Awakening (2)

To be precise, a woman's upper torso sprouted from the abdomen of a giant spider clinging to the wall. Thick, bristly spider hair covered most of its body, but the head crowning the human torso was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that of a beautiful woman. It was a mutant monster born of dense magic, an abomination that could never occur naturally. That human upper body was likely one of the many adventurers the wretched beast had devoured in the past.

Aracreed. I knew exactly what this creature was. It was one of the monsters Aryen had fought in the original novel. The boss lurking in the deepest depths of the Ant Hill, and a 'named' monster.

There are only two reasons a monster receives a name: either it has survived long enough to earn a terrifying reputation, or it possesses a sense of self and enough intelligence to name itself.

"Hello there. I am Aracreed. I live in the deepest part of this cave." Unfortunately, this bitch was a monster that fit both categories.

"A delicious scent drifted all the way down to the bottom of my cave." The spider spoke with a voice like rolling glass beads carved from ice. A clicking sound punctuated her words like a rhythmic tick.

"Especially you over there. You have a very... enticing scent." In the light of my torch and Harvey's lantern, Aracreed's sclera-less eyes gleamed like polished black obsidian. And those eyes were locked dead on me. Did I smell like grilled pork belly or something?

"...I think we need to fall back. I've heard rumors at the guild about a talking spider monster. Wouldn't it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be better to retreat deeper into the tunnels?" Harvey whispered, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"This entire cave is my nest, so I would be absolutely delighted if you came inside." Aracreed cackled, helpfully answering Harvey's whisper. Harvey flinched, utterly horrified that the spider could hear him.

Clicking her six legs, the spider descended from the wall along a thick strand of webbing. I realized why she only used six legs—the remaining two had become arms, currently caressing her own face. The sound of her crawling and scraping against the stone floor pierced my ears, grating on my very sanity.

"You will make a wonderful meal for my children." Children? Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch, scritch. A sound like fingernails scraping against eggshells began to echo from behind us. Harvey's face paled, Robin's eyes shook with terror, and Rhea spun around.

I wanted to look back to see what was happening, but I couldn't take my eyes off the monster in front of us. I gritted my teeth, forcing my neck to stay straight despite the instinctual urge to turn around.

"Spiders... The spiders..." Robin's voice came as a strangled gasp. The sound echoed from the depths of the cavern. It seemed Aracreed's offspring were swarming out from the deep recesses of the cave.

"We must fight," Rhea said, gripping her axe. Even in this dire situation, the Holy Sword showed no signs of waking. There was no helping it. If I relied on miracles in a moment like this, how would I ever survive the countless variables waiting for me in the future? I banished the word 'awakening' from my mind and took a combat stance.

Spiders crawling from the depths of the cavern surrounded us. Taking after their mother, the spiderlings were absurdly massive. There were at least a hundred of them, each the size of a human torso. Though they were called offspring, each individual was likely as strong as an average monster.

"Hero..." Robin and Harvey, the non-combatants, looked at me with desperate eyes. Spider eyes, human eyes. The weight of their gazes was suffocating. Dozens, hundreds of pairs of eyes were all locked onto me. It felt as if the entire cavern had become one giant eye, staring down to crush me to death.

The silence of the battlefield was a ticking time bomb. The clicking of the spiders' legs served as the second hand, crawling toward detonation. Just as the final click was about to fall, Aracreed's voice drifted through the air.

"Did you know?" Aracreed slowly moved her six legs, stepping toward me. The spiderlings crowding the area parted, clearing a path for their mother.

"If it weren't for the man standing at the front, I would have never crawled all the way up here. He exudes such a rich, delicious scent. Even for someone like me, who sleeps in the deepest depths of the cave, it was simply irresistible." Her human torso slowly leaned forward. The spider made eye contact with each of the adventurers, one by one, flashing a chilling smile.

"You are all being sacrificed. Because of this man who came with you. And while he is quite strong, he cannot defeat me." Robin and Harvey's eyes trembled as they looked at me. Rhea's expression remained unchanged, but she cast an anxious glance at her companions.

"Doesn't it make you angry? Ah, perhaps 'angry' isn't the right word. Don't you feel wronged? You didn't have to die here. You didn't have to be wrapped in webs from head to toe, slowly dissolving to death." Aracreed's smile hung in the air, swaying like a pendulum. The monster stared intently, savoring the adventurers' reactions as her mouth tore open in a grotesque grin.

"Don't you resent him? Don't you want to survive, no matter what?" Aracreed's head lowered until she was eye-level with the adventurers. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She thrust her head between Robin and Harvey, lowering her voice to a whisper. Her words slid between them like shards of ice.

"Shall I tell you a way to live?" Aracreed's glistening eyes met those of the terrified adventurers.

"To be honest, eating you wouldn't even taste good. Your mana is so thin. The one I truly want is that man." Aracreed pointed at me and smiled.

"If you agree to leave him behind, I will let you go unharmed. I don't want to lose my children needlessly either. You can just walk away as if nothing happened. Don't worry. I will keep him occupied." Once again, the adventurers turned their eyes to me. I said nothing. I didn't show any emotion, nor did I try to make eye contact with them. I simply held my stance, my eyes locked onto Aracreed. A surprise attack was out of the question; her movements were constantly keeping me in check.

"...We have to go," Harvey's voice drifted over. Robin hung his head, unable to respond, while Rhea glared at Harvey with wide, disbelieving eyes. The playful demeanor Harvey usually carried was entirely gone, replaced by a rigid, frozen terror.

"What are you talking about?" Rhea demanded. Harvey's face contorted. "Don't you get it? There's no reason for us to die here. I don't want to die. Robin feels the same way. As the leader, make a cold, rational decision. Even if he traveled with us for a bit, the Hero isn't part of our party. Are you going to get us all killed by fighting here? If you won't come, I'm leaving on my own."

Harvey argued, grabbing Robin's hand and pulling him along. Robin let himself be dragged away. Rhea stared at me for a long moment before abruptly turning around to follow Harvey. I didn't look at them once as they departed. I kept my gaze fixed solely on Aracreed.

As the light of the torch and lantern faded, my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the cave, locking onto Aracreed once more. "Hmm," Aracreed hummed, watching the departing adventurers with a chuckle. "You are quite peculiar. Aren't you angry? Aren't you going to kill them? I even lowered my guard on purpose to let you."

"How many people have you eaten like that?" At my question, Aracreed's mouth stretched into a wide, grotesque grin. Monsters capable of human speech were dangerous. They possessed the power to make humans listen to absurd, psychological threats that would otherwise never work. The mere fact that a monster could speak instilled terror, and terror eroded human reason. They played with their prey like that before finally killing them.

"You know your stuff, don't you?" Aracreed's legs clicked. Resting her chin on her fingers, the monster tilted her head. It was a face that was chillingly beautiful yet utterly repulsive.

"You knew that if those adventurers and I fought together, it might create variables. So you tried to eliminate the option of resistance from their minds. To make it easier to kill me. When you encounter moderately strong people, you usually handle them like this, don't you?"

Aracreed looked genuinely surprised. "How do you know all that? Out of a hundred people, a hundred of them usually turn on their own allies." She narrowed her eyes in curiosity. "And if you knew that so well, why didn't you try to attack me? If you had attacked, those adventurers would have been forced to fight alongside you."

"If I had, I would have lost the chance to save even those adventurers." Leaving me behind might have seemed resentful, but it was the best move for them. Even if they stayed, Rhea was the only one who could have been of any real help, and even she would have eventually died fighting this monster. They didn't try to kill me, nor did they blame me. I wasn't a saint, but I wasn't a psychopath who would slice someone's throat just because they annoyed me. Besides, there was still a slim chance of survival.

I recalled the words Harvey had silently mouthed to me before leaving the cave. 'I'll come back with help.' If I could stall and hold out against this thing, reinforcements might arrive. I exhaled sharply and channeled my mana. The Holy Sword remained dormant. I had no protective magic. Could I really hold out for long? Death stood right before my eyes, staring back at me in a very tangible form.

"What a shame. I'll have to deduct points for that," Aracreed said, drawing out her words. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice they weren't actually fleeing in pure desperation? Fools. If they wanted to pull off a scheme like that, they should have run out of my nest with pale, terrified faces. Instead, they lingered, took their time to think, and even talked about bringing reinforcements. You have no idea how hilarious it was to watch."

Aracreed burst into wild laughter. Her cackling echoed through the cavern like a sharp razor blade. I remembered that this monster, besides killing humans, took immense pleasure in playing with them. "But do you know why I let them go anyway?"

I tightened my grip on the Holy Sword. Aracreed looked down at me with an ecstatic smile, her pitch-black eyes gleaming. Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch. The spiderlings swarmed in front of Aracreed, forming a living wall to protect their mother. "Because my children need to learn how to hunt on their own now."

I detonated the mana within my body and lunged forward. As the wall of spiders surged toward me like a raging torrent, I raised the Holy Sword. Then, to sever the head of that loathsome monster, I plunged my blade into the swarm without a moment's hesitation.

"Hey! Harvey! Why on earth did you—!" Harvey winced and urgently signaled Rhea to be quiet as she approached. Rhea, not understanding, was about to yell louder, but stopped in bewilderment when Harvey suddenly covered her mouth with his hand.

"We're going to get reinforcements," Harvey whispered. Rhea's eyes widened. Harvey gestured for her to stay quiet once more before lowering his hand.

"I don't know why that spider monster let us go... but we have to get out of here quickly and head back to the Royal Capital, or find any passing adventurers to help. Even if he is the Hero, there's no way he can hold out for long in there." Hearing Harvey's words, Rhea nodded with a look of grim determination. Robin kept glancing back toward the Hero, clearly worried, but hurried his pace to keep up with the group.

"Hoping to run into passing adventurers is unrealistic. Don't even waste time looking for them; we should head straight to the Royal Capital for help." Harvey's expression was grim. He believed in the Hero's strength, but he had no confidence in how long the Hero could hold out against that monster.

"Right. Since he's the Hero, if we can just get the regular army dispatched quickly..." Rhea, who was leading the way, suddenly froze. Before Harvey could even ask why she had stopped, he realized the reason himself. Scritch, scratch, scritch, scratch. From the opposite end of the passage they had just run through, dozens of human-sized spiders were squeezing out from the crevices in the rocks.

"What a waste." So this was what it felt like to be on the verge of death. Slumped against the cavern wall, I glared at Aracreed. A pair of her legs that I had just severed were already regenerating. "Because of you, I had to lose quite a few of my lovely children."

To put it simply, I had somehow managed to break through the swarm of spiderlings guarding Aracreed. They didn't seem to possess any real intelligence yet, merely following their mother's commands. Rather than attacking me systematically, their top priority was protecting Aracreed. Thanks to that, I had swung my sword like an oar, slaughtering countless spiders... though, strictly speaking, their mother was responsible for a fair share of the carnage as well.

After breaking through the swarm, I engaged Aracreed. At first, I thought I was putting up a decent fight. I managed to inflict several wounds on her body and severed three of her legs. Of course, injuries were accumulating on my own body as well, but the pain was dulled by the hope that I could defeat this monster and walk out alive.

'You're more annoying than I thought.' That was, until Aracreed uttered those words and snatched up one of her own offspring to devour it. Every time she sustained a major wound, she indiscriminately consumed her children. The spiderlings served as nourishment, regenerating her severed limbs and knitting her torn flesh back together. While I was left tattered and bleeding from countless wounds, the spider monster was as pristine as if she had just woken up.

"...It's not enough." The speed of her leg regeneration slowed noticeably. Aracreed's face contorted in rage, and she began grabbing the spiderlings on the floor, melting them with venom before devouring them. I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh at the grotesque sight. "How dare you force me to eat my own children," Aracreed hissed in a furious voice, stepping toward me.

Swearing under my breath, I used the Holy Sword as a crutch to push myself up. I was still fine. I could still hold out.

Crash! "Ugh!" One of Aracreed's legs whipped toward me. I rolled desperately across the ground to dodge, but the impact sent me flying through the air. "Cough!" This was bad. If I took any more hits, my body, which was barely holding together through sheer willpower, would completely collapse.

As I forced myself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stand, Aracreed's hand snatched me up. Thud. I was thrown across the cavern, crashing hard against the opposite wall. I felt several bones snap. A sharp pain stabbed my chest with every breath, suggesting a couple of broken ribs. Was Rhea holding up well? I hoped she hadn't died before me. My hands trembled, but I refused to let go of the Holy Sword.

And someone had been whispering nonsense in my ear in a remarkably impudent tone for a while now. Was it the Grim Reaper? I suppose facing death makes you hear strange things.

What did I desire? Wasn't it obvious? To kill this spider right now, to save the adventurers if they were still alive, and to survive. And then, without ever getting entangled with Aryen again, to defeat the remaining Calamities, and ultimately, ultimately...

—I want to protect them.

Something deep within me, something that didn't quite feel like myself, completed the final sentence of my answer.

Screeech—!! A brilliant, blinding light erupted from the blade of the Holy Sword, and an unprecedented, unfathomable power enveloped my entire body.