Unleashed (3)
Leah gripped her axe so tightly that her knuckles turned stark white. Harvey and Robin froze in their tracks, their faces hardening. Spiderlings packed the cavern, carpeted across the floor and crawling up the walls in a suffocating mass.
"Robin... drop your pack first." At Leah's command, Robin slid his backpack off without a word of protest. Harvey held a dagger in his hand, while Robin drew the mace he usually kept stowed away.
Sweat slicked their palms. In their years as adventurers, they had faced danger many times. There had been moments when a single misstep almost cost them their lives. Yet, they had never stared death so directly in the face as they did now.
"Don't think about anything else. Our only priority is breaking through." She was speaking to Robin and Harvey, but she was also trying to convince herself. If they fell here, there would be no saving the Hero fighting in the cavern behind them.
"That spider bastard... I thought it was weird when it just let us go," Harvey said, his voice trembling with fear. "It didn't care whether we left or not from the very beginning."
"Keep a firm grip on your weapons. If worst comes to worst, we might have to focus on getting just one of us out alive." Leah tried not to think about what would happen next. She didn't believe they could break through, but she had to fight with the resolve to do so. Gripping her axe, she drove the blade straight into the maw of a spiderling that lunged at them.
The light emanating from the Holy Sword, heavy and serene like a rising mist, was too pure to be called sunlight, yet far too brilliant to be mere moonlight. It lacked the violent clamor of lightning, but possessed a destructive potential far exceeding a candle's flicker. If one had to describe it, it was like a distant galaxy or a cluster of stars quietly watching over the world. Or perhaps the sublime, otherworldly glow of a meteor tracing a long arc of light as it vanished beyond the horizon and the mountain ridges.
"What... what on earth is that?" Aracreed's voice cracked with sheer astonishment.
My body rose, pulled upward by the light like a limp puppet. It felt as though someone had threaded strings through my joints, bones, and muscles, tugging them to force me to my feet. The power surging into me from the Holy Sword was that violent.
"How... you were on the verge of death..."
My ears rang with a deafening buzz. My bones, flesh, muscles, and veins—every single cell composing my body—screamed in alarm as they struggled to contain the torrent of power. Honestly, the agony of enduring this power far surpassed the pain of broken bones and torn flesh. My body felt as if it were collapsing inward while simultaneously expanding outward. I wouldn't be able to hold out for long. I had to end this quickly.
I gripped the Holy Sword with both hands and took a starting stance once more. The sword's light flared even more intensely. The fierce torrent of mana coursing through my entire being turned my body into a heated cannon barrel, and the Holy Sword into the shell to be fired at the enemy. Daunted by the sheer pressure, Aracreed grimaced and thrust its hand forward.
"Do you think I will just stand by!"
Webs lunged at me. Coiling around my feet like snakes, they formed nooses that snared my ankles. The moment my ankles were caught, the webs unfurled into a massive net, plastering themselves all over my body.
"I will slaughter you right where you stand." Aracreed bared its fangs in a hideous grin.
With a gesture of pulling its hand back, the webs tautened, attempting to drag me toward it. Under the immense tension, the webs began to stretch with a sound like tearing cloth.
"...Why?!"
I didn't budge. Though I felt a tension as if hundreds of warhorses were pulling me, my body stood as unyielding as a deeply rooted ancient tree—proving that the agony I was enduring was not for nothing. Aracreed's face twisted in shock, and it threw its entire arm into the motion, trying to pull me with even greater force.
"Let us see how long you can hold out. I will tear your limbs right off your body!"
Both my body and the webs shrieked under the strain. I tried to pull back without losing my concentration, but the balance between Aracreed and me remained locked in a tense, unyielding stalemate. Consequently, we were both pinned in place by the taut webs, a situation that heavily favored the spider. While Aracreed and I were locked in this tug-of-war, the spiderlings that had begun to creep around us would swarm and tear my flesh to pieces.
Just then, the voice that had been echoing in my head spoke once more.
The moment I understood the meaning behind those words, I relaxed my body. The taut webs, once I stopped resisting, instantly transformed into a bowstring that launched me forward. Keep the movements simple. Recalling the motion I used to slay the grizzly bear, I focused all my senses on the tip of my blade. The Holy Sword's mana, which had been drifting like mist, condensed onto the blade, shining with a blinding radiance.
Kaaaaang!
A sound like a fighter jet tearing through the sky echoed. It seemed to be the sound of the highly condensed mana ripping through the air along with the Holy Sword. The pressure bearing down on my body intensified accordingly. It felt as though the wind would shred me to pieces along with the atmosphere. Enduring the crushing weight, I pulled back my arm, ready to deliver the fatal blow to Aracreed. The torso. I thrust the Holy Sword forward, aiming to pierce Aracreed's abdomen. But at the very last second, Aracreed abandoned all thoughts of fighting, yanked on its webs, and threw itself toward the opposite side of the cavern.
Kwaaaaang!!!
The Holy Sword slammed into the cavern wall, carving out a massive crater and causing it to collapse. I broke out in a cold sweat, inwardly astonished by its devastating power.
...But the strike didn't land cleanly.
I felt the blade slice through something, but I hadn't pierced Aracreed's torso as intended. I clicked my tongue, looking at the green fluid splattered across the ground. Peering through the rising dust cloud, I followed the trail of fluid and spotted Aracreed.
"You... how dare you...!"
Aracreed's "upper body"—the junction where the human female torso met the spider body—was half-severed, hanging by a thread. The spider's abdomen had been ripped open by the wind pressure of the sword, spilling its innards, and the three pairs of legs on its flank twitched convulsively.
"I will devour you, no matter what!"
By the end, Aracreed's voice dissolved into a horrific screech, like metal scraping against metal.
Riiip.
Aracreed's mouth split open as if unzipped. Flipping its head open like a trash can lid, Aracreed reached out and scooped up spiderlings like a shovel. No, they could hardly be called hands anymore. The "arms" that had once resembled a human's had transformed into three-jointed spider limbs.
Crunch, crunch.
The spiderlings were sucked into Aracreed's mouth without resistance, like scrap paper fed into a shredder. I tried to finish it off before it could fully regenerate, but I was forced back by the venom Aracreed sprayed in all directions, losing precious time. As I hesitated, the voice chimed in again, as if to nag.
I deliberately let the comment slide and adjusted my grip on the Holy Sword. Having devoured dozens of spiderlings in an instant, Aracreed's human upper half began to liquefy, losing its shape and melting away like candle wax.
Crack, crack, crack.
With the sound of a breaking shell, Aracreed revealed its new form. The human upper body was entirely gone; now, it was simply a colossal spider. While its previous form with the human torso had been bizarre yet strangely beautiful, it was now nothing more than a massive, grotesque arachnid.
Kieeeeeek!!!
Perhaps because its vocal organs had changed along with the disappearance of its human torso, it could no longer speak. In that state, even calling it by its name felt like a waste. Spider monster. In my mind, the creature's designation was downgraded from Aracreed to simply "spider monster."
The Holy Sword's light flared once more. The pain eating away at my body was gradually becoming familiar. As the agony dulled, my body regained its stability. Finally, it felt like I could wield this power exactly as I wished.
"...If it were up to me, I'd kill you as slowly as possible to test a few things out," I muttered, exhaling slowly.
The spider monster shrieked sharply, as if in response.
"But because of you, I have to hurry."
I could see it. Before unleashing the Holy Sword, I had merely swung the blade blindly. But now, I could see—just a tiny bit—the path the sword needed to trace. I could read the faint outlines of the sword paths in the flow of mana that originated from my heart and spread throughout my body, down to my legs and arms. I raised the sword and aimed it at the spider monster. Its path of retreat had already been blocked by the wall that collapsed during my first strike.
Kieeeeek!!!
The spider monster leaped, bringing the remaining spiderlings with it.
Utilize the power.
Keeping my eyes locked on them, I lowered the tip of the Holy Sword. Since I didn't need to overwhelm them with raw speed and strength, there was no reason to leap forward to meet them.
First, one. The head of the first falling spiderling flew into the air. Before its severed halves could even separate, the next spider's body was split in two. The abdomen of the next was pierced, and a flash of light fractured the cascading mass of spiders like a crack in glass.
"...Robin."
This was the third time she had called his name. No answer came. Seeing his body twitch slightly as he lay face down, she knew he wasn't dead yet. Leah turned her head to look at Harvey, who lay collapsed beside him. His condition was not much different. If left like this, both of them would be eaten alive by the spiders while completely paralyzed. Their healing potions were gone. There was no way left to neutralize the venom slowly accumulating in their bodies from the spider bites.
"I don't have much time left either."
Leah could feel her muscles stiffening as the poison took hold. Far from sending even one person back safely, she hadn't even been able to clear a path. Stumbling, she forced her arm to move and yanked her axe from a spider's carcass. The spider shuddered at her feet before rolling onto its back, dead.
Skitter, skitter.
The spiders were slowly closing in on their dying prey. Harvey's lantern, lying on the ground, cast long shadows of the arachnids over the adventurers.
Kieek!
One spider rushed in too eagerly, only to have its head split open by Leah's axe. The faster she moved, the quicker the venom surged through her veins. Leah circulated her mana to delay its effects as much as possible, but she couldn't hold it off forever.
"Ugh..."
Starting with that spider, they began to lunge at the adventurers one by one, as if testing the waters. Each time, they were blocked by Leah's shield or had their legs severed by her axe, but the spiders didn't care, relentlessly throwing themselves forward until they drew their last breath. With every spider she cut down, Leah's movements grew heavier.
Thud.
Her legs gave out completely. Leah collapsed to her knees in front of Robin and Harvey.
She had always contemplated death. Working as an adventurer meant never knowing when your time would come. She had lived with the mindset of always carrying a will in her pocket. It was not uncommon for companions she had made to return the next day as torn, lifeless corpses. Adventurers habitually muttered that they could die at any moment. Leah had never shown it outwardly, but she believed she, too, was prepared for death. Yet, now that the moment was actually upon her, all she felt was terror. Resolve did not mean readiness. Leah gasped for breath and closed her eyes. Even as all hope flickered out like a candle in the wind, she realized she still desperately wanted to live.
"Hero..."
Was he still holding out down in that cavern? Was he still clinging to hope, or had he despaired just like her? Or had he already been hunted down by that spider monster, his body horribly mangled and devoured? To have spiders be the last thing she saw before dying—what a wretched fate. Leah slowly let her trembling eyelids close.
Kwaaaaang!!!
The anomaly occurred right then. A thunderous roar reverberated from the depths of the Ant Hill. The spiders clicked their mandibles in agitation, suddenly swarming together and rushing back toward the depths of the cave. Leah blinked, her drowsiness vanishing in an instant, and snapped her head toward the direction the spiders had fled. As the space once filled with chaotic noise fell silent, the only sound left was the faint, ragged breathing of Robin and Harvey.
Holding her breath, Leah sensed a surge of mana beginning to writhe deep within the cavern.
Thump. Thump.
Kieeeek!
Sounds echoed out—metallic clashes, the tearing of flesh, the shrieks of spiders, and the heavy thud of something slamming against the walls. The impacts sounded like the beating of a giant drum. The noise grew louder, pulsing in sync with Leah's slow, heavy heartbeat.
Thump. Thump.
When the sound reached the space just ahead, Leah felt a familiar presence beyond the passage.
Kwaaaaang!!!
The wall of the Ant Hill exploded outward. Emerging through the swirling dust was a single spiderling, its legs trembling violently. The spider desperately stretched its front legs forward, only to be crushed underfoot by someone walking up from behind, spilling its blood and brains onto the ground. The foot kicked the carcass aside and continued its slow, steady advance.
Step. Step.
The footsteps echoed down the passage and came to a halt right in front of the collapsed Leah. In her fading vision, she saw the blade of a sword glowing softly like a lantern.
"Is everyone alive?"
At the Hero's voice, a bright, relieved smile spread across Leah's face.