Chapter 184: From Infiltration to Passing Through (1/2)

The art of walking with no sound was, of course, mastered by Jack, a thief and Nim, a hunter. Loren and Ritz, despite being swordsmen, also learned how to do it to some extent. But it really was to some extent only.

The threads that constructed the spiderweb were all over the ground and the wall, but it would be alright as long as the ones they stepped on didn’t vibrate. The problem was, no matter how hard Loren and Ritz tried, they still rocked some of the looser threads. And, of course, it was impossible for Quartz and Dig to do what Loren and Ritz couldn’t manage, so the four of them walked nervously while trying desperately to check if the thread under their feet was loose or not.

In contrast, the thief – hunter pair and the priest – Evil God duo proceeded recklessly yet skillfully. They didn’t seem to care much about what was under their feet, and walked briskly without stopping. They had walked through a considerable distance.

“Hey Loren, go faster. We’ll leave you behind.”

Gula tried to motivate Loren, but whenever he thought about how just a single wrong step would rock the web and alert the spiders within, he just couldn’t pick up his speed.

“Gula, it’s better to not rush. The spiders here are used to hunt in the dark, so they’re sensitive to vibration and sound.”

Lapis added that huge spiders’ eyes weren’t very good. Instead, their sound receptors and vibration receptors were very well developed. They could determine the location and number of their prey thanks to sounds and the vibration of their webs.

“Once in battle, they’ll gather one after another.”

“I don’t like that. Let’s leave this place quickly.”

Gula said. Just then, a portion of the wall near her waist moved slightly. The wall was covered in thick spider threads, and beneath the threads should be stones… which shouldn’t be able to move.

That was what Dig and Quartz thought while staring at the place. The two of them had somehow gotten ahead of Loren and Ritz, and the movements had caught their attention.

“Hey, don’t stop…”

Ritz chided them, but he was interrupted as the wall beneath the thread split into two. The thing that made an appearance was probably a victim of the spiders, and was being kept between the threads and the wall as a form of storage. The body had already half dried up, and spider nymphs as big as fingertips spilled out from hollowed eye sockets and dropped to the ground.

Being in such a state, the victim shouldn’t be alive anymore. Yet that should-be-dead victim had somehow ripped the threads and extended a hand out as if asking for help towards Quartz, who was unfortunate enough to be looking at the wall that moment.

Quartz was surprised at the sudden appearance. Dig had managed to stay unmoved, but Quartz retreated several steps as if to run away from that extending hand. He tripped on a sticky thread and fell back-first onto Ritz, who was walking behind him.

By all rights, Ritz should have been able to catch him, but he was slow to react to Quartz’ unexpected movements. They got entangled and both fell into the web.

“Hey, are you alright?!”

Loren slashed at the neck of the spider’s victim, whose hand was still extending towards Quartz. The head fell with a dry sound, and countless small spiders burst out from the cross-section and the eye sockets.

“What the hell is this?!”

“The eggs that were implanted inside have consumed the victim and turned him into an undead.”

Even without its head, the victim’s body was still moving. Loren sent it flying with a kick and trampled the small spiders that were trying to climb up his legs.

But the situation continued to get worse.

From the opening the first one had come out from, dried-up corpses came slithering out one after another. Moreover, the fall of Quartz and Ritz had violently rocked the web, and the adult spiders now knew that there were preys here. They appeared all over the web, and were certainly incomparably bigger than any spiders they had seen so far.

“What a hassle.”

Loren cursed while smashing another headless corpse that was trying to get up. There should be blood splashing out, yet all of it was already consumed by the spiderlings – there were only a wave small spiders pouring out.

“Don’t cut the corpses! It’ll only increase the number of young spiders!”

“But how do we deal with them?”

Ritz helped Quartz get up while striking an approaching corpse with his shield. The corpse was already in a ramshackle state and was unable to withstand such a blow. The impact made a big dent on its body, and a large amount of spiderlings gushed out from its mouth. The spiderlings rushed to climb up their bodies, while they were trying to crush them under their feet, splattering body fluids about.

“There are too many of them!”

If they couldn’t be cut or hit, then it was impossible to deal with them. Using magic to burn the young spiders was also an option, but they were already in a close proximity, not to mention the corpses, which would also be affected if the magic was poorly executed.

“The adult spiders are also a problem.”

Nim muttered while shooting an arrow. The arrow cut through the air and pierced a spider right in the head. Unable to cling to the web anymore, the dead spider fell to the ground.