Chapter 107-108

Chapter 107 – Spiders descended!!

"Oh… It's a lot nicer than I was expecting.

When looking at it up close, the city was almost frighteningly clean.

The paved roads were white and without dust or mold. It looked like someone had been consistently cleaning the place.

Fule looked up as we walked.

"And there's no vines growing anywhere… Well, maybe it's because we're underground. But do you think someone is maintaining this place?"

"Who knows? Hmm?"

I noticed that Shiel was looking upwards.

She seemed to be looking at the wall of a building.

There was some kind of liquid on the wall, and it was moving by itself.

Upon further inspection, there were similar things on other buildings as well.

"Are those slime? I see. So they're the ones keeping this place so spotless."

Shiel nodded, but seemed a little hesitant.

Perhaps even Shiel was surprised that the slimes were doing this voluntarily.

"Well, it will be easier for us to walk now."

"Yes. However, Your Imperial Majesty. There may still be areas that were destroyed by the Chimeras. So please be careful."

Aries muttered on top of Number 15's head.

"It wouldn't be surprising, given how big they are. Alright, I'll be careful."

And with that, we decided to continue on our way to the storage where the Ryukin was kept.

We followed after Shiel, who led the way.

But the city continued to be very clean.

Perhaps the Chimera were fighting somewhere else?

It was with such thoughts that we walked. And then I suddenly detected magic energy coming towards us.

"Is this…a Chimera?"

It was big, and judging by the shape, it was definitely a Chimera.

While they weren't as quick as me, Number 15 and Fule soon noticed it as well.

"You're right. It seems to be coming towards us?"

"The Chimera? Is it just one?"

Aries asked and Fule nodded.

"Yes…at least for now."

"And even if you killed it, the blood would likely call its friends or its enemies. Your Imperial Majesty. What will you do?"

I answered Aries.

"I want to avoid a chaotic battle. Aries, can you use your poison again?"

"Yes. However, my supplies are limited…"

"So that means we can't tame multiple Chimeras then. Maybe we should just avoid them altogether and… Hmm?"

As we were talking, I detected yet more magic energy, this time it was coming from behind us.

"Damn it… They're coming from the back as well."

"They must have a really good sense of smell."

As Fule said, it was likely that they had found us because of our scent.

"More of them may come now… Maybe we should try going to the right and getting around them."

Shiel nodded.

Just then, Taran's body moved to point upwards.

"What is it, Taran? Huh?"

Suddenly, the sky above was filled with red lights.

And a number of them were coming straight down towards us.

"So-something is falling down!?"

Aries raised her voice.

"He-hey. If you talk so loud, the Chimeras will…"

Fule said, and Aries looked frantic.

However, at this rate, these red lights would reach us before any Chimera did.

And judging by their magic energy, these red lights were from living creatures…

But after looking at them for a while, I gradually realized that they were very familiar creatures.

They appeared while hanging on webs.

"Are those…Taran?"

Fule asked. Indeed, the red lights were giant spiders that looked a lot like Taran.

No, they were a little smaller than Taran, and their bodies were on the blue side.

However, they were clearly still Cave Spiders.

As if to prove this, one of the blue spiders and Taran were moving their legs and bodies at each other, as if communicating.

After some time, the blue spider seemed to nod, and then it disappeared back towards the ceiling.

"Taran. Are those your friends?"

Taran nodded eagerly to this, and looked up as if she was watching over them.

And then after a short while, the red lights…the horde of Cave Spiders, started to come down from the ceiling on their threads.

"Wa-ahhhhhh!!!"

"Aries!! Were you even listening to me!? The Chimeras will hear."

"So-sorry, Fule. But I'm not very fond of bugs."

"We-well, I don't exactly like them either."

And just like Aries and Fule, I was a little scared too.

I was used to spiders now, but when so many of them suddenly rained down right over your head, it was a little overwhelming.

But the Cave Spiders stopped, and remained suspended over our heads on their webs.

"Ta-Taran? What's going on? Are they going to try and eat us?"

Fule asked as she entered a defensive stance. But Taran just patted her on the shoulder as if to say, 'well, you'll find out soon enough.'

In the meantime, the Chimeras were getting even closer to us.

And so I decided to create a magic barrier, just in case.

It would be ideal if we weren't found at all, but then again, I also wanted to see them up close in order get an idea of their numbers and behaviour.

At worst, I could always use magic to freeze or stun them.

Then the Chimeras finally came into view.

Just like the last Chimera I tamed, these were larger than the ones seen on the surface. And they appeared both in front and behind us.

And there were five of them in all, which was quite a sight to behold.

"They all came out at once… Are they working together?"

I muttered. Their movements looked coordinated.

It was like their breathing and footsteps were synchronized as they slowly closed in on us.

However, that's when it happened. What looked like white fishing nets started to fall on top of them from above.

The Chimeras thrashed wildly under the nets, but it only made them get more tangled up.

And while they tried desperately to tear them apart, it was not going very well for them.

The webs of Cave Spiders…

Once the Cave Spiders saw that the Chimeras were caught, they came down and started to cover the mouths of the Chimeras with even more webs.

"Oh, good work, spiders!"

Fule said. And Taran looked a little smug after that.

0

0

0

Chapter 108 – A Hair's Breadth!!

"W-wonderful!!"

While her face looked very pale, Aries clapped and applauded the Cave Spiders as they descended.

Fule then turned to her.

"Aries. It's your chance to use your poison!"

"Oh, right!"

And so with the help of Number 15, Aries was able to spray her poison into the mouths of the Chimeras.

In the meantime, Taran was touching legs with the Cave Spiders.

Were they celebrating their reunion?

There were about thirty of the Cave Spiders in all.

However, there were also many more still up in the ceiling, so I had no idea how numerous they really were.

As I smiled and watched, Taran suddenly noticed me and turned around. She was doing gestures as if to tell me something.

It looked like she was introducing the others.

And then the Cave Spiders directed their countless, bulging red eyes towards me.

It was still kind of scary…

However, they had also helped save us.

And so I smiled and waved at them.

"Hey. I'm Heal. Thank you for helping us."

And then the Cave Spiders stood up on their hind legs.

"Uh, are they angry!?"

Fule asked as she braced herself, but the Cave Spiders quickly returned to their normal posture.

Apparently, it was just a greeting.

Taran was using her legs to try and tell me something.

"The Cave Spiders…above. I see. So they want to go to the surface."

I said, and Taran nodded.

"They are more than welcome. Do they want to go now?"

I asked. But Taran shook her body to the side.

And then she pointed a leg at Shiel.

"So we should finish what we came here to do first."

Taran nodded. And then she turned to look at the other Cave Spiders.

And then the Cave Spiders all raised a single leg in reply.

"Are they saying that they will help us?"

I asked, and the Cave Spiders all nodded.

"I see. I couldn't have asked for better helpers. Thank you."

"Your Imperial Majesty! I have finished feeding the Chimeras the poison!!"

"I see. Then I'll start taming them."

I answered Aries and went to tame the Chimeras.

There were five of them in all.

So that meant we now had six, including the first one.

The Chimeras were all sitting down like dogs as I addressed them.

"As for you guys…uh, can you guard the entrance for now?

The Chimeras nodded obediently and rushed off to the entrance.

Fule watched them and muttered.

"It feels like we just developed a way of winning every time. The spiders can bind them, and then Aries uses her poison. We're unbeatable!"

"…Do you mean to dry me up? This happens to use up a lot of energy… Uh…I must rest for at least a week now."

When I looked at Aries, she was indeed very wrinkled. And so Fule pulled out a water bottle and let her drink.

So, Aries would not be able to use her poison for quite some time then.

Well, we had the support of the Cave Spiders, so there was really no need to tame the Chimeras if it wasn't convenient.

After all, this was more of a scouting mission.

And so we continued to follow Shiel in order to find this storage place.

Shortly after, Shiel stopped in front of a great building that was shaped like a box.

Apparently, this was it. There were hardly any windows, but there was a very big door. Yes, it was just how I imagined a storage house to look.

"So, this is it."

Shiel nodded and then lowered the lever next to the door.

Inside, we saw that there were a number of giant glass containers.

And inside of these, was the golden liquid. The Ryukin.

As for how much…I wasn't sure.

But it looked like enough to make a lake.

"Wow…there are no lights in here, and yet it's so bright…"

Like Fule said, the Ryukin was golden, and it lit up the room very brightly.

However, that's when it happened.

We could hear the sounds of someone running behind us.

Not only did the sounds grow louder, but it was soon apparent that there were multiple runners.

"The Chimeras? Everyone, be careful."

I said, and Fule and Number 15 prepared to fight.

At the same time, Shiel headed to the lever by the door, so she would be able to close it if necessary.

"Yes, it might be best to just close it… Huh? That…"

The person who was running slowly came into view.

The first person to come running was a half-naked old man…Mappa.

"It's Old Mappa!? He's here?!"

While Fule was surprised, I wasn't surprised at all.

It was obvious that he had been lured here by the smell of Ryukin.

Of course, being able to smell different kinds of metal wasn't normal… But this was Mappa.

However, this situation was bad.

Because there was a horde of Chimeras behind him.

They were all baring their fangs and had their tongues sticking out. They wanted to eat Mappa.

The Chimeras had not been like this when they attacked us.

They were drooling and their expressions were different.

Either Mappa had done something…or perhaps he just looked tasty.

"Oh, well. I'll have to do something with magic…ah."

However, as if they were reading our thoughts, spider webs began to rain down from the ceiling.

As there were so many of the Chimeras, the spiders were not able to capture all of them, but most had their feet tangled.

"Ohh, thank you."

In the meantime, Mappa slid into the storage house, head first.

And then Shiel quickly closed the door.

"You were saved by a hair's breadth… Uh, Mappa!?"

The floor of the storage house was very smooth.

And so without stopping, Mappa continued to slide towards the back of the storage house.

"No!! Mappaaaaa!!"

But I was too late.

Mappa crashed right into one of the glass containers, and he was covered in Ryukin.