Doyun ran back towards the house as fast as he could. There was a white cloud of dust oozing right above where it stood accompanied by the ear piercing cries of a toddler that rang through the air.
"AH-IN! SUNG-JIN! ISEUL!!!!" The dark haired man called out. He skipped over the rubble, heading towards the guest bedroom and froze at the sight that greeted him. In the place where the bedroom used to be stood massive spiders with three bundles on its back.
The smallest bundle shook with Ah-In's cry while Iseul's red hair could be seen from the biggest. Hearing the little girl's cries urged Doyun to move. He quickly pulled out his poison dagger and jumped towards the oversized bug. The spider however easily evaded him by jumping back towards the big chunk of broken wall. It then spit at him, purplish green liquid that instantly started melting the stone it landed on.
The dark haired man lunged towards the spider again, slashing at its leg. It let out a shrieking cry as the [Venomous Spike Dagger] he got from the Mutated tiger easily tore through its exoskeleton, severing a leg. The beast shrieked in pain, lashing out. It stabbed Doyun in the shoulder with its other leg.
Doyun bit down a scream, one arm flopping uselessly by his side. Cursing, he blocked another incoming attack from the spider only to be thrown into the wall. The green eyed man coughed, straining his eyes open to see the spider looming over him, threateningly.
Not wanting to give up yet, Doyun shot his hand forward, intending to stab the bug through the jaw when the thing jumped off of him, making weird chirping sounds.
It quickly turned tail and disappeared into the forest before Doyun had any time to react. The man moved to give chase when Lee Hyunwoo called out to him.
"SIR! WAIT!!"
Doyun swallowed back a groan to look at the priest. He seemed to have run all the way here with how his chest heaved and the way he panted but he wasn't sweating which was strange. Shouldn't the man be drenched with the way he was acting?.
"What is it, Father Lee?" There was a growl in Doyun's voice as he asked the priest. The said man quickly raised a placating hand.
"Are you going after them?"
"Yes." He replied gruffly, opening his [Status] and pressing on the [Ability] window. From there, Doyun tapped the [Thread of Tracking] which made two white strings instantly materialize before his eyes.
"I am deeply sorry to say this but you shouldn't chase after them." Instantly, a flash of unadulterated fury ran through him. Doyun bit his lips, unwilling to respond to thi- this- this fool. 'How dare you…' he thought. 'How dare you suggest that I abandon mine.' he wanted to yell. Instead the dark haired man chose to ignore the priest and let him talk.
"The nest is quite a bit far from here and any prey is eaten instantly once inside the nest. I do not believe the children will survive until you arrive. You're hurt too! Wouldn't it be better to treat your wound first?" There was a slight waver and remorse in Lee Hyunwoo's voice.
Any other time, Doyun probably would have let the man manipulate him but now, mere moments after his children were abducted by somedememnted spider, every single cell in the green eyed man's body screamed that Lee Hyunwoo was a liar.
"Shut up…" He hissed and quickly swallowed the bottle of [Blood of Nadja] then disappeared into the forest, leaving the damned priest alone. Doyun moved through the woods, following the thread through the corner of his eyes.
Alongside the thread, in the edge of his vision was a timer, ticking away ominously. It signaled the time left until the [Thread of Tracking] had to be renewed.
[07:09:27]
It was plenty of time for him to catch up to the spider and get the kids out of harm's way, in his opinion. With newfound determination, Doyun increased his pace, swiftly passing through the obstacles. Within an hour's time, he had already covered what a normal person would have in two hours and was standing in front of an entrance to the spider nest.
The trees were covered in webs, tied close together to create a roof of the cave. The arachnid had managed to create a cave using only its web. The man swallowed thickly then took a step after step, entering the nest. The cave was dark and floor sticky.
Doyun quickly pulled up his [Inventory]. He took out the flashlight and continued going deeper into the nest. Here and there he could see remains of all sorts of creatures, including humans. It made him sick.
Finally, after 10 or so minutes, the tall man reached the end of the cave. It lead to a big spider cave with eggs placed all over the walls.
"Hey…" a hoarse voice echoed. Doyun whirled around to see a figure in torn clothes sitting by the wall.
"A-are you the- cough cough- rescue party?" She asked, looking up towards him with a single orange eye. Her other eye was covered by bandages and her black hair held in a loose ponytail.
"Who are you?" He asked, edging towards her carefully. The woman wheezed in laughter.
"Oh, did that bastard bring you here too? How come you aren't chained?" She asked, sounding a bit hysterical.
"No, I came here looking for my kids. The spider took them and my ability told me they were here."
"Oh. Then I am afraid we are the only ones here. The arachnid hasn't come back since last night." She drawled out rather calmly.
Doyun was instantly on her, his hands shook and heart pounded with fear over the possibility that [Threads of Tracking] tricked him.
"What do you mean!? Answer me! If it isn't here then where is it!?" He shook the woman, hand wrapped around the collar of her shirt. The woman growled and pushed Doyun away.
"Why should I answer you!? For all I know you are working with that damned fake priest!" Doyun faltered.
"Priest?..." the woman huffed and nodded.
"Yeah, he is the owner of the spider. Three days ago, my team and I came here to rest but the damn priest caught us off guard. He killed my team and left me to die here."
"Couldn't you just leave?" Doyun asked, subdued by the revelation. The off feeling he had been getting finally made sense.
The fire eyed woman snorted and lifted her leg to show a thick steel chain that chained her to the wall.
"I can't melt it without incapacitating myself. Otherwise I would have left a long time ago. Anyway, go! You have kids to save don't you?" She mumbled, putting her leg back down. However Doyun didn't let her and grabbed her leg, quickly showing his dagger into the keyhole.
"W-What are you doing!?" She exclaimed.
"Getting you out." He answered shortly and continued to fiddle with the lock until the 'click' sound was heard. The chains fell into the cave floor, freeing its hostage.
"Here, drink this." Doyun then threw her some [Blood of Nadja] which she quickly downed. They then left the spider cave in a hurry, hoping to reach the priest in time.
Without turning back, the woman clicked her fingers. Sparks flew, setting the nest on a burning hot fire and along with it, the eggs of said monster. The two moved back towards the town, the nameless woman leading the way.
"Hey, what's your name?"
"Cha Doyun."
"Cool. I'm Irima Alexandrovitch. I look forward to working with you."