Chapter Nine, Overwhelmed.

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  Clara retraced their steps, Arjae and Luke just a ways behind her, following the trail of battle they left.

  Slowly, the damage was starting to be repaired by the Dungeon, but they already knew where they had come from anyway. There was no fear of getting lost with Clara's tracking and wayfinding skills.

  They moved forward completely undisturbed. The spiders along the paths they traveled had yet to be respawned. Likely due to the fewer mother spiders, and the unnecessity for the Dungeon to personally create those low rank creatures.

  That was what it seemed like at least...

  They had trekked less than half the distance back towards the safe room, when things changed.

  The silence had ceased.

  In the distance came a low rumbling, the tunnel vibrating.

  "What is that." Luke questioned. Arjae furrowed his brows, flexing his left hand, warming up that side of his body.

  If this was another fight, he would need to utilize his magic and hand to hand combat to it's fullest.

  "I can hear their hisses... It... I think it's a group of spiders?" Clara spoke. She unsheathed her singular remaining dagger, that being signal enough to her two conscious party members.

  Arjae moved to a wall of the tunnel, leaning Jess against it. Luke followed, doing the same with Ryan, although faced away from their friend.

  It was still sickening to think of, so none of them did.

  Luke equipped his shield, moving to the front of the trio.

  Arjae stood on his right, with Clara on his left.

  The three braced for a battle.

  But that wasn't enough.

  The rumbling grew louder, the vibration shook the tunnel more and more. Rocks fell from the roof, pebbles bouncing up from the ground.

  "What the hell?" Arjae murmured.

  Sweat started to drip down each of their faces, as the time passed, and the sounds only got louder.

  "What the fuck!" Clara exclaimed, confusion in her mind.

  And then...

  Spider.

  After spider.

  After spider.

  Dozens of spiders tumbled in from the branching pathways just up ahead, dozens upon dozens.

  More spiders than they had even yet to encounter.

  Alarm bells rung in all of their minds, confusion and distraught.

  Clara's eyes shone, "They're all low level!" She yelled, her stance fully readied.

  Luke raised his shield as the mob approached, readying a skill.

  Arjae was the only one that wasn't focused.

  His mind ran at ten times it's normal speed. Countless thoughts rushing to him. He was more knowledgeable than both of his friends. Clara herself had access to a lot of information as well, but it was clear she wasn't thinking about any of that, let alone connecting any dots.

  'The... The Dungeon doesn't want us to leave... That has to be it. The Orbweaver. This horde. It wants us dead? Or maybe it wants us dead because of what we did to the Orbweaver... Did it create the Orbweaver for us then? No way... It was level 35. We took out it's prize so now it wants to eliminate us?... But a mob rush just for us? That's completely... strange! This needs to be reported... This Dungeon isn't sane! We're simply not worth the resources for this!' He rambled deep within.

  Unease was filling his being.

  'There has to be something I'm missing...' He thought, slowly raising his gauntlet.

  His face was nervous, and wary, but he pulled himself together.

  "[Shield Taunt]!" Luke yelled.

  "Flame, sharpen, charge forward and pierce! [Firebolt]!"

  The battle had begun.

  Countless spiders leapt towards Luke's bait, the grounded ones eating a bolt of fire that pierced straight through them and the many that were behind.

  Clara dashed through, slicing at spider after spider, severing their heads and destroying their nervous systems.

  Arjae bounced forward, throwing strikes relentlessly, caving in each spider he encountered.

  "[Shield Slam]!" A multitude of spiders were crushed into the ground, Luke unsheathing his sword.

  The group fought masterfully, Clara cutting through any spider that aimed to catch Luke off guard, while Arjae dove into the horde, massacring all that he could.

  Luke repetitively taunted with his shield, drawing the attention of their enemies, allowing Clara and Arjae to seamlessly slaughter them.

  "Haha! I like this! I'm gaining experience!" Luke laughed. A small smirk emerged on Arjae's face. He appreciated Luke's attempt to lighten the mood.

  But the spiders just didn't stop coming.

  With over a hundred spiders dead at their feet, the tunnel was becoming crowded, harder to navigate. They had taken a great distance from Ryan and Jess, but with each passing minute they were being forced backwards.

  "Shit!" Arjae took a leg to the arm, his right bicep leaking blood.

  And then, an overwhelming... fear, emerged within his body.

  He could feel it. Just barely. But the world seemed to be communing with him. Not just the world, but perhaps the universe.

  His head swung towards their rear, his fist going through a leaping spider and sending blue blood all over the wall.

  Something lurked in the darkness behind them.

  He felt it.

  And he could also feel that he was too late.

  A creature arose from the dark, a maw of jagged teeth showing itself near Jess and Ryan. Darkness resided within the throat, pure and empty.

  It invoked a primal fear within.

  A fear of death. An end. One that felt permanent.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  His face dropped, unable to even produce a sound, before he watched the jaws start to surround Jessica's body.

  A rage brewed within.

  And then.

  BOOM!

  It happened so quick.

  The creature was blasted away, half of Jess' body taken with it as it tumbled back into the darkness, it wailing in pain.

  And then...

  "AUGHH!!" Jess awoke, what was left of her, thrashing about. The air around her body condensed, liquid mana forming in the air and flowing into her wounds. She had tumbled over, and he could see her brain matter spilling from her head. Her intestines started to slink out of her body, blood leaking everywhere.

  But the world didn't want her gone.

  Mana more dense than any he had ever perceived, flowed into her, reforming her organs, her tissues, her skin. She roared in pain.

  "HELP!"

  She cried, tears falling from her face that was struggling to reform.

  And, the world listened.

  Mana bursted from her position, wrecking through everything around.

  Everything but them.

  The spiders nearest to the wave were obliterated, turning into pools of gore. Those in the backline were damaged greatly, the list of enemies falling to less than fifty remaining.

  Most importantly, whatever had retreated into the dark, had faced even more damage.

  A pained scream came from the darkness as scuttling could be heard.

  Just as quickly as it came, it had retreated.

  "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Luke shouted.

  Arjae was reeled back into the battle, his eyes glancing back towards the stampeding backline that was moving to the front.

  There weren't many left, they could deal with this quickly.

  His head swiveled back and forth between the writhing Jess, and the approaching horde.

  He made a quick decision, feeling for his remaining mana.

  "Flame heed my call, condense, charge, and spark. [Explosion]!" A bomb set off within the center of the nearby horde, blasting through dozens of the spiders.

  "Deal with the rest!" He yelled, dashing for their rear.

  He sprinted towards Jess, falling towards his knees once he arrived before her.

  "Jess! Jess! Jess! Look at me! Listen!" He exclaimed, his hands reaching for her. From up close, it was grotest. The mana was infesting her wounds, pulling at them, and growing her lost parts. In the thirty seconds between it all, she had regenerated a fourth of her face, her shoulder, and her leg had grown halfway past her thigh.

  Her center was already healed, her chest coming back into existence.

  He pulled back, deciding not to impede whatever was happening. He wasn't sure of what to do.

  His head turned towards where they had come from. Where they had fought the Orbweaver.

  'Was it following us?...' He questioned.

  Unease was still spread within him.

  He wouldn't forget that fear he felt...

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  Jora sprinted through the Dungeon, holding his left side with his right hand. His arm was blown off, a gaping hole within his stomach, and his face melted.

  His health had been overfilled, but that didn't negate the massive damage he received.

  He feared if he didn't look over the attribute points he obtained from eating Boreas', he might not have been able to heal so well. He had dumped all 15 into [Vitality], giving him a small bit of energy.

  He made great distance with the group. Falling back as far as possible.

  He had seen their battle with the horde, he knew he couldn't take them in this state.

  "It hurts." He groaned, anger in his bones.

  He recalled the moment as he ran, the feeling he felt and the things he saw.

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  "[Devour]." She was just within range, and the others were far off and distracted.

  His mouth quickly shot out, aiming to encompass her entire body. But that didn't happen.

  The air boiled, the elements nearby her growing restless.

  He wasn't quick enough to do anything about it.

  Mana surged, the elements no longer making way for his body like they usually did. The world didn't seem to care for him in the same way that it did this girl.

  Physically, his mouth could not progress any farther, so he took the chance to clamp.

  His teeth ripped straight through the girls skin, engulfing half of her perfectly.

  "[Integrate]!"

  And the elements didn't seem to enjoy that.

  A reaction sparked from her body, the world multiplying it tenfold.

  Her energy boomed outwards, throwing him far backwards and taking with it a vast portion of his health.

  He felt pain like never before, and it was frightening. But the panels induced more fear into him than the pain did.

  As quick as he could, he used the momentum from the blast to carry him forward, digesting what he had consumed while he escaped.

  "HELP!" Fear crept up onto his neck as he felt the gathering of mana once more. A spark, and an eruption followed, another blast of energy flying through him.

  This time, it took his arm and a vast portion of his body with it.

  He was launched even farther, tumbling through the tunnel as pain and death gripped at his body.

  He shoved his unused attributes points into [Vitality] to boost his regeneration, and then he gave his attention to his choice panel.

  Memories pierced into his mind as he continued to escape, recollections joining them. There was a haze to both of them, a feeling of damage that he was unfamiliar with.

  "I-I only got half of her..." He murmured, fighting the pain.

  Thankfully that was enough to siphon her attributes at the very least...

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