'If I fight too much, I'll end up wasting time and getting hurt, but if I don't face them, I might end up with a horde after me.' Sief already had the dagger on his back and was tying a piece of cloth around his knee to close the wound. Still facing the bodies, he held a few wooden arrows and clenched his fist after securing it, stepping firmly and noticing the pain, though he could still run. 'But if I don't face them, maybe a territory with a dark green color might be too much for me.'
Still staring at the wooden arrows, Sief frowned and clicked his tongue, starting a light jog toward the forest as his steps gradually quickened.
'I won't get any hints on avoiding the alpha like I did with Edgar or Millo, so I'll probably have to face it.' He squinted, picking up his pace as much as he could while his eyes glowed again. 'Not as fast as before, but there aren't as many obstacles as before; if I keep a straight line toward the next territory and reach it by the end of the day, it'll already be an advantage. I just need to get there before them and find where Tulla stopped.'
With the aid of mana, his running speed held steady, but Sief frowned slightly, feeling a sharp pain in his leg with each step. However, as he kept running, the pain seemed to lessen, making him furrow his brow until he finally stopped.
Bringing his fingers near the arrow that had struck his thigh, Sief noticed that the wound had already closed, and his regeneration was taking effect.
'Suddenly, this got stronger. Was it because of me?' He narrowed his eyes. 'Or was it because of him taking control?'
Sief puffed out his chest and resumed running, pushing his speed back to its peak and activating mana to help with his fatigue, muttering under his breath.
"Whatever."
He crossed the greenish field at an abnormal speed, keeping a straight line as he encountered some bushes. Noticing strange movement in the trees, he saw that vine-like spiders, stones, and thorns the size of the bushes were leaping toward him.
He quickly drew his dagger, but something hit his hand. Turning to look, he saw a liquid web sticking his hand to the dagger's hilt, prompting him to leap backward to avoid the liquid webs hitting the ground where he had just stepped.
Arrows flew toward him, and Sief blocked them, squinting with a frown as he realized there were three spiders and six bushes against him again. The spiders clung to the trees with webs while shooting, forcing him to run as more arrows flew.
'Them again, now with company.' Clenching his fist, Sief projected the blade and tore the web on his hand, creating space to sheathe the dagger and grab the wooden arrows he had kept. 'I guess I'll have to leave the dagger for later.'
Sief gripped one arrow and threw it at a spider, hitting its abdomen and piercing it, making the creature scream. As it moved again, Sief frowned, realizing a single arrow wouldn't kill it. But before he could throw another, the spider returned to the tree, and an arrow grazed his thigh.
Turning swiftly to face the bush sprouts, Sief advanced and surprised one, which he pierced and, with the blade's help, hurled it at a spider, knocking the creature to the ground as it flailed but soon returned to the tree.
More arrows flew, and though he shielded his face, his sides were hit, with one striking his abdomen and making him grunt before advancing again to eliminate another, then throwing it at the spider climbing the tree, causing it to fall to the ground, trembling before it finally stopped moving.
Sief gritted his teeth, but as he prepared to advance, something hit his boot, making him grunt lightly as he noticed it was stuck due to a web. The bushes leaped back, forming a frontline while already preparing their arrows.
The creatures fired, and Sief threw himself to the side, abandoning his boot to dodge the arrows, surprising the monsters as they retreated. Sief quickly advanced and cut down two more, grabbing one bush as a shield while facing the tree. Still, he didn't see the spider that had hit him, causing him to grunt as the battle's strain mounted.
The last two arrows hit the fallen bush's body, allowing Sief to eliminate the two remaining easily. Turning to the tree, he saw the final two spiders seem to stare at him before vanishing into the dark leaves of the trees.
Clicking his tongue, Sief pulled the arrow from his abdomen and walked toward his boot, still watching the tree as he mused.
'If I had run, sooner or later the arrows would have hit me. They probably would have strayed from the tree, but if they called for others, I'd just be trading one problem for another.' With some difficulty, he freed his boot from the ground, collecting the arrows while still eyeing the tree, and after putting his boot back on, he resumed running, his brow furrowed, glancing at the tree and back to the forest. 'The monsters haven't changed that much, but there's definitely some difference. I thought monsters fought uncoordinatedly and to the death, but these here…'
Entering the forest, Sief continued to be alert, dodging larger bushes and using the trees for cover to protect his back, constantly glancing up as he ran at full speed, supported by the blade.
He could see some spiders jumping between the trees, suspended by webs, seemingly observing him. Thanks to the leaf color, the forest, though not dense, appeared a bit darker.
Sief kept running until, in a leap, he felt eyes on him and saw red eyes on his periphery. With a swift movement, he turned and blocked, but something lunged quickly, biting his bracer and surprising Sief as a snake larger than himself grabbed him and pulled him before he could react.
Clenching his teeth, Sief tightened his fist, and the blade appeared, but the snake spun him quickly, not allowing him to touch the ground. Sief frowned as he realized he was being swung.
'If this thing throws me…' Though he tried to move his arm with the blade, Sief couldn't free it from the creature's grip. 'The dagger isn't helping me at all.'
Pulling his arm closer, Sief approached the snake, whose pupil dilated, but before it could react, he drew a wooden arrow and stabbed it in the serpent's eye, causing black blood to spurt and the creature to scream.
Sief was released, but the snake's swing sent him hurtling toward the ground at near throw-like speed.
His back hit the ground, and he grunted, rolling rapidly before colliding with a tree that forced him to arch back as he gritted his teeth.
He quickly sat up, coughing and feeling some saliva fall, but turned quickly toward the snake, watching the creature scream at him. Sief frowned, realizing he could be swallowed due to the monster's size as it lunged again.
However, he clenched his fist, and the blade emerged. As the snake neared, Sief jumped back, using the tree for support and surprising the creature by leaping forward over its body.
The blade pointed downward, slicing through the snake's body as he advanced, ending with a collision against the tree, leaving the creature dazed as Sief landed beside it and wrapped the blade in a poisonous aura, continuing to slash the monster as it screamed and turned, attacking again.
Sief twisted his torso quickly, grabbing his dagger's hilt as the snake's face approached. He swiftly lowered his blade, slicing through half of the snake's face, causing it to recoil, screaming and bleeding.
The dagger dug slightly into the ground, and Sief clicked his tongue, sheathing it and muttering.
"Damn, if you weren't so heavy, you'd already be on the other side."
The creature stared, panting and wide-eyed as black blood spurted rapidly. Sief watched it but soon turned away while retracting his claw and hearing the snake's scream.
"I've put enough poison in you, even if you resist." The snake's shadow loomed toward him. "You won't resist."
Beside him, the snake's body collapsed with a dull thud, and Sief saw that it was still alive but weakened. With a single thrust, he finished it and turned to the trees.
The spiders continued leaping between the trees, all moving to a single spot. Taking the map from his bag, Sief realized he was near the map's center.
Looking up, he noticed the sun had just passed its peak, and Sief stowed the map again.
'I'm running out of time… and this wasn't the alpha…' He turned to the snake, narrowing his eyes. 'But to think this might have just been one of the big ones, nowhere near an alpha… I didn't take that much damage, but any mistake, and I'd be in trouble…'
Turning to the direction he should follow, Sief advanced, feeling a slight mental fatigue that made him sleepy, yet he continued at maximum speed, colliding with some bushes along the way.
They all fired arrows, and with the aid of the spiders in the trees, Sief struggled to eliminate them. Even though he killed some spiders, others always escaped, moving to the same direction, causing him to frown and proceed more cautiously, skirting the bushes before finally advancing slower.
As he walked, he heard the sound of the spiders' footsteps growing louder and seemingly more constant.
They were all heading in the same direction, and Sief was getting closer, but he felt an odd sense of unease, noticing spider webs scattered across the trees, casting shadows in certain places.
In these webs, dozens of pairs of spiders seemed to blend into the surroundings due to their skin, but they were strangely inactive, prompting Sief to keep a vigilant eye on his surroundings.
'Did they name this territory because of a region full of monsters?' He quickly moved his eyes, spotting something inactive among the trees. 'Or is there something more here?'
Sief noticed something to his side and quickly struck it, realizing it was one of the spiders that had been pierced by his blade.
The creature let out a high-pitched shriek that seemed to echo through the forest, followed by the sound of roots shifting as something rose from within the trees. It lifted a mouth full of stone-like teeth toward the sky, emitting a monstrous roar and releasing a greenish liquid that vaporized upon contact, melting everything it touched.
It was a spider much larger than the snake, with various spiders and mushrooms covering its back. Its skin looked like stone, with moss growing along its sides, blending its presence with the environment. Sief narrowed his eyes, forcing a nervous smile and growling.
'What kind of alpha is this? Is it the mother of all spiders?'