Chapter 42- A Dangerous Gamble

"We need to get up there."

Ashley pointed a transparent finger towards the tunnel that was high up the cliff on the other side of the abyss.

"And you two are going to help us with that", she said, addressing the two spider children.

The two complied immediately.

Garett had completed [Tactical Analysis] on the pair, and their statuses were now revealed for the party members to see.

[Coran](Lvl 7)

Attack: 3-8(Melee)

Physical Defense: 3

Magical Defense: 3

MP: 5/5

HP: 25/40

Special Skills: Poison Spit, Spin Silk, Acid Arrow (Cost 5 MP, Magic Damage 5-7, Earth element)

[Berith](Lvl 5)

Attack: 2-6(Melee)

Physical Defense: 2

Magical Defense: 5

MP: 10/10

HP: 30/30

Special Skills: Poison Spit, Spin Silk, Razor Threads: Cost, 5 MP, Damage: 5-15, shoots razor sharp silk, slicing the enemy in two. Can be used to either lay traps or as a projectile like a whip

As monsters, they were indeed somewhat weak, but they weren't utterly helpless. They should be able to put up a good fight against some of the lower leveled monsters that Garett and the antiheroes had fought before.

Most importantly though, was the practical uses that their abilities implied.

Garett certainly wanted to get his hands on some of their silk to study it as a material, as well as the acid they produced and most importantly, these "Razor Threads". If he obtained some of them then he would essentially have access to wires for crafting.

Would he be able to use electricity in this world? Only time would tell. Either way, the wires would be useful for things other than cables even if they couldn't use electricity.

"Then, me and Blue here will be carried by you, Coran, and Berith, you can carry red and Ghost girl", Trevor ordered.

"Understood."

The two spiderlings knew exactly what they should do next. They both sprayed silk from their abdomens, and bit by bit weaved it with their four arachnoid arms until they had formed 2 harnesses each, that were connected to them through a rope.

Trevor Picked up the harness, tugged at it to test the strength ,and then mounted it, buckling the strap. It was not made of a sticky type of silk, but it was extremely strong. Samantha reluctantly put hers on, and Garett and Ashley then walked over to Berith and put theirs on as well.

"I will do everything I can to make the ride as smooth as possible, your excellencies.", Coran stated.

Trevor nodded, and then the party then walked across the cavern to the opposing wall, and prepared to mount it.

As they walked across the cavern, Garett somewhat regretted that he wasn't able to collect any of the eggshells, but they had all been burnt into ashes from Ashley's rain of fireballs. It couldn't be helped.

"We are going to start climbing now, your excellencies. Please hold on tightly!", Berith said somewhat cheerfully.

She was a bit too cheerful for a slave, but Trevor let it slide as making his subjects miserable was not his actual goal.

No, on the contrary. He wanted them to be happy. However, it was only through experiencing misery could one understand what true happiness was. This girl was quite strong to be so cheerful even after such an experience, based on what Trevor had seen and heard. He felt somewhat bad for both of them, and he resolved in his heart to make them happier than they had ever been.

So long as they remained loyal to him and his comrades, of course.

----

After fastening the harnesses, Coran and Berith began climbing up the walls. Ashley started to exert flames from the bottoms of her feet, at a low and concentrated temperature. The boost from the flames eased Berith's load, and relaxed the tension in the cables holding up the two.

Ashley then grabbed hold of Garett, and used her propulsion to lift him up as well.

Garett smiled kindly at her as she grabbed hold of him. Despite the fact that Berith's load was lightened, they were not able to go up any faster than the others as that would violate the three meter rule.

"No matter what terrible things happen.... how insane any of us become... I will always consider the three of you to be comrades.", Garett whispered to Ashley.

She smiled. She felt the same way. Even if Samantha was nothing more than a pretty girl who only cared about looks. Even if Trevor was nothing more than an egotistical maniac who took pleasure in seeing others fail while he rose to the top. Even if Garett was a probability nutjob who got excited over the possibility of danger and risk. And even is she herself was nothing more than a loser who couldn't even step outside the house until she was forced into this world.

Every single one of the people in the party were glad that they were with each other, and they were glad that they were here in this world where everything seemed doomed from the start.

They wouldn't have ever met each other, should their lives have continued on as they should have.

But here they were.

Slavemasters. Dictators. Monsters. Demons.

And yet, they were happy.

They felt no remorse, no guilt for becoming a group that would be viewed as the epitome of evil.

They only felt the bond between each other.

And at that moment of ecstasy, floating in midair, accepting their new lives and positions, Garett once more took a gamble.

He brushed aside the horrible mess of hair that covered Ashley's face, and he kissed her.