Chapter 66: Mage and Alchemist (Rare) (2)
Chapter 66: Mage and Alchemist (Rare) (2)
Ahn Hyun glared warily at the spider. Ahn Sol silently raised her staff, while Yoojung gripped her dagger and radiated a chilling killing intent. Judging from their expressions, they were ready to leap forward at any moment.
In contrast, the human-faced spider—no, Vivian—was overflowing with composure. A soft smile played on her lips, as if she were watching a younger sibling’s tantrum. She soon let out a giggle and spoke again in a cheerful voice. Of course, she was speaking directly to me.
“Laughing? You’re laughing! You think so too? Human male?”
“From your perspective, I can see your point. Spider female.”
“Yohohoho! A spider female, you say. Hahaha. That’s a real knee-slapper. You really do seem different. Alright! I’ll be generous for the first time in a while. I won’t kill you… hmm… I’ve decided to capture you alive!”
Vivian truly looked as if she were being incredibly generous. She raised her two front legs to cross her arms (?), nodding her head with a hum. The more I watched, the funnier it got. The others didn't find it funny, but I could hear them scoff in disbelief.
In any case, from my point of view, she was a rather amusing monster. I, too, wore a faint smile and spoke in a slightly playful tone.
“I have a question. Since you’re already being generous, how about being a little more?”
As if she understood my intent, Vivian’s eyes widened as she asked back.
“Sure. What is it, what is it? You want me to spare the others?”
“Not that. I saw two User corpses on the way here… Did you kill both of them?”
At my question, the spider nodded immediately without a hint of hesitation.
“Yup yup. I did it. But why?”
“You call yourself an alchemist. Don’t you have uses for human bodies in your experiments? I don’t understand why you’d just leave them abandoned like that. Right, Vivian?”
“Ehh. The ones I tore to shreds like that… Oing? But how did you know I was the Alchemist Vivian?”
Seeing Vivian’s reaction, I forced myself to suppress the smile that was about to creep out and feigned a nonchalant expression. She was quite cheerful and possessed a certain level of intelligence. But that was it. The advanced reasoning she might have possessed in her former life as an alchemist seemed to be gone. Now that I had confirmed the reaction I wanted, there was nothing holding me back.
With a bright face, Vivian hopped up and down, expressing her joy that someone recognized her. (As an aside, the ground shook each time she jumped, making me worry the dungeon might collapse.) It was purely my speculation, but Vivian must have dabbled in body modification or perhaps intentional infection out of a desire to live longer. This was the miserable end for mages or alchemists who weren't skilled enough to become liches. Though if she was satisfied, I had nothing to say. In any case, she was a rare type.
“Other human males and females did come in at first. For a bunch of lowly creatures, a few of them were pretty skilled. Thanks to them, I lost a ton of useful subordinates. You guys. You passed through the clearing with the goblins, right? That wasn't the clearing they originally used. The original occupants were wiped out, so I had to fill it in a hurry… Aish! I'm so pissed!”
Vivian puffed up her cheeks, looking genuinely angry. She then proved her fury by spitting a gush of venom from her mandibles before catching her breath and continuing in a high-pitched voice.
“You think I just watched? I knew I couldn't leave it be, so I stepped in myself. And it was quite a sight. The moment I revealed myself, I used just a tiny bit of my strength, and you know what? One of them ran away immediately. The guy with the bow! He abandoned the other humans to save himself. It pissed me off just watching. Tsk. Well, thanks to him, the rest of them lost their will to fight, though.”
“And so?”
“Honestly, I wanted to kill him first, but the other humans would not leave me alone. Especially that male Priest. I rather liked him, but he kept invoking his god and irritating me, so I killed him first. He tried to flee while protecting the others, so I chased him, stabbed him with one of my legs, and then—snip—cut his torso in half. Hmm. Now that I think about it, I went straight after the male who fled first, so I never checked. He died, right?”
Vivian said all of this very quickly. It seemed she was quite the talker. The others, seeing me converse so casually with Vivian, were just watching with dumbfounded faces. Then, I saw Ahn Hyun’s expression suddenly turn serious as if he’d realized something, and he began signaling the others with his eyes. It seemed he misunderstood, thinking I was buying time with conversation so they could recover as much stamina as possible. But I was just asking because I was genuinely curious…
Still, a misunderstanding like this wasn't a bad thing, so I simply accepted it and answered Vivian’s question.
“Yeah. He’s dead. So the archer User ended up getting caught by you too?”
“Hehe. It’s so much fun talking after such a long time. Yup yup! You know, you know. Honestly, even I think guys like that are pretty rotten. So I chased him to the very end. I twisted his neck and pulled it right off, and he just screamed and screamed. I did a good job, right? Uhehehe.”
Vivian looked genuinely delighted. She closed her eyes, her expression savoring the memory. All the while, Ahn Hyun was calmly steadying his breath. This kid was hopeless when it came to Sol, but seeing him like this, he really showed potential. My opinion of him was a constant push and pull, sometimes favorable, sometimes not.
Presently, Vivian’s eyes flashed open, and with an excited look, she raised a leg and pointed at the ceiling.
“Hey! Ask about her too! For some reason, I’m having so much fun talking to you~ Hehe.”
“…Alright. How did the female User hanging from the ceiling end up in that state?”
When I asked in a gentle voice, the spider twisted coyly and blushed before speaking. Behind me, I heard Yoojung mutter, “That fucking bitch…” Yoojung-ah. Are you getting jealous of a monster right now?
“Kyaa. The female hanging up there… yeah. I really disliked her from the moment I saw her. She looked down on me with those haughty eyes, and it was so annoying. Why act so arrogant when you’re just going to end up like that? I don’t like it, I don’t like it.”
“No matter how much you disliked her… that’s a bit much.”
As I spoke to her as if chatting with a friend, Vivian smirked and closed her eyes again. It seemed she had entered reminiscence mode once more. I’d had dozens of chances to finish her off, but she was quite a good storyteller, and it was fun to listen, so I hadn't attacked. Of course, as I listened, another idea was slowly forming in my mind, so I planned to deal with her soon.
“Hehe. It would’ve been fun if you’d seen it too. At first, even tied up, she glared at me so sharply. I really wanted to break her. So I passed her around. Renga had a go~ the goblins had a go~ Ramic, who’d turned into the human that ran away first, had a go~ and for the grand finale, she served as a broodmare for the spiders! A clean finish! The sight of her, so proud at first, having her purity stolen by the monsters she despised is still so vivid in my mind. That haughty, composed face, begging for forgiveness while crying and sniveling… it was hilarious. She ended up losing her mind after getting pregnant and laying eggs. Hehehehet! Stupid bitch. It would have been better if she’d been like that from the start. Then I would have at least kept her alive for a while, like the other males and females.”
“…So you’re saying there are still living Users.”
“Yup. I’ve wrapped them up tightly in cocoons and stored them away safely. Well, they’ll be alive for a while. But I’m worried about what to use them for. Should I feed them to the kids as nutrients… or turn them into chimeras? Hmm. The latter is more tempting.”
By now, the others’ breathing had stabilized considerably. Deciding it was time to wrap up the conversation, I raised the sword I had slightly lowered. Seeing me aim my sword at her, Vivian muttered with a disappointed look.
“Eh… You want to fight? Let’s not do anything troublesome for each other, okay? Hmm? I won’t treat you badly.”
“It is troublesome. But I think I have to take you down. And it seems my companions aren’t too fond of you.”
“Hmph. Tsk. Well, fine. If you insist on doing this the hard way. But I like you, so I won’t kill you. And… ah, whatever. I’ll be generous again. I’ll spare the cute male next to you, too.”
Ahn Hyun’s expression turned strange. But as the atmosphere between Hyun and me grew more awkward, Yoojung and Sol became even angrier. After wiping away a few beads of sweat, I cleared my throat and continued.
“What about the other two?”
“Hmm… Honestly, that priestess bitch seems more suitable as a host body. She appears to have abundant mana. But she also seems too soft. Girls like that sometimes kill themselves before I can turn them into host bodies. So I’ll choose the strong-willed bitch beside her.”
“Crazy bitch.”
“Yup. I am a crazy bitch.”
“Don’t give me that fucking bullshit.”
“But I don’t have a dick?”
“!@#$%^&*&^%$#@!”
At Vivian’s glib answer, Yoojung shouted in what sounded like an unknown language. Vivian listened to the endless curses with a broad smile, but then her expression abruptly turned serious and she began radiating killing intent. Watching the spider’s mood change with every line, I gave a hollow laugh. She clearly did not possess a normal way of thinking.
Yoojung had been spewing coarse language, but she immediately fell silent when Vivian’s aura changed unmistakably. Seeing my companions become serious, I slowly drew out my Magic Power as well. Leaving this entirely to them would be too much. I intended to step in, even if that meant revealing some of my ability. Just as I reached that decision and took a step forward, the spider opened its lower jaw and released a waterfall of thread.
“Since I’ve decided to catch you, it’d be a waste to injure you in the process. I’ll catch you all at once. Hehehehe!”
With the spider’s laughter, glistening silver threads shot out from her lower mouth. They were incomparably thick and boasted an immense volume compared to the webs spat out by the spiders we’d faced so far. The threads that poured onto the floor spread out like an unfurled umbrella, then curved toward us like arrows.
The threads moved so quickly that even I felt a moment of alarm. They reached our bodies in an instant, and the sticky strands began wrapping around us. I did not move, however; I simply stood still because an idea had flashed through my mind. If our lives were not in danger, letting Vivian carry us to her secret base before escaping might be useful.
“Surprised you, didn’t I? Hehehet.”
I offered little resistance, but the others struggled desperately. Even though I had lowered my guard, the threads were fast enough to surprise me. Ahn Hyun belatedly swung his spear in every direction, trying to clear them, but it was futile. Their thickness and viscosity were troublesome, and their sheer volume was overwhelming. If Ahn Hyun could not manage them, Yoojung and Sol had no better answer. Vivian laughed brightly at their resistance and spoke in a teasing voice.
“Uhehehe. It’s useless, you know. I didn’t make my threads weak enough to be cut by weapons like that. Don’t underestimate spider silk. Just accept it calmly. Like the male in the front. Your eyes, mouth, and ears will be blocked, but at least your nose won’t be.”
…Huh?
“Hey. Wait a minute. Everything but the nose gets blocked?”
“Huh? Uh, yeah.”
As I spoke with a pleased expression, Vivian’s eyes went wide, and she stuttered. But after confirming her nod, I glanced back. The thread was wrapping around them so quickly that the others were already adorned (?) with it all over their bodies, like pupae in a cocoon.
Looking down, I saw the threads rapidly winding around my own body. My five senses would be blocked. In other words, the kids inside the cocoons would be unable to see or hear anything I did. If secrecy was guaranteed, there was no reason to let Vivian take us farther inside.
Having made up my mind, I immediately awakened the Eternal Flame sleeping within my body.