Spider Queen (1)
Shadow wolves.
Seven of them had settled in Elatrium.
Among them, the one named Khan was the leader of the pack—and the father.
Excluding Khan and his mate, the other five were all his children.
Khan's pack were all adults, save for the youngest, the fifth child, Fenril.
So they had all gone out together—everyone except Fenril—to hunt the wolf spiders invading their territory.
It had been the same just moments ago.
The shadow wolves were hunting the wolf spiders that had trespassed into their domain, as usual.
Thud!
"Zzzzzji... eek."
A wolf spider met its end under the shadow wolves' assault.
"Awooooooo—!"
"Awoooo!"
The shadow wolves let out triumphant howls of victory.
Just as they turned toward their next target.
Whoosh!!
Without warning, a net of spider silk rained down from above.
Anyone would think they were done for, trapped tight.
"Awoo!!"
But the shadow wolves' bodies blurred like smoke, evading the spider silk net entirely.
In that brief instant, they had all slipped beyond the range of the shadow mass.
"Kuhahaha. As expected of the phantoms of shadow."
Shooo. Thud!
A figure descended, riding the spider silk from the sky.
It was none other than Morcella.
Vice-commander of the Spider Legion's 2nd Division, a spider insect-man excelling in ambushes.
"Awooooooo!"
Khan unleashed a long howl.
A signal to retreat.
He had realized the foe before them was beyond what even a united pack assault could overcome.
Fwhoosh!
Shhhh—
The shadow wolves scattered like ghosts, abandoning the field.
"Hey, hey! Don't run off so fast!"
Morcella's playful voice echoed from behind.
In that moment.
Khan felt an inexplicable unease.
And that unease soon became reality.
Thud!
"Kyaeeeeeng!"
The ground erupted, accompanied by a cry of agony.
"Awoo!"
The shadow wolves, scattering in all directions, halted en masse and turned back.
What they saw.
Their third child, body wrapped head to toe in spider silk, only its head poking out.
A spider silk bomb had detonated beneath its feet, binding it completely.
"Heh heh heh. What a pickle. One got caught."
Morcella sauntered up to the captured third, chuckling wickedly.
Crunch!
He immediately stomped on the third's back.
"Kyaeeeeeng!"
"Grrrrrr—!"
Khan growled in fury at the sight.
"Awooooooo—!"
The other shadow wolves were the same.
All five charged at Morcella at once.
To rescue the third.
Victory might be impossible, but they could create an opening to free it.
But.
Swooooosh—!
Thud, thud, thwack-thwack-thwack!
A barrage of spider silk nets plummeted from the sky.
This time, evasion was impossible.
They blanketed every direction, denser than before.
All the charging shadow wolves were pinned to the ground, limbs bound in silk.
"Looks like these are the troublemakers."
"As expected, Your Majesty."
"Right on the mark, without a single error."
Three new figures appeared.
Arkenes, vice-commander of the Spider Legion.
Tercala, 1st Division commander.
Beltaris, 3rd Division commander.
All the Spider Legion's leaders gathered, save Legion Commander Arkenes—no, excluding the deceased 4th Division commander Silvaner.
"Grrrrr..."
Even bound, Khan growled with murderous intent.
His blood kin—all of them—captured.
He couldn't give up.
Bones might shatter, but he had to struggle.
That was the role of the pack leader, the father.
"Heh heh, look at that glare."
Morcella stepped before Khan, amused.
"Vice-Commander, may I play with these a bit?"
"Don't go killing them all. We need them alive to quickly uncover what those pests were trying so hard to erase."
"Understood. Of course."
With that reply, Morcella's cruel game began.
"This one's your pup, right? Watch closely."
Morcella stomped the already-captured third's back once more.
Crack!
"Kyaeeeeeeng!"
Bones shattered, the third's agonized scream echoing.
"Awooooooo!"
Khan thrashed at the sight.
But bound head to toe in silk, he couldn't even rise.
"Heh heh. Frustrating, isn't it?"
Morcella licked his lips with a long tongue, eyes gleaming sinisterly.
Thud!
"Kyaeeeeeng!"
A drum-like impact, followed by the third's wretched scream.
Morcella had infused magic into a kick to its side.
"Think of it as punishment for making us work."
Drool.
The third slumped, vomiting blood from its mouth.
"Awooooooo!"
Khan bellowed a near-scream of rage.
"Wanna go to it? Heh heh. I'll help."
Morcella's hand moved swiftly.
Slice!
p>Somehow, he personally severed the silk binding Khan.
Spring!
Khan shot up, lunging toward the third—but.
"Ah, I didn't say you could just go."
Morcella's hand flashed again.
Thwack—!!!
"Grrrk."
Khan's pained grunt as his body slammed back down.
All his legs twisted at unnatural angles.
Morcella had shattered them all.
"There, now go. Heh heh."
Before the words finished, Khan was moving.
Writhing, writhing.
Twisting his body somehow toward the third.
Morcella grinned in satisfaction at the sight.
"Legs broken, wriggling like a bug."
"Awoo..."
Even amid the mockery.
Khan's gaze remained fixed on the third, collapsed and bleeding from the mouth.
"Hek, hek, hek."
Writhing, writhing.
In agony that should have paralyzed him completely.
Yet Khan inched forward.
"Hoo. Impressive."
"Love for its child? Or are all shadow wolves like this?"
Khan's willpower was extraordinary.
He finally crawled to the third's side.
But his ordeal wasn't over.
"This is getting boring."
Stab!
Morcella plunged a long venomous stinger from his hand into Khan.
Ssssh!
It was poison.
Not just any—neurotoxin.
Disrupting nerves, twisting them, leading to inevitable death.
"Kerrrr..."
Foam bubbled from Khan's mouth immediately.
"Whoa, this guy's still moving?"
Yet, drooling uncontrollably.
Khan pressed toward the third.
Morcella let out genuine admiration for the first time.
"Let's see if one more hit keeps you going..."
As he spoke.
Something changed.
Flash—!
A purple beam plummeted from the sky.
Kwaaaaa!
It struck Morcella's upper body, sweeping onward.
Not stopping there—it engulfed the vice-commander and other division commanders.
BOOM!
"What the—."
Vice-Commander Arkenes deflected the beam aside.
Then looked up.
A black beam streaked toward them at blinding speed.
"This is no joke. Battle stations, everyone!"
The entity that slew Morcella in one strike.
Before its arrival, Arkenes barked tense orders.
Just as Archeron was about to leave the Dragon's Lair.
I called him back.
"Archeron. Take this."
What I held out was a ★ Fragment.
The situation looked dire, so I used it on Archeron immediately.
Now Archeron bore five stars in total.
His core's energy flared purple, boiling over.
‘Archeron. Engaging.’
Whirr!
Opening a dimensional rift with Dimensional Slash looked even more natural.
I could feel viscerally how much stronger Archeron had become.
And.
The changes didn't end there.
Potential increased. Archeron's mobility hyper-enhanced.
Archeron shifted to Combat Posture Lv4 mode.
His aerial mobility had always been limited before.
Not anymore.
Screeech.
Clank.
Kwaaaaa—
His thrusters output surged far beyond before.
Provisional wings even extended from them.
Enabling full aerial maneuverability.
Archeron rocketed toward the detected enemies at tremendous speed.
‘Keron. Activating Lumen Observer.’
A long-range observation skill.
Archeron's vision linked to the scouting orb, letting us see the intruders in our territory.
But.
"Those damn..."
"Popo!!"
"Chu!!"
‘The wolves are in danger!’
"Kiiing—"
"Holy... those bastards..."
Our gasps and outrage erupted.
We had witnessed the shadow wolves captured and thoroughly toyed with.
"Ah! I can't watch anymore."
"Popo..."
Especially when Khan's limbs were shattered and venom injected—tender-hearted Bellerin and Popo turned away, unable to bear it.
"Chuchu!"
Chuchu bolted straight out of the cave.
"Kiiing, kiiing..."
Fenril flailed his paws at the scouting orb's feed, tears welling in his eyes.
"Archeron—!!"
I unleashed my utmost fury.
Calling Archeron's name, I conveyed my will.
Save the shadow wolves. Give those things a thrashing.
‘Keron. Attempting long-range snipe.’
The instant my will reached him.
Archeron halted mid-air.
Then extended a long barrel from his arm.
‘Annihilation Beam, targeting.’
Kwaaaaaang!!!
With a shockwave, the barrel unleashed massive energy.
Thwooooom!!
One shot erased the upper body of the spider insect-man tormenting the shadow wolves.
"Nice!!"
"Nailed it! Archeron!!"
‘Kyuu! Archeron! Amazing!!’
Our cheers exploded in unison.
‘Archeron. Activating Combat Posture Lv5.’
Whoosh.
Kwaaaaa!
White holy light and dense purple mana burst from Archeron's body simultaneously.
Instantly entering Combat Posture Lv5.
BOOM!!
Archeron became a streak of light, hurtling toward the ominous insect-men.
「Arkenes」
「Spider Legion Vice-Commander」
「Lv330」
「Tercala」
「Spider Legion 1st Division Commander」
「Lv271」
「Beltaris」
「Spider Legion 3rd Division Commander」
「Lv265」
They were the Spider Legion's vice-commander and division commanders.
"Hit it together!"
"Zzzzzzjjjjjit!"
"Zzooooaaak!"
"Zzzzzzjjjjjit!"
As Archeron approached, countless spiders hidden nearby swarmed out.
Their numbers exceeded even the mantis legion from before.
But Archeron showed no retreat.
‘Wide-area scan. Enemy scale assessed. Battle strategy formulated.’
Archeron's voice carried boiling rage, unlike his usual stiff mechanical tone.
Perhaps because of that.
‘Terra Blade activated.’
The massive energy blade forming on his arm radiated far denser mana than before.
‘Commencing enemy extermination.’
With those words.
Archeron's dance of furious blades began.
"We'll bind its mobility first."
The first to charge was 3rd Division Commander Beltaris.
Using his specialty—spider silk and poison—to snare Archeron's feet.
He hid among hundreds of spiders, aiming for an opening.
But.
Slice—!
‘Wha...?’
A flash of light before his eyes.
A strange chill in his lower body.
Thud!
"Uh... huh?"
Collapsed on the ground, Beltaris realized he was bisected at the waist.
Excruciating pain hit.
With it, chills and death's terror gripped him.
"M-mercy..."
He begged tremblingly, but Archeron didn't twitch.
Fwhoosh—!
Another blinding flash.
The last sight Beltaris beheld.
"That fucking—!"
The moment Beltaris split.
1st Division Commander Tercala aimed for Archeron's momentary imbalance.
But.
Whirrrr—
‘Annihilation Beam activated.’
Kwaaaaa!!
The beam from his opposite hand swept Tercala clean, leaving no limb intact—utter annihilation.
The division commanders were no pushovers.
But against Archeron—who had swept the mantis legion, surpassed Lv280, and gained another ★—they were no match.
‘Annihilation Beam, multi-launch.’
Kwaaaaa!
His barrel fired repeatedly, vaporizing charging giant spiders like erased pencil marks.
This was no longer battle.
Massacre.
Nothing less.
"In-insane..."
Arkenes was utterly overwhelmed.
The Spider Legion vice-commander backed away in terror.
"W-wait, let's talk..."
Unlike mantis vice-commander Velgram, he had no fight or spirit—a utter coward.
Flash!
Slice—!
Near-instantaneous high-speed dash severed Arkenes' head.
Level-up notices rang out.
Scattered debris where the commanders had stood.
Numerous ▲ Fragments littered the ground.
But.
Archeron's gaze fixed solely on the shadow wolves.
"Awoooo!"
"Awoooong..."
"Awoo..."
The pitiful howls of the less-injured shadow wolves echoed across the battlefield.
The third, motionless in a pool of blood.
And.
"Heeek... heeek... heeek..."
Khan, on the verge of death, pupils dilated, vision blurring.
Yet still crawling inch by inch toward the third.
‘Keron...’
Archeron froze at the sight.
Exterminating foes? Always confident.
But for wounded allies, his options were severely limited.
As Archeron's lights flickered in helpless frustration.
"Chuchu!"
In the distance, Chuchu charged fiercely, golden fur whipping in the wind.