56 Crouching Roaches, Hidden Spiders (2/2)
”Max, pick us up.”
Melchora and Sora looked up as a Angry Bakunawa descended from above, curling itself around their proximity, just within the circle of fire. He opened his mouth and revealed the spatial gate.
”Go in, quick! The fire won't last much longer!”
Luna carried Melchora as Sora lead the way.
***
Meanwhile, on the Eastern walls of the Sovereign Nation. Elder Aran was giving out his lessons as he was stationed here to guard just in case.
”Elder Aran, we've detected strands of silk attached to our northeastern walls!”
Knitting his eyebrows, the Elder responded. ”Strands of silk? Take me there! Swiftly!”
When they got there, strands of silk were indeed attached to the walls. They were barely visible, they were incredibly tough as well, and it took quite a bit for others to reach down and continuously chop them off. Even then, they would just keep swaying in mid-air, and eventually they would reattach themselves again. It was as if no matter how many times they were cut off, they'd grow longer again.
Although, when some of them were cut, they would fall into the water, as if something was weighing them down.
***
Municipality of Medellin.
The spiders were still expanding. They were either devouring their kin to further evolve or hunting down zombies. The ETZs were easy pickings for them, they would just blanket them with silk, wrap them up, inject their venom, and devour their prey.
The EHZs however were another story. If they were caught, they'd be easy pickings as well, but when they caught the spiders by surprise, it only took one claw attack to rip them to shreds. It was a stalemate between the two. This was what prevented the spiders from converging onto Bohol.
They were however trying to use a certain technique, along the coast, spiders had their rear ends pointing outwards towards the sea, releasing silk. Some of them would be snatched up by the sea creatures, something that they quickly countered by laying down web traps. These strands of silk would float about, extending gradually, until they feel it attach itself onto something.
This was how they were able to join the fight in Bohol after Luna left. The Negros island was quite far, so while the spiders were crawling on their webs, as fast as they did, they would fall into the water, becoming food for the sea life.
***
Southern Cebu, Moalboal Municipality.
The Cockroaches were breeding nonstop. They were relatively weak despite their larger size. The largest one of them being almost half the size of a mini-cooper. Unlike the spiders, the roaches didn't have as much tools to fend off predators. What they relied on were sheer numbers. With increased size, meant that their choice of prey also increased.
They constantly multiplied at a rate far surpassing the spiders. Their legs were filled with spikes, capable of piercing even an ETZ, albeit, it was too shallow to actually kill. On the eastern perimeter of their territory, some ETZs were running rampant and devouring them. They had a lot of life force, and were easy pickings, which made them the ideal prey.
The leader of the cockroaches watched as it's head tilted to the side, shaking uncontrollably, his wings were flickering a bit as well. Slowly, he actually stood up.
It was a frightening scene. Imagine seeing a cockroach as big as you, and it suddenly stood up on both legs. It wasn't even the sight of it's brethren being slaughtered, it was livid that this zombie would disturb it's meal.
Right below him was a man holding a modified Itak Tagalog with a much longer handle, it was customized to be more of a piercing weapon than a slashing weapon. He was still barely alive, clinging to his spear. Right beside him were his friends, their minds were already broken from fear and from the sight of him getting eaten alive. It was inevitable that they would be next on the menu.
The cockroach leader gave his weapon a peculiar look, then it bit his arm off. He screamed his last then his face was stomped down on, crushing his head.
The leader picked up his spear, awkwardly holding it with four of it's six legs before it finally was somewhat able to hold it steady. It crouched down and crawled slowly towards the ETZs.
As soon as it was a few meters from it, it dug in it's two hind legs onto the ground, bent it's 'knees' and launched itself toward the ETZ, with spear in hand, intending to pierce the ETZ. Unfortunately, it's awkward grip failed it, as soon as it made contact, the spear was actually flung off of it's legs as the zombie grabbed it's head and chomped down on it.