Chapter:26-Thorny Mission(2)

The spider leaped off the cave floor with surprising speed, its eight thick legs launching it toward them. But Eliza was quicker. Her arrow flew true, burying itself into the spider's core.

The creature collapsed with a resounding thud, its grotesque body twitching as if refusing to die.

"Creepy…" Eliza muttered, wrinkling her nose.

The red, deformed horn on the spider's head began to glow. The arrow was spat out of its body, and the wound knitted itself shut before their eyes.

Edwin scowled. He knew a little about horned spiders. "I think you need to break their hor—"

An arrow pierced the spider's horn before he could finish speaking, shattering the twisted red growth. The spider let out a shrill screech and went still.

"I know," Eliza said with a smug grin.

"Guess you do."

Their eyes drifted toward the shadowed depths of the cave. More rustling. More clicking. At least ten more horned spiders emerged from the darkness, their mismatched, beady black eyes glistening with hunger.

"I hate spiders…" Edwin whispered, his grip tightening around his black, straight-edged sword. Its dark blade melded perfectly with the blackness of the cave.

"Save the whining for later." Eliza notched another arrow, her eyes sharp. "Remember, preserve the tips of the fangs for identification. If we don't, we don't get paid."

"Yeah, I know."

[Rune of Enhancement has been activated]

They charged at the horde, weaving between the spiders' lunges and snapping fangs. The creatures hissed and screeched, their twisted horns glowing as they desperately regenerated from each strike.

"SCREEECH!!"

The sound was like nails against glass, echoing through the cramped corridors.

Edwin's blade cut through thick limbs and shattered horns. He ducked under a lunging spider, his sword slicing upward and tearing through its head. Green blood splattered everywhere.

Meanwhile, Eliza was a blur of precision, each arrow breaking a horn or piercing a vital point. The spiders fell one by one, but their sheer numbers made the fight brutal.

Finally, the skittering died down. They stood among the mangled bodies of spiders sprawled across the cave floor, most of them half-hidden by darkness. Black, lifeless eyes stared into nothingness, their limbs twisted and torn. Green blood pooled across the rocky ground, along with shattered pieces of their deformed horns.

Eliza began retrieving her arrows, her fingers trembling slightly. "Their blood is harmful to most monsters."

"What about humans?" Edwin asked, his eyes fixed on the mangled face of the spider he was sitting on. Its fangs looked even more poisonous up close.

"Not that much. Speaking of which, we should clean off this gunk. I hear water flowing deeper in. And we have to go further anyway."

With a sigh, Edwin pulled his sword free from the spider's remains. Eliza continued to collect the tips of the fangs, storing them carefully in vials filled with clear, white liquid.

"You selling those?" Edwin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Here are the ones from the spiders you killed." She handed him four vials.

[4/20]

Edwin took them and pretended to place them in his pouch, but instead, he slid them into his storage system.

'Thank god I can turn off the blue light whenever I do this…'

They walked deeper and deeper into the cave.

Soon, they came across a small river, its gentle current flowing steadily through the darkness.

"This probably comes from the nearby river. It's safe to wash up with," Eliza remarked.

Edwin climbed down to a lower section of the cave where the water was within reach. He took a small towel from his pouch, wet it, and scrubbed the grime off his skin. He was careful not to let any poison-laced blood fall into the water.

Since he had mostly targeted the horns, he wasn't soaked in blood. Eliza, as a long-range fighter, only had her armor stained.

"How many are here, anyway?" Edwin asked, drying his hands.

"The guild said to kill a few dozen. They'll only accept up to twenty horns, but if we kill around thirty each, we can sell the extras."

"Who do you even sell to?"

"I'll introduce you."

Edwin nodded. They continued deeper into the labyrinthine cave. The air grew colder, more oppressive.

An hour and a half later—

[7/20]

'This is going slower than I thought,' Edwin grumbled internally. "Are there even enough spiders to kill?"

"They're bugs. There's always more than enough."

"Yeah, giant bugs. Bigger animals reproduce slower."

"Giant monster bugs that do not abide by normal rules."

"Well, technically—"

They both went dead silent. A soft but constant noise reached their ears.

The sound of hundreds of feet skittering over stone.

Edwin and Eliza exchanged a grim look before moving forward with caution. They crept to the edge of a narrow opening and peered down.

Their eyes widened.

Beneath them, on the cave floor sixty feet below, lay thousands of white, gelatinous eggs. Inside, half-formed horned spiders writhed, their tiny legs twitching in dreams of hunger.

An army of adult spiders stood guard over the eggs, their beady eyes glimmering in the dim light. Farther back, buried within the deeper shadows, something massive stirred.

A low, guttural growl rumbled through the cave.

"KEREGHSRG!"

At that sound, the guards became frenzied, scuttling about with renewed purpose. The air reeked of rot and decay.

Eliza's face went pale. "By the grace of… Revas." She whispered, her voice trembling.

"Revas?" Edwin echoed.

"Roskan God of Protection." She shook her head. "This… This is not natural. Something like this… it's equal to a small army!"

Edwin clenched his jaw, his gaze fixed on the writhing mass below. "And that thing in the back… it must be the Queen Mother."

"We need to head back,now!" Eliza beckoned and Edwin agreed.

They both turned around and got up to go and report to the guild.

But,suddenly a slow noise alerted them.

Edwin readied his sword and Eliza loaded her bow.

"Who is it?" Edwin demanded.

The noise of clapping grew closer.

A tall figure drapped in red robes and a black distorted mask covering their face emerged.

The robes were a mix of black,gold and red.

A symbol could be found all over the uniform.

A single black diamond shape with 8 others around it to create what resembled a sigil of sorts.

"Salutations," the figure's voice rang out from beneath the mask. It was smooth and calm, but something about it sent a shiver down Edwin's spine.

The figure stepped forward, their movements almost ethereal. As they got closer, the details of the red robes became more apparent. They were intricately embroidered with gold thread, glinting even in the low light of the cave. The mask, a distorted and twisted work of black metal, concealed all but their glowing eyes.

Edwin narrowed his gaze. "Who are you?"

The figure tilted its head, as if amused by the question. "I am called Kreskan, but that is not what matters now."

"Are you part of the Scarlet Requiem?" Edwin asked.

Eliza looked a but baffled but soon steadied herself for she also did know about them.

"Right on track!,we weren't expecting someone to kill the black wolf that we so tentatively spliced...ahh,but,we still had doubts and you killing the assasins swept those away!" the man said with enthusiasm that betrayed the tension of the current situation.

"So,I put up this quest to lure you two in!" he said with an excited tone while outstretching his hands.

"You...put up that quest?" Eliza questioned.

"Yep!,now..." the man raised his arms slightly above his head as he did crimson energy gathered on his hand.

"Hope you aren't too afraid of spiders,ah.Who am I kidding?,I hope you are terrified of them!" he says shooting the crimson aura their way.

They tried to dodge,Eliza even shot an arrow at him.

But it was all for nothing.

The crimson energy pushed them into the opening and they fell into the deep hole that was home to the legions of spiders.

Edwin's spine ran cold as his pupils dilated.

'Huh?,well,I haven't died to falling up until now,right.' he thinks to himself as he falls.

But,he feels the touch of iron on his back.

Eliza was covering him.

As they fell he closed his eyes.

He actually hoped he would die,since the system didn't give a quest to kill him he could avoid him.

They both fell in with a resounding thud.Luckily they fell far away from the guard spiders who were currently all gathered in one side of the massive space beside their Queen.

Eliza was out cold and Edwin was barely still alive. If not for her he would have had to redo this again.

He sighed and looked at his left arm which was impaled by a small cluster of sharp rocks.

"Arghh!" with a growl of pain he pulled them out.

"Show...status"

[Strength: 21]

[Speed: 23]

[Durability:23]

[Sense: 19]

[Health: 1100/2500]

[Rune of Enhancement: Simple]

[Title: Bane of Wolves]

[Head is bleeding]

[Complete quest and receive the reward to heal,quickly]

"Yeah...got it." he said as he looked out at the the number of white,almost see through eggs containing small horned spiders.

He took his sword and walked,no,limped his way to them.

He raised his sword up high and...

The sound of steel slashing into a soft solid filled with liquid could be heard.

[8/20]

He moved onto the next one.

[9/20].....[12/20].....[15/20]....[17/20].....[20/20]

[Quest Cleared]

[Points are being given]

[Health has recovered after taking into the host's condition]

[Penalty shall be given]

"Status"

[Strength: 21]

[Speed: 23]

[Durability:23]

[Sense: 19]

[Health: 2200/2500]

[Rune of Enhancement: Simple]

[Title: Bane of Wolves]

[New Quest Has Been Given]

[Kill 1 Elite Rank Horned Spider]

End of Chapter