Chapter 37. It Was Inside the Cave.

About ten minutes after leaving Grainy's ranch.

I changed direction.

“Brother? That's not the way to Dejong, is it?”

“There's something I need to check. We're going to the cave where the Arachne were.”

The additional information I secured from the Arachne Queen.

According to the Queen, the Arachne that didn't follow her orders were individuals too stupid to even understand them, and their numbers were few.

Therefore, the Arachne's cave was currently empty.

It was the perfect time to investigate.

‘It's not my duty to investigate…… but it's bothering me too much.’

A premonition of an incident, so to speak.

As I took the lead, Pol asked with a look of doubt.

“Uh……. Brother, do you know the location of the cave?”

“Here.”

Instead of answering, I handed over the Arachne Queen's crystal.

“Yes? Eeeh? Uwaaak?!”

Pol, who took the crystal, stared blankly for a moment before he was startled and threw it away.

Looking at it this way, I could tell for sure.

The Arachne Queen's voice could only be heard by the person in contact with the crystal.

Considering that not even a hint of noise reached me standing right next to him, it seemed to be closer to transmitting thoughts directly into one's head rather than sound.

“Wh-what is that?! I heard a voice……”

“It's something like the Arachne Queen's brain.”

I explained briefly.

It wasn't like he'd understand even half of it if I explained about evolution and whatnot, and there was no need for him to understand.

“Wasn't the Arachne Queen dead?”

“Surprisingly, it seems she didn't die. But she has no means to harm us, so don't worry.”

The Arachne Queen had become considerably tamer after hearing that the Arachne were annihilated.

She even looked as if she had given up.

“Well- that's a strange thing to happen.”

“Don't just stand there blankly, go pick it up.”

“Ah! Yes, sir!”

Only after I pointed it out did Pol pick up the crystal he had thrown and bring it to me.

However, he couldn't seem to get a proper grip on it, as if he couldn't get used to the Queen's voice that he heard when he touched the crystal.

He was making a fuss, passing it from his left hand to his right like he was holding a hot sweet potato.

Then he dropped it once more and hastily picked it up again.

The Queen was so horrified by the time she was back in my hand.

[Ugh! From now on, don't let that guy touch me!]

“Are you ordering me around now?”

[……Please don't let that guy's hands touch me. I'm begging you.]

I had tormented her quite a bit myself, but it seemed the brief moment she was held in Pol's hands was even harder to endure.

In a sense, it was a natural talent.

* * *

“Is this the place.”

Before I knew it, we had arrived in front of the cave.

The entrance to the cave was a complete mess.

It seemed that the originally small passage had been forcibly widened as the large superior individuals burst out.

Normally, it wouldn't have been strange for the cave to have collapsed in the process, but as expected of spiders, it seemed they had reinforced the walls with webbing to prevent a collapse.

“Hmm.”

The inside of the cave was pitch-black.

Considering that thousands, tens of thousands of Arachne had been swarming inside, the internal space couldn't be just a few steps.

No matter how good one's night vision was, you needed at least moonlight to see.

To see anything in a cave where not a single speck of light reached, a light source was necessary.

‘How I miss my smartphone so much.’

How convenient it was to be able to say ‘let there be light’ with the press of a button.

Fortunately, perhaps because there was little pollution, or for some other reason, the nights in this world were not that dark.

‘I need a torch or something.’

Looking around, I saw the oil can that Grainy had brought to set the cave on fire.

It seemed a considerable amount had been used to start the fire, but there was still enough oil left to slosh around at the bottom.

There were plenty of trees around, and for the cloth, I decided to try using the cobwebs stuck here and there.

“Alright.”

Perhaps because it was the webbing of a fire-resistant spider, it served its purpose as a wick sufficiently.

I also prepared a torch for Pol, and a spare one.

“Let's go.”

At my gesture, Pol nodded with a stiff expression.

Being serious was good, but he was so tense that it made me feel a little anxious as well.

‘Then again, Pol must have seen the Arachne pouring out of here with his own eyes.’

Even from the top of the safe castle walls, the sight of the spiders swarming in, covering the ground, was shocking.

It wouldn't be strange for Pol to be scared out of his wits.

Just a few steps into the cave, the surroundings became drastically dark.

The light from the torch was not as helpful as I had thought.

The range of the light was too narrow, and the swaying shadows made me feel like I was going to get motion sickness.

Moreover, unlike the entrance, the ventilation was poor, and a pungent smell of burning stung my nose.

It was not a good environment in many ways.

“The way.”

[Left.]

The Queen hadn't been of much help until now, but her guidance was certain.

I thought that being a queen, she would have lived cooped up in the depths, but surprisingly, it seemed she had wandered around every nook and cranny of the cave.

“Brother, how far are we going?”

“To the place where the Arachne Queen was born.”

What made this place special was that the Arachne Queen was born here.

If there was a difference from the habitats of other Arachne, it would be there.

The cave was deeper than I thought.

It was wide, too.

Of course, considering the size of the Arachne superior individuals, I wondered if a passage like this was sufficient, but spiders were animals that could surprisingly squeeze through small gaps.

It was because their legs spread out in all directions that their bodies looked much bigger; in reality, if you looked at just the torso, it was often not as large as you'd think.

Just as I was beginning to worry slightly that we were going in too deep, a huge cavern appeared.

The light from the torch could not reach the walls or the ceiling.

Small footsteps echoed.

[This is, the place where I became queen.]

Even without the Queen's confirmation, there was no doubt about the peculiarity of this space.

It was different from any other space in the cave.

“The floor is strange, isn't it?”

Even Pol noticed it right away.

It was flat.

How could the floor of a naturally formed cave have no curves?

Parts of it could.

But it was strange that the entire area within the range of the light was flat.

An artificially created space.

And in the darkness far away, a faint green light could be seen.

It seemed to be the center of the cavern…….

As I was slowly approaching the light, I heard a strange sound.

Taktadak.

The noise of something hard clicking together.

“It seems there was a remaining Arachne.”

“Understood.”

At my words, Pol drew his sword.

Limited vision.

In the darkness, the Arachne had the advantage.

But I didn't think it was dangerous.

After all, if they were just normal Red Arachne, a slash or two would be enough to finish them.

“Now-”

I walked forward confidently.

I had no intention of hiding my location.

It would be much faster and easier to lure them to me rather than finding them one by one in the dark.

Sasasat-

A creepy, rustling sound came from far away.

An approaching presence.

I could feel something on my skin, whether it was hostility or appetite, I couldn't tell.

For a few seconds, I kept the string of tension taut so that I could swing my sword at any moment.

Finally, the light of the torch reached, and the figure of the charging Arachne-

“……Huh?”

It's, a bit big?

* * *

Shwiiik-!

A dozen or so legs swept violently past the spot where I had been standing.

It was not a normal individual.

“You said there were no superior individuals?! Did you lie to me?!”

[It's true! There weren't any!]

The Queen hastily denied it.

Then that meant a superior individual was born in just one day.

Does that even make sense?

Didn't you say the ones left in the cave were low-grade creatures that couldn't even properly understand the Queen's orders?

“Tsk-”

Somehow, things weren't going as I wanted.

[……Wait. No. It's not.]

“What are you trying to say now?”

Suddenly, the Arachne Queen's atmosphere changed.

The crystal trembled as if to express the Queen's excitement.

[If there's a superior individual! I no longer need to grovel before the likes of you!]

“Don't tell me you-”

[Come! Slay these things and save me! Haha! You human bastard! Die here!]

The Arachne Queen, giving orders with confidence.

I didn't expect anything from a monster, but it was a remarkably quick betrayal.

Then again, since there was no relationship of trust in the first place, it was a natural course of action.

I wasn't particularly angry.

I decided to put the crystal in my pocket and focus on the battle.

“Pol. You saw the superior individual, right?”

“Yes?”

A few normal Arachne were pouncing on Pol.

He seemed to be so preoccupied with them that he had no room to pay attention to his surroundings.

“Don't spare your strength. Use your sword skills as much as you need. There's no one watching here.”

This time, I couldn't expect a passing Simon.

It was a situation where no one could come to our aid, but on the other hand, it meant I could freely use the sword skills I had to hide in front of Grainy.

‘It would be better to avoid a situation where Pol clashes with the superior individual.’

Pol could also use the sword skills, but he wasn't trustworthy.

Even to my eyes, Pol had many shortcomings.

In that case, I had to take on the superior individual.

“Hoo. Being loud is not to my taste.”

Kigigigigigik.

I scraped the floor with the tip of my sword.

Sparks flew, and a sharp noise echoed.

Thump.

I stomped my foot with all my might.

It was as if I could see the vibrations spreading out.

‘I am here. Come at me.’

I provoked the superior individual, which would be perceiving me through vibrations.

Again, and again.

Whirl-

The torch flickered.

The direction of the wind changed.

That direction was-

‘Behind!’

I raised my sword towards the Arachne superior individual lunging from behind me.

Just like when I had dealt with the superior individual on the ground, from Cumulonimbus to Sudden Rain-

Whoosh-

My sword cut through the empty air.

‘It dodged this?’

The superior individual disappeared into the darkness again.

“So not all superior individuals are on the same level.”

At a glance, it was smaller than the one I had fought on the ground.

But it was that much faster, and that much more perceptive.

If we fought head-on, the one with the higher weight class would be stronger—but if it used the darkness as a shield and repeated hit-and-run tactics, it would become several times more troublesome.

‘No, if it's this cunning, it'll aim for Pol rather than me.’

It would get complicated if it started to exploit weaknesses.

I had to deal with it before it made that judgment.

The next attack must hit.

To do that, I needed a speed that could overwhelm its evasive reaction.

I gripped my sword differently.

I imbued mana into the sword, which I had pulled back as far as I could.

A cloud that holds rain.

Nimbostratus.

As if the superior individual had also become cautious, a brief lull continued.

And.

The moment the leg of the Arachne superior individual, stretching out from the darkness, glistened in the light of the torch.

I stepped forward and extended my sword, aiming for its head.

A single, piercing drop of rain.

Drizzling Rain.

-Kigigi?!

The superior individual, with a sword embedded in its head, let out a grating scream.

The movement of its legs, trying to create distance in reaction to the attack.

I took one more step forward and shoved the sword in deeper.

“Just quietly, die!”

I twisted the sword.

Unsure if that would be enough, I swung the sword down as it was.

The superior individual, its head split from the center down to below its jaw, trembled before collapsing to the floor.

I let out the breath I had been holding and tapped the Arachne Queen's crystal in my pocket.

“Hey. What did you say earlier?”

[…….]

The Queen was silent for a long time.

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