Breen’s absurd words disoriented the party members.
Silence enveloped the group, but Jeong Yusin was the first to recover.
” Aren’t you the daughter of the prime minister? Don’t you have any thoughts about inheriting your father’s profession, saving people, and setting the country right?”
“No… I’m the third daughter and I find all that responsibility burdensome. I don’t want to be a prime minister.”
Jeong Yusin glanced at Iron Mask and sighed deeply.
“Hmph. I understand. Still, we have to make an attempt. I can’t let it go without trying.”
Iron Mask responded.
“Scath is correct. We can’t just leave them. If we can save them, we should. Breen, you don’t need to get involved, just stay out of it.”
” …Yes.”
Breen replied reluctantly, her unease clearly visible.
Jeong Yusin looked around at the party members and paused in thought.
Giant Spider.
A mid-sized monster, three times the size of a hobgoblin warrior.
It primarily uses its paralyzing venomous fangs and webs. With its large frame, getting hit by its forelimbs is devastating, even for frontline warriors.
Fighting it head-on seemed like a precarious situation for outright victory.
“The Giant Spider is strong. Weakening the young might be possible, but beyond that, it’s tough.”
Iron Mask spoke.
“We can try sneaking in quietly.”
The dwarven priest interjected.
Jeong Yusin looked down at Kubo.
“Kubo, you look pale. Are you okay?”
“My body feels a little cold, but I’m fine.”
“Have you taken your antidote?”
“I had it last night. Cough… cough.”
Suddenly, Kubo started coughing.
“Hmm?”
From Kubo’s neck, a small spiderling crawled out.
Thwap!
Jeong Yusin swung his hand and swatted the spiderling away.
Kubo flinched and stepped back.
“What, what is that?”
“A spiderling. I got rid of it.”
“Th-thank you. Still, you should have told me. I thought my heart would stop. Cough… cough.”
‘A bit unsettling. Is everything alright?’
An unpleasant foreboding prodded at the back of his mind.
“…Perhaps it’s better to sneak in and just retrieve the person. There’s no need to fight the Giant Spider. Shall I go?”
Mars offered. However, Jeong Yusin interjected.
“I’ll go.”
“Why?”
“I have the Venom Protection Engraving. Even if we’re discovered, I can buy us some time to escape.”
“…Scath, you don’t necessarily need to go.”
Mars tried to dissuade, but Jeong Yusin shook his head.
“No. Let me go.”
“…Alright. Do not overexert yourself. If it’s not going well, run.”
Iron Mask earnestly warned.
“Understood.”
Jeong Yusin nodded, set down his backpack, and carefully proceeded through the bushes with only his sword and dagger.
Fsss.
Fortunately, he had moved away from the outer perimeter, making it light enough not to need a torch.
He reduced his movements as much as possible and slowly made his way into a quiet clearing. In the center of the clearing was a cave.
The sight revealed white webs covering every visible area. The branches overhead were no exception.
Several creatures and humans were tightly bound with white silk and hung from trees. The arms and legs poking out from the web looked dried up like mummies.
‘There they are.’
Through the white silk, Jeong Yusin glimpsed pink hair and indigo hair.
The pink-haired one was Irene.
The indigo-haired one was Lisa.
Though it wasn’t entirely clear, it was probably them.
He approached slowly and soundlessly.
The two women were completely wrapped in silk and hung from a tree. Based on their occasional groans, they were still alive.
‘Strange.’
Although obscured by the silk, the women’s stomachs appeared swollen.
As if they were pregnant.
He carefully tore away the silk around their faces. Familiar faces met his gaze.
However…
It appeared as though all fluid had been drained from their bodies, leaving them withered like skeletons.
The pink-haired woman turned her hollow eyes towards Jeong Yusin.
“S-s… spare us…”
The paralytic venom may have impaired her speech.
“E-e-eh…”
The indigo-haired woman seemed delirious, emitting strange noises.
“Just hold on.”
Jeong Yusin whispered and retrieved his dagger.
He planned to cut all the webs. The unusually large bellies of the women worried him.
Even if what Breen had said about Ret was true, there’s no way a stomach could swell up so quickly overnight. It didn’t align with common sense.
He carefully moved his dagger, cutting the silk tightly wrapped around their bodies.
And then he saw it.
‘So it was true.’
His suspicions were not mistaken.
Between their torn clothes…
Their stomachs were inflated like balloons.
“A…Ah…”
The pink-haired woman murmured.
“Just hold on. I’ll…”
“B… my stomach hurts.”
“Aghhh…”
Jeong Yusin turned his head toward the women’s distended stomachs.
‘Wh-?!”
He saw something wriggling beneath the surfaces.
They were too small to be babies and there were far too many.
“Hurts… Hurts…! AHHHHH!”
The women’s mutterings grew louder, transforming into screams.
“EEEKKKKK!!!”
The pink-haired woman screamed loudly, her crimson eyes glaring around.
‘Shit!’
The women’s stomachs swelled to their maximum.
Then,
Pak!!!
Pak!!!
Their stomachs burst open like bombs, spilling out a torrent of blood.
Thud.
Blood and pieces of organs splattered his helmet and armor.
Some even splashed into his eyes, temporarily blinding him.
Crunch. Crunchcrunch.
A disturbing sound grazed his ears.
Forcing himself to open his eyes, he immediately regretted it.
Crunch. Crunchcrunchcrunch.
From the women’s burst stomachs…
Hundreds of spiderlings emerged, wriggling like a black mass.
“Gah!”
Hardly suppressing the urge to vomit, he staggered backward.
“A… Aaaa.”
The pink-haired woman gazed down at her ruptured stomach, full of hundreds of baby spiders, before succumbing instantly.
The indigo-haired woman met the same fate.
The rescue was a failure.
It was already far too late.
Even the books hadn’t mentioned that a giant spider could do such a horrific thing.
Jeong Yusin barely managed to regain his wits and backed away.
Tskkk. Tskkk. Tskkk.
The spiderlings swarmed over the women’s corpses, gnawing on the flesh.
Should this terrifying creature even be classified as a spider?
Clenching his teeth, he cautiously returned to the bushes.
“…Damn.”
After uttering a curse in the bushes, Jeong Yusin realized the mistake of coming in only trusting the Venom Protection Engraving and showing off to his party members.
If luck hadn’t been on his side, he and his party members could have met the same tragic end as these women.
Once again, he deeply understood: the evil of the Great Labyrinth ran deep.
“Hoo… hoo.”
After taking a deep breath, he pushed through the bushes and returned to his party.
“Uh… how’d it go?”
Kubo the priest asked. Jeong Yusin was thankful for the helmet; no one could see his expression.
“They’re both dead.”
“Huh? I thought both of them were still alive.”
“They died upon rescue when their stomachs burst open. The Giant Spider had planted its young inside them.”
Though the connection in his words was vague, the people quickly understood.
“…Terrifying.”
The dwarf looked pale and muttered to himself.
“Let’s go. We need to get out of here, wherever we go. The mother seems to be away.”
“Understood.”
As they finished the conversation and lifted the bags they’d set down…
Puuk.
A tingling sensation in his ribs followed by dizziness overwhelmed his mind.
What?
Curious, he looked down.
“Huh…?”
Two spear-sized fangs pierced through his abdomen.
“Scath!!!”
Iron Mask shouted and raced toward Jeong Yusin.
Mars and Kubo moved the same way.
But…
It was too late.
His body was lifted and flew into the air.
Hoooooom.
He was dragged along through the bushes with the fangs still piercing his belly.
Tudadadadadadada!!!
Tree branches, leaves, and spider webs slashed across his face as his helmet flew off somewhere.
KuNG!!!
Jeong Yusin’s body was thrown to the ground.
Like a deflated soccer ball, he rolled and collided with something.
“Uhgh.”
Blood flowed out of the wound where a hole the size of a child’s arm appeared.
He spotted spiderlings in his blurred vision alongside the pink-haired corpse, which was already half-eaten, revealing stark bones.
‘Shit.’
He realized.
It was the exact clearing he had just exited.
Koooooooom!!!
A wind mixed with dirt and grass swept past Jeong Yusin.
‘The Giant Spider.’
“Kryrrr. Klayyekk.”
Sharp fangs. Tree-trunk-like legs. Each eye as big as an adult’s fist.
Its gigantic size was enough to make one’s legs go numb. It wasn’t for nothing that he was regarded as a death god among the newly ranked intermediate explorers.
“Scath!!!”
Members of the party rushed into the clearing.
Iron Mask was the first to arrive.
“Battle preparation!”
Kubo, the dwarven cleric, began incantations.
Mars retrieved her shortbow.
Iron Mask, wielding a greatsword, rushed toward the Giant Spider.
In sync with him, Kubo’s magic activated.
[Holy Fire]
Kubo’s divine magic. Holy flames enveloped the party members, enhancing physical strength and attack power.
Upon reaching the Giant Spider, Iron Mask swung his greatsword with unbridled strength, showing no fear of death.
A courageous blow beyond measure.
Hoooooom!!!
But the Giant Spider skillfully dodged the move by merely shifting its body.
KABANG!!!
The greatsword struck the ground.
Most people would flinch upon a missed attack.
However,
Iron Mask was different. He simply hoisted the heavy greatsword again and swung once more.
Hoooooom!!!
The greatsword tore through the air, aiming for the Giant Spider’s head.
Once more, the Giant Spider stepped back.
KABANG!!!
Missed.
The greatsword drove into the ground.
CHREEEEEEET!!!
The Giant Spider turned its body and shot webbing. The giant lump of webbing, flying like a cannonball, hit Mars at the rear of the party.
Mars, who had been rapidly firing arrows with her ‘Rapid Shot’ Engraving, was struck by the webbing and rolled on the ground.
When she tried to get up, the sticky webbing hindered her every movement.
“Mars!!!”
Kubo moved to her rescue, but the Giant Spider’s rear legs lunged toward him.
[Intimidation]
A compulsion Engraving that forces a monster’s focus on oneself.
An artifact of the labyrinth gifted to Iron Mask.
An ability that consumes an enormous amount of mana, not to be used recklessly, but the situation didn’t allow for deliberation.
“HAAAAAA!”
Iron Mask gripped the greatsword with both hands and rushed forward.
HOOOOOOOM!!!
The greatsword soaring high in the sky chopped down once again.
A storm-like ferocity.
PUUUHHAAAACK!!!
The greatsword severed an entire spider leg clean off.
Liquid green ichor spurted like a fountain from the leg’s cross-section, soaking the ground.
Even the rigid exoskeleton and tree-thick legs couldn’t withstand the might of Iron Mask’s greatsword.
“KRELLLEEEKKK!!!”
The Giant Spider screamed and swung its massive front legs.
Iron Mask tried to evade but the spider’s leg was faster.
PAASSHH!!!
Struck by the massive front leg, Iron Mask tumbled far away.
Kubo grabbed his staff and stepped forward.
He seemed poised to protect Mars and Iron Mask.
Jeong Yusin could only watch his comrades struggle in his blurred vision.
“Cough.”
A spurt of crimson blood gushed out when he coughed.
The giant spider had injected so much paralyzing venom that not even a finger could move. His breathing was getting progressively faster and more shallow.
He couldn’t activate Venom Protection.
Strangely, his mana was unresponsive.
“Is this where I die?”
He had worked hard in preparation and effort, yet the party crumbled in an instant.
Breen was nowhere to be seen. She must have fled already.
“Excuse me…?”
Someone nearby spoke to him. Unable to turn his head, he couldn’t see who spoke but he definitely recognized the hesitant tone.
It was Breen.
Jeong Yusin’s eyes widened.
After enduring such brutal combat to make it here?
How?
‘Ninja…?’
