Chapter 64: Mage and Alchemist (Rare) (2)
Chapter 64: Mage and Alchemist (Rare) (2)
“Hyung.”
Ahn Hyun’s voice snapped me back to my senses. I quickly looked over and saw the kids all staring at me, unsure of what to do. Spiders had already closed in, surrounding us in a circle. We had secured an escape route, but I had a feeling these would be the trickiest monsters we’d faced yet.
The kids seemed to sense that these monsters were different from the ones we’d fought before, and they all wore anxious expressions. If I showed any sign of anxiety now, it would only amplify their fear. To calm them down, I quickly put on a composed expression and spoke in a steady voice.
“Let’s focus on dealing with the spiders for now.”
“Then, what about that woman….”
Sol’s voice trailed off as she asked with a pitying expression, but I shook my head. I had already judged the situation hopeless, and our own survival came first. Seeing Ahn Hyun and Yoojung grip their weapons, I raised my voice.
“Forget the User hanging up there. It looks like the Dungeon Master is playing some kind of game. From now on, our primary objective is no longer rescuing Users. It is exploring the dungeon and returning alive. They’re coming. Everyone, get into position.”
We just had to get through this. I hastily drew my sword, thinking that we could finally see the end of this god-forsaken dungeon. With the thought of spanking the alchemist if I ever met them, I continued.
“We’ll hold our ground in a defensive formation while keeping our escape route clear. There are a lot of spiders, but they’re big, so they can’t all rush us at once. However, some of them will try to slip into our blind spots and spray venom. I’ll keep those ones in check. Everyone else, just focus on the ones in front of you.”
Sssst. Sssssst.
As soon as I finished speaking, the spiders began closing the distance, their bodies scraping against the floor. They looked more disgusting the closer they came, and I raised my sword. If I felt that way, I could only imagine how Sol and Yoojung felt. They looked ready to faint, but when they saw the green orbs still dropping through the air, their expressions turned vicious. They seemed enraged by what had been done to another woman.
Finally, white threads shot out from the mouths of the spiders in front. The battle that marked the climax of our dungeon crawl was about to begin.
*
“Cure!”
As Sol’s hands, bathed in white light, covered my body, I could feel a warm energy seeping into me. Even though I said I was fine, she insisted on sticking to me and pouring on the healing, and there was no way to stop her.
“Guys, you can stop and rest now. I think I’m okay.”
“But still…”
“Go on. You need to rest too.”
This is what had happened. After a grueling battle, we had barely managed to gain the upper hand—something only possible because of my support and battlefield coordination. Just as I was about to cut down the last struggling spider, a large amount of venom shot out of its mouth.
I quickly shoved the others aside and took the full spray of venom myself. With Eternal Flame inside me, I could burn away most poisons, and my high Durability meant a spider’s venom could not harm me. The kids made such a fuss, however, that I was forced to accept treatment. My brief act of staggering had probably contributed to their reaction.
Only when I was close to losing my temper did they finally move away and rest. Yoojung lay flat on her back, staring at the ceiling. Ahn Hyun did the same with his legs stretched out. Ahn Sol sat primly, her pale face also turned upward. I could roughly guess why they were acting that way, so I sighed and considered what to do with the woman above us.
I looked up at her. Her stomach was still bulging, but spider eggs were no longer falling from it. The occasional grimace and moan were the only signs she was still alive, but that was it. Not that being alive was much of a life for her, I supposed.
“Wow… I can’t believe it. Did we really kill all these spiders…?”
Ahn Hyun looked around, shaking his head as he spoke. He tried to pick off the annoying spiderwebs clinging to his body, but he soon gave up as if it was too much trouble and flopped back down. His body seemed to weigh a ton; even lifting an arm looked difficult.
Yoojung’s body was covered in small cuts, and tears in her clothes exposed glimpses of flushed skin. When I stared at her blankly, she tugged her collar down a little and gave me a provocative wink. But when I continued watching her sternly, she immediately lowered her head. That little troublemaker.
A moment later, I sat down as well, taking a whatever-happens-happens attitude. The kids looked at me with concern, but I waved to show that I was fine. If I shouted at them and forced them up while they were still dazed, they might actually rebel. Yoojung, for example, kept groaning as the tension left her body and sensation returned, calling desperately for Ahn Sol.
“Ugh… I think I’ve been poisoned… My whole body aches… Ahn Sol. Cast a detoxification spell on your Unni.”
“Okay… just a second…”
“You little brat. You healed Soohyun-oppa immediately. Are you playing favorites?”
Yoojung’s sharp words made Sol’s face flush red, and she quickly waved her hands.
“That’s not it… I’m in a state of exhaustion right now…”
Mana exhaustion meant that forcing her Magic Power now could cause a backlash. Yoojung seemed to understand; she nodded and let her head fall back to the floor. Ahn Hyun, who had been staring at the ceiling with a stoic expression, turned his exhausted face toward me and spoke.
“Um… Hyung.”
“What is it?”
“That female User… what are you going to do about her?”
“……”
I paused for a moment. Ahn Hyun had been unusually concerned about the female User, even before the battle. From my perspective, I couldn’t understand why he cared so much. Was it because she was a woman? She was quite aloof and pretty, but in that state…. I felt the need to probe him a little.
“What do you think we should do?”
“I want to save her.”
Seeing Ahn Hyun answer without hesitation, I smiled faintly. His Alignment was currently True Neutral. If his desire to save her was sincere, however, he might lean toward Lawful or Good in the future. I wanted to give him the answer he hoped for, but unfortunately, I had no interest in tormenting him with false hope.
“I don’t know. As you can see from her stomach, she’s been impregnated with spider eggs. That means she was likely forcibly inseminated. With that kind of internal mutation, I honestly don’t think there’s anything we can do. We could take her with us, but… would any high-level User in the current Hall Plain step up to help her? No, wait. Let’s say someone does, and she lives. Even then, the reality she’d face would be nothing short of hell. It might be more of a mercy to kill her now.”
“Is… that so? I see…”
“Well, let’s ask her what she wants. To do that, we’ll need to cut the threads holding her up.”
Seeing his face darken rapidly, I quickly added that last part. Ahn Hyun closed his eyes with a weary expression and nodded. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, having her suspended in the air like that. It was no different from stringing up a woman’s exposed body for display. I was just about to get up, thinking we should at least get her down.
“Yohohoho!”
A flippant laugh filled the clearing. The sudden sound startled all the kids. A powerful aura poured down from above; the Dungeon Master finally seemed to be appearing. I signaled the others with my eyes and quietly placed a hand on my sword.
“Men—two. Yay! Women—no, there are two of you. Anyway, two. Boo!”
The high-pitched voice sounded female. When the speaker cheered for the men and booed the women, Yoojung sprang to her feet in outrage.
“Who’s there?!”
“Who do you think~?”
“Who’s spouting nonsense! Stop hiding like a coward and come out!”
“I’m on my way~!”
Rustle. Rustle, rustle.
Enhancing my hearing with Magic Power, I clearly detected a single entity descending along the ceiling. The entity chattered incessantly while descending, further enraging Yoojung.
“Oh? A feisty human female? I don’t like feisty females. But I also do. Feisty females like you make the best host bodies. Just like the one hanging from the ceiling. Hehehehe!”
Yoojung, who had been about to curse again, turned pale at the words “host body.” She appeared to understand what they meant, and goosebumps rose across her skin. I wet my lips. The presence descending from above was on an entirely different level from the monsters we had faced so far—comparable, if anything, to the boss monster from the Rite of Passage.
If the kids were in top condition and fully prepared, we might have stood a chance. But right now, everyone was at their physical limit. I sighed and stood up. It seemed the right answer was for me to step in and handle this.
“Everyone, get up. I think the Dungeon Master has appeared.”
“Correct!”
A rustling sound, like something descending from the ceiling, was accompanied by a cheerful voice from above. I looked up to see a spider, easily over two meters tall, circling the hanging female User as it landed. Its size was surprising, but the most shocking thing was the human-faced head protruding from the center of its upper body. It was a human-faced spider.
Before the kids could react, the spider scurried down and landed on the floor. It seemed to have tried to land gracefully, yet a heavy thump echoed through the clearing. The Dungeon Master of Ancient Alchemist Vivian’s Dungeon was a spider. Vivian smiled brightly at us.
“Welcome, my new food.”
“Food? That’s rude, for a first meeting.”
When I replied casually, the spider tilted its head. After a moment of thought, it broke into a wide smile and offered a polite greeting.
“Welcome to my dungeon, you male humans. Oh, but I don’t welcome you female human bitches.”
“Crazy bitch.”
Yoojung’s retort struck the spider head-on. The kids now regarded it as an unquestionable enemy. They also seemed to understand that the creature before them was responsible for what had been done to Jung Jiyeon above. Although their legs trembled as they stood, their eyes were unmistakably murderous. The human-faced spider swept its gaze over us, pouted, and continued.
“Oh my. I gave you a nice welcome, and this is what I get. I can ignore the insult, but why are you all looking at me like that?”
“You stupid bitch. If you were in our shoes, would you be cheering and greeting us?”
At Yoojung’s insults—“crazy bitch” and “stupid bitch”—the spider looked deeply wounded. Then she(?) answered in a grumbling voice.
“Hmph. I don’t like you. I went out of my way to welcome you. Oh, wait, you’re a female, so I didn’t welcome you. Fine, fine. I’ll admit it. You’re welcome too!”
“Shove it. Your welcome just makes me want to puke.”
“Grr. You’re so mean. Why do you hate me so much?”
“What did you say?”
Yoojung was briefly dumbfounded by the spider’s innocent question. Then venom entered her gaze, and she pointed toward the ceiling and shouted.
“Can’t you see that female User? You did that to her, and you have the nerve to ask that?”
At Yoojung’s sharp accusation, the spider tilted its head for a moment before answering.
“Well, that’s only natural. They were the ones who crawled into my lair first. They destroyed my precious subordinates, my children, and my living space. They provoked me when I was minding my own business. Should I have just let them?”
“Wh-what?”
“You’re the same. No, you’ve caused an even bigger mess. I’m the one who should be angry. Me! Look at my children’s corpses. Oh, my. You crushed the ones that hadn’t even been born. My poor babies. Sob, sob.”
Watching the spider dab at its tears with long, thick, hairy legs, I couldn’t help chuckling. Yoojung was speechless, her mouth merely opening and closing.