Chapter 65: The Little Green Spider

“Thorns, arise!”

In a distant valley from where Luo Yong was, Mira summoned a thicket of thorny vines, blocking a wave of spiders. Yet, more and more spiders surged in from other directions.

Swish!

Wendy swung her longsword, conjuring a wall of fire.

Whoosh!

The Tempest Sorcerer summoned a tornado, sweeping away countless spiders. Many were torn to pieces midair by the violent winds, with limbs scattering everywhere.

Meanwhile, the Wild Huntress summoned a giant wolf and mounted it.

“Don’t waste your mana! This kind of defensive battle doesn’t suit you!” Wendy called out quickly when she saw the Tempest Sorcerer poised to act again. Noticing the Wild Huntress’s actions, she asked in confusion, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, nothing. When we retreat later, I’ll be able to run faster,” the Wild Huntress replied coolly.

“…”

Lilian, who had just been about to cast a spell, paused and forgot what she was going to do. Wendy, too, was speechless; she sighed softly, shook her head, and said, “Now, follow my lead! Mira, seal off all sides—don’t leave any gaps!”

“Understood!” Mira replied, beginning to summon thorns in great numbers.

“Lilian, show us your abilities!”

“All right!” Lilian nodded, knowing there was no room for hesitation now. She began chanting, waving her staff, and called out, “Water from earth, earth to water—Trench!”

As she cast, water gushed from the ground, the soil sank, as though groundwater and surface soil had traded places. Before her, a trench three yards long and one yard wide formed, with water half a meter deep—enough to submerge the smaller spiders.

The larger ones, however, could still poke their heads above the water and wade across.

“Holy Light!”

At that moment, the barbarian priest, who had been silent, shouted and cast a wave of holy light, purifying all the spiders that managed to cross the water.

“Any other abilities?” Wendy came to Lilian’s side and asked.

“I can also raise a wall of earth. Given the current situation, about two meters high and ten meters long,” Lilian replied.

“That won’t hold them—they’ll break through,” Wendy shook her head. Eyeing the trench, she asked, “Can you make this deeper?”

“Yes.” Lilian glanced at her, said no more, gathered her magic, waved her staff, and once again called, “Trench!” The water surged, and even the larger spiders, once able to keep their heads up, were swallowed and sank.

The curse witch seized the chance to cast a spell upon the water.

These spiders were resistant to many poisons, and Elia knew this well. She cast a [Slowing Hex] tailored to restrict their speed, hindering their advance.

“These spiders must be nocturnal. Do you think we can hold out until dawn?” Mira asked.

“We really shouldn’t have split up from Luo Yong. Wouldn’t it have been better to explore together? Why did we have to…”

“There’s no point in saying that now,” someone else interrupted. “Let’s focus and get through the night together!”

“I have another idea,” Mira said suddenly. She took out a recovery potion and drank it. Immediately, she began summoning layers of thorns, one atop another. Soon, a towering wall of brambles rose, leaning inward the higher it climbed, until it formed a domed enclosure.

The group found themselves surrounded, as if covered by a massive bowl of thorns.

“This is actually a good idea,” Elia exclaimed, seeing the spiders blocked outside.

But before they could celebrate, a crunching sound came from within the wall of thorns.

“Oh no, the spiders are eating the thorns!” Elia cried.

“No—they’re not eating them. Spiders aren’t herbivores. They’re swarming onto the thorns; there are too many, their combined weight is too much for the wall to bear…”

“Which means…”

“We’ll be crushed to death in here?!”

“Holy Light!”

The barbarian priest, desperate to survive, unleashed another burst of holy light. In the confined space, it was brighter than ever, so much so that everyone had to squint against the glare.

Still, the dazzling radiance managed to calm their nerves.

“Water Arrow!”

Lilian, holding nothing back now, cast a barrage of water spells. While water and earth magic were usually considered ordinary, in skilled hands, they could transform and adapt in endless ways—sometimes far more useful than odd and esoteric spells.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

The rain of water arrows pierced countless spiders, yet didn’t damage the wall of thorns much—a masterful display of skill.

Still, there were simply too many spiders outside. These spells were just a drop in the bucket.

“My turn—rise, winds!”

With a rush, wind magic surged through the gaps in the thorn wall, blowing spiders high into the air.

The Fatty huddled in a corner, unable to help with spells or combat. He racked his brains, then began prying at his bracer, trying to remove the +5 rune stone embedded in it. Perhaps, if he could hand it to Wendy, it might prove useful.

But no matter how he tried, it wouldn’t budge—the more anxious he became, the harder it was to remove…

Crash!

After several rounds of defense and counterattack, and another flurry of water arrows, part of the bramble dome was finally breached. Some spiders collapsed it and fell through.

Wendy swept her sword, burning them all to death.

A burnt stench began to fill the air.

But more spiders leapt in through the gap.

“This isn’t working!” Wendy shouted, raising her sword, fire flaring along its blade, illuminating the dark valley.

“Mira, prepare to summon new thorns!”

“Merlin, you’ll be up next!” she called.

“Understood!”

Before Mira could react, Wendy and the Tempest Sorcerer had already exchanged a glance—clearly, a plan was in place.

Mira was momentarily dazed by the sudden flurry of commands.

Then, she saw Wendy slash through the thorns she had just summoned, setting them ablaze, dividing them into sections. The burning thickets began to topple.

At that moment, the Tempest Sorcerer swung his staff, channeled wind magic, and summoned a fierce gale that blew the burning thorns outward, sending them crashing into the swarming spiders.

A cacophony of hissing and crackling erupted as hordes of spiders were consumed in the inferno.

Wendy’s face was resolute, as if she wished to burn this secret realm to the ground.

“Mira!”

“Huh? Oh!” Mira snapped out of her daze at Wendy’s shout.

Her power was to summon thorns—so now, that was all she needed to do! Focusing, she surveyed the surroundings and conjured another ring of thorns around the group.

“Can you make it a bit larger?” Wendy gestured, indicating the circle was too small.

“From here on, the three of us will coordinate,” Wendy said. “Everyone else, stay alert and be ready to assist at any moment!”

“All right,” the barbarian priest responded, his gaze sharp, just as when they’d fought monsters together before.

“Is there any way to contact Luo Yong? If he were here, with the key to the secret realm…” Fatty ventured tentatively.

“The distance is too great. We’re heading in exactly the opposite direction. If he hasn’t turned back… even if he returns to the entrance camp, it’s still half a day’s journey,” Wendy replied.

Truth was, the group had been moving slowly, wary of spider ambushes in this realm. The spiders were swift and unpredictable, so their progress was cautious and not very far.

“We’ll be fine. Even without Luo Yong, we can hold out. Remember the time we cleared that crypt? There were so many monsters, but we made it through!” the Tempest Sorcerer encouraged.

“But the terrain is different,” Elia pointed out, glancing at the sky. “There, we only had to defend from one direction and could fight head-on. Here, it’s open ground—they can come from anywhere…” Even the trees above were crawling with spiders, some looking ready to pounce at any moment.

“Thorns… huh?”

Just then, as Mira was about to summon another wave, she suddenly felt dizzy. Her spell was interrupted before it could be cast.

Her body swayed, and she almost collapsed.

“Mira, what’s wrong?” Lilian, standing nearby, caught her and asked urgently.

Seeing her comrade suddenly falter, Lilian—who had always fought alone—began to panic, her voice trembling.

“I… I…” Mira tried to speak, but no words would come. Straining to keep her eyes open, she glimpsed a flash of light.

With her last ounce of strength, she pointed toward a spider that was entirely green.

It was small and seemingly ordinary, yet while all the other spiders hurled themselves at the group, this one remained motionless atop the head of a gigantic spider.

As the group looked, it gazed back at them, as if possessed of some intelligence.

“My gods! That… that huge spider!” Elia shrieked, hiding behind Wendy.

Everyone realized that, at some point, a giant spider—taller than a man and as large as a small house—had been lurking in the valley.

Of course, it was more like a peasant’s house in size.

“No, Mira must mean the small one on its head—the green spider!”