TEOCH 34

Morning broke. I acted as if nothing had happened the previous day, calmly leading my companions out of the temporary base after an early breakfast. The group, who had been sullen the day before, now seemed unfazed. Whatever their inner thoughts, it was a relief to see them looking normal on the surface.

Watching my companions, who appeared to have completely forgotten yesterday’s events, I regretted bringing up unnecessary stories. Since they’d believe anything I said, it would’ve been better to toss out an amusing tale to lighten the mood rather than letting slip some truth. But it was too late for regrets now.

‘Let’s be careful not to say anything foolish from now on.’

We focused on combat until the sun was high in the sky. Fortunately, the battles with the spiders went smoothly. Through dozens of fights, my companions’ movements grew more adept, and they seemed to develop an instinctive sense for which webs to step on and which to avoid.

Tristan fell or floundered far less often. Even Damian, who had been nearly hopeless on the first day, could now maintain his balance on the webs to some extent. Of course, he was still far from proficient.

Companions with good instincts, like Rikiel and Rehas, went a step further and started picking up basic techniques: ‘Webs that spiders step on are likely safe (though not always),’ ‘If you step on a horizontal thread, signal your companions instead of struggling to break free,’ ‘No matter how urgent, move one step at a time to avoid getting both legs stuck.’ Mastering these tricks made moving on webs much easier.

At this point, I began participating more actively in combat. I still took care to accommodate Damian, who was clumsy on webs, but I didn’t hesitate to swing my sword when a good opportunity to attack the spiders arose.

As a result, battles became shorter, and we reached level 4 before lunch. Considering the early stage and the low experience yield, this was remarkably fast progress.

“The battles aren’t as tough as I thought. That’s a relief.”

“…Are you serious, Rohan?”

“Yes. This is pretty manageable. I was worried about encountering enhanced spiders, but thankfully, they seem to be out hunting and not staying in the nests. The spiders left behind are mostly weak.”

“So, you think those spiders were weak…”

“Definitely. We’ve killed dozens of spiders, and no one’s gotten hurt. That’s a very easy difficulty. I was really concerned, but this is fortunate.”

“Easy, huh.”

“What’s with those expressions?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

Rehas and Damian exchanged glances, Rikiel let out a deep sigh, and Tristan patted Rikiel’s back to comfort him. I could guess why they reacted that way. To me, the battles felt easy, but for them, they must’ve been life-or-death struggles.

I went to great lengths to ease their burden and pick the easiest demon beasts to fight. I wanted to grumble about it inwardly, but I held back. After yesterday’s events and their exhaustion from long battles, it wouldn’t be fair to snap at them.

Think positively, positively. Forcing a brighter expression, I spoke in an upbeat tone.

“You’re all doing well despite the complaints, so there’s nothing to worry about. Don’t be scared—just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“It feels like we’re still far from meeting your expectations.”

“No, that’s not true. You’re all doing great. A few more days of practice, and the spiders we’re fighting now will seem trivial.”

“…”

“I mean it. Sir Rikiel and Rehas are already impeccable, and Your Majesty has improved a lot since yesterday. Damian’s practicing harder than I expected too.”

At my last remark, Damian gave an awkward, bitter smile. Saying he was ‘practicing hard’ might sound like mockery, but I meant it as genuine praise.

In past playthroughs, Damian hadn’t put in this much effort to practice web-walking. I’d made him train every cycle, but he always struggled, barely able to stand on webs by the boss fight, which was considered great progress.

For some reason, though, this Damian was far more dedicated than in previous cycles. Being able to stand on webs already was a huge leap for him. I was curious why he was so diligent this time, but asking would be pointless. He wouldn’t remember what happened in past cycles anyway.

“I’m not kidding, Damian. You’ve improved a lot.”

“Well, after dreaming all night of being eaten by spiders, I felt like I had to practice. I thought I was going to die.”

If he’d had that dream earlier, he might’ve been eaten by spiders fewer times. I chuckled inwardly at the thought I couldn’t voice.

Eaten by the queen spider, devoured by cave spiders—how much trouble had his lack of practice caused in boss fights? I didn’t know why this carefree guy had such a dream, but it was a good thing. I continued in a cheerful tone.

“Anyway, Damian’s doing well, and everyone’s improving quickly. You can trust me on that.”

“If you say so, I’ll believe you.”

Tristan smiled as he replied, and faint smiles spread across the others’ faces. It was a relief to see their morale holding up. If they could maintain this spirit, I’d have nothing more to wish for.

After the meal, we tidied up and carefully checked for nearby spiders before moving out cautiously. We’d need to keep fighting like this for the next couple of days, so it was best to proceed slowly and deliberately.

With a screech, a fierce cave spider’s attack grazed my arm, shattering my wrist guard like an explosion. It wasn’t a normal attack. Feeling a tingling shock, I hurriedly stepped back as Rikiel took my place, swinging his sword.

While waiting for my arm guard to regenerate, I shook my arm repeatedly. Rikiel was doing his best to keep the spider from attacking the others, but each time its right foreleg struck, his sword wobbled as if it might break.

I knew the day had been going too smoothly. In the last nest we entered before leveling up, we encountered an unexpected threat. An enhanced spider, wielding a ‘Bombardment’ parasite in its right foreleg, blocked our escape route and refused to budge, while the other spiders in the nest formed a tight formation, pressing the rest of the group.

There were only about four spiders in the cave, but facing an enhanced demon beast was a massive burden.

‘Damn it, of all things, a ‘Bombardment’ parasite!’

‘Bombardment’ was the most aggressive magic in the demon realm. With a chance to trigger an explosive effect that ignored defense and dealt direct damage, it was a powerful ally when embedded in a melee weapon but a terrifying foe when wielded by an enemy.

As soon as my arm guard regenerated, I aimed for the spider’s flank. While Rikiel blocked its right foreleg, I managed to cut off two of its legs. But severing its middle legs didn’t fully stop its movement.

The spider swiftly retreated and launched a fierce attack at me. I leaped back, but dodging it completely was tough. With a boom, another triggered ‘Bombardment’ blew away my leg armor.

‘Triggering at this rate is ridiculous. Did it combine ‘Bombardment’ with ‘Luck’ or something?!’

Since my own sword had a ‘Bombardment’ parasite, I knew its activation rate well. Even at best, it didn’t exceed 20%. Such a powerful skill needed that kind of penalty for balance.

But this spider was triggering ‘Bombardment’ at over 50% probability. Whether the skill’s activation rate was different for enemy monsters or it really had a ‘Luck’ skill, I didn’t know, but it was a tough opponent.

“Your Majesty, take out the other spiders as fast as you can! We need help!”

Blocking a low attack, I shouted to Tristan. Perhaps because it was an enhanced beast, this spider was far smarter, seizing advantageous positions to disrupt me and Rikiel. It was too much for just the two of us.

“I’m coming, Rohan! Just hold on a bit!”

Tristan shouted, cutting off a spider’s foreleg targeting him. Facing three spiders at once, he had to swing his sword without a moment’s pause.

Damian tried to use fire magic to block attacks on Tristan, but the spiders, noticing his poor balance, struck fiercely whenever he tried to cast. If Rehas hadn’t provided cover fire, Damian would’ve been taken down without casting a single spell.

While waiting for Tristan to handle the other spiders, Rikiel and I kept the enhanced spider at bay. As soon as my leg armor regenerated, I swung at its flank. It tried to shake off Rikiel’s defense to attack me, but his sword entangled its foreleg, leaving its flank open.

Green ichor burst from its torn flank, but it wasn’t a fatal blow. I gritted my teeth. If ‘Bombardment’ had triggered, I might’ve killed it in one hit!

‘Damn it, it triggers ‘Bombardment’ so easily, so why not me…!’

The spider slowed slightly, but it wasn’t enough. As I pulled back, its enraged foreleg struck Rikiel’s arm, shattering his heavy armor with a loud crash. If it hadn’t been infused with ‘Iron Wall,’ his arm would’ve been destroyed.

I tried to flank it, but the situation remained dire. Despite losing two legs and a flank wound, the spider was still lively, and Rikiel and I struggled to dodge its attacks.

“Rohan, watch out!”

Thankfully, at that moment, Tristan’s fierce strike hit the spider’s left foreleg. I doubted he’d already defeated three spiders, and sure enough, two remained, with Damian and Rehas holding them off.

It seemed Tristan had joined us after defeating one spider. I thought it was for the best. Taking down the enhanced spider with three of us first, then handling the other two, was more efficient now.

Taking advantage of the spider’s staggering left foreleg, I attacked again. It seemed flustered by the sudden increase in enemies, unsure whether to target me or Tristan. We seized the chance and launched a coordinated assault.

While Rikiel pinned its right foreleg, Tristan and I pressed from both sides. As I struck its left foreleg, Tristan’s longsword pierced its head.

—Ki, kiik-!

With all his strength, Tristan drove his sword down, and with a desperate cry, the spider finally died. Without time to check the parasite crawling from its foreleg, we turned and rushed to help Damian and Rehas.

After helping them defeat the remaining two spiders, my strength drained, and a sigh of relief escaped me. If the floor hadn’t been covered in webs, I’d have collapsed on the spot.

“Haa, haa…”

“I thought we were done for…”

Thought we were dead, Rehas muttered like a sigh, and the others nodded silently. This wasn’t an exaggeration. Facing an enhanced beast was truly grueling.

Dragging my trembling legs, I approached the enhanced spider. Its head was smashed, completely still, and a parasite, likely from its right foreleg, was wriggling on a horizontal thread. I cut the sticky thread and lifted it, checking the parasite’s details.

It was a composite parasite. Seeing ‘Bombardment IV’ and ‘Luck III’ combined, I stood there, mouth agape. To defeat such a monster—were we lucky?

“As expected, a ‘Luck’-infused parasite. No wonder ‘Bombardment’ triggered so often…”

“Wait, Rohan.”

“Yes, Rikiel?”

“I didn’t notice earlier, but… this spider’s deformed.”

At Rikiel’s sudden remark as he examined the spider, I approached, puzzled. Deformed? This thing had overwhelmed us with incredible power just moments ago. He pointed to the spider’s leg joints with a hesitant expression, and I finally understood.

“Wait, its joints are backward?”

“Exactly. It was too dark in the nest, and we were too busy fighting to notice, but it’s clearly deformed. How did it overpower us like this?”

Stunned, I examined the spider’s corpse. It had fought like any other spider, but now, it was clear it was so abnormal it shouldn’t have been able to fight properly.

For a human, it’d be like having elbows or knees bent backward. The spider’s right foreleg had joints reversed from normal. The other legs were somewhat normal, but the right foreleg looked barely functional.

Now that I thought about it, I might’ve heard a creaking sound whenever it swung that leg… I looked at Rikiel with a pale face. He didn’t look much better, likely thinking the same.

“Is this something you’re used to?”

“No, I thought I knew a lot about the demon realm, but this is my first time seeing a deformed spider.”

“Even you don’t know? That’s strange.”

“Yes, it’s odd. Maybe it stayed in the nest because it was deformed.”

As Rikiel and I talked, the others gathered to inspect the spider. Rehas, with sharp eyes, examined its body closely. After studying its eyes for a while, he frowned and spoke.

“Rohan, this spider… it seems blind.”

“What?”

“It’s dead, so I can’t be sure, but it looks like it had issues with its eyes too, not just its legs. Spiders rely on touch and smell, so it probably managed to navigate somehow.”

“This is unbelievable. Or maybe it’s a good thing. If this enhanced spider wasn’t so crippled, we might not have won.”

No matter how strong a parasite is, it only affects the body part it’s embedded in. A parasite in the right leg wouldn’t restore eyesight.

So, this spider had relied solely on touch to fend off our attacks, using its backward-jointed leg as a weapon. It was an absurd opponent.

Even deformed, an enhanced beast is still an enhanced beast… As I muttered and clicked my tongue, a strange thought flashed through my mind. Deformed? Hadn’t I seen a deformed beast before?

I checked the parasite’s details again. Reading the fine print I’d skimmed earlier, I realized it wasn’t just a fleeting thought.

[‘Bombardment’ and ‘Luck’ Parasite (Body-Host Type)]

[Detailed Description: A parasite the queen spider obtained from somewhere. It’s for deformed spiders with blind eyes and reversed legs. The recent increase in deformed spiders in the colony has been a headache for the queen.]

[This parasite cannot be embedded in weapons or armor.]

The description felt familiar. The ‘Flight’ and ‘Enhancement’ parasites from the wasp nest had similar details. Was this a cycle-specific event? It seemed like a setting where deformed beasts were appearing in all colonies, and queens were acquiring parasites for them…

I was curious where the queens got these parasites, but I lacked information. There were no hints about where to find answers, and even if I knew where the parasites came from, obtaining them would involve significant risk.

‘Well, once we defeat the queen spider, we might get a decent hint. I’ll think about it then…’

We’d need a few more days to face the queen anyway. With that thought, I silently collected the loot. My companions, initially curious, began helping me search the nest.

We had to finish before the hunting spiders returned, so we hurried. As I wrapped spider flesh in cloth, Damian, searching a corner of the nest, shouted.

“Mr. Rohan, look at this! A magic-infused gem!”

As Damian said, a large gem imbued with mana was embedded in the corner. The fist-sized red gem radiated an eerie magical aura. Damian, sensitive to magic and academics, stared at it with fascination, but I felt an ominous vibe. It was too big for a staff, and spider nests didn’t usually have such gems.

Something was off. A gem not found in other nests, in a place guarded by an enhanced beast. Sensing danger instinctively, I warned Damian.

“Wait, Damian. Something feels off. Don’t touch it recklessly…”

But I was too late. Before I could finish, Damian’s fingers brushed the gem’s surface. The gem trembled violently, as if reacting to his mana.

Realizing something was wrong, Damian pulled back, but it was too late. The mana emanating from the gem grew, filling the nest.

“What, what’s…?”

The next moment, the ground collapsed, and the webs melted instantly. Losing their support, our bodies plummeted into a deep pit below.