not resist... accept the fire...
"Oi, you can hear me, can't you?"
- ......
"Just wait right there. I'll be coming for you."
Whenever it seemed like Seol would be in danger, Karen and Jamad stepped forth to kill the spider.
And after a long while, it was finally starting to seem like the number of spiders was decreasing.
Kieeeee!
As one spider cried out and ran away, the other spiders also followed suit.
"Should we chase them?"
"No. Since we don't know what could be hiding there, let's take this slowly."
"Well, yeah sure."
The ground was covered in spider blood.
"I don't know if I should call this blood or sulfur, but..."
"It might be a bit annoying but it won't necessarily be a problem if you do."
Seol took out a bottle he prepared earlier and brought it near the spider's corpse to collect its blood.
[You have acquired a Sulfur Spider's blood.]
'As expected.'
These spiders weren't Anachindria's descendants. They were either the descendant's subspecies or another species entirely.
"I don't think this will end smoothly at all."
"Snowman, look over here."
Spiderwebs weren't the only thing in the cavern. There were also spiderweb cocoons here and there.
"The cocoon?"
"There's something inside it."
"...Wouldn't it be a spider?"
"No, it's probably someone who was eaten by the spider," said Jamad.
Jamad then grabbed a piece of broken wood to tear through the spiderweb.
Riip...
"How revolting."
Karen had a disgusted look on her face as well.
Inside the cocoon was a mummified corpse that was sucked dry and covered in the spider's liquid. Seol felt pity for them as it seemed like they were desperately trying to escape.
When Seol thought about how Kiri could have met the same fate, anger grew within him.
"Let's go. Let's kill all of those spiders."
Jamad then asked Karen a question.
"Is it fine that you can't pull out your sword?"
"That's why I was thinking... wouldn't it be fine if I pulled it out beforehand?"
"But do you think you'll be able to swing it?"
"...You're right. I'll just fight with my body like I've done so far, whatever."
Karen spoke as if it was nothing but internally, she was dire. She was in distress as it seemed like someone had locked a portion of her heart, leaving her unable to pull out or swing her sword for someone else.
'But since there's nothing I can do for her, I just have to wait.'
Seol had to just watch.
This was the only option Seol had that would benefit her.
Step. Step.
The cavern's tunnel started to grow wider.
It grew wider and wider almost like it was trying to imply something massive was coming.
"Master, it seems lik—"
Stop.
When Karen stopped, so did the rest of the party.
"I think it's here?"
The cave was large enough to be mistaken for a dragon's lair.
Their surroundings were littered with spiderwebs and cocoons.
It also made Seol feel dizzy as the owner of the cave piled up the cocoons as if they were on display.
Kieeee...
- Fufu... I never thought someone would willingly step foot into here... What an interesting child. My name is Atarak, I am Anachindria's last descendant.
Seol raised his head and looked into the huge room.
Inside, there was a spider so large that 'massive' or 'huge' wasn't enough to describe how gigantic it was. The spider was hanging on a diagonally made web.
Seol then looked at her information using Eyes of Perception.
[[Atarak: Anachindria's Last Descendant]
Rank: Heroic
Estimated Level: 18~30
Anachindria is the name of an ancient Fire Spider Queen. At one point in history, everyone feared her name.
However, she has disappeared from the world, and her legend has been forgotten. Now, a new spider queen, continuing Anachindria's blood, has revealed herself to the world. Her name is Atarak.
Basic Skills: [Bite 2], [Neurotoxin Injection 3], [Spider's Whispers 2], [Sweet Dreams 1], [Spiderweb Bomb 1], [Passive: Protect Home 1], [Passive: Detect Movements 1]
Unique Skills: [Sulfur Discharge 1]]
'Heroic rank...'
Seol furrowed his brows.
As expected, Atarak was not an ordinary opponent.
Kiee...
- Communicating with my food is definitely a new experience, but... as you worked up my appetite, I shall give you an opportunity... child.
Kiee...
- I still hunger. I will not be satisfied with just you three. More... bring me more food into the canyon.
"And what will you give me in exchange?"
Kieee...
- I shall give you the grace of fire.
Seol then saw a few options before him.
[[You have met Atarak, the massive Spider Queen. However, instead of eating you, she has given you an unpleasant proposal. How do you respond?]
1. What is the grace of fire?
2. Regardless of what the grace of fire is, I accept. You are the new Queen of Fire.
3. Is Anachindria dead?
4. Could you tell me more specifically what I have to do?
5. Is there anything else you'd like to propose?
......]
As it was the first time Seol had received this proposal, he would have normally thought carefully and then thought carefully again before giving a response.
But instead of giving an answer, Seol took a good look at the scenery around him.
There were countless cocoons.
Countless lives had been lost here. Seol's piece, Kiri, is also one of them.
And as such, there was no compromise.
Seol looked at Atarak and laughed. "I refuse. Why don't you get ready to fall off that web now?" answered Seol.
Atarak's body violently quivered with rage.
Kieeeeee!
- Kill all of those small ones!