Numbers x Casket-Chapter 28: Cluster of Spiders

Efraim looked at the beast above, and his eyes gleamed with excitement. Purple-colored figures were written, floating on top of its head. A shade of hue he would never forget, like the lindworm from the giant pit.

"Did they encounter the boss monster already?" he uttered.

Then, he reached for the grip of his blades, ready to unsheathe them at any point in time. However, he chose to watch a little further as he found the man holding a flute a little bit interesting.

Despite having a vibrant blue color, the numbers above him had a perfect score, a hundred. Due to his first time seeing one, curiosity about the pathfinder's strength ate his mind away.

. . . . .

The spider-scorpion-human hybrid shot a barrage of threads thick enough to render the two equators petrified once hit.

Michael, the mage, cast a flaming barrier to protect them and to burn the silk-like webs in the nearby surroundings.

However, to their surprise, the threads had some sort of immunity to flames; they didn't set ablaze, and they even absorbed the entirety of his flames.

Given this fact, the two of them were forced to evade the beast's assault.

"What kind of creature is that, exactly?" Michael asked; fear was evident in his eyes.

"I don't know! You were the one who went here before, weren't you?" the pathfinder replied and pulled the flute out from his waist.

Then he placed its blowhole next to his mouth. With his fingers covering some of its keys, he played the instrument, and a mesmerizing melody reverberated throughout the ruins.

Afterward, waves after waves of sonic sounds repelled the webs and were hurled towards the monster, but the beast didn't stand still.

With its nimble legs, it crawled across the webs and plunged in the equator's direction, its large pincers aiming for the equators' heads.

Upon seeing this, the two men leaped backward, creating some distance for their safety.

Then, the pathfinder played another piece, but this time, the harmony of the sound was in contrast with the previous one. It was like a cacophony of discordant rhythm, enough for the mage to cover his ears.

"Nathan! What are you doing?" Michael screamed in confusion.

He felt his eardrums bleeding from the noise pollution; however, the pathfinder didn't stop. He even increased the amplitude of the sound to the point that his own ears bled from its volume.

The air began to vibrate, and the creature let out a horrifying shriek as its body convulsed on the ground. Then, it stood up and banged its head on the debris of broken walls while grazing its skin with its own pincers.

"W-What's happening?" Michael stammered, curious about the monster's strange actions.

Seconds later, its body began to bleed, and its movements came to a halt. Upon seeing it lying on the ground, soaked in its very own blood, Nathan stopped playing his flute.

He began to catch his breath while wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead.

Meanwhile, Michael's eyes widened in surprise, his jaw dropped, and he looked at the pathfinder in a new light.

"Are you one of those actually strong yet pretends to be weak type of guys?" he blurted out, which caused Nathan to knit his brows.

"Knock it off," the pathfinder replied, shaking his head.

Afterward, the two of them freed Daniel from the cocoon. He was still alive, but due to the lack of air inside, he lost consciousness. Thus, Michael gave him several slaps, enough to wake him up.

And as soon as the warrior opened his eyes, the three of them walked further inside the ruins. At first, due to his near-death experience, Daniel wanted to abort their mission, but Nathan assured him that if they would only be dealing with spiders or spider hybrids, he had them covered.

After all, those creatures had very sensitive hearing senses, so a certain level of volume—enough for vibrations to appear in the air—rendered them panicking.

This was the very reason as well why Nathan agreed to venture into the ruins despite having only the three of them.

"I hope we find the treasure before sunset," Michael blurted out of nowhere, his eyes darting back and forth, searching for any unusual monsters.

"We definitely will!" Daniel assured him and let out a soft laugh.

He was located at the middle, ready to protect Michael while Nathan led the way. They had already been walking for about a quarter of an hour, and yet they spotted not a single monster. Thus, they started to feel uneasy.

"Maybe we should call it a day and return," Michael chuckled.

However, he received no reply as Nathan halted his steps while Daniel raised his large sword.

"W-What's the matter?" the mage stuttered, asking, his grip on his staff becoming tighter.

"They're coming," Daniel replied, his gaze focused in front of them.

Afterwards, spiders as large as a human's head crawled towards their direction. Others were hanging at the webs while some shot threads from a distance.

"These are the ones I know!" Michael exclaimed.

Then a magic circle appeared underneath the cluster of spiders as soon as he slammed his staff on the ground.

"Scriptures of the sacred fire, burst forth and incinerate!" he chanted, and a swirling vortex of flames rose above ground.

A cacophony of shrieks echoed throughout the place as the spiders were burned into cinders. The smell of burning insects lingered in the open air.

Then, Nathan swirled his flute between his fingers before placing its keyhole next to his lips. He played a song, and the flames turned into a silhouette of a burning dragon that flew towards the spiders that survived the magic spell.

"You're really amazing! You can even do that kind of thing," Michael couldn't help but gasp in amazement.

"We're really lucky to have you in our party," Daniel expressed his affirmation as well.

"Thanks, but you two, focus first! We're not yet done," Nathan replied, and like what he had said.

Another wave of spiders sprinted towards them, but this time, there were some bugs bigger than the others, and as they came closer, they noticed that they were different kinds of insects.

"Scorpions," Nathan uttered.

With giant pincers in front and a tail with a sharp pointed tip on their backs, they charged at the group of equators.

The warrior leaped in front and activated his Flair. He screamed, taunting all the insects present. Upon seeing him put himself as bait, his companions didn't waste a single moment. The mage conjured another vortex of flames, and the pathfinder made it dance with his music.

"That was easy!" Daniel exclaimed, grinning with pride.

The wave of insects was nothing but child's play against their group's collective effort.

"I felt scared for no reason," Michael stated.

Their consecutive victories made them think that the first monster they encountered was just a fluke. They even began to drop their guards.

Then, after a few more battles against the insect's hordes. They reached an area filled with nothing but eggs lying on the ground, hanging on the walls, and sticking on the ceiling. Wherever they looked, they saw eggs, and each of them was the size of a human head.

"There are too many," Michael murmured as he roamed his eyes around.

"I think we should need to destroy this place," Daniel replied and picked one.

Meanwhile, Nathan kept his silence while staring at the eggs. Afterward, his hands began to tremble, and his heart raced like there were horses galloping inside.

"We need to run!" he exclaimed, fear painted on his face.

Daniel and Michael tilted their heads in confusion; they looked at the pathfinder with question marks floating above their heads.

"Why?" Michael asked.

"We're doing great," Daniel added.

However, their eyes widened upon hearing the pathfinder's reply.

"What we fought earlier..." Nathan paused for a second and inhaled a deep breath before continuing. "We're just hatchlings."

The equators felt their souls leaving their bodies. Then, a faint creaking sound entered Daniel's ears, which made him divert his gaze from the pathfinder to the egg in his hands.

Cracks appeared on the shell's surface, and thick, hairy legs protruded from them. Thus, Daniel smashed it on the ground, but as he looked behind, all the eggs showed signs of movement.

"Run!" Daniel yelled and dragged Michael towards the direction where they came from.

However, the ground before them exploded, and creatures emerged, blocking their paths. A group of monsters that had a similar appearance to the first one they met.

"One, two, three, four, five..." Michael tried to count their numbers, but he lost the ability as an overwhelming terror invaded his thoughts.

A total of ten spider hybrids were standing in front of the equators while thousands of little ones were hatching behind their backs.

"N-Nathan, you do have a plan, d-don't you?" Daniel asked, raising his sword despite his trembling hands.

But the pathfinder didn't speak as fear ate away at his sanity; he just stared at the creatures, lost in his thoughts. Then, one of the monsters began its advance as it lunged forward with its giant pincers.

"O-Oh f-fire," Michael tried to chant, but he froze in place upon seeing those hungry-looking eyes.

While Daniel gritted his teeth, with a warrior's willpower, he stepped forward and attempted to block the spider.

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However, what happened next was beyond their expectations, as the monster's body split in half.

. . . . .