episode_0165

000

Arachne brightens her eyes in the cave where only darkness exists and stares at the firmly blocked wall.

It was only a few days ago that she, once an ordinary spider, touched the Holy Relic of Utu buried underground and was reincarnated.

Lured by something like a voice calling her, she dug and dug to reach that place, where there was a small statue carved with a spider and Utu, the goddess of fate.

Although the statue was small and worn out, it contained power and memories like Utu’s own carvings.

In the past, Utu received faith from the spiders who lived in this forest and blessed the spiders who were like ancestors to Arachne.

And, she had a peaceful relationship with humans who also worshiped Utu, and built a country without boundaries between magical beasts and humans.

However, it was also humans who brought an end to that peaceful time.

A swordsman with a shining sword led humans who were once Utu’s followers and invaded the temple.

They burned the Holy Relic, murdered the Arachne who were magical beasts, and declared that they would bring a true era of humans to the continent.

The era of false gods, they said, was over.

Arachne, who was reincarnated as her familiar and gained a powerful body, did not receive much knowledge from the Holy Relic.

Only that she must protect it, instinctively.

Therefore, while making her own cave with the Holy Relic and repeatedly chasing away humans who approached the Forest of Virtue.

A human with red hair and horns came to find her.

With brown skin and even a tail, she was a human with a different atmosphere from the humans she saw in Utu’s memories or the humans who came to the forest.

In addition, the energy of a slightly unpleasant sensation was felt from her body.

But for some reason, when she looked into her eyes, she couldn’t help but listen carefully to her words.

“If you perform a specific ritual on this Holy Relic, you can bring about the return of the Spider God Utu.”

She adjusted her glasses and said that, and told Arachne what was needed.

The blood of humans and beasts, weathered spirit stones, and a blasphemous magic circle.

And a space that was perfectly isolated from everything else, so that not even an ant could get near it.

After reciting the incantation of the ritual, sealing the Holy Relic inside, and enduring for a few days, Utu would return through the Holy Relic as a medium.

Arachne didn’t completely believe her words, but she didn’t feel the need to refuse.

Even if she continued to repeatedly chase away the humans who flowed into the forest, they would gradually use other means to torment her.

Just as the humans of the past had done to their god.

And now, there wasn’t much time left.

The Spider God, the Mistress of the Forest, the Weaver Goddess who spins the thread of fate, will return to this world.

The Forest of Virtue will be the goddess’s forever, as it was in the past.

Arachne had no doubt about that.

001

“It seems like he hasn’t noticed us even after coming this far.”

Coleon felt a slight sense of accomplishment with each step he took without making a sound.

After dealing with the Four Great Spirits, it was necessary to enter the inner part of the forest to find Arachne’s cave, but thanks to the detection area that Arachne had spread out, their movements would be detected more strongly the further they went inside.

So, the method he took was to spread Coleon’s magic, `Dark Veil`, on his body and go, which could even escape such detection.

Of course, this was only deployed on Coleon and the objects he carried on his body, so he couldn’t cast it on Sasha if they were separated.

So, the method he took was.

“U-Um… how long do we have to go like this?”

Clinging to Coleon’s body.

Sasha covered her flushed face as if she was embarrassed, and was being held in Coleon’s arms in a princess carry.

“At least until we find the cave. Reuben, how is it?”

“Hmm~ The reaction is nearby. It seems like the path to the source of black magic is forcibly blocked.”

Showing an embarrassed reaction, then handing over her body to Reuben and making a relaxed expression.

Since two personalities lived in Sasha’s body, Coleon was now completely used to the conversation with her, who seemed to have some kind of emotional instability.

“I see. It looks like the sun will set if we don’t hurry.”

Having already passed noon, the two people who entered the Forest of Virtue as the sun began to set quietly looked up at the sky.

It was still the sun shining brightly, but if they were careless even for a moment, the sun would begin to set beyond the horizon in an instant, and the sky would turn orange, like Sasha’s hair color.

It was a matter of course that the forest at night was more dangerous than the forest when it was bright. In a forest with a high concentration of magic power to the point where magical beasts were born, the danger was much higher.

If the madness magic created by the moon permeated the bodies of the beasts, creatures that couldn’t even distinguish the gap between the strong and the weak would appear.

Without being intimidated by the coercion that Coleon emitted, there was a high possibility that they would attack him and cause unnecessary fights.

Of course, if he used `Dark Veil` as he was doing now, he could avoid such fights as well.

More than anything else, if he thought about Kuon making a meal and waiting, he had to avoid returning later than the meal time.

“Ah. Mr. Coleon! There, there’s a spider web!”

Sasha raised her arm and pointed to Coleon’s feet at Coleon, who was walking forward while lost in thought for a moment.

Certainly, he could see that there was a complexly tangled spider web hanging between two small trees.

“This much is okay. It’s not like I’ll trip and fall because of it.”

As Coleon said that and tried to avoid the spider web, he looked at it as if he was suddenly bothered by the strange shape of the spider web.

And, when he lifted his foot and gently pushed the spider web, he felt a solid sensation without it breaking easily.

“…Is it Arachne’s spider web?”

A high-strength thread that was stretched taut like a string on a stringed instrument.

If you accidentally bumped into it strongly, it was thin and strong enough to cut your skin.

“Is it a trap? That Arachne must have made it to repel intruders.”

The small trees were also naturally camouflaged, but if you looked closely, you could confirm that they had been pruned with something sharp.

“Kuhuhu. That was dangerous, Mr. Coleon. You might have had your ankles cut off if you made a mistake.”

“It wouldn’t have been to that extent… So it’s a magical beast, but is it an Arachne?”

When Coleon turned his head, he could see that several similar traps were installed around that place.

“If you want to face a large number of enemies alone, there’s nothing more efficient than a trap. Besides, attacking the legs restricts movement, so you can also stop the advance.”

While Coleon was muttering that, he grasped the locations of all the traps, and carefully avoided them, and began to follow the path where the traps were made.

“T-That’s right. If there are traps, that means there’s something to protect on this side, right?”

“Yes. If you follow this path, you’ll find her cave.”

Coleon and Sasha both nodded, and at the moment they were about to move forward like that, Sasha’s tail moved and wrapped around Coleon’s arm.

“Wait. Mr. Coleon. It’s the opposite way.”

“…What?”

When Coleon replied to Reuben’s words, Reuben’s gaze spun around and looked at the path of traps installed on the ground.

“As expected, even if it’s not Utu herself, is it a familiar with a part of her dwelling in it? She shows a congenital talent when it comes to defensive warfare.”

“More than that, what do you mean by the opposite way?”

When Coleon asked, Reuben quietly showed a faint smile and answered Coleon.

“This trap is a trap that has significantly reduced effectiveness after being discovered even once. It’s only natural to pay attention to the same trap if you step on it even once.”

So. This trap is only effective on the first contact. After that, it’s just a troublesome decoration that slightly hinders the path.

There’s no way that placing several of those on the road would have a big effect.

However, having traps makes humans think that there’s something to protect, just like humans do.

By using that psychology to point in the wrong direction, they were hiding the real path.

Coleon nodded as if he understood Reuben’s explanation.

“Certainly, that makes sense… But, can she read that many moves?”

“I just know because I’ve been tricked by a similar trick before… Or, are you fascinated by my insight? Mr. Coleon♡ Kuhuhu♡”

When her tail tickled near Coleon’s nose, Coleon quietly grabbed the tail and said.

“I think I’m going to fall for you a little more if you do that a little more, so please do the sensing and guidance.”

Reuben, who widened her eyes and perked up her ears at those words, smiled brightly and pointed the direction with the end of her tail.

“I understand. I think I know roughly where the cave is with just that, so I’ll guide you!”

The direction she pointed was the opposite direction from the direction Coleon and Sasha were trying to go a little while ago.

Concealed by the veil, Coleon and Sasha paid attention to other traps and followed Reuben’s navigation.

002

To put it bluntly, Reuben’s words were true.

As they went in the completely opposite direction from where the traps were, various invisible traps attacked Coleon and Sasha.

Pit traps, spike traps, traps that make a loud noise when touched…

“Ugh… It’s more annoying than exploring any dungeon or ruins…!”

Coleon was focusing all his attention on looking ahead with Sasha in order to move forward without touching those things one by one.

“We’re almost there♪ The sound of the wind has changed.”

But Reuben was borrowing Sasha’s body and clinging to Coleon while saying that as if she was having fun.

In reality, only Coleon was moving his body, so it might be easy for Reuben, who was chattering while being held in Coleon’s arms.

And in reality, when Sasha’s tail spun and pointed in one direction-

There, they saw a hole where a path sloped down from the ground, like a giant anthill.

“…When you say cave, I imagined something like where bears or wolves live.”

“There aren’t any mountains like that in this forest either… And since she’s a spider, it would be strange for her to live in a place like that. It would be good to block the entrance with a barrier when you go inside, Mr. Coleon.”

Coleon nodded at Reuben’s words and made eye contact with Sasha.

Sasha also nodded at Coleon’s signal and braced herself.

Soon, when Coleon stepped into the inside of the cave, he could see that the energy of black magic was clearly stronger inside.

At this level, it was enough concentration to pollute weak creatures, but Coleon and Sasha both wrapped their bodies in magic power to block it.

As soon as the Dark Veil disappeared, Coleon waved his hand and spread a barrier at the entrance of the cave to block entry.

Because there wasn’t enough time to chase after her again if she ran away without listening.

“With this, she’ll know that we’ve come… Whether she’ll come out and fight, or whether there are more traps inside.”

As Coleon said that, he took out paper and a pencil from his bag.

“I, I can do the mapping…”

“It’s okay. Sasha has been overusing her ears and eyes while coming here. I have to do this much.”

Sasha told Coleon that she would like to take on the job, but Coleon patted Sasha’s shoulder and declined.

“Hmm, but Mr. Coleon. I don’t think that’s necessary. If we’ve come this far, we can just go straight to the place where the reaction of black magic is strong.”

“…What?”

“Girl. Give me your body. I’ll open the way.”

When Reuben said that, Sasha tilted her head, but completely handed over control of her body to her.

Then, Reuben infused enough of her magic power into her body to strengthen her body, just like she did in her first sexual encounter with Coleon.

The muscles in her arms and legs, the sharpness of her eyes. And, the growth of her entire body as well.

“…Is it this way?”

She looked around while holding a bow and an arrow made of magic power in her hand, and then looked at the sloping ground, aimed her bow at it, and drew the bowstring.

“What are you-”

“Please step back, Mr. Coleon. There will be a bit of dust.”

Reuben replied to Coleon’s words like that, then widened her eyes and gathered magic power and muscle strength to create a huge magic arrow and fire it.

“A driving rain that pierces steel”

Soon, a magic cannon in the shape of a giant wolf pierced the ground and flew in a straight line.

It advanced while creating a large hole like an excavator, and then drilled a straight path to the underground with a large hollow space.

“Hoo~”

Reuben looked at the work she had created and sighed deeply before turning her body back to Sasha.

“Ugh…”

However, thanks to the huge skill that showed more output than imagined, she also felt her magic power suddenly drop and staggered.

“I want to say that you did too much…”

Coleon swallowed hard and looked at the tunnel that was drilled towards the underground. Beyond that, he could see Arachne, who was looking at them with a surprised expression in the darkness.

“…Let’s go, Sasha!”

“Y-Yes!”

Coleon led Sasha like that, jumped down the hole, and headed to where Arachne was.

Receiving the rapidly falling body with magic power as a cushion, and waving his hand to use light magic.

Arachne, who was alone in the dark room, glared at Coleon and Sasha.

“You… Why. How. Up to here.”

“I said I came to talk earlier.”

Arachne lifted her head at Coleon’s words and looked at the hole they had created.

“Talking. Bastard. Do not. Do such thing.”

“…I can’t deny that, but I wanted to save even a little time.”

“… …”

When Arachne was quiet, Coleon shrugged his shoulders and said to her.

“You can’t go anywhere anymore anyway. I don’t think it’s bad to talk a little, right?”

“…Understood. When talking ends. You. Go back.”

“Okay.”

Arachne also answered Coleon as if she couldn’t help it, and Coleon nodded as if satisfied.

“To be point-”

“To put it bluntly, Arachne. Utu’s familiar. The work that you are trying to do right now is completely futile, so stop it.”

Coleon was going to ask about the black magic, but it was Reuben who opened her mouth before that.

Hearing Reuben’s words, Arachne, who had barely opened her mouth, glared at Reuben.

“…You…”

“This body is Reuben. I was an enemy of the `Utu` that you worship and love, and at the same time, I am a sister and a fellow loser.”

“Reuben… Utu’s memory. Has. Invader. Little girl. And, younger sister.”

When Arachne said that, Reuben made a `Keung` sound as if she was dissatisfied with the title of younger sister, but soon continued.

“I can feel the black magic flowing out from the blocked space behind you. And, even if it’s faint, I can feel Utu’s energy. What are you doing with the Holy Relic? It’s not knowledge that you can obtain. What on earth is it?”

Arachne flinched and reacted at Reuben’s words, and glanced behind her. To Coleon and Sasha, it was just a wall blocked with dirt and stones, but Reuben seemed to feel something.

“…Reuben. Why are you. Taking the side of humans. Utu is…”

“What are you going to do by bringing back a dead person? Utu is different from me. She died that day by the hero.”

Reuben cut off Arachne’s words again and opened her mouth.

“…Utu died by the hero?”

Coleon also repeated as if he was bothered by her words, and Reuben nodded and continued the story.

“Unlike me, who was an invading god, she was a god who had already settled there and protected her followers. However, a hero of the Holy Sword appeared, took away her followers, burned down the sanctuary of her territory. Then, he cut Utu’s main body with the Holy Sword. For them, Utu was an object to be conquered.”

Arachne had a gloomy face at Reuben’s words, because there was a similar scene even in the faint memories that had passed down from the Holy Relic.

“I… was able to escape. This land where the hero appeared was not originally my land. I just had to escape to a place where I could hide and live like a dead person… But, Utu couldn’t do that. She didn’t have a place to escape. Her territory was the battlefield.”

How much does she trample on her pride by saying that she `escaped` herself.

Reuben showed an unprecedentedly sad face while saying that as if she was resentful.

But Arachne, thinking that Reuben’s words were over, glared at Reuben again and said.

“And, Utu. Was defeated by humans. Left her followers, and fell into a deep sleep.”

“No! …She died.”

Reuben denied Arachne’s words.

“The Holy Sword has the power to make the impossible possible for humans. For example, the power to attack the part that becomes the core of the god that can never be contacted. That is, the `God Core`. The hero cut Utu’s God Core and completely eliminated her from this world. The best that can happen is that only scattered fragments dwell in various Holy Relics… The god named Utu disappeared from the world that day.”

“… …”

Arachne widened her eyes at Reuben’s words, and then shut her mouth.

“Just like resurrecting dead humans. It is impossible to create a god who has disappeared again. It may be possible to create a similar god by gathering a huge amount of faith. You may continue to use the name Utu. But, that will never be the previous Utu. Moreover, I don’t even want to imagine what kind of evil god will be created from a Holy Relic mixed with black magic.”

“…Black magic…?”

Arachne tilted her head at Reuben’s words. Reuben sighed at that sight.

“I see, you don’t know the concept of black magic… Well, whatever. I’ll destroy that Holy Relic and free you from Utu’s curse.”

When Reuben said that and closed her eyes and opened them, the initiative of her body had returned to Sasha.

However, Sasha aimed at Arachne by placing a magic arrow on her bow, just like Reuben had done a little while ago.

“… …”

Arachne was just quietly glaring at Sasha.

Eventually, when the hand holding the bowstring was released, the arrow fired from her hand at a high speed flew towards Arachne.

Arachne looked at it and leisurely twisted her body to dodge it, but the magic arrow remained stuck in the wall behind her.

And- the crack that occurred there destroys the wall that was made behind her.

“T-That can’t be…!”

Arachne was embarrassed and turned around.

And, there.

As Reuben had expected, a large amount of black magic was absorbed into Utu’s Holy Relic in the shape of a spider, and it looked like something was about to be born right now.

“Ugh… What concentration is this… To be so concentrated in a closed space…!”

Coleon was embarrassed by the black magic that was flowing out, but soon drew his sword and glared at the Holy Relic.

“The Holy Relic… has changed…!”

Arachne said that as if surprised, and the moment the eyes on the Holy Relic and her eyes met.

The faith and respect for the Holy Relic that Arachne had reacts with the black magic and the fragments of Utu that remain inside.

Soon, something happened as the Holy Relic floated into the sky.

[Within the providence of the three thousand worlds made by my blood, my body, and my shell. With a new name and a new divinity, I create myself.]

At the voice heard from somewhere, the party- even Arachne shuddered as if they knew that something was wrong and took a fighting stance.

[Let there be darkness.]

The next moment, a new Demon God was born with the Holy Relic as its core.

A giant spider with a hideous, melting body builds a body around the Holy Relic.

That speed was much faster than the speed at which Sasha’s arrow was fired, and it was building a body with eight legs and hideous fangs.

[GRRRRRAAAAA!]

Soon, she howled.

That was not Utu.

It was just a simple Demon God made by copying Utu’s shape and soul.

Reuben clicked her tongue, but Sasha clenched her fist tightly and strengthened her resolve to fight.

“Mr. Coleon. The source of black magic is the Holy Relic, which is the core of that Demon God. And… black magic is also connected to the ley lines.”

“The ley lines…? The ley lines here are also connected to the ley lines of the royal capital… First of all, it’s probably best to stop that.”

Coleon also drew Galatea and stood in front of Sasha as if to protect her.

“Utu…nim…”

Arachne looked at the Holy Relic that had become a Demon God and uttered a voice as if she was in despair.

But soon. Realizing that she had been deceived, she widened her eyes and pulled out a thread and confronted the false Utu.

“…Utu. I never thought the day would come when I would be taking care of your mess.”

Reuben muttered that and placed her hand on Sasha’s hand holding the bowstring.

“Go, girl. This time, move your body with your own will and end the `Era of Gods`.”

“…Yes!”

That was also a prayer for Utu’s rest.