The two of them walked for over an hour and finally found another bridge. After crossing the river, they saw a path in the forest. Since there was a path, it surely could lead them out of this forest. Thus, the two of them changed their course and walked northward about ten steps away from the path - staying out of sight remained the top priority.
However, not long after they walked, a mist began to spread in the air. This lavender mist had a slightly fishy and stinky smell, which was nauseating. Both of them thought this mist was strange, so they each readied their weapons and advanced with high vigilance.
Ten minutes later, the mist around them became even thicker, and the fishy smell grew stronger as well. The mist was so thick that it was impossible to see clearly beyond ten steps.
Through the lavender mist, Aurelio could barely make out some spider webs hanging on the nearby tree tops. Some of them were unusually large, big enough to trap a person. Looking at these spider webs, he thought to himself, "How big could the spiders be? And... I'm really unlucky. I just hoped not to encounter them, and here they are!"
As he was thinking this, spiders began to emerge from the grass under his feet. The spiders were about the size of a palm, with bristles standing upright all over their bodies. They had more than two pairs of eyes and two prominent fangs.
Aurelio frowned and sent four fireballs crashing down on them directly. He didn't want to identify what kind of spiders they were; he was just afraid of getting bitten. "Although it's said that the larger the spider, the less toxic it is."
After eliminating the spiders, he turned around to remind his companion to be more careful. It was only then that he realized the female knight who had been following behind him had disappeared without a trace.
He wasn't sure when he had gotten separated from his companion. In the worst-case scenario, they had been apart for nearly ten minutes and were quite far from each other. Continuing to move forward alone was already too dangerous. With just one pair of eyes and ears, it was impossible to keep track of the situation around. At this moment, perhaps the safest thing to do was to retrace their steps and withdraw from the misty area.
Just as Aurelio was hesitating, a woman's shouts came from somewhere in the forest.
(A few minutes ago, in another part of the forest)
Gloria no longer dared to walk in front. Compared to her surroundings, she was paying more attention to the ground beneath her feet. She really didn't want to encounter rats or anything similar again.
However, not long after walking, she felt dizzy spells in her head. Her vision would go black from time to time, and her whole body felt weak. This feeling was somewhat familiar to her. She had felt like this before getting separated from her companion in the forest last night.
"Is there something wrong in this forest?" She stopped walking, leaned on a tree, and took a few seconds to try to regain her clarity.
When she opened her eyes again, Aurelio, who should have been not far ahead, was already out of her sight. She called out to him loudly, but there was no response.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
Normally, when separated from a companion, one should not move around randomly. But now, with unknown dangers lurking in the mist, she wasn't sure whether she should wait - the eerie atmosphere here made her hair stand on end.
"How could I be so cowardly! What could be so great about this place!" She encouraged herself, but she couldn't stop the chill running down her spine. It felt as if a pair of fierce eyes were staring at her from behind.
"It's impossible. There couldn't be anyone in a place like this!" She laughed to comfort herself. As if to prove that this feeling was unreliable, she deliberately turned around.
Her feeling was indeed wrong. Because the eyes staring at her were not one pair, but four pairs. She felt as if all the blood in her body had been frozen.
Appearing in front of her was a spider. It was about eleven or twelve feet long, with a colorful body. Its eight thick limbs were covered with bristles, each as sharp as the spines of a porcupine, sharp enough to stab a person. It was hanging from a tree top by a silk thread as thick as two fingers. Its huge weight made the whole tree sway. It bared its fangs as thick as a forearm and looked at the female knight in front of it with its eight eyes, and the terrified face of the female knight was reflected in each of its eyes.
For the first time in her life, Gloria felt her legs go weak. This feeling of fear was completely different from when she stepped on a rat. At this moment, she couldn't even manage to step back to avoid it or let out a scream. Just by looking at this spider for a few seconds, cold sweat was pouring down her whole body, her heart was beating frantically, and her muscles were almost out of her control.
She was stunned for a few seconds, then pinched her cheek hard with her hand, and finally regained her composure. She swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva. With her right hand trembling, she gripped her sword even tighter. She swung her weapon and slashed at one of the spider's front legs with all her might. After a loud collision sound, her powerful strike only left a very shallow mark on the spider's carapace.
After the first attempt failed, Gloria raised her sword high again. With a shout, she infused holy light into her weapon and then swung her sword again. The golden-glowing sharp blade slashed heavily on another leg of the spider. There was a sound like metal colliding where the bright light and sparks burst out together. This strike was also ineffective.
This strike was powerful enough to pierce through plate armor, but it was easily deflected by the spider's carapace - to support its huge body, the spider's physical strength was astonishing, especially the outer carapace, whose hardness was far beyond that of man-made armor.
The female knight shook her head with a bitter smile and muttered to herself, "I'm no match for it." She had the thought of retreating in her mind. Since the opponent wasn't a human "enemy", maybe it wouldn't be too shameful to run away?
She couldn't make up her mind, but suddenly the spider broke the silk thread and fell from mid-air. Its heavy body hit the ground, sending dust and leaves flying into the air, blocking the female knight's sight.
Gloria felt the ground tremble. She didn't know what to do and could only assume a defensive stance. At this moment, a white object shot out from the still-falling dust. She subconsciously pushed out her shield to block, but she was a step too slow. The white object landed on her right ankle. It was a tough silk thread that, after being shot out from the spider's abdomen, began to solidify rapidly. Her boot was firmly stuck to the ground by the silk thread.
The female knight first tried to pull it with her hands and then cut it with her sword, but she couldn't break free. The strength of this silk thread was astonishing. Once it solidified, it was tougher than steel.
Gloria looked at the approaching spider with despair and thought, "I'm doomed! I have no chance to escape! I'm going to become the spider's lunch!"
As the spider was approaching and the distance between her and death was getting closer, she suddenly felt a sense of calm instead. Her inner fear disappeared, and the terrified look on her face gradually became calm. She took a deep breath and felt that her heart was no longer beating frantically and her limbs were no longer trembling. It seemed that strength had returned to her body. She laughed and shouted at the same time, "Fight! The last stand! I don't want to die here!"
She raised the sharp blade in her hand again and then injected all the power she could muster into the weapon at once. The tip of her sword immediately became as bright as the sun. She thrust the sword forward to meet the approaching spider. The blade, filled with divine energy, melted through the hard carapace on the spider's head and pierced into its body. She roared loudly and pushed the shining sword deeper with even greater force.
The female knight's desperate strike drove the sword into the spider's body until the hilt. The spider trembled violently, obviously in great pain - the hot blade of the female knight almost made its body fluids boil.
She had used up all her strength on this sword strike. She was now exhausted and unable to pull the sword back, so she had to let go of the hilt. "Did I win..." Looking at the spider retreating continuously until it finally collapsed on the ground and stopped moving, a smile reappeared on her face. Then she felt her legs go weak and couldn't stand up, so she knelt on one knee. She was now completely limp all over and couldn't exert any strength. If it weren't for her right foot being restricted by this silk thread, she would have collapsed on the ground like the spider at this moment.
"Take a break first..." She gasped for breath, raised her arm to wipe the sweat, "...and then deal with this thread."
"I wonder how he is. I need to find him quickly. I hope he's okay too." The female knight thought, shook her head with a smile, "What am I worried about! He must be fine, such an amazing person!"
Just then, a rustling sound came from the front again. She opened her eyes again and felt an even more suffocating despair.