Fly in A Web

Styx was in the subterranean tunnels extending more pillars up into the open world and expanding his dungeon even further.

The town outside the dungeon was growing outwards and upwards as although the merchants were thinning out, more adventurers were coming, sone beginning to move into the town permanently.

The area his dungeon expanded above ground now reached all the way to the edge of the Abyssal Forest. It was a humongous area and was intended not just for expansion, but to serve as a warning sign for when the human army arrived.

Styx needed to know as much as he could about the enemy, from where they were, when they would arrive, and the composition of forces making it up. He sent several harpies and other flying monsters to leave the Abyssal Forest and fly through the clouds.

His dungeon was on the southern side of the Abyssal Forest, so any force from the central regions of the kingdom would have to detour around it to attack him with their full force.

The harpies were joined to Styx's sight, and he closely examined the rolling hills, treacherous mountains, and thick forests as the harpies flew at the front of the scout group.

In this world, air supremacy was overwhelmingly held by exotic race species and monsters that could fly rather than technology or magic. There were some specialized forces which tamed wyverns to battle in the sky, but it was nearly impossible to build any large scale air force until the kingdom had the technology to create spaceships or air fortresses.

Due to stray monster flock, or strong predators, Styx had forced his scouts to descend out of the sky ahead of time. The harpies had excellent eyesight and senses and would detect Second Step monsters ahead of time, whilst Third Step monsters were disinterested in killing First Step monsters unless provoked or the heart of their territory was invaded.

Styx's monsters were even more powerful due to all the bonuses from his titles and breeding partners. Each harpy for instance could battle a weaker Second Step monster one on one.

Searching through valleys and mountain passes for days, several of his remaining monsters reached a crystal clear lake that was so large it extended beyond the horizon and almost seemed like an inland sea more than a lake.

It was currently late at night, the full moon reflecting off the surface of the lake like a mirror.

A dungeon city built on giant artificial islands floating on the lake, wide, arched stone bridges connecting it to the land outside. Lights lit up the streets while rivers of fluorescent jellyfish created a milky way across the lake.

These jellyfish weren't to be underestimated. There were millions of them, each at the Second Step. Even Fourth Step monsters in the lake would avoid them, and by placing the dungeon city where it was, they formed a natural barrier for any lake-based monster waves.

Whilst there was the danger of lake monsters, this city was incredibly safe from any terrestrial creature or exotic race attack, which could only come from several narrow paths. The city defenses would wipe out most of them before they could even reach the city.

The harpies hid amongst the crowd and spied on the ground, where a giant battalion of Third Step royal guard army and hired warriors camped outside of the lake. They all had basic tents, while poles with light arrays inscribed in them were inserted into the ground and lit up the camp like countless tiny fireflies.

The monsters could see other lights moving along the bridge in and out of the dungeon city. Some of these were adventurers or mercenaries, but other were obviously this armies logistics squads. They were resupplying the soldiers rations and any equipment needing replacing or supplementing.

As Styx was controlling the monsters hiding in the clouds observing the intimidating force, the area in the underground tunnel where he was rapidly turned eerie.

It was already quiet beforehand, but for some reason the air seemed to feel sticky while his avatar could hear its own hearbeat. A powerful and instinctual sense of dread welled up from the bottom of his heart.

His core could look into the air from its omnipresence viewpoint, but what his avatar saw seemed different and gave him a powerful sense of disorientation. This was due to a Time Stagnation skill being exerted in the area. It was powerful enough that ten minutes inside was ten seconds outside of it, and experiencing both at the same time is what caused his temporal nausea.

Thin threads glistened in the air all around Styx's avatar, threatening to cut him into several pieces should he move, whilst a giant 4-meter-tall Arachne stepped out from a slit in space behind him.

Her body was pitch black with white rings and deadly barbs on it. The human torso section was completely bare, long silky white threads of hair extending down her pale body and swinging breasts.

"You are here again," Styx's expression hardened as the Monster Lord's power washed over him and an instinctual terror arose. "Dragon is a protector of this dungeon, are you picking a fight with him?"

"No. Attack. Make. Stronger."

A spider leg that was more of a scythe extended over his should and threatened to carve him up into pieces.

Styx wanted to send an SOS to Aura, but if he did that, the two Monster Lords would undoubtably fight until Dragon arrived, or one of them died. Either way, his dungeon would suffer extensive damage once again which he couldn't afford in leu of the coming battle.

He forcefully controlled his mind to calm down and think rationally, tepidly touching the blade edged spider leg with his finger.

"Only if you surrender."

"No."

The Arachne pulled her claw closer to Styx cutting into him with the blade edge so sharp he barely even felt it before his blood stained his clothes.

"Killing me will get you nothing."

"Accident."

"…Then apologize."

Styx was pressed down to the ground by the Monster Lord's pressure. He could feel his bones cracking and couldn't breathe.

The slip of her power also alerted Aura, deeper in the dungeon, and the situation Styx didn't want to see began to unfold.

The wolf-eared woman vanished from her original position and the world around Styx shifted into a desert, where she reappeared.

The Arachne looked around at the surroundings and hissed in rage, poisonous spittle flying and creating a toxic mist which melted the sand into a toxic bile. She grabbed the helpless Styx in her human arms and pointing the tip of a leg at his throat while glaring at the wolf girl.

"Stop. Or death."

Styx tried to wriggle, but her grip was like an iron vice, refusing to budge in the slightest. Her giant breasts were squished against his back, and he wasn't shy to admit he enjoyed the sensation. He used his currently free hands to reach over his head and squeeze the goliath breasts.

He hurriedly sent a mental message commanding Aura to hold back, knowing that she would completely disregard everything and continue attacking otherwise.

Despite being in human form, Aura stood on all fours while revealing sharp fangs and growling inhumanly. The desert began to twist and distort, but soon restored itself to the large tunnel it had previously been.

"What now?" Styx tilted his head up and looked at the Arachne Monster Lord, her bloody red pupils rotating as she looked down upon him.

"Make. Stronger."

"You are at Max Level, aren't you."

"Yes."

"Put me down."

"No."

"…"

"Make. Stronger."

The Arachne Monster Lord seemed to have endless patience, but neither Styx nor Aura had the same.

"I can't."

The Arachne glared at Aura in both hatred and jealousy. After Aura's most recent demonstration of strength, even the spider Monster Lord was reluctant to fight her directly.

"Why?"

"Because you won't surrender."

"I. Surrender."

"Then put me down."

"No."

"Do you even understand what surrender means?!"

"Yes."

Styx struggled in her hands, but the Arachne was immovable. She held him pinned to her human section of her body and retreated into a darker corner, deadly spiderwebs made from space itself branching around the corner and creating a secluded nest.

Seeing the situation wasn't going to change anytime soon, Styx sent a mental message to the wolf girl on the verge of attacking again.

"Aura, go and stop anyone from entering this tunnel. The spider isn't attacking, so just keep the area safe."

The wolf-eared woman bared her fangs but listened to Styx's commands and vanished from the tunnel, reappearing at the entry point and constructing a very thick barrier from her Phantasmagoria skill.

~~~~~

⠀

Styx's avatar was trapped by the Arachne for several days, whom patiently waited for him to make her stronger without tire. She layed down on her abdomen with Styx pinned in the arms of her human torso.

Thankfully, Styx could still control the monsters to spy on the incoming force, although they could only spy rarely during the night without attracting the human's attention and being attack by powerful, long range magic.

At the rate the human army were moving, Styx estimated he had two months before they would arrive. It was a lot of time to prepare everything, but at the same time it was too brief a period. Alas, the humans weren't going to wait just because he asked them to.

"How can I make you stronger when you don't do as I say?"

"Is. Necessary?"

"Yes, it is! Now let go of me!"

The Arachne finally listened and released her arms, leaving Styx to weakly fall on the ground and breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Finally…"

"Now. Make. Stronger."

"Once again, do you not understand how I can make you stronger?"

"I. Surrender."

Her actions didn't reflect her words, which were spoken merely to achieve an end goal.

Styx held up his hand and extended his mana tendrils towards the giant Arachne. Her blood red eyes focused on the mana tendrils in what the dungeon lord could only describe as an ice cold gaze.

"You let me inside of you, after which I help expand your mana channels. The key part is not resisting in the slightest. Completely surrendering yourself to me."

"Is. That. How. Wolf. Stronger?"

"Yes."

"What. Else. With. Wolf."

"We mate."

"Oh."

"Can't you speak more clearly. You are constantly stopping and starting. Just say it all at one in a coherent way."

"Yes."

Styx's mana tendril extended towards the Arachne when spider webs shot through the space and somehow cut them up into small pieces.

"Arghh!!!" Styx cried out in pain as he felt like dozens of limbs were suddenly chopped off.

He wasn't about to simply follow along with Spider's whims though and had already sent a message to Aura to quickly rescue him.

The wolf-eared woman appeared in a fresh change of clothes that exposed her shoulders and a significant amount of cleavage.

She opened up her mouth and the entire area where the spider threads cocooning the area were, simply vanished. She then rushed to Styx, who dove away from the spider Monster Lord, and grabbed him.

He didn't give her any specific instructions and felt somewhat out of place as she held him in a princess carry.

"Liar!!"

The Arachne was completely and utterly enraged, baring her poisonous fangs and spitting venom all over the cave before rapidly fleeing into a crack in space.

Without Styx as a hostage, she was too afraid to face Aura head on.