Chapter 11: 8 Legged Monster

[Shophie LvL. 5]

[HP: 50/50]

[Stamina: 50/50]

[Mana: 100/100]

[Class: Archer]

[Strength: 1]

[Defense: 6]

[Stamina: 1]

[Speed: 6]

[Intelligence: 6]

[Magic: 11]

[Luck: 1]

"For setting foot in my home… You will pay with your blood." the speech was as perfect as a human's, but that heavy, terrifying presence screamed that whatever was behind Sophie could never be a human being.

Moving purely by instinct, the Elf twists her waist as she aims her arrow with trembling hands, giving her the opportunity to dazzle the appearance of the being before her: It was an Arachne, the natural evolution of spiders—from the waist up, he had the body of a human man with snow-white skin, sharp and completely black teeth, releasing purple saliva, he also had 1 extra eye in place of his left eyebrow. Below the waist was the entire body of a giant spider, but unlike the others, its legs were thin and sharp like blades.

<'Archne' LvL. 20>

Even in the face of the archer's 'threat', the creature does not show any surprises. "An arrow shooter? How boring… But at least it's nutritious."

"W-wait!" she lowers the gun and raises her hand, trying desperately to demonstrate that she is not a threat, "We don't have to—"

The half-spider yawns irritably, as if he has heard this phrase countless times. "You dare beg for mercy, after killing my children?" As he speaks, he looks directly at the heads of the spiders pierced by Sophie's arrow. "No surprise you humans are at the bottom of the food chain."

"Well, first of all, I'm an elf, not human. And secondly, they started! They took my friend!"

Even though he doesn't show any emotion on his face, the tips of his paws sink slightly into the ground. "They were just hungry kids. You have no idea how much I am holding back from separating your flesh from your bones immediately, because you must suffer first… 30."

She whispers in confusion "Thirty…?"

"29. 28—"

Realizing the message, Sophie shoots an arrow at his face. Again, unbothered, he uses [Acid Spit] to melt the projectile before getting close to it. Even after reaching its target, the liquid fell to the ground and created a hole almost instantly.

Archne smiles, "Because of that, now you only have 15. 14. 13—"

Realizing the difference in power, Sophie runs to the chamber, aiming to return through the hole she entered, but cannot remember the way. The creature's voice only makes its search through memories more difficult. In the end, she finds herself forced to go down a random hole.

Even after a certain distance, she could still clearly hear his voice echoing through the endless stone corridor, "3… 2…", and silence dominated the surroundings.

…

There was no sign of mana near her, yet her mind remains tense and alert, dominated by images of her body being destroyed by the Arachne in various ways and carrying the heavy guilt that perhaps her friend is in danger. The inability to see a foot in front of her further amplifies her despair.

But like a light at the end of the tunnel, she can feel a cluster of mana clouds a few meters away from her. Even without knowing whether it belonged to a human or monster, she clings to the hope that she might be able to save herself.

"God, please, let one of these be Alice!"

[Web Grasp (2-Star)]

A dark gray web emerges from the darkness and sticks to the elf's leg, and with a single pull, she is dragged on the ground. She remembers that it was this same skill that captured Alice, but it was definitely faster and more resistant.

Although she didn't feel any magical energy coming from the origin of the web, she could hear several footsteps and a voice, "The legs will be the first."

After futilely trying to free herself, a disturbing sight: the Arachne with a giant smile on his face, while licking his black teeth and pulling with just one hand his 'meal'.

With adrenaline flowing in her veins, Alice points her bow and tries to clear her mind to control her trembling hands—remembering her great deeds in Arcadia, like hitting a headshot on a player 3000m away, or when she completed one of the toughest dungeons in the game with a starter bow and arrow. She fills herself with pride and confidence in her abilities, and shoots at the being, "You know why they call me OneShot?"

The arrow passes by the side of Arachne's head, completely missing him.

"Hmpf. You missed—"

[Fiery Arrow: Explosion]

[Mana: 50/100]

An explosion of flames emerges behind the creature, setting its back on fire—he rolls on the ground while agonizing in pain like a real spider. Taking advantage of the opportunity, she runs to the path she was following earlier.

However, thanks to her attack, the corridor fills with smoke, making it difficult for her to breathe. Sophie stumbles in the smoke, her lungs burn with each breath. The narrow corridor seems endless, but the hope of escaping from that 8-legged demon pushes her forward, even when her vision starts to blur.

[HP: 45/50]

[Stamina: 40/50]

Until the darkness is overlaid by a white that emanates safety. The air is now light, and the discomfort of the small space extinguishes. Finally, the elf exited the tunnel.

The new chamber she enters is slightly larger, being filled with some large Auracrysolis and a small lake that reflected the light, creating an almost ethereal environment. Sophie took a deep breath, feeling her lungs finally fill with fresh air as the smoke dissipated.

When the tension is weakening, she begins to pay attention to the new environment—realizing that the mana clouds she had seen earlier were actually the luminous stones. The realization makes Sophie almost explode with frustration, but she tries to breathe slowly so as not to lose her cool too soon.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out—

And then, a peculiar sound passes through her ears, it seemed to be someone mining. Without wasting time, she runs to the origin of the sound, and to her happiness, she finds 2 Aerion Knights mining some Auracrysolis in the chamber.

One of them, the youngest, says amidst tired breaths, "I thought we would only need to pick up more of these things in 3 months."

"And we would have if Captain Brian and his fleet hadn't died and lost everything. Now smooth your movements, if you break too much fragment, it becomes useless and they deduct from the payment," replies the older knight, with a huge mustache.

Sophie approaches the two, raising her hand and tries to introduce herself, "H-hey..."

Obviously, the two are startled by the unexpected presence. However, upon looking closely at who was in front of them, the two widen their eyes, drop their pickaxes and Auracrysolis as if they were nothing. "It's that..." the young knight murmurs.

"An elf...?" the mustached man smiles as if he had won the lottery, and races deeper into the chamber, screaming at the top of his lungs "AN ELF! WE'VE FOUND AN ELF!"

Without having time to even think of a response, the soldier points his sword close to her face, holding back his tears of emotion. Sophie was paralyzed for a moment, the blade of the sword so close to her face that she could feel the cold metal against her skin. The young knight was completely taken by excitement, his expression was a mix of ambition and despair.

"Finally, I will never have to work again!" he repeated, his eyes gleaming with a mix of madness and hope.

"What are you doing? I-I'm not a threat, I'm just looking for my friend."

The knight, however, seemed unwilling to listen. "Save it, elf. Your kind fetches a high price, and I won't let this opportunity slip away."

Seeing she had no choice, Sophie slowly backed away, keeping her eyes fixed on the knight. He advances with a cut—aiming at her legs, so as not to damage her too much—but Sophie, using her superior speed, sidestepped and fired an arrow at her opponent.

The arrow hit the knight's shoulder, making him scream in pain and momentarily retreat. "Don't make this harder for me!" he growled, preparing to attack again.

Sophie, keeping calm, pulled another arrow and aimed. "If I release this arrow, you can't buy a new life. Stop." Even in the face of an enemy, she still feels guilt and empathy for him. She begs him to just give up and leave her alone.

The knight laughs at her mercy, but at the same time, you could hear the desperation in his laughter "HAHAHAHAHA! I spent 20 years eating from trash and sleeping in mud. I won't go back to that life!"

He screams as he charges in with another attack—but… An ominous sound echoed through the chamber. A harsh hiss, followed by a sticky, wet sound hitting his face. The knight freezes, his eyes widening in horror as he touches his face. His flesh began to melt under the acid, his expression quickly changing from triumph to agony.

[Acid Bullet]

Containing her urge to vomit, the elf just watches her enemy having his head completely melted by acid. He fell to the ground writhing, screaming with all his might.

"I'm sorry, meatbag. But her kind fetches a unique flavor." a chill runs down Sophie's spine, and the Arachne passes by—ignoring her temporarily—to the injured knight. She notices that his back, once white as quartz, was now black as coal.

One of it's sharp paws pierces the young knight and lifts it up so the monster could enjoy his misfortune, "Oh, metal. I heard it's quite nutritious." He stretches her mouth, making it big enough to eat a human head in one bite.

Sophie stood transfixed, watching the monstrosity unfold before her. The Arachne, with disturbing calm, devoured the young knight as if he were a mere snack. The elf's mind screamed to run away, but her legs felt stuck to the ground.

Suddenly, a sound of footsteps echoed through the chamber, and several disbelieving and happy screams. About thirty knights appeared, their armor gleams in the light of the Auracrysolis. The one with the mustache points to Sophie, "SEE! I told you there was a—WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?!"

Bryan, the leader of the group, analyzes the creature and his eyes widen with a mixture of surprise and happiness, "The Arachne." he raises his axe and shouts "If we kill it, all those 8-legged monsters will be gone! Aerion Angels, throw this demon back to hell!"

"More meat bags?" he licks his lips, letting his mind be guided by gluttony, "If only my children could've seen this…"