by Michael Sisa
The members of the expedition team realized the gravity of the current situation, for Wisgarus to cast one of his strongest spells the moment he stepped foot on the third floor.
“We’ll probably encounter an arachnia,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how many of them are here, but there might be more than one. Prepare yourselves.”
The knights’ expressions turned grim. They pulled out their swords and shields. Minerva created several small magic formations next to her, ready to activate them at a moment’s notice.
They were all veterans, and all of them knew what kind of a monster an arachnia was.
Seven years ago, an arachnia appeared in the forest of Tranta, near the Marcus Duchy. Although it didn’t attack the city, it annihilated all the bandits in the forest, along with the passing merchants and travelers. Although the Marcus Army successfully subjugated the monster, it cost them several hundred men in the process.
It was a calamity class monster comparable to a basilisk.
As the expedition team moved forward, they finally arrived at the place Wisgarus indicated. Large cobwebs filled more than half the room, and three human-sized eggs were seen at the corner, pulsating with life. The eggs were glowing. At their center, they could see a brown organ—probably the heart—throbbing, filling the entire room with an ominous thumping sound.
The knights gripped their weapons tight, ready to strike at the arachnia the moment it arrived. They quickly scanned the room, but to their surprise, they couldn’t find the monster.
The eggs were a clear indication that the mother was here somewhere. The fact that they didn’t immediately encounter it started filling the knights with terror. They knew that it could suddenly pounce at them at any moment. It was only a question of when.
Minerva couldn’t shake off her uneasiness. Something was definitely wrong. She activated one of the pre-made magic formations and cast her spell. A gust of wind blew into the room, scanning it for the presence of monsters.
Minerva’s eyes widened.
A realization dawned.
The predator was right in front of them, but they didn’t even realize it.
“In front of you!” she shouted. “Watch out!”
She activated another spell and a barrier of wind formed in front of the expedition team. As though on cue, the arachnia deactivated its camouflage and appeared right in front of the knights. It was colossal, far larger than the arachnia the Marcus Army subjugated seven years ago. Its fifteen-meter body loomed in front of the expedition team, silvery threads dripping down its mouth.
It was amazing that such a gargantuan monster had been concealing its body from the expedition team for quite some time, simply waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.
The arachnia screeched, drowning out all the sounds in the cavern. Its belly bulged and it opened its mouth wide, before spitting out dozens of hardened silvery threads. The threads—as sharp and strong as javelins—were blocked by Minerva’s barrier. Seeing this, the arachnia raised several of its legs and struck the barrier, immediately shattering it.
Captain Symon’s instinct screamed at him. He roared, “Royal knights! Disperse!”
Immediately, the knights scattered across the room.
“Attack!”
And shot toward the arachnia without fear for their lives.
To their surprise, the arachnia jumped up and latched itself onto the ceiling, before again shooting several hardened threads. The knights skillfully evaded the attack, while some of them parried it with sword strikes.
Captain Symon amplified the strength of his body with magic. He gnashed his teeth, and with the entire strength of his lower body, ran on the wall then jumped toward the arachnia on the ceiling.
The arachnia screeched, as though accepting the challenge of the human before it. It raised several legs and struck at the captain. Surprisingly, the arachnia lost in the battle of strength. The captain parried the arachnia’s legs and spun his body, striking at the legs of the arachnia, creating several cuts on it. Using the momentum, he propelled his body forward and stabbed at the arachnia’s belly. Blue blood flowed from the wound and the arachnia screeched in pain and anger.
It jumped toward the ground, aiming to crush the captain using the impact. But Captain Symon was quick to react. He pulled out his sword and kicked off the arachnia’s body, before softly landing on the ground.
The moment the arachnia struck the ground, the impact shook the entire cavern and dust flew around. Wisgarus cast his spell and spikes protruded out of the ground, impaling the arachnia’s body. Minerva formed chains with wind magic and bound the monster’s legs.
Although the wind chain immediately started forming cracks as the arachnia struggled to break free, it gave the knights enough time to deal damage to its body. They repeatedly stabbed and slashed at it, not giving the spider monster time to recuperate.
Captain Symon moved around and even started cutting off its legs. As expected of the son of Sword Saint Marrozo, his every strike was filled with strength and precision.
For a moment, the knights were stunned that they were doing incredibly well against a calamity class monster. Still, they didn’t lose focus and kept releasing attacks one after another, not stopping until they were sure that the giant spider was dead.
Sensing that its death was imminent, the spider violently struggled. It finally broke free from the wind chain and the earth spikes. Although it lost three of its legs, it still screeched violently and started spitting out its threads, piercing the walls and the bodies of a few unfortunate knights.
The tip of its belly opened and white smoke shot out, filling the entire room, rendering the knights’ visibility nearly zero. The arachnia activated its camouflage magic once again and disappeared from sight.
Unfortunately for the arachnia, the so-called ‘Sylphid’ tagged along with this expedition team. Minerva immediately cast her spell and gusts of wind blew inside the cavern, blowing away the white smoke. Minerva pointed a finger at the place where she felt the arachnia was hiding. At her fingertip, wind started compressing, before shooting out like a javelin. The spell struck the arachnia right at the belly, dispelling its camouflage magic.
The moment the giant spider’s location was revealed, Captain Symon immediately shot toward it and started cutting its remaining legs. Wisgarus supported the captain with earth spikes, rock chains, and earth golems, while the knights started throwing knives at the giant spider.
The arachnia screeched violently. Although the knights couldn’t understand the monster’s language, it felt like it was violently cursing everyone. It probably felt frustrated that it couldn’t kill mere humans.
Using this opening, Minerva cast a tenth-tier spell, consuming more than half of her mana pool in the process. It was a long chant. Layers upon layers of runes formed on a preexisting magic formation. After almost a minute, she finally completed her magic.
The magic formation brightly glowed and shattered into minute pieces.
A translucent female humanoid, its long hair flowing freely, manifested itself in front of the giant spider. Seeing this, Captain Symon and the rest of the knights moved back.
If Wisgarus was known for his impregnable armor, Minerva was known for her tenth-tier spell—the spell capable of summoning a sylphid.
With the arachnia on the verge of dying, this tenth-tier spell was definitely enough to deal the fatal blow.
The sylphid embraced the arachnia’s body, and a second after, a violent explosion rang out through the entire cavern, sending clouds of dust about. The ground and the walls shook, muffling the death throes of the arachnia.
After the spell ended, silence befell the cavern.
The clouds of dust receded, revealing the mutilated corpse of the calamity class monster. Blotches of blue blood scattered on the walls and on the ground.
Seeing the giant spider dead, the expedition team finally breathed sighs of relief. They lost five knights during the battle, a surprisingly low
number of casualties, considering the fact that this arachnia was even larger than the one which appeared near the Marcus Duchy seven years ago.
Captain Symon stared at the corpse, then at the two royal court magicians. If not for these two—who boasted the strongest defensive spells in the entire Kingdom—they would have probably lost more lives. They might have even lost the battle. Without these two, Captain Symon wouldn’t have been sure of the outcome.
“Lord Magician,” said Captain Symon. “What about the eggs?”
Wisgarus immediately replied. There was no need to think of the answer. “Destroy them.”
Captain Symon bowed his head. He ordered his knights to destroy the eggs of the arachnia. They even went as far as combing the entire room to search for more eggs, just in case some were hidden underneath the large cobwebs.
Minerva approached the body of the dead giant spider. She touched its half-destroyed head and cast another spell. Several blades of wind struck the head one after another, eventually splitting it in half. Minerva grabbed the head and pulled it open. She grabbed the bluish gemstone inside it.
Although her hands were covered in monster blood, Minerva grinned after seeing the gemstone up close.
“High-grade mana stone,” said Wisgarus.
“It’s mine, old man,” said Minerva. She wiped the blood off the gemstone using a cloth and stored it inside her bag. “I dealt the finishing blow, after all.”
Wisgarus wanted to argue that it was a team effort, but eventually chose to shut his mouth. He’d known Minerva for decades. This stubby woman was especially fond of beautiful gemstones. She had a collection of middle-grade mana stones in her mansion, and she refused to sell them even after being offered exorbitant prices by merchants and nobles.
She wouldn’t let go of her collection of middle-grade mana stones. She obviously wouldn’t let go of this one.
“Symon,” she said. “I can have this one, right? I’ll give proper compensations later, so let me have this stone.”
Since Wisgarus conceded already, all that’s left was the approval of the captain.
Captain Symon nodded. “Of course. And there’s no need to compensate the knights. We’re simply grateful that Lady Minerva accompanied us to the Forbidden Region. Our lives and the mission are more important than a mere gemstone.”
Minerva was clearly satisfied with the captain’s answer. She hummed as she looked around the cavern. “I’ve summoned a sylphid,” said Minerva. “I’m sure there are no other monsters on this floor. We can rest here as we treat the injured.”
That was reassuring.
Captain Symon asked the magicians, “Lord Magician, how much time do you need to recover your mana?”
He knew that both of them expended large amounts of mana during that fight. If they went down to the lower floors in such depleted states, the entire expedition team might be annihilated.
Wisgarus rubbed his chin. “I’ll be fine after five hours, but for Minerva…”
“Half a day,” she said. “Although I’ve used up almost all of my mana during the battle, this is a labyrinth.”
Indeed, the ambient mana here was several times greater than the other parts of the Kingdom. Recovering mana would be far easier.
Captain Symon nodded. “Understood!”
He turned to his men. “We’ll camp here for now. Everyone, rest, recuperate. Search the entire floor for the flower!”
CHAPTER 13
The expedition team combed the entire third floor of the labyrinth but didn’t find the flower. After recuperating for a couple of hours, they descended another long flight of stairs and finally arrived at the fourth floor of the dungeon.
This floor seemed like an entirely different world.
Everyone looked at their surroundings in amazement.
Gigantic trees reaching all the way to the ceiling, colossal roots covering most of the ground. Brown and red leaves formed canopies. Innumerable particles of light, which resembled fireflies, floated in the air. Even without light magic, the expedition team could clearly see everything.
“Wow,” a voice filled with admiration escaped the lips of a knight.
They hadn’t expected to see a forest underneath this dungeon. The trees looked ancient, each of them was several times larger than the trees seen in the forest near the capital.
Looking around, there were grasses, shrubberies, and different kinds of plants growing on the ground. This floor felt like the perfect place for them to find the Tears of Ubroxia.
“The last floor was an arachnia,” Minerva pessimistically spat. “Now, what kind of monster are we supposed to fight in this forest?”
The knights looked warily around their surroundings. After encountering all sorts of monsters imaginable in this Forbidden Region, they’d resolved themselves to fight to their deaths, no matter what monsters came to be their opponent.
With Wisgarus at the lead, the expedition team moved through the sea of trees, all the while looking out for any plant with a semblance of the flower.
After half an hour, the sea of trees ended and they arrived at a grassland. Looking beyond, they could see a large statue of a middle-aged man wearing an exquisite robe. He was holding a book in his left hand, and a staff in the other.
As the expedition team came closer to the statue, they realized how colossal it was. The head almost reached the ceiling, and its body alone was more than thirty meters wide. But the most absurd thing was the fact that it was made entirely of gold.
Whoever made this dungeon was truly a filthy rich bastard. There was no doubt about that.
After confirming that there were no traps, Wisgarus approached the foot of the statue. A stone tablet was erected next to it.
He read the words written on the tablet. “This shrine is dedicated to my master. The Sun, the Lord of all magicians.”
Wisgarus was well-versed in history. He immediately understood to whom the message was pertaining.
“So, that’s the statue of Evander Alaester?” said Minerva.
Wisgarus looked up. “Seems like it.”
Captain Symon also looked up and stared at the statue. This was the first time he’d heard of Evander Alaester. He wondered who this man was, for him to be enshrined by the God of Poison himself. Furthermore, this was the first time he’d seen something as grandiose as this. The value of this colossal statue made entirely of gold would be enough to sustain the Kingdom for several years.
Wisgarus rubbed his chin. “We might have just hit the jackpot.”
“What do you mean?” said Minerva.
“This floor is obviously sacred ground for Quervanu. If my hunch is correct, this floor doesn’t have any monsters.”
Minerva fell silent. Indeed, they hadn’t encountered any monsters since coming here.
“We’ll need to search the entire floor, just to be safe,” she said.
“Of course,” Wisgarus agreed. “Symon, this should be a good place to camp. Tell your knights to form teams to scout the area for monsters. If we’re lucky, we might finally find the flower in this place.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Captain Symon immediately issued out his orders. Four teams, composed of twelve knights each, were tasked to scout the surrounding areas. The rest started pitching tents. Wisgarus created a rock wall to enclose the camp and Minerva cast her barrier over it.
After an hour, the scouts came back, bringing with them great news.
“We didn’t encounter any monsters. There’s a small lake west of here, and to the east is a large hole on the ground. We believe it’s the entrance to the next floor of the labyrinth.”
Minerva looked at Wisgarus. “There are no monsters. What do you think?”
The two of them felt uneasy about the current situation. So far, dangerous monsters had been blocking their path as they went deeper into this labyrinth. But now, they suddenly found themselves in a floor devoid of any monsters.
Wisgarus sighed. “There’s no use in overthinking
things. We’ll immediately move out to search for the flower. And I want to see the giant hole—the so-called entrance to the next floor—myself.”
Wisgarus looked above once again. He stared at the statue of Evander Alaester. For a moment, the magician looked like a God overseeing this entire floor.
After receiving their orders from the captain, the knights moved out in smaller groups and started searching for the flower. Minerva and Wisgarus, on the other hand, went directly toward the entrance to the next floor. Upon arrival, they realized that the knights had understated the size of the hole.
It easily spanned thirty meters in diameter, and looking down, you could see nothing but the abyss. Wisgarus threw a rock in it, and it took a full minute before they heard the sound of impact.
Curious about what was inside the hole, Minerva cast several orbs of light and willed them to go inside. They peered down at the hole as the orbs of light flew down.
After the orbs reached the bottom, Wisgarus and Minerva’s eyes widened, their hair stood on end. Their entire bodies trembled as color drained off their faces.
An absurdly large monster was sleeping inside.
Its seven serpentine heads intertwined with each other; its snouts were similar to a dragon’s. Its four gigantic wings were folded, covering half of its body.
“W-What the hell is that?” Wisgarus croaked.
Chills crawled down their spines. By size alone, the monster was comparable to the statue of Evander Alaester.
The royal court magicians realized that the knights were wrong.
This hole was not the entrance to the next floor.
It was a damnable monster den.
“T-The lights!” said Wisgarus. “Put out the lights!”
Minerva immediately cancelled her spell and the orbs of light vanished. The two of them stood there, frozen, unable to breathe. The sheer size of that creature made the arachnia on the third floor look like a cute little spider.