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The body wrapped in spider webs was being dragged somewhere. At that moment, Priest A sensed his impending death.
‘Ah. Is this how I die?’
He had prepared for death, but he didn’t expect to die so meaninglessly. To die while being distracted by praise!
But regretting it now wouldn’t change anything. He wriggled his body through the gaps in the spider web that enveloped him like a cocoon, desperately trying to find air holes to breathe through.
The dragging body gradually slowed down. And then… where was it hanging? His body was strangely tilted downward.
‘Damn it…’
His mood became endlessly gloomy. His vision seemed to be fading.
No matter how he tried to summon his holy power, or scratch with his nails, or kick strongly with his feet, the spider web wouldn’t budge.
Yes. All he could do was quietly accept death. Stop resisting, fall asleep quietly, and obediently become ‘nutrients’…
BOOM!
A huge roar instantly awakened his consciousness that was sinking into a deep swamp. Priest A shuddered violently. What was he just thinking?!
“Huh!”
“…You haven’t lost consciousness yet. You’ve held out well.”
Simultaneously, the world split apart. No, the ‘spider web’ that filled his vision was cleanly cut in two.
Priest A blinked blankly. He couldn’t take his eyes off the man standing in front of him. The magical power emanating from him was brilliantly beautiful.
Rohan. That name kept circling in his mind. It felt like he was dreaming. The being he had longed for so much was reaching out his hand to him… His hand?
“Are you unable to stand up?”
“Ah, no! No! I can stand up!”
“That’s good.”
Rohan smiled gently and withdrew his hand. Oh no. Priest A inwardly screamed. He should have said he couldn’t get up here…!
“Then, may I ask you for a favor?”
“…A favor? To me?”
“Yes. As you can see, the situation isn’t very good.”
Those words brought a sudden sense of reality.
Priest A finally started to look around. Soon, his face turned pale.
The forest had turned black with decay, and spider webs hung everywhere between the trees. Up to there, well, that could happen.
But the dozens of round cocoons hanging from the spider webs… Priest A unconsciously covered his mouth. Having been in a similar situation until just now, he couldn’t help but know.
Those cocoons were all people. Innocent people captured by an unknown being and dragged here.
Some cocoons were already broken. But no one had regained consciousness. His face grew even paler as he looked at those lying helplessly on the ground.
As if understanding what Priest A was thinking, Rohan shook his head firmly and said:
“You don’t need to worry. No one has died. But soon, the master of the forest will return. I plan to break as many cocoons as possible before then. Please move the freed people to a safe place.”
As he listened to Rohan’s explanation, Priest A’s face grew calmer. When the explanation ended, he nodded with a somewhat solemn expression.
Yes. This is something only I can do, something only I can help with.
Soon, Rohan’s sword began to move.
***
As Rohan had said, the ‘master of the forest’ soon returned. Priest A, who had been repeatedly rescuing people from broken cocoons and moving them to a safe area, was stunned when he saw the enormous ‘spider’.
No… can that even be called a ‘spider’?
It had 8 legs and 2 main body parts, matching the characteristics of a typical spider.
However, it wore a grotesque mask that was indescribable, its eyes glowed red, and it walked on two legs. It was even using its multi-branched legs like hands!
“Kill… you. Kill!”
After being momentarily shaken by its terrible appearance, the moment it spoke, Priest A realized.
The monstrous appearance, the intense aura of wraiths, and the ability to communicate. All these familiar characteristics were telling him.
This is an executive of the Salvation Church.
Spider webs spread in all directions and rained down towards Rohan.
He lightly swung his sword. The magical power condensed into the form of a giant blade cut through the spider webs in the blink of an eye.
Rohan’s sword strike didn’t stop there. Moving at a dazzling speed, it managed to wound the spider’s body before anyone could react. As blue blood poured out, a bizarre scream echoed through the forest.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!!”
Priest A covered his ears. It was a sound that seemed to combine the cries of women, children, and the elderly. The way it split and merged repeatedly was horrifyingly creepy.
“…Kill, kill! Child, that, that one’s neck, to me…!”
The spider, which had been screaming as if wailing, stopped and stuttered out broken words. Priest A felt a subtle sense of dissonance there. It’s more stupid and simple than he thought…
Of course, he was just thinking hard while diligently carrying out the role Rohan had asked of him. Phew, Priest A sighed briefly and caught his breath.
It was at that moment.
“…Huh?”
The ground was shaking. It felt like the air was trembling. Was it an illusion?
…No. It wasn’t an illusion. Priest A looked at a small shadow that appeared in front of him and gulped.
He remembered the last words Rohan had left before the master of the forest arrived.
‘Please remember. If I give this signal, no matter what happens, you must stop moving and hide yourself. Any method is fine.’
Hide.
Remembering that serious voice, Priest A decided without hesitation.
The place he chose was a small hole big enough to hide one body. Hiding down there and holding his breath, Priest A poked out his head slightly to look outside.
And he was shocked.
“Gasp…!”
A breath escaped without him realizing.
Wraiths were gathering from all directions. Dozens, hundreds, no, hundreds…? It was an uncountable number.
“Damn it!”
And of course, some of them passed right by Priest A.
He naturally thought the wraiths would attack him. Although he had hidden his body in the hole, they couldn’t possibly miss him if he was right nearby.
While hurriedly summoning his power, he thought. Could he handle all of this? Was he going to die here? After Lord Rohan had saved his life. After he had even given a direct warning, and he had chosen such a strange place to hide…
But these turned out to be useless worries. The wraiths, despite being right in front of Priest A, turned their backs on him as if uninterested and left. It was as if they were looking at a stone rolling on the roadside.
‘Why? Why aren’t they attacking?’
No, where are they going in the first place?
The moment that question crossed his mind, Priest A sprang to his feet. No way. No way. The anxiety that had been building up burst as soon as he saw the scene beyond.
“Lord Rohan!!!”
How should he describe this? He could say with certainty that he had never witnessed anything so terrible in his life.
Under the ash-gray sky full of dark clouds, a dark blue wave that had grown with terrifying momentum crashed down on one spot.
They say humans can’t resist natural disasters, right? It was literally like that. It was like a storm, like a flood, like a tsunami. It felt like something enormous that couldn’t be resisted. It created an illusion as if the jaws of a beast were opening wide to take away life.
Behind it, the spider grinned, tearing its mouth open. The whole body went limp at the horrifying sight.
And then.
“…Urgh!”
A real storm began to rage.
***
“Casia’s hypothesis was correct.”
“Indeed.”
Rohan lightly dusted off his body and looked around.
The forest where they were standing was empty. It was hard to believe that hundreds of wraiths had been there just moments ago.
It had been quite a productive battle. They had proven that there was an ‘entity controlling the wraiths’, and they had even dealt with an executive as a bonus.
Arpel’s gaze fell on the mask that had dropped to the ground.
If he had to point out something that bothered him.
“…Wasn’t it a bit too easy?”
The battle had concluded more simply than expected.
The Salvation Church executive in the form of a spider. Its habits were exactly like those of well-known spiders. Catching prey with spider webs, wrapping them up, and waiting until they were in an edible state.
There were no deaths because they acted immediately upon realizing there was a problem with the number of people, but the executive had unleashed hundreds of wraiths at once to attack Rohan, as if it had been waiting for this moment.
In response, Rohan exploded all of his power. His magical power instantly engulfed the area, and the hundreds of wraiths melted away. Arpel briefly raised his power to protect Rohan, who had momentarily weakened, but…
‘…It died?’
The executive had died, swept up in that explosion.
It was a more anticlimactic end than expected. Rohan blinked his eyes uneasily.
But that wasn’t important right now. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he set off the flare he was carrying. Soon, support personnel would arrive here. Until then, they needed to rescue the people who hadn’t been saved yet.
Arpel also moved according to Rohan’s intentions. It was by chance that he discovered the hole where Priest A had hidden.
“…”
Arpel, who had been quietly watching the sprawled figure, narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze alternated between the heaving chest and the closed eyes.
“I know you’re awake.”
“Huk.”
Priest A, who had failed at pretending to be unconscious, made a strange sound and got up. The way he looked around was just like a child who had been caught doing something wrong.
Of course, whether he felt guilty or not was none of Arpel’s business. The only reason he had woken this man up was to help with the rescue efforts, not to have a conversation. However, Priest A didn’t seem to have that in mind.
“Um…”
A voice full of hesitation flowed out. Arpel, who was about to turn his back, looked at him again. Perhaps due to the calm gaze that contained no urging, Priest A was finally able to squeeze out his voice.
“By any chance, is Lord Rohan’s sword, um, Lord Arpel…?”
“You saw it.”
“Eek!”
“…?”
He thought he wouldn’t have seen it, swept up in the storm of magical power. He had only voiced his honest thoughts to the intermittent question, but somehow an unsettling response came back. Looking at the pale face that seemed gripped by fear, Arpel tilted his head.
Arpel had no idea that Priest A was thinking something like ‘He found out the secret, so he must die!’ in his head.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
