Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Cave Giant Spider Lord
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“Five dead, two seriously injured, five lightly wounded. This is a real problem. Even two of the porters are dead.”
Even though the lightly wounded could still fight, nearly half the group had taken damage, so Crema Galpredic’s stern expression didn’t soften.
It wasn’t worry for the dead or injured mercenaries that troubled him. It was the fact that despite these losses, they’d only just met the minimum requirements for subjugation.
“Still, we’ve taken down more than just low-tier monsters, so it’s not all bad. What do you think, sir? Seems like it might be time to pull out. For an individual subjugation, this is a decent haul.”
“Hmm.”
Eugene scanned the mercenaries.
Their condition was a mess. He’d thought it was just fatigue from the nonstop battles, but that wasn’t all.
In the dungeon’s near-total darkness, all of Eugene’s abilities were greatly enhanced, but for the human mercenaries, it was the opposite.
The pitch-black gloom and the monsters’ ambushes had frayed their nerves to the breaking point.
It was only the third day, yet mercenaries were babbling about seeing ghosts or hearing evil spirits laughing from the shadows. On top of that, they couldn’t relax or sleep properly, and they weren’t getting decent meals, so morale had plummeted.
Eugene now understood why humans avoided staying in dungeons longer than five days.
It wasn’t their bodies giving out—it was their minds.
“My take is…”
The mercenary leaders fixed desperate gazes on Eugene.
No one doubted his skills anymore. If anything, he was their hero and savior.
Just a couple of hours ago, the sight of him hoisting an entire troll head was still fresh in their minds.
For a fleeting moment, everyone had seen him as a demon king—terrifying and overwhelming.
They all knew that without Eugene joining Crema Galpredic to take down the big one, three or four more would have died.
“I think we should head back. But the passage is widening, and there’s wind blowing from the other side. Could be an underground plaza like you mentioned, right? How about we check it out and then pull back?”
The mercenaries’ faces, which had brightened for a moment, darkened again.
“Fine. Then we’ll leave the porters behind and send a small group. Just five or six of us.”
Crema Galpredic’s gaze swept over the leaders, who all subtly turned their heads away as if by prior agreement.
“You spineless cowards. How many times have Partek and Sir Eugene wiped your asses for you…?”
Eugene spoke to the scowling Crema Galpredic.
“I’ll go with those guys. Partek.”
“Yes, Sir Eugene. Hey!”
Partek beckoned, and Glad and Raban hurried over.
“You sure? Should I come too?”
“You said one knight has to stay with the main group. You guard them. It’ll be nothing, and we’ll be back quick.”
“Tch! No helping it. Take care out there.”
Crema Galpredic wanted to scout with Eugene, but he couldn’t leave the exhausted, demoralized mercenaries behind.
Not because he cared about them or found them endearing.
Without a strong focal point and restraint like a knight, nine times out of ten, the mercenaries would bolt for the dungeon exit.
“We’ll be off.”
Handing his mana stone pouch to Crema Galpredic for emergencies, Eugene set off with Partek’s group.
* * *
Whooooosh….
A chilling wind howled through with an eerie echo, making Partek and the two mercenaries shiver.
The dungeon had no moderate temperature. It was either freezing or sweltering.
Still, this cold was better than heat that made them want to strip off their leather armor, so they pulled their robes tight and cautiously followed behind Eugene.
‘He’s one hell of a knight.’
Sticking close to Eugene’s back, Partek inwardly marveled.
Crema Galpredic had lived up to his reputation, but Eugene was in a league of his own.
Especially that fight with the trolls earlier—it gave him goosebumps just thinking about it.
Chopping through a young one’s spine with a short sword and using it as a hostage to throw off the adults’ judgment.
He’d heard hunters sometimes used cubs as bait for beasts, but pulling that stunt against mid-tier monsters in a dungeon? Unheard of.
And then that monstrous strength—slicing halfway through an adult troll’s neck and yanking out its head and spine in one go.
‘No one would believe it if I told them.’
Considering his choice of Eugene the luckiest break of his life, Partek urged his comrades on.
“Just a bit longer. Thanks to Sir Eugene, none of us have died, right?”
“Heh! That’s why we’re following without a peep. Black Sheep Mercenary Corps or whatever, we were total weaklings.”
“How about you, Raban? You okay?”
“Palm’s a bit torn up, but I’m fine. Gonna buy some good gloves once we’re out. Cheap ones just don’t cut it.”
Partek nodded vigorously at Raban’s awkward grin.
“If we get out alive, I’ll gift you a pair to celebrate.”
“Yeah. Huh?”
The mercenaries, chatting quietly as they pressed on, suddenly halted.
Eugene up ahead had stopped abruptly.
“Sir Eugene?”
The moment Partek called out.
Ssssk! Sssssskkk….
A creepy noise from the darkness ahead made their hair stand on end.
Partek, with the most dungeon subjugation experience among them, quickly guessed the source.
“N-no way… Cave Giant Spiders?”
A bull-sized Cave Giant Spider was a monster even trolls avoided.
As a mid-tier beast, its raw power was one thing, but the paralyzing venom that struck the moment it bit was the real terror.
And Cave Giant Spiders never traveled alone.
Indiscriminate in gender, they laid hundreds of eggs at once. Most became food for the exhausted adults who laid them.
But the lucky hatchlings that survived followed the adults as soldiers and emergency rations until they grew.
Just like now.
Sssssk!
Dozens of glowing crimson eyes gleamed from the darkness, freezing the mercenaries in place.
Shing.
Drawing his short sword, Eugene stared ahead and said,
“I’ll handle this. You three head back and get reinforcements.”
“Huh? Just you, Sir Eugene?”
“Yeah. It’s been less than five minutes since we left. No time. Run.”
“B-but…”
Eugene whipped his head around.
“Stay if you all wanna die here. But if you want me to live, haul ass and fetch Crema Galpredic.”
“…!”
The moment Partek met the glowing red eyes in Eugene’s helmet, his breath caught.
An unprecedented force in that gaze, one that brooked no defiance.
Unaware it was the ‘aura’ unique to high undead like vampires, Partek trembled and nodded.
“Y-yes, sir.”
“Go. Now.”
As Eugene turned back, Partek broke free of the aura and led his comrades.
“Run!”
“Yes, sir!”
Under the aura’s sway, the mercenaries felt no guilt abandoning their ally as they sprinted back the way they’d come.
“Kieeeek! Master Eugene, time to unleash your power? Is that it!?”
Mirian, who’d been waiting for a chance to speak, darted out flapping her wings.
With his senses heightened after drinking troll blood back at the main group, Eugene detected another monster’s presence far off.
One with an aura far stronger than the trolls.
That’s why he’d sent Mirian ahead for intel first, then slipped away under the pretext of scouting.
Toss.
Shedding his robe, Eugene cracked his neck side to side.
“That’s not just a regular giant spider?”
“Yup yup! It’s the lord! Cave Giant Spiders always come with younglings, right? But you only see the babies—no adult. It’s actually there. Just invisible!”
According to Mirian, a ‘lord’-evolved Cave Giant Spider gained one special ability.
Camouflage.
Changing its body color or blending into surroundings at will.
And Crema Galpredic had said evolved mid-tier monsters counted as one rank higher, regardless of type.
Meaning the Cave Giant Spider lurking there was Eugene’s real target since entering the dungeon: a high-tier monster.
“Hiding its form?”
With a growl, five long, pitch-black claws burst through his glove from Eugene’s left hand.
“But it can’t mask its scent or sounds. Raaaaah!”
The fully unleashed vampire’s eyes blazed scarlet as he charged the spider swarm.
* * *
“Sir Crema Galpredic! Sir Crema Galpredic!”
“Huh? What the hell?”
Crema Galpredic shot to his feet at the sight of torch-bearing mercenaries charging from the dark.
“B-big trouble! Sir Eugene right now…”
“Brin! Piolo! Grab all your men and follow! Refuse and I’ll bash your skulls outside! Partek! Lead!”
Crema Galpredic donned his helmet, already grasping the situation before Partek finished.
“Yes! Sir Crema Galpredic!”
Bald-headed Brin and Piolo rounded up a dozen subordinates and followed.
Clang clang!
Plate mail and chain mail clashed roughly as they ran after Crema Galpredic.
“What monster?”
“C-Cave Giant Spiders! Didn’t see any adults, but about twenty younglings!”
“Shit.”
Sheathing his long sword mid-stride, Crema Galpredic drew the two battle axes crossed on his back.
After running until his mouth tasted blood, they spotted a dropped torch ahead—the one Eugene had carried.
The instant he saw it, Crema Galpredic’s eyes bulged.
“Fucking charge! Everyone!”
“Raaah!”
Lungs burning, the mercenaries charged faithfully.
But as they neared the torch, their pace slowed.
A few meters away, they gaped and halted.
Dozens of chicken-sized Cave Giant Spider younglings writhed, bisected and sliced on the floor.
Behind them lay several two-meter logs—realization dawned that these were the spider’s legs.
“You got here fast.”
Eugene sat on the floor, long hair disheveled, face pale, covered in spider blood and fluids, raising a hand.
“Yoooou…”
Crema Galpredic stormed over, eyes wide with fury.
“You crazy bastard knight! Hah hah hah!”
Bursting into laughter, he hauled Eugene up and crushed him in a bear hug.
Thump thump!
Pounding Eugene’s back hard, Crema Galpredic spat,
“Damn it! Thought you were dead! Trolls weren’t hours ago—now another mid-tier?!”
“Knew you’d come if I stalled. Wasn’t as tough as I thought. Broke one arm, though.”
“One arm against a mid-tier solo? Bargain! Where’s the bastard?”
“Cut its legs, and it bolted. Too fast, and the younglings blocked me.”
Crema Galpredic felt a twinge of regret at Eugene’s answer but shook it off.
Mid-tiers needed two or three knights. Driving one off alone was huge.
Especially after slaying trolls hours earlier!
“Crazy knight bastard. Let’s head back. Can you walk?”
“I’m good.”
Eugene strode beside the grinning Crema Galpredic.
The mercenaries’ faces paled, eyes flicking between Eugene and the corridor packed with spider youngling corpses.
Who’d believe today’s events?
No, before that.
‘If word gets out there’s a knight like that on a battlefield…’
‘Avoid that war. Or join his side, no matter the pay…’
‘We’re the luckiest sons of bitches alive to see it firsthand.’
Mercenaries sold their swords for coin, but not in hopeless fights.
Especially against a knight who seemed a demon king.
(To be continued)