Chapter 322 Jorōgumo

"So, if you didn't take the two girls, then who did? You have been here for two days, and you were obviously close to here. Did you see anything?" I asked after boarding the door to the outside up. Carly was sitting on a chair in front of the fire I had built, but she wasn't talking.

"I don't know what it was, but it was a black creature of some sort. I think it was supernatural, Maybe a spider or something, but this world is new and extremely strange. Why are you the only male that I have seen so far?" Cleena asked me, then narrowed her eyes at me. "Do you really need to be in that disgusting form?"

"What is actually going on?" Carly asked suddenly, and I sighed, releasing my form and returning to my new black-eared and smooth-tailed Cat God form, and Carly jumped up.

"My real name is Galio, and I am the thirteenth Zodiac, Protector of the Mortal Realms, blah blah blah. I really should get some cards made. This repeating myself is really starting to get old," I groaned, but that was something that I was going to talk to Eliza about tonight. As silly as it sounded, it was just more efficient, and I was tired of repeating myself every time I met someone new.

"You're a what? What is a god? Are you like a lesser goddess?" Carly asked, and I slapped a hand over my face as Cleena started to keen and cackle.

"Lesser goddess?! This creature is your goddess's god! I am the Queen of my kind, and he still treats me like I am a child!" Cleena laughed, and I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"You are lucky to be alive. If it had been one of your lessers, they would not be here to talk about it. And you are locked up because I still don't know what you are doing here or whose side you are on," I said, and Cleena shrugged.

'',

"That makes two of us on both points. Not like I would be summoned here for good reasons, but I did want to attack you when I saw you, but I didn't know that you were the Cat God until you used the Spectral Shackles. This isn't a normal spell, and only people that devote their whole life like Galio, The Ghost Hunter. I still remember the stir you caused when you came to my world," Cleena said, and I nodded.

I remembered parts of it, and seeing Cleena again had brought more forward of other creatures I had met in my travels. Now I took a second to think over what might be able to steal two girls without making much of a sound but also looking like a spider?

Jorōgumo. A sly and deceiving spider-turned-spirit after living for over 400 years old that could easily have done something like this.

"Do you think that it was a Jorōgumo? She is a spirit-type monster, and they are known to be able to distract their victims while capturing them in her webs. You said she looked like a spider, and I was looking for footprints," I said, turning to the door, but Carly ran over to me to grab my arm.

"Where are you going?!" Carly exclaimed, and Cleena started to laugh.

"This creature's fear is delicious!" The Banshee Queen laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

"You are going to stay here so I can get the other girls. If there was just Cleena here, I would bring you with me, but if there are two, that means there are more, and I have a lot more work to do than I thought. That damn Witch must have summoned you all just to cause more discord!" I said, growling out the last part.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Cat God," Cleena said, but I ignored her as I looked at Carly. "You will be fine here. Just don't let Cleena out of those chains or this room, and we should be good."

'',

"No! You can not leave me here!" Carly exclaimed as she tightened her grip on my arm. I looked down at her hand before reaching up and grabbing it.

"I have to go get the other girls, but I promise that I will be back for you. Just stay here and don't let Cleena out! Okay?" I said in an as reassuring voice as possible, but Carly still didn't look convinced as she slowly nodded her head. "Good; now I am going to put a sleep spell on you so you can rest."

"Wait!" Carly exclaimed, but it was too late because I had already placed the spell on her. Her eyes fluttered close before she slumped into my arms, and I carefully set her down in the chair before standing up.

"Don't touch her, or worse things, death will wait for you when I get back," I growled and took her over to one of the bigger chairs and placed Carly down in it.

"You really do care for this creature, don't you?" Cleena asked as I turned away from Carly and headed towards the door, but I growled at her.

"I brought her out here and into what I knew was going to be dangerous, but running into spirits was not on my list of worries! Just sit tight and be good while I am gone," I said before opening the door and heading out into the snowy wilderness.

As soon as I was out of sight of the Watch Tower, my form wavered before solidifying back into my Rosie disguise. My body changed. I started to make a plan to deal with this Jorōgumo problem quickly before it got too out of hand.

The first thing that needed to be done was to find where she had taken the girls because if there were two, then there were probably more entities out there. The second was making sure that I got the two other girls and Carly stayed safe in case things went south or if this Jorōgumo had backup waiting around for a chance to strike. I needed to get the three back, and then I could get everyone into gear with prepping the town for the attack that would come tomorrow night, most likely.

I had so little time to get everything ready, but for now, I had to concentrate on the task at hand, and that was finding the spider's trail. Not an easy job, and I was forced to carve new runes into my Mana Runes in my eyes so I could pick up what I liked to call ectoplasm. It was the residue of any creature that consumed Negative Energy but wasn't a Riftwalker since you needed nothing to see where they went, but technically they destroyed everything they touched to the point of even destroying the trail they should leave behind.

Jorōgumo didn't have that problem, and that allowed me to use my runes to trace their path through the woods. It was a little more complicated than just following regular footprints, but I managed it well enough since I had practiced in this field already as a Ghost Hunter in a past life. My main concern was finding them before midnight when things would start happening, so I pushed myself until I reached the edge of a warding line.