"Lakyus, little one... Although I don't quite understand... I don't want to understand! But, although I don't know why, we seem to be at an advantage for now!"
Gagaran was right.
Led by the Sorcerer King, those beings with an extraordinary sense of oppression had left for some reason, leaving behind only a former underling of Blue Rose.
It looked as if they were being let off the hook. But the experienced members of Blue Rose knew that Gagaran's words were just to boost the morale of the demoralized group.
Things couldn't be that simple. The current situation could only lead to a "revenge battle."
That is to say, the underling left behind must be well-prepared. And the Sorcerer King must have known that Blue Rose had no chance of winning, which was why he chose to leave.
But not resisting would mean certain death.
So was there a chance of winning? Yes. The "Dimensional Lock" could only block teleportation magic within its range, which meant that escaping the range would be Blue Rose's victory! That was the hope.
"Tactics?"
—No one responded to Gagaran.
"Tactics! I'm asking for tactics! Don't you dare think about Momon anymore, little one!! And Lakyus, you're the captain, stop standing there!"
—The seasoned adventurers finally sprang into action.
Iburiel uttered a very mechanical murmur:
"...It's hard to imagine they didn't prepare for "Bug Killer." We should consider "Bug Killer" ineffective, and... I'm sorry, Lakyus, you take over..."
The vampire couldn't cry, but she must have been crying, right.
Lakyus silently took over from her, gritting her teeth and stating the last-resort tactic for adventurers facing extreme danger:
"...Prioritize the escape of the main members."
"Iburiel will take me and use flight to escape the range of "Dimensional Lock," and if necessary, leave me behind as bait and escape alone. Gagaran will buy time as the main force. Tia and Tina will each use obstructive skills and then flee in opposite directions... I'm sorry, Gagaran."
Clearly, in terms of survival probability, Iburiel and Lakyus had the highest chance, followed by the twins, and lastly Gagaran, who would have to make the ultimate sacrifice. And considering the danger, it was probably wishful thinking to even consider recovering his body for a resurrection spell.
"Gagaran... I'm sorry."
"Don't say such nonsense, Lakyus. Live well."
Crying would be an insult to her comrades' resolve. What she truly needed to do was to fulfill the tactic—so Lakyus shook her head vigorously to clear her mind.
"Then let's begin the—"
"Finished discussing?"
With a human race impossible angle, Anoma bent her neck and tilted her cute head.
And that tender voice must have been stolen from someone else, right?
Originally intending to immediately start the operation, Lakyus was deeply enveloped by a sense of unease.
At this moment, trying to boost morale was Gagaran again.
"Ha!! Bug maid, do you think you can defeat us? I'll teach you, no matter how many of you come at me, I'll block them all!!...Hey, little one, take care of Lakyus."
Although Gagaran roared with great momentum and swung her war hammer in a threatening posture reminiscent of a petrified lizard, it was all a bluff.
And Iburiel and Lakyus immediately understood the meaning of Gagaran's last quiet call to them.
The opponent apparently had some powerful reinforcement.
However, only a fool would wait for the enemy's reinforcement to appear. They had to run now.
"Gagaran...Farewell!!"
With a mask-covered face twisted by silent, tearless sobs, Iburiel picked up Lakyus and activated "Flight," while at the same moment, Lakyus issued orders to the floating sword cluster to attack Anoma all at once.
Although they would soon lose control due to the distance, at least it could provide a bit of cover for Gagaran's charge.
"Ah, farewell... Tia and Tina! I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay with me a little longer. Hahaha—!"
Kicking up dust with her iron boots, Gagaran sprinted straight towards Anoma; the ninja twins curved from both sides to flank her, planning to cast obstructive skills and then flee in opposite directions.
Anoma showed no reaction.
Not only did she not summon any insect-shaped weapons... or weapon-shaped insects? Nor did she seem to use any talismans, just standing there motionless.
Just waiting quietly for Gagaran and the floating swords, the ninja twins to approach.
If it were under normal circumstances, such an obvious trap would probably not be taken by even a bronze-rank adventurer. But they had no other choice now.
"Tsk, take this!!"
Aiming for Anoma's head with a fifteen-hit combo on her war hammer! Maybe it would work without a shield to block—
"The web has already been woven, you know."
Gagaran's war hammer, a first-class magic item, was suddenly stopped.
Silk.
Thin.
Floating in the air.
Gossamer?
Then————
Snow-white silk threads began to appear, layer upon layer, descending from the sky.
"Wha...?"
Gagaran saw an even more incredible sight.
The continuously descending silk threads suddenly grew rapidly at the edge of the site, at a speed as if a giant race of pastry chefs was squeezing layer upon layer of cream from above onto the ant-like crowd.
In just a few seconds, a site with a diameter of nearly twenty meters was completely enclosed by a hemispherical shape made of silk threads, like a snow hut... only the top had a small hole left.
What came through the hole was not just light, but also some ominous shadows flickering...
"Scared, manly woman? This is mom's special skill, 「Nest Creation」, you know."
Gagaran instantly broke into a cold sweat and did something she shouldn't in front of a strong enemy—she turned her head to look back.
Borrowing the only sliver of light, she saw that her two teammates preparing to escape were not spared. They struggled helplessly at the edge of the "nest" like butterflies caught in a web—fine silk threads had stuck to their waists and limbs.
"Damn it, damn it, you bastard—!"
Abandoning the immovable war hammer, Gagaran roared and tried to punch Anoma, but it was in vain, because she herself was also stuck in place, her fist only able to extend to within a few centimeters of Anoma.
"Ah, it would be easy to kill you all, just by adding poison to the silk in mom's nest, which you couldn't resist, right? But ah, but ah—"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" (x2)
Interrupting Anoma were the twin ninjas, who had also been stuck on either side. With the activation of the skill, two inferior versions of Tia and Tina appeared.
Before being wrapped by the silk, the clones immediately began to act, not to attack but to try to rescue their partners—
The walls of the nest suddenly deformed, and two "spears" made of silk threads shot out, piercing the clones and pinning them to the ground.
They showed expressions of pain and immediately vanished into thin air.
"Inside mom's nest, you must be well-behaved, you know. Operating the nest is also mom's special skill, you see. So, mother? Shouldn't you come down now?"
Anoma looked up at the only light source at the top of the nest, and the helpless crowd could only follow suit.
Then, the shadows at the light source began to tremble violently, becoming more mottled... as a certain existence squeezed itself into the nest through the hole.
The edge of the hole cooperated by expanding, and a huge oval object squeezed in, suspended from the top by silk threads, slowly descending...
As the light shone again, everyone saw what it was.
"A... spider? What on earth... is that monster...!"
Lakyus trembled all over and couldn't help but clutch Iburiel's hand tightly.
"...Be careful, it's another existence on the level of Adabaoth."
When Iburiel said "be careful," she couldn't help but mock herself. Was there really any need at this point?
She could only think of her own innate ability. But apart from "on and off," she had no control over it at all! The venue was too cramped, and it would definitely involve her teammates!
Moreover, after all, she didn't know what that power was. She only knew the vague information that "it could destroy a city"...
—That was the most terrifying power. Char had told her so.
"The misfortune you and your country suffered... was indeed caused by my kind. But I won't apologize. I won't tell you what that power is, because there's a possibility of information leakage. But... fate is fickle. Invern, you used your innate ability to preserve a part of that power."
"But don't think about using it. It will only bring disaster to everything around you, including yourself..."
Is it inevitable that everyone will perish?!
Damn it, think of a way! I am Iburiel, a woman praised by others! How should I break through this situation... If Momon were here...!!
Iburiel mercilessly slapped herself, directly knocking her mask off and revealing her somewhat haggard, furious face.
At a time like this!! I... am still thinking about him?!! Love... love! Ahhhhhhh! What a waste!!
Yes, you are a waste.
A cold voice suddenly spoke in her heart.
It was her rational self, the one who had wandered in this dangerous world for over two hundred years.
Did you listen to my warning?————Shut up!
You are also a culprit. An accomplice.————I said shut up!!
You are a murderer. A helper.————Please, shut up... don't say it anymore...
Iburiel bit her own lip.
And at that moment, Glandt finally arrived at the surface and stretched out her body.
Was it an alien? A monster? Or rather... the embodiment of a nightmare?
The huge spider, stretching out to nearly ten meters, with a height of five meters, had thick and twisted legs, as if made of metal plate armor, with many places painted with greenish-blue flame patterns, exuding a morbid luster.
Walking on the granite surface, it left sharp footprints as if it were stepping on a cake.
And the most abnormal, or rather, heretical place, was its head.
In stark contrast to the black body, its head grew upward with a "bud" of white flesh.
It was a bare half-naked girl, only the head covered with a veil, with a good figure, hands folded in prayer in front of the chest.
The light from the dome shone on her, giving off a hint of sanctity. If it weren't for the fact that she was "growing" on a giant spider, if it weren't for her wax-like pale skin, she would absolutely be a "saint"!
Creak, creak, creak, creak
The sound did not come from the girl; she stood as still as a statue.
Creak, creak, creak, creak
The unsettling noise originated from the abdomen of the girl, where a uterus should have been—
A massive crack, the spider's maw.
One could see countless shark-like sharp teeth, jumbled and interlocking, grinding against each other to produce that sound.
"Mmm, yes, Mother, it's them."
NPCs, of course, do not have blood relations. However, according to the settings, they can possess feelings akin to those of a parent and child. For instance, Edoma was set by Genzaburo to "love Gran as a daughter would a mother."
And Gran, in turn, was set to "cherish Edoma as a mother would a daughter."
Though they may seem completely incomprehensible to the human race, due to the settings, just as Albedo truly loves Ainz, Gran genuinely cares for Edoma, who is not her blood relation.
So, how would a mother treat those who almost killed her daughter?
The answer is "execution."
"What? We can move again!"
Gagaran suddenly realized that the silk threads binding her had loosened, and her war hammer fell to the ground. She quickly picked it up and leaped backward.
Glancing around, she saw that her teammates had also been "freed."
"Indeed, the 'Nest Binding' has been lifted～"
Edoma raised her tiny arms, which seemed to lack hands, as if to celebrate and taunt at the same time.
Struggle all you want. That was probably the meaning behind it.
"Little one... ten seconds, no, five seconds... if you can buy us five seconds, can you escape using 'Flight' through the hole in the ceiling?"
Iburiel shook her head and let out a bitter laugh.
"Sorry, Muscle Woman. The speed of 'Flight' would never be fast enough to dodge that kind of attack."
"Is that so..." Lakyus took a deep breath, her tone unnaturally calm, "Gagaran, Tia, Tina, and Iburiel. I'm afraid this is the end for Blue Rose... I'm sorry, everyone."
The captain bowed her head to the group, but Iburiel couldn't agree.
"Sorry...? Hmph." Iburiel let out a cold snort and then exploded, "That's... my line!!"
She had noticed the anomaly early on.
She could have avoided it.
Love, this foolish emotion that hadn't been felt in over two hundred years————!