VOLUME 5: CHAPTER 12

VOLUME 5: CHAPTER 12

After descending a long flight of stairs, the expedition team arrived at the second floor of the labyrinth. It was a stark contrast to the first floor; instead of a grandiose hall filled with murals, the second floor was your typical cavern with its uneven ground, stale air, and forked paths. Glowing plants, which resembled algae, covered portions of the walls, providing some illumination to the expedition team. 

Wisgarus cast his spell and two humanoid golems sprouted out of the ground. He cast another spell and a floating eyeball clad in flames manifested itself before him. The eyeball moved several meters in front of the expedition team, the golems closely following behind it. 

“Poison wisps ahead,” said Wisgarus. 

The floating eyeball enabled him to see far into the distance, despite darkness of the cavern. 

Upon hearing of the presence of poison wisps, Minerva immediately cast her barrier magic. Translucent bubbles surrounded each members of the expedition team. The moment they finally confronted the wisps, the barriers prevented the poisonous gas from making contact with the knights’ bodies. 

The knights easily culled the poisonous wisps they encountered along the way. With barriers protecting the knights, the floating smoke monsters were killed one after another after their nucleus was shattered by sword strikes. 

As they went deeper into the second floor of the labyrinth, the golems finally activated some of the labyrinth’s traps. 

Clicking sounds were heard, and a gap between the walls opened. A split second after, dozens of arrows shot from the wall and pierced the body of the two golems, its impact strong enough to shatter even their heads. Judging by the sizzling sound after the arrow made contact with rocks, it was probably poisonous and corrosive. 

And as though the arrows weren’t enough, the spikes above the ceiling formed cracks and fell down, destroying what remained of the golem’s bodies. Clouds of dust flew about and the expedition team stared at the remnants, their expressions grim. 

Although they’d encountered only poison wisps so far, it seemed that the second floor was filled with traps. And to make things worse, those traps were clearly poisoned. Thankfully, they had two Royal Court Magicians with them here. They should be able to safely move past this area as long as they tread carefully. 

After his golems were destroyed, Wisgarus cast his spell once again and created a fresh batch of golems. Just like before, the floating eyeball and the golems moved in front of the expedition team. The traps – from pits, poison arrows, whirling blades and spears – shot towards the golems one after another, destroying them in an instant. 

Wisgarus continued creating golems to bear the full brunt of those traps. The knights, on the other hand, dealt with the poison wisps. This simple tactic proved effective, as they finally arrived at the entrance to the third floor of the labyrinth. 

As expected, they didn’t encounter any flowers in the second floor. According to the divination from the Water God, the flower was located in the lower floors of the labyrinth. 

Just like before, the expedition team descended a long flight of stairs and arrived at the third floor. It also resembled a cavern, but the walls were twice wider than before. Large webs filled the walls and the ceiling of this floor. 

Wisgarus halted in his track. Noticing the magician’s hesitation, Captain Symon asked, “What is it, Lord Magician?”

Wisgarus frowned. Using the floating eye, he saw an ominous-looking sight at the room ahead. 

“Eggs. Human-sized eggs,” he said. He looked at Minerva and added, “Three of them.”

Wisgarus started casting his spell. The ground below him shook and shot up, before latching to his body and forming an armor. From head to foot, scales made of strengthened rock covered Wisgarus’ body. This was the infamous spell which earned Wisgarus his monicker – The Fortress. It was well-known that Wisgarus’ rock armor was stronger than iron, and at the same time as flexible as hemp rope. 

The members of 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 your selves.” 

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. 

Everyone here were 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 over a thousand men in the process. 

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 its 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 of her uneasiness. Something was definitely wrong in this situation. 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. She realized that 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 archnia 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 loudly 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 as 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 towards the arachnia without fear for their lives. 

To their surprise, the arachnia jumped up and latched itself into 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 towards 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 down the wound and the arachnia screeched in pain and anger. 

It jumped towards 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 violently screeched 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 it 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 located 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 violently screeched. 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 comb 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 opt 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 this forbidden region. Our lives and the mission are more important that 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 in 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 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 said to his men. “We’ll camp here for now! Everyone, rest, recuperate! Search the entire floor for the flower!”