Spider Demon

Edol glared at his counterpart, knowing that it wouldn't be so easy as just asking.

"If you don't… I'll just have to use my stee- ?!"

Just as Edol began talking, the demon… exploded into a cloud of blood?

'Huh? I just have to ask it for help, and this demon will self-destruct? What kind of broken cheat is this?'

Just as Edol looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, a figure emerged from the mist in front of him. This time, it wasn't the demon. After having been trapped for weeks with the demon, Edol had figured that no matter what else came, he would be happy with the new company.

This is unless said new company had eight legs and was as tall as a cow.

"Spider!! I hate spiders!"

Memories of a childhood trauma surfaced as the demonic-looking mega-spider charged forward toward Edol.

It happened back in eighth grade.

Somehow, Sophie had become aware of Edol's irrational fear of all things eight-legged, and there was no way she wasn't going to capitalize on her nosey brother's weakness.

Apparently, while his tutoring had a positive effect on his sister's grades, pulling her away from her beloved gaming sessions also resulted in a hatred that could only be sated with blood.

Edol could still remember her demented laughter as she had propped the bathroom door closed after tossing in a massive spider.

She had only let him out after making him promise not to help her with homework for two whole weeks.

Distracted by memories that had given him countless nightmares over the past few years, Edol didn't even have a chance to dodge as the spider cut through him, killing him instantly.

A moment later, Edol respawned. A few meters away, Ugly was glaring at the confused spider creature. The beast's head snapped back and forth, trying to figure out how its victims were still alive, even after it had clearly just killed them.

Even more enraging was the disappearance of their corpses the moment they respawned- all of its freshly hunted food was gone!

Deciding that the enemies must have pulled some sort of trick, the spider quickly came up with a solution- just kill them again.

The spider charged back toward Edol, eliciting an uncharacteristically high-pitched squeal from him. Compared to Ugly, the spider demon was on a whole other level. It dashed forwards at a speed easily over 10 meters per second, closing the gap between it and Edol in just a moment.

Ugly chuckled, amused at his enemy's apparent fear of their newfound enemy, but when the spider turned back towards him, a chill ran down his spine.

The spider was too fast.

The dueling duo began dying at a rate much faster than before. The instant either of them respawned, the spider would charge over, finishing them off swiftly.

Nevertheless, after months of fighting, Edol and Ugly were no pushovers. After dying 5 times to the spider, Edol's initial fear of the beast began to fall to his rage of being killed repeatedly.

The spider was charging back toward Ugly, who had unsheathed his sword and was speedily casting earth magic, causing a spike to drive up from the ground, targeting the spider.

'If I trip it, and it falls on Ugly's sword… does it count as my kill, or his?'

Just before the spike impacted the spider's underbelly, it propelled itself out of the path of the attack, circling Ugly. Just as it was about to lunge forward to kill him, the ground beneath its front two legs shifted, throwing it off balance and giving Ugly an opening.

Ugly's flame-enwreathed sword sunk deeply in between the spider's eyes, and a moment later, its body faded away.

"Psht, I didn't need your help, goblin. I'm surprised you even managed to do that, it looked like you were about to piss yourself in fear!"

Edol's face reddened as he struggled to conjure an appropriate response.

"A- as if! I wasn't afraid! I- I was just making the spider lower its guard! And the spider only died because of me tripping it, so that kill goes to me! 50 to 3,971!"

"Bullshit! That was my kill! I stabbed it, so I get the kill!"

"Fine, we'll split the kill. Let's both just add one to our scores." A triumphant smile covered Edol's face. His ratio of wins-to-losses was still not looking good, so going 1 for 1 on the spider kill was in his favor. "Now that that's settled, what was that thing?"

"Hell if I know!" Ugly threw his hands up in anger.

"First, I get killed by some filthy goblins, and I get trapped with you after death? Now, there is even a giant murder spider, which given how its body disappeared just like ours, it'll probably be back to kill us again pretty soon!"

"Oh, is Ugly sad again? Poor Ugly…" Edol smirked as his enemy vented.

"And my name isn't Ugly!!!! Summer Ghost! The coolest, most handsome Suvian alive-"

"Dead, you mean."

"Screw off!"

A comforting smile covered Edol's face as he tried to hide his grin.

"There there, Ugly. There's no need to be mad. I actually quite like spending time with you, don't tell me you don't think of me as a friend too! Whenever I talk to you, I feel… better about myself! Don't you feel the same?"

"I'm going to let that spider demon keep killing you next time."

A shiver ran down Edol's spine as he imagined the spider's countless legs tearing into his flesh. Just the thought of facing that spider alone would surely keep him from sleeping later.

"Uh, buddy Ugl- wait, buddy Ghost! That spider demon will probably come back here at some point, so let's take it down together! Teamwork makes the dream work!"

"The only dream that'll be working is your nightmares of Mr. Spider! Ooo, I wonder if he has any friends! Just imagine, all those legs going pitter-patter on the ground…"

"NO!! I beg you, please help me!"

"I would, but I'm getting a bit hungry. Ah, what to eat today… meat potato, barbeque potato… hm, maybe sweet potato. Well, looks like it might take me a while to decide. I'm going to take a rest now, so good luck out here! Let me know in the morning how it goes with Mr. Spider!"

Ugly entered his sturdy dirt igloo, firmly sealing off the entrance. Edol looked despairingly over to his own ramshackle hut, fear building up within him. Ugly's home might be able to stand up to the spider's assault, but there was no way his own hut would stand a chance.

"Please, mister spider, please forget about me!"