Ryu Takeno planned to use his body to break through the surrounding monsters and escape.
But…
Behind them, eight gigantic eyes, gleaming dangerously in the magma's light, belonged to impossibly thick legs that defied gravity, piercing the vertical walls as they advanced.
The Queen Spider had arrived in the middle layer, and Rend's subordinates, equally dimwitted, charged towards the Queen Spider.
This is bad…
The Queen Spider aimed its fangs at the minions, Ryu Takeno, and Kumoko.
No good!
Ryu Takeno felt an immense threat; the Queen Spider was about to unleash a devastating attack! He forcefully flung Kumoko away.
The next instant, Kumoko felt the world violently shake.
An invisible shockwave erupted from the Queen Spider's mouth; monsters, ground, magma—everything vanished.
The entire labyrinth trembled in agony.
Kumoko was thrown thousands of meters, luckily not into the magma, but into a protruding rock.
She shook her dizzy head, trying to stay conscious, looking towards her mother's position, searching for her most important companion.
Where the fire dragon army had been was only a massive crater…
"No… it can't be…"
Kumoko found the crater empty, unable to accept it. "No! No!! Takeno-kun must be alright; he must have shrunk and hidden."
She wanted to enter the crater but knew she shouldn't.
The Queen Spider seemed satisfied with the carnage, its contemptuous gaze fixed as it slowly descended to the lower layer.
Only after the Queen Spider left did Kumoko rush into the crater, frantically clawing at the rocks, her voice trembling.
"Takeno-kun! Where are you! Come out!! Don't play jokes! This isn't funny! Come out!!"
"Please, please come out—!!!"
No one answered.
Her Perception skill had already scanned the area; Ryu Takeno's presence had completely vanished; even the telepathic connection was severed. Ryu Takeno was truly gone… Kumoko just refused to believe it.
Like when her first home was destroyed, she could only watch helplessly as her most important thing was destroyed. Again, her most important companion was taken from her.
Thump thump thump…
If spiders could cry, she would be weeping.
Kumoko repeatedly pounded the ground, screaming in anguish, "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh————!!!!"
She'd just acquired this skill and hadn't shared it with her friend before their parting.
Magma began flowing into the crater through cracks. Kumoko, having Heat Resistance, wasn't afraid of the magma, but she couldn't breathe in it, and she couldn't swim. Even without the heat, she'd suffocate in the thick magma.
Kumoko looked towards the chasm, her eyes filled with hatred.
"I will! I will! Kill you! For Takeno-kun, and for myself!!" She relinquished control of her body to her Body Minister, hiding in the corner of her consciousness to weep.
As Kumoko climbed out of the crater, the battered Rend flew back.
Severely injured by Ryu Takeno's attack.
Kumoko fiercely declared, "Kill it! It's one of the culprits who killed Takeno-kun!!" In her eyes, this dragon was one of those responsible for her friend's death.
If it hadn't blocked their path, Takeno-kun might still be alive.
Hatred.
Unprecedented hatred filled Kumoko.
Despite the overwhelming odds, she charged forward. Compared to her mother, the Queen Spider, she had a slight chance against this injured dragon.
Kill it! No matter what, kill it!!
A one-meter-long spider versus a nearly hundred-meter-long dragon—a seemingly suicidal battle unfolded in the middle layer of the Elroe Great Labyrinth.
Did Ryu Takeno really die?
Of course not.
Snow fell, crystal-clear snowflakes blanketing the mountains, draping the forest in a beautiful silver frost.
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You can read advance chapters in my: [email protected]/Veora
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Feel free to check out my other stories:
> I am Mihawk in One Punch Man
> Frieren: Reincarnated as an Immortal Human
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