A Peacock Husband of Five Princesses by day, a Noble Assassin by Night-Chapter 79 : The Thousand Faced Spider (2/4)

The Thousand-Faced Spider leaned forward, its presence suffocating, its faceless mask only inches from her so-called comrades. Its fingers tightened on them as it spoke, voice honeyed and cruel.

"Your friends? Oh, dear swordswoman." It let out a mocking hum. "They are inside my prison. Locked away. These ones are merely their copies, created to confuse you and corner you into my lair. And they did."

The pale figures stood still, as if waiting.

Shiera's pulse roared in her ears. "Where?" she demanded, stepping forward, her sword gleaming in the dim light.

The creature let out another quiet laugh, tilting its head in mock sympathy. It tapped one of the pale figures on the temple, almost lovingly. "I won't tell you that."

The Thousand-Faced Spider then slowly stepped forward, releasing its hold on the figures. It spread its arms, its silk-like robes shifting with its movements.

"Prove your worth, swordswoman. To get to your real friends, you have to get past these three."

The three figures then stepped forward. Their eyes, lifeless slits, locked onto her.

Shiera's grip tightened on her blade. Her breath stilled as she poured mana into the blade. A faint glow traced along its blade, illuminating the dim cavern with a cold, silver light. Her eyes, once filled with hesitation, now looked dead cold.

"Thank you," she said, her voice low but firm.

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"Hmm?" The Thousand-Faced Spider tilted its head in amusement. "For what?"

Shiera raised her sword. "If these aren't my friends, then I have nothing to worry about."

Without another word, she moved.

Her feet dug into the stone floor as she launched forward, her sword cutting through the stale air in a perfect arc. One of the false teammates, Lirien, stepped up, blade meeting hers in a sharp clash. But Shiera's power wasn't just in Tier-8. She is in the advanced stage of the realm, which was entirely a whole realm above Lirien's. Her mana-infused blade burned with thick, raw energy, slicing cleanly through the opposing weapon as if it were made of rotted wood.

The next instant, her sword carved through the figure's abdomen in a vertical slash. Blood sprayed, hot and real, splattering against the cave floor.

Not hesitating, Shiera conjured a flaming spear in her free left hand—almost instantly before she drove it straight through the throat of the one she had cut down.

The scent of burning flesh filled the chamber.

The figure choked, a strangled gasp escaping as its body collapsed.

Shiera's face was stone—cold, unreadable, merciless.

And then—

The illusion faded all of a sudden.

The corpse at her feet no longer had slit pupils, no longer bore that pale, lifeless skin. Instead, staring back at her with wide, glassy eyes was Lirien.

Shiera's breath caught in her throat. "Li…"

Blood pooled around the lifeless body, the very same blood that had once pulsed through the veins of her comrade, her friend.

Shiera's hand that was grabbing the sword trembled uncontrollably. "No…"

A slow, deliberate chuckle echoed through the cavern followed by it. The Thousand-Faced Spider remained poised, untouched, its blank mask watching her with something that felt like delight. "Oh, how utterly amusing."

Shiera's breath came in ragged gasps. The weight of her sword felt unbearable in her grip.

"It's funny, isn't it?" the creature mused, its voice dripping with cruel amusement. "How easily you believed me. How quickly you accepted my words as truth."

A quiet gasp left Shiera's lips. Her chest tightened, her mind reeling.

The Thousand-Faced Spider stepped forward with slow, measured grace, its many legs clicking softly against the stone. "You killed your own friend, swordswoman."

Shiera took a step back, her body stiff with disbelief.

"Indeed, you are just as young as you look—perhaps an arrogant genius who is too naive to understand reality." The creature let out another laugh, rich and taunting. "You are intelligent but not wise. Had you relied on your senses, you could have sensed their mana signatures, like the same one you trusted upon as you were cornered in this cave. No monster in the wild, I mean, no monster has the power to copy one's mana signature, young lady. This happens when one is intelligent but not wise enough."

Shiera's hands curled into fists. Her vision blurred—not from exhaustion, not from pain, but from the rage swelling inside her. Tears welled in her eyes, but they did not fall.

The Thousand-Faced Spider leaned in, voice a whisper of mockery.

"Tell me, young lady—"

The smile in its voice deepened.

"How does it feel?"

The cave was silent.

And then—

Rageful Shiera screamed. "Aaaah…"

She was about to charge toward her but the other two teammates stood before her like puppets. Shiera was forced to halt right away. Her hands trembling, this time in rage and frustration.

"Hahaha…

Laughter filled the cave once again, reverberating through the stone walls like a chorus of unseen specters. The Thousand-Faced Spider's voice carried an eerie amusement, as if this was all just a game.

Shiera barely had a moment to steady her shaking hands before the remaining two lunged. Their movements were unnaturally precise as earlier, their blank expressions unchanging even as they wielded their weapons with lethal intent.

A surge of mana coursed through her veins at once. She slammed her sword into the ground, releasing a wave of freezing energy through the blade.

Ice burst outward, swallowing the cave floor, the walls, and—more importantly—the two figures before her.

Their bodies stiffened mid-strike, ice creeping over their limbs like a hungry predator. Within seconds, they were frozen solid, trapped in a glacial prison.

Shiera exhaled sharply, her breath visible in the sudden chill. But the victory was hollow.

Because her friend was killed in her own hands. And the Thousand-Faced Spider was nowhere to be seen. The monster wasn't caught by her freezing spell.

Its laughter had not ceased. If anything, it had grown deeper, richer, as if this had been exactly what it wanted. "Oh, very good," the voice cooed, echoing from all directions. "A fine display of power, swordswoman. Never expected to encounter a dual element user. But, do you think that's enough?"