Ch.1212. Opening (2)

Precisely, a female upper body protruding from a spider’s abdomen was attached to the wall. Thick spider hair covered various parts of the body, and the head at the top had the appearance of a beautiful woman. It was a mutant monster created by strong magical power, something that couldn’t naturally exist. Perhaps that protruding female body was one of the many adventurers that damned creature had devoured in the past.

‘Aragrid.’

I knew what that thing was. It was one of the monsters Aryen had faced in the original story. It was the boss monster lurking in the deepest part of the ant nest, a monster with a “name.” There are two cases where monsters have names. Either they’ve survived long enough to gain notoriety, or they possess self-awareness and intelligence enough to name themselves.

“Hello? I’m Aragrid. I live in the deepest part of this cave.”

Unfortunately, that creature fell into both categories.

“A delicious smell has been wafting all the way to the bottom of this cave.”

The spider spoke to us in a voice like rolling a bead carved from ice. With each syllable, there was a clicking sound like an accompaniment.

“Especially you there, you have quite a stimulating scent.”

In the light of my torch and Harvy’s lantern, Aragrid’s eyes, embedded in its head without whites, gleamed like black beads. And those eyes were directed precisely at me. Do I smell like pork belly or something?

“…I think we should retreat. I’ve heard about talking spider monsters at the guild. Wouldn’t it be better to go deeper into the cave instead?”

Harvy whispered to me, realizing the creature was dangerous.

“This entire cave is essentially my nest, so I’d be very grateful if you came in.”

Kindly enough, Aragrid answered Harvy’s whisper with a cackle. He seemed startled to learn the spider could hear him. The spider descended from the wall along its web, clicking its six legs. I wondered why it only had six legs, then noticed the remaining two had become arms that were caressing its face. The sound of the spider crawling and scraping the stone floor seemed to pierce my ears and knead my brain.

“You’ll make a good meal for my children.”

Children?

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

From behind us came sounds like fingernails scraping eggshells. Harvy’s face hardened, Robin’s eyes showed panic, and Leah turned around. I wanted to check what was happening behind us, but I knew I must never take my eyes off that monster. I gritted my teeth, restraining my neck that kept trying to turn around.

“Spiders… spiders…”

Robin’s voice came out like a short scream. The sound was coming from deep within the cave. It seemed Aragrid’s children were crawling out from the depths of the cave.

“We must fight.”

Leah said, gripping her axe. Even in this situation, the Holy Sword showed no signs of awakening. I had no choice. If I relied on such miracles even in situations like this, how would I handle the countless variables that would arise in the future? I erased the word “opening” from my mind and took a stance.

Spiders that had crawled out from the depths of the cave surrounded us. Like their mother Aragrid, the baby spiders were absurdly large. At least a hundred baby spiders the size of human bodies. Though called babies, each one was likely as strong as an ordinary monster.

“Sir Hero…”

Robin and Harvy, who weren’t combat members, looked at me with desperate eyes. Spider eyes, human eyes. The gazes were heavy. Dozens, hundreds of pairs of eyes were all directed at me. It felt as if the entire cave had become one giant eye, staring at me, trying to crush me to death.

The silence on the battlefield was like a time bomb that could explode at any moment. The clicking of the spiders’ legs replaced the second hand, crawling toward the explosion. When it left the last click, Aragrid’s voice flowed out.

“You know what?”

Aragrid slowly moved its six legs toward me. The baby spiders that had been densely filling the surroundings retreated to make way for their mother.

“If it weren’t for that man standing in front, I wouldn’t have come up here. That man emits such a rich and delicious smell that even though I was sleeping in the innermost part of the cave, I just couldn’t resist it.”

The humanoid upper body slowly leaned forward. The spider made eye contact with each of the adventurer party members one by one, giving a creepy smile.

“You’re being sacrificed. Because of this man who came with you. And although this man is quite strong, he can’t defeat me.”

Robin and Harvy, who had been watching me intently, had trembling gazes. Only Leah’s expression remained unchanged, but she was looking at her companions with anxious eyes.

“Frustrated? Oh, is that not what I should say? Resentful? You don’t have to die here, you don’t have to be tied up in my web from head to toe and die slowly dissolving.”

Aragrid’s smile hung in the air, swinging like a pendulum. The monster stared intently at the adventurers’ reactions, as if savoring them, and split its mouth even more eerily.

“Don’t you feel bitter? Don’t you want to survive somehow?”

Aragrid’s head was completely at eye level with the adventurers. The monster lowered its voice to a whisper, pushing its head between Robin and Harvy. The monster’s words were sliding between people like ice.

“Shall I tell you one way you can survive?”

The adventurers’ eyes met Aragrid’s gleaming ones.

“Actually, you all wouldn’t taste good anyway. You’re not rich in mana either. What I really want is that man.”

Aragrid pointed at me with a smile.

“If you say you’ll leave him behind and go, I’ll let you go quietly. I don’t like losing too many of my children unnecessarily either. Just go back as if nothing happened. Don’t worry. I’ll hold onto that guy.”

Again, the adventurers turned their gaze to me. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t show any change in expression, nor did I try to make eye contact with the adventurers. I just maintained my stance, keeping my eyes fixed on Aragrid. I couldn’t launch a surprise attack because Aragrid’s movements were constantly checking me.

“…We have to go.”

Harvy’s voice was heard. Robin couldn’t react and hung his head low, while Leah glared at Harvy with wide eyes as if asking what on earth he was saying. The playful voice he had maintained until now was nowhere to be seen; he seemed completely frozen.

“What are you saying?”

In response to Leah’s words, Harvy’s face contorted.

“Don’t you understand? There’s no reason for us to die here. I don’t want to die right now. Robin probably feels the same way. As a leader, make a cold judgment. Even though we’ve traveled together briefly, the Hero isn’t part of our party. Are you thinking of fighting here and getting us all killed? If you’re not coming, I’ll go first.”

Harvy spoke accusingly and pulled Robin’s hand. Robin was dragged along by Harvy, and Leah, after continuing to look at me, eventually turned her head and followed behind Harvy.

I didn’t give them a single glance until the adventurers disappeared. I just kept watching Aragrid’s movements. As my vision slowly recovered in the cave after the torch and lantern disappeared, I spotted Aragrid again.

“Hmm.”

Aragrid smiled, watching the disappearing adventurers.

“You’re unique. Aren’t you angry? Aren’t you going to kill those guys? I even loosened my guard for you.”

“How many have you eaten like that?”

At my question, Aragrid’s mouth rose as if it would tear. Monsters that could speak human language were dangerous. They had the power to make people listen to absurd threats that would never work otherwise. The fact that a monster could speak was itself a terror, and terror eats away at human reason. They play with humans like that, and then kill them.

“You know well?”

Aragrid’s legs clicked. With fingers supporting under its chin, the monster’s head tilted. It was a face both eerily beautiful and disgusting.

“You thought that if those adventurers and I resisted together, there might be variables, right? So you tried to eliminate the option of staying and resisting from their minds. To make it easier to kill me. This is how you generally respond when you meet moderately strong people.”

Aragrid seemed genuinely surprised.

“How do you know so well? Others would attack their own allies a hundred times out of a hundred.”

Then it narrowed its eyes as if puzzled.

“And knowing all that, why didn’t you try to attack me? If you had attacked me, those adventurers would have been forced to fight too?”

“Then I would have missed the chance to save those adventurers.”

While I might be annoyed that they left me behind, it was the best choice for them. Even if they had stayed, only Leah would have been of any real help to me, and even she would have died fighting this monster.

They didn’t try to kill me, nor did they blame me.

I’m not a saint, but I’m not a psychopath who would slit someone’s throat just because they annoyed me. And there was still a small chance of survival. I recalled what Harvy had secretly mouthed to me before leaving the cave.

‘I’ll come back with people.’

If I could hold out against that creature, buying time, reinforcements might arrive. I said that almost spitting and drew up my mana. The Holy Sword wasn’t awakening. There was no protective magic either. Could I even hold out for long? Death was staring at me in a clear form right before my eyes.

“What a shame. You lose points there.”

Aragrid said, drawing out the end of its words.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know those guys weren’t sincerely, desperately trying to escape? Fools. If they had thought of such a strategy, they should have fled my nest immediately with pale faces. Instead, they stayed to think leisurely and talk about calling reinforcements. How amusing it was to watch.”

Aragrid burst into laughter. The monster’s laughter echoed sharply through the cave like a razor blade. I remembered that this monster not only enjoys harming people but also playing with them.

“But do you know why I let them go?”

My hand gripping the Holy Sword tightened. Aragrid looked down at me with an ecstatic smile. Its eyes with only black pupils gleamed. Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch. The baby spiders gathered in front of Aragrid as if to guard their mother, forming a barrier.

“My children need to learn how to hunt on their own now.”

I triggered the mana in my body and lunged forward. The spider barrier became a torrent and rushed at me. I raised the Holy Sword. And to cut off that abominable monster’s head, I thrust the sword tip into the spiders without hesitation.

==

“Hey! Harvy! Why on earth…!”

Harvy, with a contorted face, urgently signaled Leah, who was approaching, to be quiet. Leah, not understanding what was happening, was about to get angrier, but Harvy covered her mouth with his hand, causing her to stop in confusion.

“I’m going to call for reinforcements.”

Harvy said in a small voice. Leah looked at Harvy with wide eyes. Harvy again urged her to be quiet and then removed his hand from her mouth.

“I don’t know why that spider monster let us go, but… we need to hurry out of here and return to the royal capital or ask for help from passing adventurers. The Hero might hold out, but he can’t last long there.”

After hearing Harvy’s words, Leah nodded with a determined face. Robin still seemed concerned about the Hero, glancing back occasionally, but soon hurried his steps to keep up with the group.

“Asking passing adventurers for help is nonsense. We shouldn’t even think about looking for adventurers and should head straight to the royal capital to request help.”

Harvy’s expression wasn’t good. He believed in the Hero’s strength, but he wasn’t confident about how long the Hero could hold out against that monster.

“Right. Since he’s the Hero, if we can just get a quick dispatch of regular troops…”

Leah, who was walking ahead, stopped. Before Harvy could ask why she had stopped, he realized the reason.

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.

On the opposite side of the passage they had run through. Dozens of spiders the size of human torsos were emerging from between the rocks.

==

Tell me what you want.

“What a waste.”

So this is what it feels like to be beaten to a pulp. I glared at Aragrid while pinned against the cave wall. A pair of her legs that had just been cut off were regenerating.

“Because of you, I had to lose quite a few of my lovely children.”

To put it simply, I was somehow able to break through the baby spider swarm that was blocking Aragrid. They seemed to be following Aragrid’s control without having developed intelligence yet. Rather than systematically attacking me, they prioritized protecting Aragrid. Thanks to that, I managed to kill countless spiders by swinging my sword like rowing an oar, but…

Strictly speaking, the mother of these baby spiders is no pushover either. I broke through the spiders and engaged in battle with Aragrid. At first, I thought I was doing better than expected. I inflicted several wounds on her body and cut off three of her legs. Of course, injuries were gradually accumulating on my body as well, but the pain was dulled by the hope that I could defeat this monster and survive.

‘You’re more annoying than I thought.’

That’s what Aragrid said before she devoured one of her baby spiders. Whenever Aragrid suffered a major injury, she indiscriminately ate her own offspring. The babies became nutrients for the mother, regenerating severed limbs and healing wounds on her torn body.

While I was in tatters with various injuries, that spider monster looked as fresh as if she had just woken up.

“…Not enough.”

The speed at which Aragrid’s legs were regenerating noticeably slowed. Aragrid contorted her face, then indiscriminately picked up baby spiders from the floor and dissolved them with poison before eating them. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at that bizarre sight.

“You made me eat my own children.”

Aragrid approached me with an angry voice. I spat curses through my teeth but stood up using the Holy Sword as support. It’s still okay. I can still hold on.

BANG-!!

“Ugh-!”

Aragrid’s leg flew at me, and I rolled on the ground ungracefully trying to avoid the attack, only to be kicked and sent flying through the air.

“Kuhek.”

This was dangerous. If I allowed any more attacks, my body, which was barely holding together through willpower, would completely collapse. As I tried to force myself to stand up again, Aragrid picked me up with her hand.

Thud.

I was thrown again and crashed at the foot of the opposite wall of the cave. Several bones seemed to be broken. Judging by the stinging in my chest with each breath, a couple of ribs were probably broken too. I wondered if Leah was holding up well. I hoped she hadn’t died before me. Despite my trembling, I refused to let go of the Holy Sword in my hand.

What do you want?

And someone has been saying strange things in my ear with a rude tone for a while now. Is it the grim reaper? Perhaps when a person faces death, they start hearing strange things.

I asked what you want.

What I want? Isn’t it obvious? To kill this spider right now, and if they’re alive, to save the adventurer party, and to survive. Then to defeat the remaining calamities without getting involved with Aryen again, and eventually, eventually…

-I want to protect.

Something within me, something that didn’t seem like me, completed the last sentence of the answer.

“[I understand.]”

KEEEEENG-!!

Brilliant light burst forth from the Holy Sword’s blade, and unprecedented power enveloped my body.