章 28: Spider Matriarch (2) (Edited)
With the status of the two shield soldiers unknown, the rest of the group felt incredibly pressured by the attacks.
Doing her best to protect the remaining shield soldiers, she resorted to using her blazing crescent once more to disable any spiders that were in range.
One of the greater spiders managed to sink his fangs past the armor of one of the attacking soldiers only to be thrown off by an attack by the captain. Using the momentum of the blow, the greater spider lunged at Ember who had her back turned at just that moment.
Noticing the attack, Noxtis' heart thundered in his chest and he shadow stepped before the attack, receiving the stabbing leg as it struck his chest.
Feeling as if he had just been struck by a full-sized carriage, Noxtis tumbled across the ichor-stained ground and slammed into the wall.
"NOXTIS!!!" Crying out in shock, Ember's worry and rage at the greater spider spiked as she gripped her Dragonfang with both her arms and pierced down with her entire might. Fortuitously striking at an exposed eye, the Dragonfang sword went straight through the greater spider's head and pinned it to the stone floor.
Shockingly, the greater spider's body furiously squirmed as it couldn't move away from the piercing pain of the sword keeping it in place.
Ignoring the spider entirely, Ember dashed over to Noxtis' still body and lifted him up. His body was covered in dust from the crash and a gash at the top of his head was slowly leaking blood.
Opening his eyes a tad, Noxtis saw Ember's concerned visage and wild crimson hair splayed all over. Noxtis smiled as he was able to see her beautifully heroic face and felt happy that he was able to protect her from the attack. Reaching his hand up to brush a lock of hair out of place, Noxtis chuckled.
"I'm glad you're okay...*cough*" A spew of blood coated the stone floor as Noxtis was unable to stay awake and collapsed into Ember's embrace.
Anger filled every fiber of her being but Ember pushed down her boiling rage and pondered what she should do. Surveying the battlefield, the death of the greater demonic spider had turned the tide of battle greatly.
The Spider Matriarch with the loss of back legs had been once again confined by the soldier captain and Elder Nancy while the seven other soldiers managed to kill off the second greater spider and were quickly killing the rest of the feral spiders that were left.
Checking over Noxtis' condition, the greater spider's attack thankfully hadn't been able to pierce his dark leather armor. However; the cut on his head and the shock his organs had taken from the blow and subsequent trauma from hitting the wall may be more dangerous than Ember was able to see.
Deciding to stay and defend Noxtis against any spiders that may come their way, Ember searched through her spatial ring to find a bandage and a blood-red pill.
Ember carefully wrapped his head with her trembling hands, making sure the wrap was stopping the bleeding without being too tight. The blood-red pill was an incredibly expensive Blood Cleansing pill that was not only made from rare materials but also was difficult to manufacture in any sizable quantity.
Its rarity was warrented since the Blood Cleansing pill was one of the most effective medicines for healing internal bleeding and even had a one-time effect in boosting bloodline potency. Just the second effect was worthy enough to make any beastkin go insane for such a pill.
As for the Crimson Scale tribe, all the Elders were supplied with one every year of service to the tribe, and they were also offered to disciples that prove to be exemplary and their loyalties are assured. Since Embervesent was the granddaughter of the tribe leader as well as being a very strong body cultivator, she was obviously supplied with her own pill.
Opening Noxtis' mouth, Ember placed the pill on his tongue and coaxed him to eventually swallow the pill. 'Will he be okay Instructor Mirko?"
Returning from the mind space of Noxtis after checking the condition of his body, the featureless swordsman nodded.
'Yes, he will be fine now. Without the Nightstalker Gorilla armor, he would have been in a much more dire condition. He would've needed to be rushed to a healer if you did not have such a pill. Your tribe Elder has almost finished off the Spider Matriarch, but the appearance of such a savage beast nest is odd.
There are a shockingly high amount of Feral ranked spiders for only a single Major and two Greater spiders to have control of with a nest this small. The cavern itself is also curious that it was able to produce so many high-quality materials when we aren't even that deep into this mountain. If I were to guess, there may be a very pure source of shadow or darkness that is causing these changes.'
Relief washed over Ember as the terror she felt when she saw Noxtis being struck by the greater spider was still fresh in her mind. Somewhat happy that he cared so much about her to take the blow but also furious that he could have died if he wasn't wearing the armor.
One of the soldiers came over to report to Ember. "Miss, the Elder and Captain have finished off the rest of the savage spiders and have requested your presence."
"Very well, may you assist me in carrying him to them as well? Be careful, he is injured and I have already administered medicine."
"Of course Miss." With Ember's assistance, the soldier hoisted Noxtis onto his back and carried him over to the large carcass of the Spider Matriarch.
The large abdomen of the Matriarch had been slightly crushed and all her legs cut off. It was a pretty gruesome sight as the soldier captain and Elder Nancy had killed off the matriarch before she ended up destroying too much of the room and the eggs.
Despite the eggs having been covered in a lattice of webbing, many of the glossy eggs had been destroyed during the fight and falling debris.
Unfortunately, the two soldiers who had been hit by the brood mother's last-ditch attack had suffered severe internal bleeding combined with several bites and died shortly after.
Such a loss was unfortunate but not unexpected as a Major Savage Beast was incredibly dangerous and they had only been able to kill it and the rest of the swarm due to the confined space and that the Matriarch had only JUST broken through and was not yet used to utilizing her newfound power.
Elder Nancy just finished storing the eggs into her special spatial pouch which was able to carry living things. "You two, take the dead and injured back to camp and get a messenger to the tribe to send a mining team here and a guard team to begin securing this location. Captain, take the rest and start transporting the feral and greater spiders out to camp for me to look through."
Nodding and carrying out their tasks immediately, the soldiers left.
Ember and Noxtis came over to the Elder, wondering what she might have called them over for. "Elder Nancy, we have come. You requested our presence?"
Waving them over to a location hidden behind the large body before them, a small pedestal was revealed. Carved out of the section of the wall was a...shrine...would be the easiest way to call it. Designed with the same inscriptions as shown in the archway they entered through, the pedestal looked as if it would contain something above it. Across the floor, the pedestal was surrounded by circular formations and other crumbled structures that looked similar to the pedestal.
Elder Nancy spoke up to explain. "I'm not entirely sure, but I recognized some of the sigils and this seemed to be a room dedicated to containing...something...above these pedestals. While the barriers had been destroyed over time, this specific pedestal seems to have very recently been broken through considering the state of the pedestal.
I had only discovered these pedestals after removing the eggs, they seemed to have been purposely laid where they were to siphon the energies from whatever had been stored here. I talked with the captain and we both have come to the conclusion that the appearance of these dark savage beasts and the surrounding shadow-based resources had been the byproduct of the aura released by whatever had been contained here.
After seeing these pedestals, my best guess is that some sort of powerful treasure or resource had been utilized by the brood mother to birth so many Feral spiders. Hopefully the artifact is still useful, perhaps it might be useful for Noxtis plans."
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