*sigh*
'There really were far too many eggs all over the place,' sighed William, staring at the floor. 'I'm too late, aren't I? Are they all dead already?'
William had finally finished the arduous task of clearing every J'ba Fofi egg from the long underground crypts of the small town of Mifflinburg; he had found every sack of eggs in the area, stuck to the ceiling, to the gravestones, hidden amongst the stone rubble in every possible dark and secluded corner.
[10,000/10,000 - J'ba Fofi eggs eliminated]
If it weren't for the glowing blue words floating before him, it would have been impossible for him to find them all and incinerate them until they turned to ash.
The silk cocoons, both large and small, containing thousands of eggs inside, would only take a couple more days before thousands of those spiders hatched from the eggs and went out hunting when they were hungry.
"That's right… hero!!"
A gloomy, hissing voice came from the top of the cathedral; the thousands of candles that Father Flann lit with such care every day had been extinguished, never to be lit again.
The darkness of the night had swallowed the place whole, save for the moonlight streaming through the great windows.
The guttural sounds, combined with clicks and hisses, formed into broken, slurred words.
(Does it activate automatically upon detecting an inhuman language?)
William looked at his left hand, where the three silver skulls of the Three Jaws pendant had opened their mouths wide to aid in the conversation between these two beings who had gathered in this place.
'I am free at last… prison… unable… to contain myself forever.'
Just as he uttered those words, the great storm clouds completely obscured the light of the moon and stars, the wind blew ever more fiercely, and it wasn't long before thick raindrops began to fall upon this old village, far removed from the great cities.
"Aren't you going to say anything? Or does it bother you that you can't tell who you're talking to?"
William's bracelet vibrated briefly, and soon the stammering words of the figure in the darkness ceased entirely; now every sentence made sense.
The voice sounded ancient in its own unique and distinct way, yet the sense of superiority towards William—or, to be precise, towards humans—still rang out loud and clear.
"I shall give you a face to see if you finally decide to speak, or is it merely the voice of my great being that prevents you from opening your mouth without trembling… young hero!!!"
The great being, as it proclaimed itself, seemed to move across the ceiling; its large, long legs, hidden in the darkness, made the wooden ceiling creak with every step, and traces of dust and splinters fell from above in eight different places.
"Fear. It's been a long time since I've felt fear."
William said as he stood up, holding in his hands a new medallion made of gleaming Mitral, the size of a thumbnail, engraved with a spider on both sides.
First he stretched his body and his bones creaked with a clear sound in the empty church; the great trees swayed in the strong storm wind.
"Do you have a name or a title?" he said as he brought the medallion closer to his collar, "for future records."
William stretched both arms out fully and his gleaming silver armour, made of Mithril scales, replaced his leather jacket; the white shirt he wore underneath was now visible on his left arm.
The J'ba Fofi medallion was now part of his necklace, alongside the Selkie medallion.
"What a shame—and I thought I'd finally see a hero who was afraid!!!"
The great creature hanging from the ceiling dropped to the floor; the powerful gust of wind caused by its movement ruffled William's hair, and the long wooden benches in its path were shattered to pieces.
"I am Saenathra, The horror of the Forest of Mist.!!!"
The voice was full of pride and arrogance; it was spoken in such a loud tone that William felt as though the voice in his mind was drowned out by the snapping sounds of the giant spider.
Saenathra was an enormous creature resembling a gigantic spider; her eight long, hairy white legs ended in two sharp claws.
She was one of the last great Spider Queens, a direct descendant of the bloodline of the Original Spider Arachne, the silk-weaver who, with vanity and arrogance, had challenged Athena by declaring herself superior to the goddess of craftsmanship.
The gods are rarely just, but on this occasion they gave her the chance to prove her words with deeds and face the goddess in a contest, to see who could weave the finest fabric.
Athena won by a vast margin; with her victory, she decided to take Arachne and her brother Falange as a warning of the wrath of the gods to those who dare to offend them.
Both were turned into the first spiders, condemned to spin for all eternity, and from the union of the siblings were born beings identical to Saenathra, who devoured their parents.
(I estimate about 16 feet in height, almost the same size as Damrock.)
The flashes of lightning outside the old building allowed the young man to make out the form of the giant spider before him.
Nine black, lifeless eyes, like empty sockets, filled the head of this creature known as Saenathra, along with long fangs from which came the clicks and hisses that made up its archaic language.
(It is difficult to estimate its length from this angle.)
Saenathra's abdomen was covered in jet-black hair, ideal for concealing its enormous body in the dark night.
"What is your name, young hero?!"
*Crack*
Seeing that William did not proclaim his name, Saenathra took a couple of steps forward and demanded vehemently; the last clash between his four sharp fangs had been meaningless.
"I'm sorry, I am William Stone of House Stone, Hunter of Artemis and Athena."
William introduced himself in a pompous tone, a faint smile playing on his lips, whilst his hands drew his sword, Sting.
The young man exuded confidence, and he had every reason to feel so; his armour and weapons were masterpieces crafted by Hephaestus himself, blacksmith of the gods, god of fire and the forge.
"I can smell it—the blood of my sisters!!!"
These words were spoken with fury.
"Seriously, Sting has a cleansing rune inscribed on its blade; it prevents any dirt from sticking to its edge."
William looked at his sword and twirled it a few times between his fingers; the sword left a trail of silvery light wherever it passed.
"They are my BLOOD!! MY FLESH, born from my body!!!"
The thousands of needles covering Saenathra's hairy body stood on end, like a cat bristling its fur in the face of a threat.
(Could it be something to do with his kind? Do the Trasgos feel something similar with my spear, Titan?)
Titan's blade was bathed in the blood of a breeding Trasgo Queen.
There was no warning or signal to start; Saenathra attacked when his selfishness reached its peak and his good humour vanished completely.
*Thud!!!* *Thud!!!* *Thud!!!* *Thud!!!* *Thud!!!* *Thud!!!*
The spider's long legs were like spears plunging down from above in an attempt to pierce the body of the small human beneath it.
(It's quick)
William easily dodged every attack with just a few movements; in most cases, he only had to take a step back, and in the trickier situations, when two legs attacked him at once, he executed a couple of backflips.
*Slash through the air!!*
Once William had put enough distance between them, he drew his Titan spear from his belt, which returned to its original size in less than a second; he tensed every muscle in his waist and arm, and with a sweeping swing that harnessed his superhuman strength to the full, he hurled his Mithril spear at Saenathra.
The spear flew at a speed rivalling that of an arrow, some 350 feet per second, aiming to pierce the Great Spider's head.
*Shing!!*
"Too slow!!!"
The spider screamed as two of its long main legs easily caught Titan, a centimetre before he touched its exoskeleton.
The two-metre-long spear fell to the ground as Saenathra released it; its immense weight made it impossible for her to keep it away from the human.
William did not stay to see if his attack had hit its mark, but ran until he was positioned directly beneath Saenathra's body.
*Howl!!!*
Saenathra howled in pain as Sting's sharp blade severed one of her long legs; the beskar, enchanted with runes, cut through the junction of her exoskeleton's segments.
(Blind spot, you only see what's in front of you.)
William's reasoning would have been correct had this been just any spider; despite having eight eyes on average, tarantulas' eyesight was not particularly good.
But Saenathra had spectacular eyesight and a pair of extra eyes.
With a wet sound, a section in the centre of Saenathra's abdomen opened, revealing a huge eye that watched everything happening beneath her body.