CH 105

Chapter 105 : Den of Arachne

「O-OUCH….」

After being bitten, wrapped up with thread in a cocoon and kidnapped by the arachne I fainted from the pain and shock…. Some time seemed to have passed as I awakened to the feeling of my body being dragged on the ground.

Fortunately I was wrapped in a cocoon-like thread which protected my body from the pain of being dragged along the ground of some sort of cave. I didn’t mean that my sense of pain was numbed when I said that it didn’t hurt, in fact my five senses were working just fine, I could move my limbs too. Except for the dull pain on my back where I was bitten by the arachne, I was safe.

It seems that archne didn’t bite me to kill me, it was for the sake of injecting poison to paralyze my limbs.

Even so, I was completely safe thanks to my 『Vessel of Poison』, the same passive skill that protected me from the Basilisk’s Acid Breath. It seems that my skill was good enough to also neutralise arachne poison.

And fortunately this arachne didn’t know that I had a poison resistance skill, so I was sure that it had yet to realize that its poison didn’t work on me.

Like some spiders from our world, the arachne seemed to use poison and its threads, not to kill its prey, but to incapacitate them and keep them fresh for later consumption.

As if to confirm my suspicion, a while later, I felt that my cocoon was hung upside-down like a moth’s cocoon. Well, that arachne was walking leisurely, so it might have not been able to detect faint movement inside its cocoon.

I moved my hands around inside the cocoon. My first priority was to grasp the surrounding area by making an opening for my eyes. On top of being sticky, these threads were also thick, making it really hard to make even a small opening. It would be nigh impossible to escape if this cocoon was connected to arachne..

「Yup, this really is spiderweb after all.」

The scenery that I saw from the opening that I created for my eyes was just as I expected.

Different from the pit-like cave of the Rock Spider, this arachne’s den was something similar to the forest dome. Below me giant spiderwebs made up what seemed to be a floor, and directly opposite of that were the top of so many trees that it looked more like an emerald carpet. It seems that the arachne was nesting at quite a high elevation. It made its nest high in the trees, a little bit below the cannopie’s ceiling. Was its nest made to catch prey?

I guess not, since the arachne seemed to be using venom to catch its prey, this den was nothing more than a base for it. The reason for the nest’s high elevation was solely to fend off foreign enemies.

I think it was only natural for arachne to catch their prey like fishing with a net, just like how it caught me. The reason it chose me amongst the other party members was simply because I was the weakest amongst them. And the arachne’s judgement was correct in that regard. If any other member were targeted, there was a high possibility that they’d have counterattacked the arachne before it could bite them.

「Haa~… I must be jinxed for this to happen again.」

Even though my teamwork with the yankee team finally started looking good.

It was just like a normal party with the Juri-Mari combo as vanguard and Randou-san as rear guard. On top of that, despite his moody attitude, the party even had its own  walking hax code called Tendou-kun, who could even solo a boss like it was a walk in the park. It was highly possible that the current combat potential of Tendou’s yankee party was on par with Souma Yuuto’s hero party.

It was really disheartening knowing that I was separated from such a powerful party.

「Well regrouping with them might be close to impossible.」

I mean, even if I wanted to go back to them right now, I was powerless in this situation. I didn’t even know which path they took.

And it’s not like they were going to wait for me in that underground lake either, not after they defeated the underground lake boss and annihilated the army of Jiras.

I was just a pitiful victim who got myself kidnapped by a monster, there’s no way they would come to save me. Well, I was satisfied as long as they mourned for my death.

Now that I am back to square one, I guess it’s time to solo the dungeon again.

I wouldn’t be that lonely since I could resummon Rem, but it was a waste to do that since it would mean that she’d lose the precious materials used to create her before. Nevertheless, I couldn’t do anything but give up on those precious materials given by Tendou.

What separated me from the yankee team was a monster living in the wild after all. I’ve experienced this kind of situation once before.

Moreover, I had no resentment against wild beasts whose actions were based on their nature but, if a person would have separated me from the yankee team I definitely would have cursed him to death.

「Let’s start with the prison break plan for now.」

I widened the opening bit-by-bit as I made my cocoon turn around to get a better look of my surroundings and, yup, I couldn’t see that arachne at all. It could either be out to hunt for other prey, or camping above its nest in the blind spot of my field of vision.

Either way, I couldn’t stay in this cocoon forever. It ended with just one bite last time, but it might really start eating its meal if it caught me this time. Even my OP poison resistance skill was useless if the arachne bit chunks out of my body. I was in dire need of a more powerful physical defense after all.

Well, that would be asking too much of my dear patron god Ruinhilde though. I think the drug used to heal the bitten wound on my back was enough for my current situation.

Fortunately that arachne wrapped me whole into a cocoon without stripping me of my gear and weapons. I still had my precious magic weapon, the red knife, various ointments, a broken core and bits and pieces of carefully selected materials. I was really lucky to have all of those with me right now.

「Uuuh, GUH!　I…. Can’t reach my back.」

After the easy yet suffocating work of applying the ointment on the bite wound on my back, I started my preparation for the prison break.

「Fuck! Normal knives aren’t enough to cut this thread…」

Despite its viscosity, this spider’s thread was extremely flexible. Normal cutlery wouldn’t be enough to cut it.

「I guess I have to risk my life and use the red knife.」

Please don’t catch on fire!

I cut the cocoon really carefully with the red knive’s fiery blade while desperately  praying. Well it wouldn’t spit flames as long as I didn’t swing it with all my strength. As long as I used it carefully it only heated the knife’s blade and that was enough to cut the threads.

I made a vertical cut which guaranteed my escape from this cocoon. Moreover, I once again surveyed my surroundings as soon as I was freed from the cocoon.

「… Yes.」

I didn’t see that Arachne. Instead, I saw a few similar cocoons hanging down around me. Looking at the black limbs sticking out of those cocoons, it seems the arachne was normally preying on Goma. Well, those fools would be just the right prey for Arachne.

Oops, I have to escape from this place ASAP, but jumping down from this place is just……….

「Haa, never have I felt this grateful for having 『Black Hair Bind』.」

That skill had long since become my lifeline. It helped me in various situations and it wasn’t an overstatement to say that the all-purpose curse, the 『Black Hair Bind, was the shaman’s main weapon.

See that! I could easily descend from that elevation with this skill!

「Haah… S-So tired….」

After a horror filled descent with the black hair bind, I finally tasted the joy of stepping back on solid ground.

No matter how excellent my control over the black hair bind, it wasn’t as if I could descend like the special forces in movies. It was an extremely dangerous feat since I was only using one thick black hair braid to climb down to the ground.  I made it stuck to the ground to stabilize my body during the descent and……

Bingo!

I landed, safe and sound, just before running out of fuel.

Haah, my training up till now didn’t go to waste.

I stabilized my breath first before escaping from that place immediately. I would be killed for sure if that arachne captured me again.

「I guess I have to understand my current position first.」

I followed the direction given by the magic circle. My current objective was to get as far away as possible from this place. Summoning Rem again meant that I had to waste her previous rare materials. Her abilities would be just average if I didn’t use any materials during her creation process.

I had to reach the Fairy Plaza for the time being, even if its location was far from my current location so that I could make some preparations.

「KISHIKISHI.」

My heart almost stopped when I heard that sound come from the other side of the green thickets. Or rather, it was beating really loudly right now.

That sound… Don’t tell me it found out about my escape already! ?

「KISHAAAAAAA! 」

「!!!!! ? 」

Without even trying to hide its presence, it appeared from the other side of the thickets.

It was…… Not the arachne, it was another spider. Should I call it, Spider-like monster now?

Though it was one size smaller than the arachne, it was still impossibly big for a bug. Even though it only stood as tall as my waist, its legs were around two metres long.

In terms of appearances, it was similar to a huntsman spider, and had brown and green specks all over its body which might be the result of its adaptation to this dome forest.

The eight eyes of this newcomer spider were looking at me.

「『Spiderweb Twine』! 」

「SHAAAAAA! 」

I drew first blood in this battle.

No time to worry about running or fighting. I threw a『Spiderweb Twine』, a net made with blackhair bind. There was no way to escape or fight if I didn’t seal my opponent’s movements first.

Even this spider took me as an easy prey. Yellow liquid was overflowing from its mouth as it fired its thich spider threat. But, fortunately, it missed its target because my 『Spiderweb Twine』 was blocking its field of vision.

The attack that combined the spider’s yellow liquid and its thick thread hit a thick branch instead of me, and sliced through it as if it were tofu, accompanied by sizzling sounds. The yellow liquid was a powerful acid, it seemed. I would be reduced to bone if I got hit by that, no, I might actually be able to survive thanks to my『Vessel of Poison』. But, like hell I’m gonna test that kind of suicidal idea in the middle of combat.

There’s no way I could run without that guy shooting its acid treated thread from behind. I had to defeat this guy right there.

「TAKE THIS! 」

Unsheating the Red Knive, I activated Black Hair Bind to tie the spider and jumped on its back. It was its first debut in a long while ever since my battle against Higuchi.

「SHAO! 」

I plunged the red hot knive blade into the face of Ashidaka[Spider]. It was a perfectly timed attack as I was using my tentacles to better control the knife. I noticed that the battle went somewhat smoothly for once. And, bam, I landed a critical hit!

「SHAAAA!　KISHAAAAAAAAA! 」

The flame inside the Red Knive burned the Ashidaka from the inside. The flame seemed to have burned its brain as it started to convulse and then toppled with its long and thin legs still twitching for a while before it completely stopped moving.

「T-Thank god…. It ended in just one attack….」

Thank god I rushed to attack the Ashidaka instead of running away. For some reason, it felt like my combat ability soared a little bit.

Nonono, this isn’t the time to feel happy about it.

I’d be checkmated if there were two of these Ashidaka instead of one. Looking around I noticed – from large rocks to the roots of giant trees, this area seems to have a lot of undulation, which meant that the spiders could run faster than me. Or better said, they’d be faster than me even on level ground, on this kind of unleveled ground I had no chance.

Maybe I could improvise some kind of traps, but I don’t think hastily made traps could hinder those spiders.

「Nonono, there’s gotta be a better way….. Yes this guy, let’s try it on this one.」

I suppress the impulse to leave this place as soon as possible and went toward the corpse of the Ashidaka I just killed a while ago.

「Yeah, it’s already dead.」

It’s body was charred from head to toe, it’s corpse already completely stiff with its long legs rounded up.

Yes, if the corpse is that of an enemy, then I should be able to use it.

「I celebrate your death with a curse upon your shell. In Black Blood. Meat of mud. Head only empty . That shell contains a soul no more, but a false heart of dregs impure. Crawl, come out, resurrect――『Corpse Doll Of Resentment』.」

『Corpse Doll of Resentment』：Closing the crevice of regret, moving only its body, a human form of love and hate.

Yes, this is the new type of curse that was created after I used Rem to possess Masaru’s corpse. In a literal sense, it was the curse that manipulated corpses.

Rather, it was already beyond the realm of curse. This was basic Necromancy.

「… Yup, I win this bet.」

Similar to when I created the claydoll, the blackish shadow of chaos appeared. But, instead of sinking the corpse under the mud of chaos, the black mud enveloped the corpse as if slowly encroaching on it until it completely covered the whole body.

A while after the black mud enveloped the corpse, it started to fall as if washed by water and— The corpse started to move again.

「KISHIKISHIKISHI.」

The mutated Ashidaka’s body color changed from forest camouflage to dark city camouflage and quickly turned its body right side up, raising a cry towards me. I knew the meaning of that cry. It wasn’t a threat but a pledge of allegiance.

「Just in case, your inside is Rem, right? 」

「KISHI! 」

Its body shook up and down as if it said yes.

I see now, it was just like with Claydoll MK.2, the one in control was Rem.

「So Rem, is your body still on the move? 」

「KISHI! 」

「Rem, Do you know my whereabouts? 」

「KISHI! 」

「You’re heading in my direction? 」

「KISHI! 」

「I see then, could it be that…. Randou-san and the others are coming with you? 」

「KISHISHI.」

She replied with a sad voice. No, well, I understood their reason but, she told me that the others weren’t coming with her.

「I understand, well I guess the first thing to do is to meet with your real avatar. Where should I go? 」

「KISHI! 」

Ahidaka Rem turned around as if to say “Leave it to me”. Could it be that you want me to get on your back?

Well, your back might be wide enough for someone as small as me. Since she was such a big spider monster, threading the path with around 45 kilogram of weight on her back shouldn’t be a problem.

「Alright then, Let’s―― GWUOAAAA! ? 」

「KISHAAAAAAA! 」

As soon as I got on the back of Ashidaka Rem, she departed vigorously. Her eight thin and long legs were moving as they made rustling sounds, passing by the undulations in the forest at unbelievable speeds.

「UWAAA, THIS IS A LITTL―― WUOOAAAAAAAA! 」

I had no choice but to cling on to Ashidaka Rem’s back as if my life depended on it.

Rem, can you stop for a minute?

I felt… Sick.