"Yeah, you don't have to blame yourself. Gallio must have his reason to do something like that, that boy must have seen something in you" Alvin who was being supported by an adventurer muttered.
That magic earlier from the girl only targeted the enemy. In a way, it could be said that it was because of her that he and Kain were saved. Alvin could see why Gallio would prioritise her life above his but it didn't make sense to him. Perhaps there was something else between them?
"Don't worry everyone, I have just received word from the secondary team, they are headed here right now" Kain tried to relax the heavy mood by giving some optimistic news.
"Great, then all we need to do is delay her. When the secondary team arrives here, at that time we can defeat her easily" the veterans rejoiced.
"Don't get so cocky just because you managed to send a sound transmission. It doesn't matter if there are hundreds or thousands of you. Now that you have angered my little sister, the outcome will be all the same".
Their joy didn't last long as a cold voice filled with sadism, snapped them back to reality. At some unknown point in time, the maid had escaped their encirclement and appeared behind the adventurer who uttered those words.
Her dagger slightly traced his back before she disappeared once again. This was a clear message from her, if she wanted to she could have easily killed them. The only reason she was not doing so was because she had something else in mind.
KRRRRIIIEEKKK… at this moment, a disturbing shriek carrying an immense pressure, came from one part of the floor. At the crater where the maid who controlled the string got hit by Hallie's magic, was a huge ball of yarn.
That ball of yarn moved and something disturbing and frightening came out of it.
It had eight dark black eyes, stood ten meters in size and had eight powerful legs. It had an hourglass like shape on the underside of the spherical abdomen and had numerous tiny needle like hair covering all its body.
Also, there was a crimson coloured deadly pattern imprinted on its back. Some kind of liquid that even melted the ground, continuously dropped from its body.
"A… S-Spider Monster?" There was no other way to describe it, the adventurers who saw it, immediately started trembling in fear. Some even instinctively took a step back.
Just a look at her was enough to evoke the primal fear in them. This was the true form of Emma, the Black Widow Spider. She was designed by Simon in a way that would even scare the living shit out of the most stoic of men.
Coupled with the fact that she can produce thousands of different lethal poisons and that human males were her most favourite food, anybody would try to steer clear of her.
According to the setting, Emma had very less control of herself in this state and hated reverting to it. But it was nevertheless, her strongest form.
"What kind of monster is that?" the adventurer had no information about such a monster and could only look in despair as she approached them at a speed that was nerve wracking.
KRRIIIEEKKK… the adventurers tried to attack her from the distance with magic and skills; however, just her scream alone was powerful enough to sweep those attacks away before they could approach her body.
Even if any attack did manage to land on her, it either did no damage or was offset by the shiny armour like hairs on her body.
"Attack… attack… keep on attacking her!!!!" this was the first time even the veteran adventurers who had years of experience fighting monsters and diving inside the dungeon to feel that threatened.
The kind of bloodlust that they were feeling from the Black Widow Spider was so palpable that even their breathing became distorted.
In their fear of the incomprehensible, they could only use all of their power to attack it in hopes that something would work. Hundreds of attacks targeted Emma but before any of them could land on her she mysteriously disappeared from the sight of the adventurers.
"Invisibility?"…
"No, look above. She jumped"… the adventurers who were freaking out from her sudden disappearance suddenly pointed up and all the eyes shifted above only to see a giant spider standing upside down in the sky.
"T-The monster is flying?"…
When the adventurers looked carefully, they realised that the spider was not actually flying upside down, but using the strings to run in the air.
At some unknown point in time, the entire ceiling of the 21st floor was covered by a gigantic spider web which the monster used to rush towards them. They tried to fire magic in the sky but the spider was much too agile when running on the spider web then on the ground.
All the attacks missed their marks.
PSSHHH… Emma opened her mouth and sprayed out droplets of greenish liquid from above. These greenish liquid when it fell on some adventurers, immediately corroded their armour and seeped inside their body through their skin.
Like a virus, it immediately seized control of their system and caused multiple bodily failures before ultimately claiming their life.
"It's poison!! Mages create magic shield".
The mage class was capable of creating magic shield with their mana, it was one of the must have skill for any mage. It not only allowed them protection from certain kinds of attacks it was also kind of like their last line of defence.
The mages hurriedly raised the magic shield to protect all the adventurers from the poison that was falling from the sky. The poison from Emma was even able to corrode through the sturdy armours of these adventurers, so what could a measly magic shield made out of mana could do?
The magic shield was corroded by the poison; nevertheless, it stopped the posion long enough for the adventurers underneath it to avoid it.
They just evaded one danger when they were threatened with another. Strands of threads more than an inch wide, penetrated through the magic shields before wrapping against the mages and pulling them up.
One by one, the adventurers that were caught, were restrained inside a cocoon where they would slowly die of asphyxiation or were devoured alive by Emma who was now directly above the group of adventurers and looking down at them.
Those eight pitch black eyes reflected the terror stricken faces of the adventurers. There were no emotions in those eyes, only pure insatiable hunger as if they were nothing but food for her. It was a sight straight out of nightmare, but this nightmare was yet to end.
When the Black Widow Spider uses a prey to create a cocoon around them, it's only for one reason and that is to spawn underlings.
The warm bodies of the adventurers provide the ideal nurseries for her offspring. The Black Widow Spider injects her eggs into the immobile and dying foes and after some time, these small critters break out of that body to serve their mother.
Everybody could see the cocoons wiggling fiercely; however, nobody knew what kind of atrociousness was going on inside until the moment these cocoon burst apart with thousands and thousands of tiny spiderlings spawning out of them.
KIELLLEIEHKKKK… these critters made a cacophony of unpleasant noise as they followed the command of their mother and dropped down on the adventurers.
Imagine thousands of tiny spiders dropping down from the sky, at that moment even the light coming from the enormous luminescence crystals was covered. It was like a black carpet covering the sky.
Tap… Tap.. Tap… Tap… Taptaptaptaptaptaptap… the spiders dropped down on the ground like rain. They crawled and scuttled towards the adventurers who were trembling and cowering where they stood.
"AHHHHH… help me… help…pwease…hab ..bwee" the spider lings skittered across the bpdy of the adventurers, creeping their clothes, armour, mouth and biting them from within.
Unlike the Emma herself, these spider lings were just ordinary spiders; however, each of them have a deadly bite and are a carrier of her poison. So even if you just happen to touch them, you would be poisoned and ultimately die.
The adventurers retaliated but the numbers of the spiders was just too mind bogging not to mention more and more hatched from those cocoon in the ceiling.
In the face of this pure avatar of brutality, the mental fortitude of the adventurers collapsed, their formation was swept away, leaving behind only chaos and despair in truest sense.
"I don't want to die… I don't want to die. I am going to become the next guild leader of the Phantom Light guild, I cannot die here" Levin Field, the genius of the Phantom Light Guild broke down and ran away.
But how could it be so easy to run away from Emma? He was soon ensnared by the invisible strings, wrapped around like a cocoon and pulled up.
The other geniuses of the tertiary team also didn't fare any better. Marcus who struggled fiercely was brought down by the spider lings, the Lantz and the Rees brother from the crimson demolition guild were eaten alive.
All of the geniuses met with various twisting fates. They might be called geniuses or whatnot, but at the end they were still too young and inexperienced to face the true terrors of the dungeon.
"Ugh… Master Karina… Elder Sister Tiana, Anna… Gallio…" Hallie mumbled looking at the ceiling before slowly getting spun in a web and turned into a cocoon.
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