The journey through the dark tunnel was eerily quiet. Yunhee remained silent, walking steadily ahead without hesitation.
I hadn't expected Yunhee to suddenly pin me against the wall, though I suppose it was something I should have anticipated.
[A few constellations are disappointed.]
[A few constellations say they wanted to watch a kiss scene.]
[A few constellations say you are not manly.]
A vein popped on my forehead.
Those arrogant constellations were teasing me now. Being teased by my junior was one thing, but from the constellations too? Ridiculous.
I took a deep breath, pushing aside the distractions.
This was no time to lose focus.
Ignoring the mocking messages from the constellations, I pressed on.
"We are almost there."
The tunnel ahead grew brighter with each step, signaling that we were nearing the end. My heart began to beat faster, a knot tightening in my chest. What would we find at the end of this passage?
[The Hidden Fable has been updated.]
[You have found the core of the hidden dungeon.]
"Wh-What? All these..."
When we emerged from the tunnel, Yunhee gasped in shock.
We hadn't arrived at the next station. Instead, we'd arrived at a chilling, unfamiliar location.
The ground was littered with remains of various monsters: torn wings, broken torsos, dismembered limbs. The sight was grotesque.
[The constellations are disgusted by the sight.]
I glanced upward to see a light, hanging high in the air, illuminating the grotesque scene. It seemed like the mana in this place had coalesced there, casting a sickly glow over the room.
Yunhee's voice broke through the heavy silence.
"Hey, look over there."
I followed her gaze to the far end of the room.
In the dim light, there was three people webbed to the wall at the end of the room. Angelica, Jongho and Gyeong. There were all there.
Luckily, they were still alive. But they looked like they had fallen unconscious since they didn't utter a word. I was far away so I couldn't see their expressions properly.
"We should go to them..."
"Shh! Get over here, quickly."
I grabbed Yunhee's hand, pulling her toward a nearby corner for cover.
"Jakga, what are we doing? They're right there. We should just grab them and go."
"Shh! Lower your voice."
Suddenly, a disturbing sound echoed from the tunnel. The ground trembled as large, crawling spiders appeared, dragging the massive corpse of a creature behind them.
It was a Order 8 Nightmarish Rhinoceros. Despite being at an Order of Level 8, it possessed the strength of some Order 7 Terror.
How did those little spider manage to catch it? Was it because of their venom, or had the creature already been injured?
My mind raced with such possibilities.
The crawling spiders dropped the torn rhinoceros and left the place quickly as if they were in a hurry.
Yunhee whispered, "What are they doing?"
"I told you before."
"You mean they're feeding it to the mother spider? I don't see it anywhere."
"You're looking in the wrong direction." I pointed to the ceiling.
Yunhee's face drained of color as she looked up. It was clear she had been struck with the same fear I felt.
A giant spider, as large as a house, was descending from above. It was the Order 7 Plague Spider.
The mother spider that commanded the smaller ones, and the boss monster of the Subway Dungeon.
"Keurruuuk—"
The Plague Spider landed on the dead rhinoceros and began to spray a greenish liquid over its body.
Crunch! Munch!
The flesh of the rhinoceros melted instantly as the Plague Spider devoured it.
"That's acid!"
"Is it? How surprising."
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. The Plague Spider's name was no joke—it could melt anything it touched.
Basically, If that liquid made contact with your skin, then it's game over.
Moveever, the novel described the Plague Spider as an utterly disgusting creature and now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I now knew those words wasn't a lie.
Should use that? Either way, it was time to start the performance.
I placed my hand on Yunhee's shoulder and spoke softly.
"I'll be back soon. Stay here."
"Huh? Wait a minute..."
Before she could protest, I moved toward the spider.
"What are you planning to do?" Yunhee grabbed my sleeve.
Despite trying to act tough, her hands were shaking pretty bad. Even indifferent people were afraid of death.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to kill that overgrown spider."
Yunhee's facial expressions shifted to that of disbelief. It seems like she received a mental shock beyond her capability to deal with and stopped thinking rationally.
She opened her mouth to say what I knew was coming.
"Are you out of your mind?! I knew you were reckless, but this is suicidal!"
I smirked inwardly. It was just like in the novels—every time the protagonist said something outrageous, the people around them would think they were insane. Though, I wasn't the protagonist here.
"I know what you're thinking. That thing can't be hunted down."
"Then..."
"However, that thing pretty weak right now due to overfeeding."
"Wait, you don't mean..."
"That's right. The mother spider usually overfeeds before going into hibernation. So during this time, It will become much weaker."
I gently pushed her hand off my sleeve, speaking calmly.
"Stay here. When the time is right, go free the others."
Without waiting for her to respond, I turned and left the hiding spot. Fortunately, she didn't try to follow. It would have been troublesome if she tagged along and said she wanted to help out.
Even if she was a little strong, she will be completely useless in this battle.
The Plague Spider seemed to sense my presence. It stopped feeding and turned its multiple eyes toward me.
Rather than attacking, it advanced slowly, keeping its distance and studying me.
"Fuu—"
At this point, the plague spider has already filled up my vision. My breathing became heavy and my body was trembling.
[You have fallen under the status effect Fear]
[Personal skill, Black Box has activated.]
[The negative status effect has been released.]
I took a deep breath, calming my mind. Gripping my revolver, I steeled myself and took a step.
This wasn't my original plan. At first, I intended to sneak in and steal all the cores when the spider entered hibernation. But now, circumstances had changed.
If this spider was something I couldn't handle, I wouldn't have come here.
[The Plague Spider has detected an intruder.]
[The contents of the Narrative has been updated.]
[Defeat the 'Plague Spider' and clear the Hidden Dungeon.]
"Keurururuk—"
The Plague Spider rushed toward me, raising two of its front legs high and bent then at an angle.
Slam!
I barely dodged the deadly strike, rolling to the side. Raising my revolver, I took a shot at one of the spider's eyes.
Puok!
The spider howled in pain and staggered back, but I knew this wasn't enough to stop it. Its exoskeleton was too tough to break with a mere bullet.
The same couldn't be said about the eyes though. There were only seven eyes now.
Perhaps it was the spider was angered about losing an eyes, it started stabbing the ground with its sharp razor-like legs.
Slam! Boom! Kwahng! Kaboom! Slam! Boom! Kwahng! Kaboom!
Each stab from the spider's leg destroyed the ground and made my ears tremble. Thankfully, the spider has already been weakened due to overfeeding.
Even then, if I make a mistake here, it will be the end of me.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
In the meantime, the spider's attacks poured down without a break. Perhaps it had become enraged since it was unable to catch me.
I dodged each one of those stabs aimed for my chest and pulled the trigger of the raised magic gun three times.
With a wind parting sound, the magic bullets flew in the air and accurately pierced three of the spider's eyes.
Puok! Puok! Puuuookkk!!!
Rooooaaaar!!!
The spider roared out and staggered about in pain. Blood gushed out from its missing eyes like a fountain.
Although critical injuries were inflicted on the spider, attacks from the magic gun won't be able to finish it off. Only blind it at best.
Since the spider has become weakened enough, let's proceed with that method.
I summoned the Iron-cutting Sword from my dimensional storage ring.
[A few constellations wonder what you'll do with that weak sword.]
Indeed, the Iron-cutting Sword was no legendary weapon. A D-rank artifact, it could easily slice through magic iron, but it wouldn't be enough to defeat the spider without help.
However, the Iron-cutting sword was only a weak sword when used without skills. To be more precise, It would become strong if powerful skills were used.
[Two exclusive skills have been activated at the same time.]
[Aura Sword + Blood Demon Ki]
The combination of these two skills would create something far more powerful. The phenomenon was called Skill Combination.
[The skill 'Synthesis' has activated.]
[The skill cards: 'Aura Sword' and 'Blood Demon Ki' are being combined.]
[A new skill card is being generated.]
Synthesis.
A skill card I had bought from the shop for a whopping 40,000 coins. Basically, it combined two skill cards together and created a more powerful one. Such a useful skill was well hidden in the shop and was placed with a low price.
At first, I even thought it was a scam. But to my luck, It was genuine.
It was suspicious, but I didn't even question it.
Even then, there was a chance of failure if the two skills did not share enough comparability. But I could handle that 'flaw' with my information.
[Congratulations, synthesis was successful!]
[You have acquired the skill card 'Blood Demon Sword Energy.']
Kiiing!
The sword trembled in my hand as a blood-red aura erupted from the blade.
[A few constellations open their eyes wide.]
I grinned inwardly.
Their surprise was gratifying. It wasn't every day they saw this kind of techniquez especially in a Lesser World facing the beginning of the Fables.
I readied myself as the spider's massive legs thudded against the ground.
Thud! Thud!
The plague spider staggered, its movements growing more erratic. Such a foolish creature—struggling only hastened its end.
[2000 coins have been invested into Magic Power.]
[Magic Power Lv. 10 → Magic Power Lv. 20]
[Your overall mana has increased.]
Swish!
The spider's legs, resembling sharp razors, swept through the air, dangerously close to me. Any strike would surely be deadly, especially with my low physique.
But rather than dodge, I surged forward, swinging my Iron-cutting sword with determination.
Slash! Puoookk!!
The seemingly indestructible exoskeleton cracked, and one of the spider's legs was cleanly severed.
This was the power of the Blood Demon Sword energy—an ability that allowed someone like me to face off against a Order 7 Terror.
The plague spider screeched in agony, tottering unsteadily on its remaining legs.
An opening was created just like that.
Without hesitation, I seized the opportunity, leaping forward, and drove my sword into its vulnerable spot.