Chapter 231: 216

I cut down two spider-people.

Otou-san got three.

If I had to say if they were strong or weak, they were weak monsters to me and Otou-san.

But……

「Dammit!」

Shuna was having a very hard time.

The spider-people were evading every swing of his longsword.

Their movements were quite eerie.

The spider-people ducked and dodged without any preliminary movements, almost like they were teleporting. They moved in ways that defied all conventional understanding of human and biological movements.

「No way?!」

Ea's arrows were similarly unable to hit anything.

Intimidation and anticipatory attacks were completely ineffective.

「Souya, match your timing with mine」

「Got it」

Otou-san and I stepped in between Shuna and the spider-people. They were abnormally fast when it came to dodging, but their attacks were glaringly slow.

We had made it with plenty of time.

「fuuu」

The elderly swordsman and I matched our breathing.

We relaxed our bodies entirely, lowered our stance slightly, and wrapped our fingers around the handles of our sheathed katanas.

From an instant of nothingness, we unleashed slashes of divine speed.

The trails of the glistening blades flashed through the darkness.

Destruction followed the intersecting paths.

The clicks of the katanas settling back into place rang out at the exact same time.

I had been able to copy him perfectly.

After one beat, five enemies slid apart and collapsed without a sound.

「You've got to be kidding me」

Even after being cut in half, they were still alive.

They've got the tenacity of insects. This is bad, the ones in the back―――――

「Dear, step back!」

「Woah」

Rana shouldered me aside as she forced her way past.

She tossed flaming pieces of wood onto the bisected spiders. Their bodies caught fire as easily as if they were dried hay, drawing ear-splitting screams from them.

I sensed more flames behind me. Before I had known it, Rana had lit all the spiders we had killed on fire.

She had made such quick work of it that I was amazed.

「Dear, we should run! If my guess is correct, these are【Spiders】!」

Maybe it was nerves, but Rana had reverted back to polite speech.

「Well, sure, you can certainly call them spiders, but……」

「That's not it! Not those spiders but Lola's! The ancient large spider that Lola resurrected!」

「Wha」

According to legend, the fog magician Heures defeated the large spider Lola.

However, Lola is actually the name of the person who had summoned the spider. Somewhere along the line, the two existences had become one as the story was passed down over the ages.

If Rana is right, then these spiders are an incredibly powerful enemy. To defeat them, we would need an archer and a magician capable of reenacting the legend.

「Souya, we've got trouble」

「Onii-chan! Above us!」

Otou-san and Ea looked up and shouted. I followed their eyes upward and saw something terrifying.

The dark sky was turning white.

A massive number of spider-people were lowering themselves on their threads.

It wouldn't be long before they reached the ground we were standing on.

「Yukikaze, how many of them are there?!」

『Zsa zsa………………zsa』

「Yukikaze!」

At this crucial moment, Yukikaze was making strange noises.

『Zsa, zsa, zsa, this is an emergency broadcast. This is not a drill. Due to external factors, ××'s functions have been compromised. Priority will be given to × class × members and ×× will begin as needed. Everyone, please remain calm. Do not push, do not panic, and follow the instructions given――――――』

「Hey! Yukikaze!」

Yukikaze was blaring strange words like she was hit with a bug. She wasn't responding to me.

「Dear! We need to get out of here!」

Rana grabbed my arm and tried to urge me on, but……

「………………It's no use, Rana. We can't get out of this one」

In all likelihood, every star on this floor is a spider.

It was probably their cocoons or their eyes that were sparkling in the darkness. Even now, I can see them glowing an eerie white.

The portal is two kilometers away as the crow flies and there's no way of getting around the descending spiders.

Our only choice is to fight our way through.

「Souya, they're coming!」

Otou-san yelled angrily.

Some of the spider-people had already reached the ground and were coming towards us.

We have to take emergency measures.

「Everybody, form a tight formation! Otou-san will hold the rear and I'll take the lead. Rana, use magic big enough to burn open a path to the portal」

「Dear, I have a better idea」

Even though we were surrounded by enemies, Rana was surprisingly calm.

From the look on her face, I felt like I could trust her.

「Lys, try to hold them off」

「Got it. I won't be able to do that for long though」

I ordered Lys to use her magic.

「Block them, Tiringu」

The girl offered a short but powerful prayer.

A dome-shaped film of light enveloped the entire party, and the spider-people all stopped just short of the boundary of light.

It was as if they were observing the barrier that Lys had put up.

「Rana, let's hear your idea」

「Before that, there's something I want to ask. Medimu-sama, why is it that you and my husband's sword technique works against them?」

Otou-san answered Rana's question.

「The sword technique Souya and I use involves catching the enemy unawares. Usually, sword fighting is all about reading and reacting to each other's attack paths. The technique we use, however, elevates the speed of the already difficult-to-read quick-draw attack into【a strike that cannot be seen】. This is closer to the swordplay of assassins. It's certainly not a righteous sword technique」

「I see, I understand now. That straightforward attacks won't work given these spiders' reaction speed. And that they match the ones spoken of in the legend of my ancestor Heures. ―――――”That” seems to be the only option we have」

Rana readied her staff.

「Dear, would you please tie everyone in the party together so that no one gets separated?」

「You're going to use that? Understood」

I took out a length of rope and tied it around Rana's waist. The other party members grasped the idea and started to tie it around their waists as well.

We were tied together in the order of Rana, me, Ea, Lys, Shuna, and Otou-san.

「Rana, it's all up to you now」

「Yes, I won't be able to move for a while though. Please take care of the rest」

The descendant of Heures extolled.

「Oh Ezusu, my god Ezusu. In your great name, pass my words on to the gods worshiped alongside you. Grizunas of the Abyss. I borrow the grace of the one I love, who has received you and the ocean's blessings. Blessings of the True Flame, mix, howl, and bring forth a rare and miraculous art!」

Rana raised her shining staff and slammed its butt into the ground

She whispered, prayed, and recited.

「Heures・Romea・Lumidia!」

White burst forth from the radiance her staff emitted.

A thick milky white fog that blotted out everything in sight was created.

「Lys, release the barrier. All of you, do not engage the enemy unnecessarily. Keep the fighting to a minimum」

I felt a breeze on my face as the barrier was lifted.

The fog blanketing the floor swayed to it.

The thickness of the fog didn't dissipate in the slightest and seemed to only increase with time. I could barely make out the rest of my party.

The now-empty-handed Rana had clasped her hands together and was muttering what sounded like prayers to something.

She had fallen into the trance state she would enter whenever she used powerful magic. The last time she used this fog magic, it was after she had consumed the blood of a Brave and had many magic mediums on hand. Using this magic on her own power might be too much for her.

I picked Rana up and held her in my arms.

Her body was abnormally hot.

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I looked at the containers of her regeneration point. The blue liquid that indicated her magic power was boiling and diminishing at a furious rate.

I tried to pull out the staff that was producing the fog, but it wouldn't budge. We were in a hurry, so I had to leave it behind.

I use the map function of my glasses to display the location of the return portal.

「Let's get out of here. With all haste, but carefully, and without panicking」

We started moving at a brisk pace.

The floor was shrouded in white darkness.

I turned around several times to look at my party members, but I couldn't see either Shuna or Otou-san, who were both behind Lys.

I wanted to call out to them, but that might attract the spiders.

Suppressing my breath, I pushed on.

Rana's fever was adding to my anxiety.

Silently, breathing shallowly, and fighting my racing heart, we advanced about 500 meters.

Suddenly, a spider appeared in front of me.

Just before one of its legs touched Rana, I reflexively threw a front kick that sent the spider tumbling.

This is bad.

That was a bad move.

Shivers ran through my entire body.

「………Gi………Gi gi」

But,

The spider looked around puzzledly, then disappeared into the fog.

I thought my heart was going to stop.

This fog seems to be throwing the spiders' senses completely off.

In reality, spiders have very limited eyesight. It seems that they use their sense of touch to detect various things. I can only hope and pray that these abnormal spider-people are the same.

However, I made a mistake with our formation.

I'm in the lead, but I can't fight because I've got my hands full.

I can't give instructions to correct it now. I can only count on everyone's ability to improvise and their experience.

Slowly, slowly, we shuffled our way forward.

Another spider appeared in front of me, and at the same time, I felt wind caressing my cheeks.

Two arrows pierced deep into the spider's knees.

They were Ea's arrows.

The shrieking spider was violently blasted away by an invisible force. I could hear it tumbling away into the distance and the sound of spiders gathering.

Was that invisible force Lys' work?

From behind, I heard the sounds of blades being drawn, and then the sounds of them cutting through air and flesh.

Shuna and Otou-san were fighting the enemy behind us. I could feel the battle through the jerking of the rope.

I was left with being a leader who could only watch over them.

Despite the situation, it brought back memories.

That was how it was on my first adventure.

Looking back, have I grown, I wonder? Whatever growth I may have had, I'm still in as much of a pickle as ever.

Well, looking back is for later. I can do that as much as I want so long as I survive. I need to push on with everything I have. I need to believe in my party members with all my heart. There's no problem, we'll make it through this time too. I'm sure of it. Because that's how we've managed to get this far.

In the fog, I lost all sense of distance.

The only thing I could rely on was the marker that was gradually getting closer on the display.

It was hard to tell, but we had made good progress.

Two hundred meters left.

「Hmm?」

My voice leaked out in surprise.

I could see lights near the portal. Giant, hot, wavering lights. They were coming from countless bonfires.

As I got closer, I could see more details.

A horde of swarming spiders, then a group of people fighting them.

「What's going on there?」

Otou-san shouted. The sounds of the fierce fighting had reached us. There was no longer any need for us to keep our voices down.

The enemies were converging ahead of us.

As we got within fifty meters, the heat felt like a furnace.

The fog had cleared in this area.

I wondered if that was due to the line of huge bonfires. If the flames were warding off that secret art, they couldn't be ordinary flames. And there was the smoke coming from the bonfires as well. There was something familiar about its smell.

The person leading the battle was a familiar face.

A beautiful boy with pale wings. The President of the Adventurers' Guild.

「Souya, enemies!」

A small group of enemies had spotted us.

Otou-san cut himself free from the rope and stepped forward, but the five spiders were swept aside by a single swing of a mace.

「Souya, are you fokay?!」

A little girl with silver hair and horns appeared.

She was dragging a mace that was three times her size. That she could wield such a weapon defied all human understanding. As could be expected, she was dressed in her work clothes.

「Evetta-chan!」

「I’ve toldth you already, sthop using “-chan”!」

Her lisp making her fumble her words a little, Evetta-chan swung her mace and mowed down the spiders that came even closer.

Wow, this little girl is strong.

Or rather, she's strong even after becoming a little girl.

「Evetta! Stop being an idiot and get back here!」

The Guild President shouted at her with a furious look on his face.

Evetta-chan, who was in the middle of pulverizing a spider with her mace, suddenly stopped moving.

「I'm starving. I can't move anymore」

「What terrible fuel efficiency!」

Other armed Guild employees came over and one of them retrieved Evetta-chan.

The rest provided an escort for our party.

The Guild employees are defeating the spiders normally, but I doubt they’re all stronger than Shuna.

The spiders' movements have clearly become slower. Is there some trick to these flames and smoke?

「Souya! I assume your whole party is here! There's no one missing, is there?」

When the Guild President yelled at me, I turned to survey my entire party.

Rana is in my arms, Otou-san and Ea are right next to me, and Lys and Shuna are safe.

「Everyone's here!」

「Good! Now go through the portal! Quickly, quickly, quickly!」

Urged on, we hurried off.

Accompanied by the Guild employees, we went through the portal.

A moment before the light enveloped us, I saw a large group of enemies headed our way, and the Guild President burning them to ashes.

We tumbled out, escaping the dungeon.

The atmosphere changed.

The normal light was blinding.

We had arrived safely at the lobby of the Adventurers' Guild, the first floor.

The place was more crowded and noisy than usual. Everywhere I turned, I could see shouting adventurers and Guild employees trying to calm them down.

「What's going on with them?」

「The dungeon thas probably been closed for the thime being. It can't be helped because of the spiders」

「I see」

I understood once Evetta-chan had explained. This must be a huge problem for adventurers, who needed to earn a living.

「But still, that was close.」

Things had been slow recently, so it had been a while since I had felt like we were on a real adventure.

Amid the din and bustle, our party relaxed and slumped to the ground. Though we had nothing to show for this adventure, getting back safely was the best reward of all.

After this day, the dungeon was sealed off for some time.

And despite the enemy's surprise attack, our party was able to return to the surface without suffering any casualties.

But there were two problems.

Rana wasn't waking up.

And the other was―――――――

Quick note, the title of this arc is in “English”. That’s actually a first, and not just that, the names of all the other arcs in this volume are also in “English”.

Just in case, “As could be expected, she was dressed in her work clothes.” (instead of her fighting outfit) was what was left unsaid. Yeah, it would be hugely inappropriate for a little girl to be in a micro bikini…

Can you imagine if every star in an entire sky of stars was an enemy? That’s scary af! But what triggered all this and what happened to Yukikaze and Rana? Stay tuned!

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