Chapter 45 - Matriarch (Patreon)

So, the thing about our base being in a good position to defend?

Yes, forget about that.

Freaking spiders.

Yup, spiders as big as our best doggo attacked us while climbing down the wall we were camped against.

Literally, tens of them.

Look, I don't have arachnophobia, but even I was close to screaming like a little girl when I saw them and heard the disgusting noise of hundreds of legs tapping onto the stone wall as they climbed down.

The nice thing is that I finally saw Sophie's sister in action, showing off her impressive mana pool.

A ten-year-old girl stretched out her hands towards the spiders and then turned into a flamethrower.

Orange flames came into existence, burning down the spiders and making them screech in pain. Up until now, I didn't know that spiders could scream from pain as they burned.

Unsurprisingly, they are super flammable.

Also unsurprisingly, our camp made out of wood and skinned animal leather was as well. So as the burning spiders fell down from the wall, they landed right on our camp.

That was the first time I saw Sophie hit her sister.

Well, she only smacked the back of her head, but it's something.

So, I continue to cut down the spiders that attacked us while others try to collect as much stuff as they can. Leathers, bottles, and things we made out of animal bones or leather, such as flasks we made out of the hide.

[You have defeated the Spider - Lvl 2]

[You have defeated the Spider - Lvl 3]

[You have defeated the Spider - Lvl 3]

The monsters are fairly easy to kill, and their most repeated attack is just dashing onto us or trying to jump. To be honest, falling down and burning spiders are more dangerous. Biscuit even takes a bite into a few spiders, but this time he isn't calling them food, so I guess even this glutton has some limits.

But things quickly change; in between smaller spiders, we spot bigger ones.

[Spider worker - Lvl 4]

[Spider protector - Lvl 6]

[Spider warrior - Lvl 7]

There are more and more of them as time passes, and that makes people pack their stuff even faster. Next to me is our artillery. Tess and Kim continue to shower spiders with anything they can grab. Stones, pieces of wood, twigs. I even see them throwing the corpses of dead spiders. I bet they would throw the ones that are still alive, but for some reason, their skills don't work on living beings like that.

It becomes even more ridiculous when they start throwing burning spiders back at their own. God damn, imagine someone throwing at you the corpse of a burning human.

That's metal.

We are almost done when the boss appears.

[Spider Matriarch - Lvl 16]

The absolute unit of a spider jumps down from the wall and flies through the air with its legs spread wide open. Its multiple eyes seem to be cold, and lifeless. Pure dots of darkness, and unlike other spiders, the matriarch is covered in short white hair. Half expecting it to splash on the ground, I watch the spider, but before the matriarch meets its end, I feel a pulse of mana, and it descends slowly, landing almost elegantly.

Then the horror starts. The giant spider dashes towards us with insane speed, passes by me, and attacks Tess. The repulsive force of her [Psychokinesis] running at full power pushes even me away, but the matriarch just stops, unable to move closer and bite Tess. So instead, it flings one of its front legs, and Tess, hit by it, flies away.

I stab the spear in my hand at the Matriarch, but she jumps into the air, does a somersault backward, and softly lands on her legs.

What the heck?

The giant spider rushes at me, and I let mana rage through my body and stab at the spider. One of its legs flashes with insane speed and breaks the spear in my hand. Immediately after, one of the legs hits me the same way it hit Tess. I try to absorb the energy of the attack, but I am still thrown away.

While flying through the air, I rotate my body, fall down feet first, and dash at the spider while boosting myself with the absorbed kinetic energy. There is an obsidian dagger in my hand, coated in wildly vibrating mana.

Once again, the spider avoids my attack, this time by dashing sideways with insane speed and then jumping backward to avoid Kim's shower of stones flying as fast as a bullet.

Out of nowhere, all of its legs twitch, and it screeches in pain, instantly turning around, right towards Sophie. With insane speed, it changes course once more, but Leon steps into its way and stomps his foot, making a large area of the ground explode and spear-like shapes made out of stone stab at the spider.

The Matriarch, with unbelievable reflexes, jumps to the side and dashes again, only to stop and screech once more.

That allows Maya to dash at the spider while mana hovers around her body, creating something like a see-through armor made out of mana. She is really fast, but the monster still dodges her attack and even sends her flying while doing so.

But I am already dashing there, predicting where the spider will land. The mana on my blade becomes brighter and vibrates wildly. But the matriarch doesn't give a damn.

While in the air, I feel a wave of mana from her, and her legs push as if against an invisible wall, and she flies back towards the Maya she kicked.

The heck!?

Why do I even bother learning skills?

Before the spider reaches Maya, flames come into existence, and a giant wall of flames appears in front of it. Once again, the spider dodges midair, using an invisible platform to jump.

Then I hear the terrifying whistle, and the spear buries itself deep into the spider. The screech it makes hurts my ears.

Determined to use the opportunity, I dash at the spider while Leon attacks it as well, and a stone spear is able to hit one of its legs as Sophie does something that makes the spider freeze.

Wanting to protect their matriarch, tens of spiders continue to dash at us but are mowed down by Hadwin and others. The old man continues to just stand in the middle of them, and they continue to attack him, trying to bite him, but they are unable to pierce his skin for some reason, and he continues to maul them with what looks like a smaller tree. Every hit sends a spider flying away with a broken body.

Damn, old man…

But I appear in front of the spider that swings its leg at me. I partly dodge it, absorb some of the energy, and use it to propel myself closer.

Finally, I stab my dagger deep inside the spider, and my mana flares up around the blade, making the effect of [Oscillation] bigger.

Still, I have to jump back immediately after as the spider tries to bite me with its massive fangs.

Then, instead of trying to run away, it dashes at Leon and while doing so dodges his stone spears.

Maya then jumps in front of the man and stabs at the spider while looking amazingly calm and calculating.

She waits until the last possible moment and stabs her spear through the head of the matriarch. The spider bites at her shoulder, but the mana around her upper body flares up into existence, creating something like armor around her chest.

Still, the fangs penetrate her shoulder while crushing the translucent armor, but it doesn't get any reaction from Maya, and the woman stabs again. At the same time, a shower of stones hits the matriarch, and a stone spear too, and the giant white spider slowly dies.

[You have defeated the Spider Matriarch - Lvl 16]

The dark-skinned, fit young woman looks around calmly while pushing the dead spider away from her, and the fangs exit her skin. Our gazes meet for a second. She flashes me a bright, cocky smile and turns around.

Hmm, what did Tess say a few weeks ago? That there is another person with [Focus] among the passengers?

I guess I don't have to ask Tess who it is.