Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Mod7
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Chapter 3 - Detonation
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Thud-
It was [him], emerging through the spider silk.
Even though we had met before, we were both surprised and bewildered.
I hadn't expected his help,
And he hadn't expected to find me here.
“We meet again…!”
“!”
Unlike me, overflowing with gratitude for being rescued,
His expression, as he entered the web-covered cave, was a mixture of complex and troubled emotions.
He tilted his head, observing me, my eyes brimming with tears of relief.
While he seemed to welcome our reunion, he clearly struggled to understand how I had ended up trapped, yet unharmed, within the cave.
He helped me up and gently massaged my limbs, as if checking for any missing parts.
“…”
Then, he placed his claw over his own chest in a gesture of relief.
I understood.
The other alien we had encountered in the cave had been missing limbs.
He gestured for me to prepare to leave, using the rudimentary sign language we had developed during our previous encounter.
“Amy, we can leave…!”
“Congratulations.”
I obeyed without hesitation. I didn't want to stay here a moment longer.
Even though I had resolved to escape the mermaids' lair, the reality of being hunted and constantly on the run had filled me with a sense of helplessness and anxiety.
This planet was hell.
A demonic world where males were captured and mercilessly consumed.
Survival here required a willingness to embrace the ugliness, to accept any offered kindness without hesitation.
“Excess baggage will impede your mobility. I recommend taking only three days’ worth of rations for now.”
“Alright, let’s just grab that much and head back to the cave where we were staying before. There should still be plenty of supplies there.”
I secured Amy’s head to my waist,
And hastily pulled on my torn clothes.
I prepared to leave, my heart pounding with the fear that the spiders might return.
But beside me, [he] remained calm, his gaze fixed on the cocoons within the cave.
“…”
Then,
He drew his knife and began slicing open the cocoons, one by one.
Egg sacs spilled out. He carefully, methodically, crushed them underfoot, releasing a whitish, viscous fluid.
A strange feeling stirred within me as I watched. I couldn't quite define it.
Guilt-
Perhaps that was the word.
What a ridiculous emotion…
I had been terrified of these cocoons, unable to bring myself to destroy them, and yet, now, seeing them burst open, I felt a pang of something.
“…”
[He], as if sensing my conflicted emotions, patted my head and showed me one of the eggs.
Undeveloped, in their earliest stage…
“I-I know. I know. Please, destroy them all. I don’t care.”
If the eggs had contained even partially formed creatures, it would have been far more distressing.
But these cocoons only held countless, unrealized possibilities. There was no life here.
The eggs only held meaning in the future.
Perhaps this unease stemmed from the fact that I, a human, had become a breeding specimen, providing sperm for these eggs.
I shouldn't attach too much meaning to them.
This was simply…
A form of contraception.
“!”
“Doctor.”
But even contraception couldn't be performed in peace.
“A spider is approaching. Alone.”
One intact cocoon remained,
But [he] grabbed my hand and pulled me into hiding.
He didn't try to escape.
He clutched his knife, waiting.
I understood what he intended to do and quickly covered my mouth.
If this was a hellish world of predator and prey,
A world where I could die at any moment…
Then,
These half-human, half-spider females were also vulnerable.
“What the…”
Judging by her voice, it was the second sister. She had likely returned to take advantage of my weakened state.
“What the…!”
She screamed from the entrance, then rushed inside, her eyes widening in horror at the sight of the destroyed cocoons.
“Kyaaaaagh!”
Her shriek echoed through the cave. Her rage and anguish were palpable, her power far beyond human comprehension.
“Who…! Who did this?!”
She frantically scooped up the spilled contents of the eggs, holding them close. The countless, shimmering possibilities, all destroyed.
“No, no… my eggs…!”
As she stood there, consumed by grief and denial, [he] slowly approached her from behind, his movements silent and swift.
This demonstrated how long he had survived on this planet, hiding and evading his pursuers.
But even more impressive than his stealth,
Was his decisiveness.
“My eggsss-! Gasp-?”
Thud!
[He] leaped onto the spider woman’s back, plunging his knife into her spine.
“Aaaaagh!”
Chaos erupted within the cave. [He] struggled to finish her off, and the spider woman thrashed wildly, trying to crush the male who had dared to attack her.
“Juho, you…!”
She still thought it was me. But…
“You… uh…?”
Her movements faltered as she looked back. She and [he] locked eyes for a brief moment…
Slice-
[His] blade severed her head, ending their silent exchange. Her spider legs and beautiful arms twitched briefly, then went limp, her body collapsing onto the cave floor.
“Gasp…!”
I finally exhaled, but this time, unlike when the spider eggs were destroyed, a wave of nausea washed over me.
The female who had been on top of me just days ago, kissing me so lasciviously, was dead.
I couldn't get used to this kind of death. For some reason, I thought of Dan. They were so similar to us.
“Ugh… cough…”
I vomited, my body convulsing.
The terror of death, which I had suppressed in my struggle for survival, resurfaced with a vengeance.
I missed Dan.
I missed the other crew members, Reyes, the captain.
“Doctor, please calm down.”
Amy’s soothing voice tried to comfort me, but the nausea wouldn’t subside.
[He] finished his prayer for the spider woman, and I continued retching, clutching the cave floor.
“I-I’m okay… wh-why… why am I like this…”
[He] helped me up and gestured for us to leave the cave.
And then,
He pulled a strange, circular object from inside his hood.
I didn't know what it was,
But it emitted a faint green glow when he twisted it, and it filled me with a sense of unease.
It was different from the objects in the black box. Perhaps it was a device from another alien civilization…
“W-wait… let’s go…”
We ran from the cave without a moment’s hesitation.
He was surprisingly fast, despite his thin legs. Perhaps it was because I was carrying Amy’s head and the supplies, but he moved with an agility that belied his frail appearance.
It was a testament to his desperation that he had resorted to stealth and ambush against the spider women.
Even though he was far more agile than me,
He couldn't overpower the creatures on this planet without resorting to strategy.
But then, something strange happened.
Instead of running further away from the spiders’ lair, he hid in the nearby bushes, within sight of the cave.
“Uh…? Why are we stopping here…?”
Amy and I followed him into hiding, confused,
And he placed his bony finger over my lips, signaling for silence.
A long, thin object emerged from inside his hood. It looked like a button of some sort.
We waited.
For tens of minutes,
Perhaps even hours.
Finally, when even the wary birds had settled on our shoulders, singing their songs,
The three remaining spiders, the eldest, the third, and the youngest, returned to the cave,
And [he] snapped the long, thin object in two.
BOOOOOOM-