Surprisingly, Wolfgang and the vengeful spirit spider were not in a father-son relationship.
Ah, yes. They do look very similar to anyone who sees them. Especially that shining forehead.
But that couldn’t be the case.
While there are monsters that use humans as hosts to reproduce, it doesn’t mean a hybrid child is born between the two.
Only offspring identical to the parent monster pop out.
So there was no way Wolfgang could be the son of a vengeful spirit spider.
Although his appearance and intelligence weren’t much different from a monster’s, shockingly, he was at least close to being a human species.
Should we call him a lesser-human, slightly inferior to humans? Anyway, he had no relation to spiders.
So―
“My son…!”
No, this is not the time to worry about such things.
As the torch that had been illuminating the ceiling fell back down, the vengeful spirit spider with its mouth wide open began charging towards us!
“Run!”
I shouted urgently, looking back.
We had to escape.
That was a monster we couldn’t face with our current strength. It would be impossible even if Kikel and I gave it our all.
To subjugate it, silver token adventurers or royal knights would have to be dispatched.
“That sounds good!”
“Agreed!”
There was no opposition. The party members nodded and all turned their bodies at once, rushing towards the cavity entrance.
“Are you running away― running away again! You can’t go!”
The old man’s roar coming from behind us. It was terribly chilling to hear that voice getting closer and closer.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Eight legs come crashing through the cave ceiling. It was a noise somehow reminiscent of helicopter rotor sounds.
“Why is a vengeful spirit spider in a place like this…!”
Laute muttered, gritting her teeth.
I felt the same way.
Why on earth was such a monster hiding in an ordinary mine shaft…!
A vengeful spirit spider was a being created when the soul of a human who died harboring intense grudges was resurrected by obtaining a monster’s body in an extremely rare chance.
While it might be understandable in a mid-level dungeon, it was a monster that shouldn’t exist in a mine shaft like this.
If every human who died harboring grudges became such a monster, this world would have perished long ago!
What should we do?
Can we escape like this?
I gritted my teeth, looking at the cavity entrance rapidly approaching.
A passage wide enough for even Kikel the lizardman to fight freely. Could the vengeful spirit spider enter that passage?
If it could, there was no point in running.
If it’s about running straight down a linear path, wouldn’t a creature with eight legs be much faster than those with just two legs?
We would end up running down the mine shaft passage like dogs with their tails on fire, only to be struck down by the vengeful spirit spider’s attack from behind.
Then, what should we do…
“Uoooooh!”
While I was biting my lip anxiously, imagining ominous scenarios, Wolfgang let out a loud roar like a newborn monkey and ran faster than anyone else.
Perhaps because he was wearing just a uniform without any armor? Although he was utterly incompetent in fighting, he was faster than anyone when it came to running away.
“I’m saved-!”
And so, Wolfgang, who finally reached the cavity entrance, leapt into it with a cry of joy-
Splat!
“Guuuargh?!”
With a heavy impact sound, he bounced back out at the same speed he had jumped in. Spraying red blood like a fountain.
“What?!”
Kikel, startled, grabbed Wolfgang by the scruff of his neck and stood him up.
“Urgh…”
Wolfgang, limp like a sick octopus, groaned in pain while leaking blood instead of ink.
“Spiders…! Spiders, blocking the way…! Ugh.”
Wolfgang raised his trembling right hand to point at the cavity entrance, then closed his eyes with what sounded like his last words.
“What, is he dead?!”
“Kishaaah…! Heart still beating! Not dead yet!”
So he’s just fainted from severe injuries.
“Mr. Kikel, Ms. Hilde! The entrance…!”
Laute shouted urgently, pointing her mace at the cavity entrance. More precisely, pointing at the dozen or so giant spiders filling the entrance.
“Kiiiiek! Kiiiiek!”
“Kigigiik…!”
Damn, were they following us…!
While the vengeful spirit spider was chasing us from behind, our path forward was blocked by enemies, leaving us unable to move forward or backward. It was a fatal trap.
“We need to break through…!”
“Impossible!”
Laute shouted, her face contorted, almost spitting the words out.
Indeed, as she asserted, a forceful breakthrough seemed nearly impossible.
If it were just about a dozen giant spiders charging at us in close combat, we might be able to break through somehow if we were willing to take some injuries, but…
“Kigiiiiiek!”
“Kieeee!”
Pshh-! Pshhhhh!
Instead of charging at us, they spewed spider webs from their rears again and again, completely blocking the passage itself.
It was an incredibly cunning method. To the point where I wondered if they might be more intelligent than Wolfgang.
“Damn, at this rate…!”
We gritted our teeth and stopped running.
If we recklessly jumped in, we’d be caught in the spider webs and become a meal without even being able to resist. We couldn’t advance any further.
“…We’re screwed.”
It felt like everything was going dark before my eyes. I cursed, gritting my teeth.
In front of us was a net made of spider webs.
“Kigigigik…! Think you’ll escape again…!”
Behind us was a monster we couldn’t defeat.
It was literally a dead end.
* * *
“Give me your legs, my son…!”
As if mocking us who were trapped with nowhere to go, the vengeful spirit spider slowed its pace and approached slowly.
Judging by its decrepit face and the way it spoke, considering the setting of vengeful spirit spiders… the vengeful spirit possessing this monster was probably the soul of the previous village chief.
Damn that village chief brat. If you were going to kill your father, you should have done it properly. Leaving behind such an aftermath…!
I bit my lip hard and turned my body, glaring at the giant spider with an old man’s face slowly approaching.
“Kiiiiii…!”
My body started trembling.
The air I breathed in felt very cold, and my two legs felt like they weren’t my own.
All I could hear was the sound of my heart thundering like lightning.
The corners of my vision narrowed and darkened, to the point where I couldn’t see anything but the vengeful spirit spider.
Since being possessed in Brunhilde’s body, had there been a more critical situation than this?
Even when facing Gunther, or when I had to fight with my back slashed by looters’ ambush during my first request.
I had the confidence that I could somehow get through if I just kept my wits about me.
But now?
“Ha…”
Suddenly, an old joke came to mind.
The joke that even if you’re caught by a tiger, if you just keep your wits about you… you’ll die feeling the pain of being eaten alive vividly.
That was the situation. Right now.
* * *
“…I have a good idea.”
Laute opened her mouth quietly.
A good idea?
I wondered if such a thing could exist in this situation.
“What is it…?”
“We set Wolfgang’s body on fire and throw him at the spider webs.”
What the fuck?
I turned to look at her with an astonished face.
“Pardon…?”
“If we have enough firepower to burn one person, wouldn’t it burn all those spider webs too? Once the spider webs burn away, we could escape through that hole…”
No, what kind of crazy idea is that.
He’s injured and unconscious, but he’s still a living person, and you want to set him on fire and throw him at the spider webs like firewood?
It’s clearly insane talk to anyone.
It seemed Laute was out of her mind due to fear.
Come to think of it, she recognized the monster as a vengeful spirit spider as soon as she saw it, just like me.
That’s why she must have been gripped by fear and despair.
Unlike Kikel who still had some fighting spirit left, she was already certain that we couldn’t win.
“…It seems too late for that. And there’s no guarantee it would work as you say.”
I refused Laute’s suggestion – no, her madness disguised as a suggestion.
Wolfgang was certainly weak to the point of being useless, noisy, creepy-looking, and even an unarmed combat warrior…
But he was still a party member after all.
Being a bald unarmed combat warrior wasn’t a sin heavy enough to warrant becoming human firewood. Probably.
“Haah…”
What good idea, I was a fool for expecting one.
I sighed and turned to face forward again.
Still, that crazy talk did help in its own way.
Perhaps because I heard such an outrageous thing, my limbs, which had been so stiff with fear that I could hardly move, started to move a little bit.
“Kikel, I’ll leave the rear to you.”
I firmly gripped the hilt of my longsword with both hands, and forcibly drew out my fading fighting spirit while glaring at the vengeful spirit spider.
“Kigigigik…!”
The vengeful spirit spider descended to the ground along the spider web, bursting into a grotesque laugh. The blue ghost fire in its empty eye sockets seemed to flicker with delight.
…How laughable.
Yeah, you think your prey is all caught, is that it?
“…You sound like a son. Can’t you tell the difference because you have no eyes?”
I grind my molars and add more strength to my grip on the sword hilt.
The odds were slim.
No. Beyond slim, the possibility of us taking it down with our strength was close to zero.
But… we have to fight.
We must fight.
Even if the odds are close to zero, without fighting we can’t even grasp that slim chance.
“Haaah… Phew…”
I fill my lungs with deeply inhaled air, then exhale it long as if sighing.
A deep breath to suppress and calm the trembling of my body.
The shaking sword tip regained its stability.
I turned my body slightly sideways, lowered my knees slightly while pulling the base of the horizontally held longsword blade close to my cheek.
A chilling tension flowed through the taut back muscles.