Chapter 98: Red Gate

Outside the dungeon in the academy outpost, two men were having a game of cards.

"NOOO! Not again!" one of the men cursed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "I can't believe you won again."

"Hehehe... you're too easy to read," the second man laughed, pulling the cards toward his chest. "It was your fault for not paying attention."

"But you keep winning," the first man complained, "I swear I saw you cheating."

"Hahaha!... it doesn't matter if you can't prove anything."

"Grrr... I'm out of here."

"Just don't forget that dinner is on you tonight, Jack."

"Yeah, yeah... whatever."

Jack stood up, leaving behind his friend and the card table, as he was about to leave the tent. A strange ringing sound came from the side.

"Hmm?" Jack turned, gazing at the source of the sound. It was coming from the devices they used to monitor the energy of the gates.

"Shit!" Jack cursed, recognizing the color of the light, and the meaning behind it.

"Hey!... Professor!" Jack yelled, rushing to the device and calling through his bracelet. "Come here quick! We have a problem—"

Before he had the chance to finish.

FUSHHHH!

A massive burst of energy came from the gate, knocking everyone in the camp off their feet.

"What the fuck?" Jack cursed, rubbing his head and pushing himself back up. "What was that?"

"No...No...NOOOO!" he suddenly cried, his eyes grew wide open as he realized what had just happened. "The gate... it's closing."

"PROFESSOR!... A RED GATE!" Jack yelled in desperation, hoping to receive a reply. "I repeat, the Rank-E dungeon gate has turned into a red gate!"

"Send help immediately!."

=====

"Humph... Miss Harper, could you... slow down a bit?" Sarah grunted, being a mage, she was struggling to catch up to the teacher.

"No!" The teacher replied, not turning her gaze from the front. "We must slay the dungeon boss immediately."

"But why?" Alex asked, running next to Sarah. "We still have time left, we can easily kill the boss later after we score more points."

"..." Miss Harper stopped, turning and gazing at us with a look that I never knew she had before. Honestly, she was a little scary from the moment that debuff hit us.

"This is not an exam anymore, kids," Olivia said. "Because you're a low rank, you cannot feel the changes in the mana."

"We are now inside a red gate."

"A red gate?" Ella repeated, raising her brow in confusion. "I never heard of it before."

"Of course not," Olivia nodded. "Red gates are rare, and the last one was fifteen years ago."

"!!!" I froze as a memory of a painful day came rushing back to me. The day that I lost one of the most important people in my life.

"You mean we are in the same type of gate that..." I trailed off, hesitated to continue.

"Yes," Olivia replied, her tone was sympathetic. "The same type of gate that killed the Blood Queen."

"WHAT!" Alex, Ella, and Sarah exclaimed, staring at me in shock and confusion. "Are you serious?"

"I am," Olivia said, her tone was serious. "This is a red gate, the name itself explains everything."

"Then what should we do now?" Ella asked, "Should we leave?"

"No," Olivia shook her head, "that option is already gone, we can't leave now."

"Why?" Alex asked, "I don't see any problem in leaving."

"A red gate is much more than a simple high-rank dungeon," Olivia explained. "It's a one-way gate, no one can enter or leave." Olivia explained, "The only way for us to return back to Earth is to kill the dungeon boss."

"So we have no choice but to fight the boss?" I asked, receiving a nod from Olivia.

"Yes... the dungeon boss in a red gate is much more powerful than the ordinary one," Olivia said. "And from that massive debuff, I'm guessing that the boss is at least C or B rank."

"C or B rank?!" Alex repeated, "How are we supposed to kill it then?"

"Don't worry," Olivia replied, her tone was confident. "I'm a S-rank hunter, so we'll be fine."

"Miss Harper, are you sure about it?" Sarah asked she was worried. "I mean, you are strong, but against a rank-B boss? And that debuff?"

"Sarah, you don't have to worry," Olivia smiled, giving us a confident look. "I can handle it, even if I can't use most of my skills due to that debuff."

"Let's hope so"

"For now we need to find the other teams," Miss Harper said, "With the rank-E dungeon turning into a red gate, the dungeon is now more dangerous than ever, we need the help of the other teachers."

"How are we going to find them?" Alex asked, "I mean, this place is huge."

"I'm guessing that everyone received the same debuff," Olivia replied, "the teachers would understand that this is an emergency, and the only way to leave is by slaying the boss."

"I see... so we will find them near the boss."

"Exactly," Olivia nodded, "We need to hurry before the boss finds us first."

"Let's go."

"Yes"

=====

"Pfft... kill me?" I laughed, gazing at the humans through the eyes of my spiders. "How can you kill me if you can't even sense my spiders?"

I sent one of my lightning spiders to Team Blue, and it managed to get really close to them without being detected. And with my shared link to my offspring, I was able to spy on them with ease.

'These must be the people that Nana mentioned,' I thought, examining the faces of the hunters.

The red-haired boy must be Alex, and just by looking at him, I understood why he wrapped his sword with flames.

'Look at me world, I'm AWESOME!' I bet this is what's going on in his little head.

The blue-haired girl was Sarah, beautiful, cold, and gave an air of confidence. The other girl, the tank, her name was Ella, if I remembered that right, tall athletic build, befitting for a vanguard. As for the last two individuals, they really caught my eight eyes.

'The S-rank hunter,' I thought, examining the woman with great care. She had a brown ponytail and was wearing a tight black full-body suit.

'She's hot,' I thought, staring at her from different angles. 'Too bad she's my enemy, if not, she'll become one of my breeding toys.'

'No... I can't do that, I promised Nana-chan,' I shook my head, gazing through the eyes of my spider at the last girl.

'What is this feeling?' I asked myself, looking at the girl with blonde hair. My heart was pounding hard in my chest as I was examining her. She looked cute and pretty at the same time.

Jane.

"Hmm?..." I looked down, feeling something wet just dropped on one of my legs.

'A tear?' I blinked in surprise, feeling another tear streaming down my face. 'Why am I crying?'

"Ahh!" I suddenly cried, grabbing my head as an overwhelming desire to go out and meet this girl rushed into my mind.

'What's happening to me?' I thought, rubbing my eyes, trying to get rid of these tears. 'My heart is beating so fast.'

"AHHH!" The cry escaped from my mouth. The urge to meet this girl was becoming more powerful each second. I wanted to go out, hug her, and never let her go.

"Jane," I said, her name felt warm and soothing on my tongue. "Do I know you?"

"Morgana, are you alright?"

"Nana?" I opened my eyes, seeing the figure of the Arachne standing before me.

"I-I'm fine," I said, shaking my head, "W-What's wrong?... why are you here?"

"You've been acting weirdly," Nana replied, "You started screaming and crying all of a sudden."

"I did?" My eyes widened in surprise, realizing that my voice was loud enough to be heard in the entire nest.

"Yes," Nana nodded, "Are you alright, Mother?"

"I'm fine, Nana-chan," I replied, forcing myself to calm down. "It was just a... Nightmare."

"..."

Nana kept staring at me blankly, not buying my little lie.

"You know, Morgana," Nana spoke, moving her legs toward me and placing her hand on my spider face. "The more I interact with you, the more I feel that you're not a monster."

"Huh?!"

"You're just like a human being, you have feelings and desires, and you care for others," Nana paused, caressing my face. "You even saved me, gave me power, and accepted me as your daughter."

"Nana-chan... "

"Shhh..." Nana shushed, moving closer to me. "It's fine if you don't want to say it."

"..."

"Mother..." Nana whispered, her lips almost touching my head. "All I ask from you is that you don't lie or betray me."

"I would never."

"I know," she said, giving me a soft smile. "That's why I love you and accepted you as my mother."

Sigh... this girl. Why is she so nice and caring?

"Nana," I whispered, wrapping my bladed legs around her and bringing her closer.

"Yes, Mother," she whispered back, wrapping her arms around my head.

"I was a human before."

"I see..." Nana hummed, caressing my head, not caring what I said. "So that's why you have a system."

"Yes. I lost my memories of the time that I lived as a human," I continued, telling her parts of my story. "When I opened my eyes, I was in another world."

"You were reborn in another world as a spider?"

"Not really."

"Meaning?"

"This dungeon is my trial," I explained. "If I complete this trial, I'll be able to transform into a spider."

"I see," Nana hummed, "Like my Human Form skill?"

"Yes," I nodded, "It's the same, and I have two forms already, a wolf and a bunny."

"Pfft, a bunny," Nana suddenly laughed, unable to hold herself any longer.

"Hey... what's so funny about a bunny?"

"N-Nothing," Nana giggled, holding her hands to her mouth. "I can't imagine you as a bunny."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Morgana," Nana apologized, kissing me. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

"No problem, Nana-chan."

"By the way, Morgana," Nana said, returning to the serious topic. "Can we fuck again? I'm horny"

Yep. There is nothing more serious than fucking.