Stunned, the group was faced with a gigantic spider staring straight at them surrounded by thousands of eggs. Flanking the gigantic Major Savage Brood Mother were two large spiders surrounded by dozens of feral-ranked spiders.
Elder Nancy's eyes narrowed as she gazed upon the swarm in front of them that swallowed almost seventy percent of the entire gigantic storeroom. "Two Greater Spiders huh, quite a strong swarm for a small savage nest. Everyone! Defensive formation and thin out the feral ranks as best you can.
The captain and I will deal with the Matriarch while the rest of you pin down the greater spiders and kill the other ones. Make sure to protect the young miss and the boy or you'll have to answer to the Tribe Leader yourselves."
Shouting out in confirmation, the soldiers with their weapons and shields equipt roared out. "YES ELDER!"
Joined with more of their squad, the captain brought out a claymore as large as his own body and hefted the heavy weapon across his shoulders with ease. The nine other soldiers already equipt their crimson lances and shields and formed a V formation in front of their group.
Elder Nancy focused all her attention on bringing out pages of various sizes and throwing them in the air only for them to stick to some invisible wall before her. Taking out a more ornate dark blue brush, she began to rapidly write very elaborate and large designs which drew the ire of the spider matriarch.
"Ssss...tooooppppp thhhheeemmm!!!"
Screeching, the spider matriarch ordered the rest of her children to kill incessant murderers who had invaded her home. While the savage brood mother cared little for their actual deaths, the intrusion had interrupted her while she was absorbing the powers of the relic hidden behind her large carapace. The brood mother ordered her swarm with her two eldest to kill the pests in front of them.
Covered with chitin as tough as steel and their limbs as sharp and deadly as a fine blade, the two greater spiders lunged at Elder Nancy. The matriarch herself rose from her perch and crushed the surrounding stone spires around her as her large body skittered forward and a pillar-like leg thrust forward with blinding speed.
Despite wanting to let loose and fight to his content, the Crimson Scale Captain knew that he couldn't fool around with an Elder around as well as the Crimson Princess.
'Such a shame, it's not every day that I get to face off against a Major savage beast. It's too bad that it can't bring out its full power with the bloodline suppression.'
Noxtis questioned the weight of the huge claymore as he saw the Captain flick his claymore towards the incoming leg and the matriarch shrieked as her attack was deflected and killed a portion of the feral spiders in front of them. Even though he didn't injure the limb itself, his job was to defend as the Elder set up the battlefield.
Despite the Elder belonging to the Merchant division, the Soldier captain held no disdain for her at all. Any Elder, no matter their allegiance within the Crimson Scale Tribe, were capable fighters in their own way. Due to the trials of their Tribe Leader being a requirement to attain the position. Even his own position as Captain of this squad of soldiers made him shiver at the memory of meeting their Tribe Leader.
"Come now you overgrown insect, I hope you prove to be more than just target practice."
Brandishing his claymore, the captain lept past the small fries and backhanded one of the Greater Dark Spiders, and kicked the other that jumped to defend their brood mother. Even though the size of the Greater Spiders more than tripled the beastkin in front of them, they slammed against the walls of the cavern.
*Tsk* 'Ugh, I hate dealing with hard carapaces. I should've brought my mace.'
As for Ember and Noxtis, they had no time to worry about the dangers from the Matriarch and the two Greater spiders, just the ocean feral spiders were enough to keep them well occupied.
With the soldiers more focused on defending the group from the remaining lesser and feral spiders, Ember took advantage of the situation to practice her sword forms while conserving her energy as much as possible. Even though she was reckless, it was only when she could afford to do so.
As much as her Blazing Crescent was against the previous swarm of lesser spiders, it would waste too much of her bloodline energy and not achieve nearly enough damage to warrant it. Her own advice to Noxtis echoed in her mind as she worked on her deficiencies in technique due to always having a natural power over her opponents as well as her opponents not truly bringing out their best due to her status.
Finished with her battle preparations, Elder Nancy activated the inscription talismans that she threw all across the room. The previously gloomy unlit room burst with a fiery light, much to the horror of all the Savage Dark Spiders. Even Noxtis as a beastkin who preferred the darkness felt the suppression brought on by whatever the light was.
Thankfully, moments later a glow surrounded every beastkin that provided a physical and defensive boost. Noxtis felt the suppression abate as he felt a surge of power flow throughout his body.
"Wildfire Battlefield!
Aegis of the Flame King!
Caress of the Flame Queen!"
With her preparations finally set, Elder Nancy changed into her battle regalia. Replacing her Elder robes was a form-fitting cheongsam that looked as if it was made entirely of dragon scales. Her newly exposed arms showed off an array of intricate tattoos that shone with a warm light. Withdrawing another set of talismans from her spatial ring, Elder Nancy waved towards the two Greater Spiders who were currently fighting the claymore-wielding captain.
Zipping through the air unimpeded; the talismans erupted in ethereal chains, swallowing the two Greater Spiders till they looked like cocoons. Enraged, the Major Spider tore through the chains attempting to bind her as well, and spit a dark poison at the chains covering her children. With a sizzle, the chains that were covering their bodies broke apart.
Despite the chains failing to bind their targets, the two Greater spiders did not escape unscathed. Many of the metallic hairs on their bodies were broken or torn off, and one of them even lost a leg.
The room itself quaked every time the matriarch attacked, and her frustrated cries rang out constantly as the crimson scale captain and Elder Nancy stopped her from doing anything while the others slaughtered her kin.
After a few moments at the start of the battle where things were extremely chaotic, the battle ended up in a back and forth. The spider matriarch and her children were constantly prevented from dealing any significant damage to the group while Ember and Noxtis were rapidly killing off the younger spiders.
Frustrated that her children were being slaughtered left and right and the irritating barriers and captain's attack stunted her ability to stop them. Throwing away her caution as she began to see the tide turn against her, the matriarch threw her entire body forward and slammed against the barrier still formed by the soldiers.
The unexpected maneuver shattered the soldier's defensive formation. The Brood Mother had managed to shatter the Aegis of two crimson shield bearers and away from the rest. However; the reckless attack left her open to attack and the crimson captain lashed out in a fury, slashing off two of her back legs and even a large gash into her thorax.
Ignoring the disastrous wounds that she was inflicted with, the brood mother cried out to her brood. Even though she was just a Major Savage Beast, the brood mother knew that her brood was slowly losing and took the risk to potentially win or at least kill some of the beastkin before her death. With her command, the rest of the spiders also threw away any defensive notions and attacked with renewed ferocity.