Chapter 59

5000～5500左右

“Kishaaa!”

“...!”

Even the energy to curse was not left in him.

By rolling to the side, he narrowly avoided the attack from the Knight Spider that had suddenly attacked from behind. With the momentum, he cut it down. The Knight Spider's corpse, torn apart, splattered bodily fluid into the air.

Nord, who had rolled on the ground, leaped back from the spot as if he had been repelled. Immediately after, he saw another Knight Spider rushing towards the space he had just occupied.

At the moment of his leap, he thrust the emerald steel blade into the head of a slightly larger Knight Spider he had identified as a landing spot. The thrust, combined with his body weight, instantly killed the spider. As he pulled his sword from the corpse, he recognized a new attack coming from behind. This time, he smashed the head of the Knight Spider with the pommel of his sword rather than the blade.

“Haa... Haa...”

How long had it been since he started breathing heavily through his shoulders? Nord could no longer remember. He had been moving for so long.

(Quite a few... have I reduced their numbers...?)

Nord, who had just slain three enemies in an instant, remained vigilant, scanning the surroundings while observing the enemy.

The ground was scattered with the corpses of spiders. Their number was not just ten or twenty. The bodily fluid that flowed from the spider corpses, which had lost their light, covered the forest's grass and trees, mingling with the morning dew. If he added the number of spiders he had killed while running around the forest, he must have already defeated a considerable number.

But,

“Gishaaa! Gishaaa!!”

“‘Shaaaaaaa!’”

“...! Again...!”

From Nord, who was breathing heavily, a scream that sounded like a cry of despair escaped.

Without a moment to catch his breath, the spiders' assault began anew. They bit, leaped, circled, and tried to hunt Nord, their prey, using the power of the group.

Nord tore through their encirclement with his sword, knocked them away with his shield, and disrupted them with his legs, breaking through.

After a while, the scene of a few more spider corpses and Nord, breathing even more heavily, reappeared.

(It's that one.)

While trying to get air into his lungs, Nord glared at a large spider.

In front of Nord, there was a clearly different individual from the spiders surrounding him.

The Marshal Spider—conveniently named for its dark brown body—had appeared, and the movements of the Knight Spiders had clearly changed.

Several Knight Spiders attacked Nord in coordination, without a break. He managed to repel them, but without a moment to rest, another assault came.

Nord's stamina was gradually being drained by the relentless attacks, which continued without end.

(I have to... do something about it.)

Nord understood the Marshal Spider's intent. This was a hunt.

Adventurers and hunters do not usually fight monsters head-on. If they fight a monster in its prime, even a lower-ranked one can cause injuries.

Most adventurers, except for a few enthusiasts, wish to fight monsters under the most advantageous conditions and devise various strategies to do so.

Some use poison, set traps, or raid and burn nests.

Nord, who had also been an adventurer, had such experiences.

When fighting a tough enemy, it is best to weaken them before engaging.

Now, Nord was the prey in this hunt, orchestrated by the Marshal Spider.

The Marshal Spider's intent was clear.

Recognizing Nord, who had already slain several Knight Spiders, as a formidable enemy, it aimed to first drain his stamina and make him unable to move properly.

It used its subordinate Knight Spiders like hunting dogs to chase Nord, inflict injuries, and then deliver the final blow.

This was a foolproof strategy often used by large adventurer clans.

(If only... I could take down the Marshal Spider...!)

Regardless of the numbers, one-on-one, the Knight Spiders were no longer a threat to Nord. However, if the Knight Spiders attacked him as an organized group, he would inevitably lose due to the overwhelming numbers.

To prevent this, he needed to eliminate the Marshal Spider, the leader of the group.

However, the Marshal Spider was clever and never came close to Nord.

Nord had tried to break through the group of Knight Spiders and strike the Marshal Spider a few times, but all attempts ended in failure.

When Nord approached, the Marshal Spider kept its distance. When Nord tried to escape, it maintained its distance, never engaging in combat itself, and continued to give commands to the spiders from a position that was neither too close nor too far.

“...!?”

Suddenly, Nord slipped. Looking down, he saw a slick, blue, slimy substance—spider bodily fluid—forming a muddy patch.

He tried to regain his footing reflexively, but his feet slipped, and he could not maintain his balance.

He fell to the ground ungracefully, unable to take a defensive position.

“Not good...!?”

“Gishaaaao!!”

“‘Kishaaaaa!’”

The Marshal Spider was not so lenient as to miss this opportunity.

As its roar echoed through the dense Alb forest, the Knight Spiders responded with war cries and attacked Nord, who had fallen to the ground.

§

“U... Uoooooo!!”

Death. Nord clearly recognized this single word.

Despite his frozen consciousness, his body moved instinctively, a result of his experience as an adventurer and the training he had undergone as a dragon knight apprentice.

With a roar that came from the depths of his gut, his body was filled with heat, and he swung his sword.

One Knight Spider was killed, but another immediately attacked from behind, and Nord was tackled by the relentless charge.

“This... Get off!”

“Shaaaaa... Gishaaa!?”

“‘Shaaaaa!’”

He struck the face of a Knight Spider with his shield and pushed its body with his feet, creating a gap from which he crawled out. The next moment, the spider was crushed by others and died.

The swarm of spiders, with their many compound eyes, immediately reconfirmed Nord's position and bared their fangs at him again.

He cut, stabbed, pierced, and beat them to death.

He was bitten, charged, and slashed by their tentacles.

This was the longest battle he had ever fought.

No matter how many he killed, the swarm of spiders continued to follow.

No matter how many he killed, the enemy's assault never paused, not even for a moment.

“Guaaaa!”

Caught in the whirlpool of this assault, Nord desperately tried to continue fighting, but the moment finally came.

He failed to dodge an attack from a Knight Spider, and its fangs caught his leg. The armor, hardened like a shell, shattered, and the fangs pierced the soft flesh beneath.

The pain made his body stiffen for a moment, and this became a fatal opening.

The next attack hit his body directly.

“Gup...”

He could not avoid the Knight Spider's charge and took the full impact head-on.

The sound of his chest armor shattering and the intense pain in his chest were simultaneous.

Something rose from the back of his throat, and he vomited as he was blown away.

It was blood.

Bright red blood gushed from Nord's mouth.

Blown away by the charge, Nord hit the ground, spewing blood, and rolled, bouncing twice, three times, until he finally stopped against a tree.

“Gah... Gup... Haa... Haa...”

He vomited blood again.

The bright red blood dripped from his mouth, staining his armor red.

(Here... it ends...)

In his dazed state from the pain, Nord thought this.

Using his sword as a support, he wobbled to his feet and leaned against the tree.

In his field of vision, the army of spiders was rushing towards him again.

The scene was unusually clear and slow.

(Ah, this is... the life flashing before my eyes, right...)

Nord continued to watch the swarm of spiders attack in slow motion, feeling the pain throughout his body.

It was cruel, he thought, as if from a distance.

If they would just let him die quickly, he could be at peace, but the slow passage of time made him continue to feel the pain while watching the army of spiders.

As he watched the spiders that would end his life, he reflected on his fate.

(Still... I guess I'll be eaten by them. By them, no, by the Queen Spider...)

He thought about how he had eaten many things during his time as an adventurer but had never been eaten before. He realized that this was a thought to escape from his fear.

(I hope... my brothers managed to escape... I hope Neut is safe and can report the news...)

He thought about his family.

(Everyone will be sad when I die. Father, Mother, my brothers and sisters... and my younger siblings...)

(What will happen to Neut when I die... Will someone in the family take care of him? Or will he be taken in by the knight order? If so, Iris will probably cry and make a fuss... I'll have to calm her down...)

(No, that's not right. I'm going to die... I won't be able to see them anymore... When Iris starts being stubborn, it's hard to calm her down... Lilia will have a hard time with her. Ah... damn...)

“...I don't want to die.”

He felt tears welling up with his fear.

But the words he muttered were carried away by the wind in the deserted night forest, unheard by anyone.

§

Nord slowly raised his gaze for the last time, trying to take in the enemy that would end his life.

Through the tears that blurred his vision, he saw a particularly large and powerful spider—the Marshal Spider.

(Ah, if only you weren't here...)

This existence was unexpected for Nord.

The monsters he had fought as an adventurer were all troublesome opponents.

The flying dragons he had seen up close in the dragon mountains were huge and terrifying.

The monsters he had encountered, regardless of their strength, were all threats as individuals.

(But this one...)

The Marshal Spider was different.

The terrifying ability to command a powerful group of monsters.

The Marshal Spider possessed the power of a group, something no other monster had.

Nord was confident he could survive if it were just a large group of Knight Spiders. The Knight Spiders themselves were merely monsters of Crystal difficulty. If they were a group, he could repeatedly defeat them individually, buy time, and then scatter them.

However, the group of Crystal-level monsters had been transformed into a highly organized army by the Marshal Spider.

One knight against an army.

No matter how hard Nord fought, defeat was only a matter of time.

(If only... it would come closer... I might have a chance...!)

Then, Nord noticed something.

The Marshal Spider had moved to the front of the spider army.

(Why... Why is it there? It has always commanded from the rear, avoiding the risk of fighting me... I see...)

Nord's consciousness became sharp and clear. His heart pumped blood rapidly, trying to circulate it to his brain. He quickly realized why the Marshal Spider had moved to the front.

(It must be because I'm so weakened... Of course. A hunter would want to deliver the final blow themselves!)

It was instinct. Nord, with his experience as an adventurer, understood it well. Hunting is a battle with the prey, and the conclusion is when the prey is given the final blow. The pleasure of victory, which can only be obtained when one wins, is known to anyone who has been in battle.

The Marshal Spider, with its intelligence that seemed higher than that of a monster, or rather, incomparably higher than that of a regular Knight Spider, could not resist the instinct to taste that victory.

(Come...)

Nord confirmed that his body could still move and planned to take down the Marshal Spider.

There was only one chance to take down the Marshal Spider.

If he missed this one chance, the Marshal Spider would keep its distance again and never come close.

So, Nord continued to hide the renewed fighting spirit in his body until the last moment.

In his right hand, he held his sword. In his left hand, he held a shield that was already dented and seemed useless. And inside it...

The spider army was approaching. Not yet.

The swarm of spiders rushed towards him with such force that it seemed to shake the ground. Not yet.

The victory cries of the spiders, which shattered the silence of the forest, vibrated Nord's eardrums. Not yet!

The lead Knight Spider, aiming to stab Nord with its sharp front legs, raised them and charged. Now!

Ignoring the pain running through his body, Nord, in a single motion, pulled out the object from his shield and shouted loudly.

“Flame!”

The blade, red like fresh blood, burned fiercely.