Just as the battle reached its most critical moment, and he was genuinely having trouble holding himself back from interfering, the Earth Dragon Chief suddenly appeared through teleportation magic with a group of clan members, standing in front of Ash and preventing him from meddling in the fair duel.
Ash tried both persuasion and threats to make him get lost, but the Earth Dragon Chief remained unmoved and firmly upheld the rules of the duel.
Just as Ash was starting to lose patience and was preparing to use force, the battle on Spider's side had already come to an end.
In the end, Spider won by a narrow margin.
After being defeated, the young earth dragon seemed to be moved by Spider's courage and strength and voluntarily gave up resisting.
Although Spider had won, when she returned "home," she stayed depressed for quite a while.
Ash sat cross-legged practicing magic while she lay across his lap, constantly sighing.
Seeing her like this, he couldn't understand the complicated emotions, pride, rules, and feelings of monsters, so all he could do was silently reach out and gently stroke the spider head in his arms, hoping to comfort her a little.
After lying in Ash's arms for a while and gradually recovering, Spider suddenly looked up at him from below. Her eyes flashed with dissatisfaction as she began complaining again about why he never took her out to have fun, though... Ash couldn't understand a word of it.
Unable to communicate, Spider finally realized that relying on others was worse than relying on herself. She dragged Ash along and headed down the path the fleeing human soldiers had taken earlier.
Before that, however, she wanted to teach Ash a small lesson and make him understand the importance of sharing good fortune. So she stopped and turned back.
After deliberately waiting until the food had been eaten, Spider secretly returned to the lower levels and caught a snail bug.
She even roasted it before bringing it back, then happily held it out toward him.
'Come on, give it a try. It may look ugly, but the taste is... even worse than it looks! Wahahah! Eat it properly and throw up half your guts just like I did!'
Not long ago, after stubbornly arguing with him and then becoming so hungry that she unknowingly ate one of these snail bugs, Spider had developed a grudge. Now she was full of ill intent and couldn't wait to see what kind of reaction Ash would have after eating it.
The snail bug looked like a flat black insect. Its appearance was bug-like, but it behaved more like a snail, slowly crawling along the maze walls. Since it acted so much like a snail, Spider called it a snail bug. It was weak and completely harmless, but... unbelievably awful to eat.
Looking at what Spider was offering, Ash frowned and unconsciously took a step back. A trace of caution appeared in his eyes.
After all, whenever this girl suddenly became enthusiastic... it never meant anything good.
And he could sense the malice.
'Just eat it already. Why aren't you eating? Trust me! It's not poisonous! Would a pure and kind little spider like me lie to you? Would I ever hurt you?'
Seeing that Ash wouldn't take a bite, Spider pushed the snail bug closer while chirping more urgently, clearly urging him to accept it.
She even climbed onto him and held the skewered snail bug right up to his mouth, but... after a brief hesitation, Ash finally made his decision.
Before Spider could react, he snatched the snail bug away in an instant and stuffed it straight into her chirping mouth.
In that moment, an indescribable flavor exploded inside Spider's mouth.
The cooked version tasted even worse than she remembered, like every unpleasant smell in the world had been combined into one.
'Ughhhh!So disgusting! So awful! I'm gonna puke!'
Her body began shaking violently as though she'd been electrocuted. She rolled around on the ground, looking ridiculous. Tears filled all eight eyes, and it was impossible to tell whether they came from nausea or from struggling too hard.
"So it really is bad. Honestly, this girl holds grudges way too much. Why can't she be a little gentler like me? A little kinder? A little more tolerant?"
Ash couldn't help shaking his head.
After vomiting on the spot, Spider glared fiercely at him while dry-heaving.
'So disgusting... so awful... you bastard... you even hurt a cute little spider like me... just wait! One day! One day I'll make you eat it too! Bleh!'
Realizing her plan had failed, Spider spent a while vomiting and another while beating her chest in frustration before once again placing her hopes in her future self.
There was no helping it.
She couldn't beat him in a fight, and tricking him hadn't worked.
What else could she do?
———
Spider had long grown tired of the maze she had never left since birth and wanted to see the outside world.
After her plan failed, she finally left the place in low spirits, taking Ash with her.
Although Ash didn't really want to leave the maze, he followed her for the time being... treating it as a trip into the sunlight.
At the maze entrance stood a castle built by humans.
Lacking barriers and enhancement magic, the humans instinctively attacked after spotting Spider. As a result, Spider retaliated in annoyance and blew apart the castle walls with magic almost immediately.
Not long after leaving the maze, however, Spider suddenly seemed to sense something.
She shuddered and stopped walking, turning her gaze back toward the maze.
Afterward, she shook her head hard, chirped twice, and quickened her pace.
This series of actions left Ash completely confused. At first, he thought Spider was attached to her home and reluctant to leave, but... his question was quickly answered.
Because not long after they emerged from underground, he sharply noticed the ground beginning to shake violently.
The tremors traveled from far away toward them like muffled thunder rolling across the earth.
Instinctively, he turned and looked back in the direction they had come from.
His mouth immediately fell open.
Within the billowing dust clouds, countless spiders of all sizes were swarming toward them.
Among them, one giant white spider monster stood out the most.
Its enormous body resembled a moving hill and gave off a frightening presence.
Beside it were three large spider monsters acting as leaders. Though smaller than the white spider monster, they were still huge. Every step they took made the ground tremble slightly.
Behind them followed an endless mass of spiders of every kind, gathering into a vast army like a tidal wave.
Wherever the spider army passed, dust filled the sky, like a dark cloud pressing toward them.
"Those... your sisters? Coming to see you off?", Ash had already figured out that spiders seemed to all be female, so he joked while glancing at Spider beside him.
'No idea. Don't know them. Or... don't know those spiders.'
Spider couldn't understand him, but she roughly guessed what he meant. Embarrassed, she turned her head away and avoided his gaze, trying to pretend all of this had nothing to do with her.
But Ash wasn't that easy to fool.
Staring closely at her, he felt certain she had something to do with their appearance.
'Hey, why do you keep avoiding eye contact? And... why are you acting so suspicious?'
'Why keep staring at such a cute and harmless spider like me~? What problem could I possibly have? I'm just a little spider who likes taking walks and enjoying the sunshine~ Ahaha! Walking around is super fun! Humans really should get more sunlight~ Though I'm not human anymore. I'm a spider now!'
Feeling guilty, Spider walked under the sunlight with exaggerated strides, pretending to enjoy herself while speaking as though she had no idea what was going on.
She tried her best to look natural, but she couldn't hide her guilty expression.
If someone could read her face, she looked exactly like a guilty human.
Even if she didn't, she still gave off the feeling of a guilty little animal, prompting Ash to keep asking, "What exactly did you do? Did you offend your sisters? Or... are they really here to see you off?"
Though that was what he said, their aggressive appearance clearly suggested otherwise.
'Sorry, I don't understand a single word you're saying. But honestly, Mom is too much!! Just because she's too big to come out and play herself, she won't let me come out either? I come outside and she sends people to hunt me down? I was only a little rebellious! I only refused her order to go back! We're related by blood! How can she send people to kill her own daughter?'
Spider sounded like she was explaining to Ash while also talking to herself.
'This isn't something a person should do! Though Mom and I aren't people anyway!'
Halfway through her rant, she started making excuses for her mother instead, complaining endlessly about the sudden pursuit.
Even though she was a subordinate and had directly rejected her mother's order through the Heresy Nullification skill, normal circumstances shouldn't lead to this level of extermination... though she didn't really understand either.
Ash suddenly remembered something the Earth Dragon Chief had once mentioned.
It seemed that... the Spider Queen and the earth dragons were both bound by their master and couldn't leave the maze freely.
'Could it be because of him?'
Had Spider left the normal monster ecosystem too early because of his influence, causing all these changes and making her start longing for the sky and sunlight?
Ash wasn't sure.
But the situation didn't leave him much time to think.
"Forget it. That's not important. As for these... hmm, what should I do with them?"
He stopped and watched the approaching spiders.
Not only did he make no move to dodge, he even glanced at Spider beside him.
Only to discover that... she had quietly hidden behind him.
"Seriously? You caused all this trouble and now you're hiding behind me? You don't even have the courage to take responsi—huh? That's some serious killing intent. Looks like they really came to kill spiders. And now they're planning to kill me too just because I'm standing here?"
Halfway through speaking, Ash suddenly felt the murderous intent directed at him after Spider hid behind him.
He had already known they weren't here to say goodbye.
But now... there wasn't even room for negotiation.
With a helpless sigh, Ash slightly raised his hands.
Several black spheres appeared around him.
The black-purple spheres drifted through the air like mysterious floating cannons, giving off a deep glow.
'Ohhh! I've seen those before. Their penetration is really strong. Those guys have high magic resistance, but they should still—'
Before Spider could finish speaking, all eight spheres suddenly fired black-purple beams simultaneously.
The giant white spider monster tried to block them with its tough webbing.
But the webs vanished instantly before the beams, as fragile as cotton thread.
However, the giant white spider, the leader and strongest among them, let out a deafening roar just before the light reached it.
With a powerful burst of force, it launched its massive body high into the air like a cannonball.
Its huge form traced a white arc beneath the sunlight, generating a powerful gust that sent nearby spiders tumbling.
Yet Ash's attacks weren't so easy to avoid.
The black-purple beams bent at perfect ninety-degree angles and continued tracking the giant white spider.
Even after the giant spider successfully used an aerial mobility skill to perform a second jump and adjust its trajectory, the beams moved faster.
They caught up almost instantly and attacked from every direction, leaving no escape.
The next moment, a dense net of death struck the giant spider's body.
Despite its immense durability and defense, enormous holes were torn through its massive frame in the blink of an eye.
Black blood sprayed out like fountains.
A miserable scream escaped it as its huge body lost balance in midair and fell like a crashing meteor.
BOOM!
With a tremendous crash, the giant spider slammed into the ground.
The earth shook.
Many of its own companions were crushed beneath it.
It struggled to stand again, but its injuries were too severe.
Every movement brought intense pain.
Under the continuing bombardment of the returning beams, it barely managed to lift itself before swaying and collapsing once more, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The other large spider monsters were no different.
Their bodies riddled with holes, they struggled a little longer before becoming completely motionless.
After seeing their leaders die, the remaining spiders fell into brief chaos.
Yet instead of fleeing, they charged even more frantically toward Ash and Spider.
But under the sweeping beams, the smaller spiders were even more helpless.
They were wiped out instantly like dust scattered by a strong wind.
The spider army, powerful enough to destroy human nations, collapsed within moments under the attack of the black-purple beams.
They never even managed to launch an attack against Ash.
All that remained was a battlefield covered with severed limbs before the entire army was thoroughly annihilated.
Spider was completely stunned by the magnificent and terrifying scene before her.
All eight eyes were wide open with disbelief.
Each eye reflected the image of the black-purple beams tearing through the battlefield.
It felt as though her entire soul had been shaken by what she had witnessed.
The black-purple beams seemed like punishment from a god.
An army of such enormous size had been erased with ease.
Her body froze in place, every leg trembling slightly.
It was a feeling that came from the depths of her soul.
Her small mouth hung open as though she wanted to say something.
Yet only a faint series of chirps emerged.
The sound was drowned out by the noise of the battlefield, but the intense emotions within it could still be felt.
———
The beams were like spears of judgment from the end of the world.
Wherever they passed, whether giant white spiders or swarms of smaller ones, none could withstand their power.
Yet as Ash looked at the spider army he had effortlessly destroyed, there wasn't a trace of pride on his face.
He simply found it boring.
Magic in this world progressed extremely slowly.
Or rather, it hadn't progressed at all.
Everything operated according to preset skills within the system's framework, and many areas were severely unbalanced.
For example... there was spatial magic but no flight magic.
Aside from the barriers around the elves' homeland and the Dragon God's Barrier from the system, there weren't even specialized personal protection spells.
Back in Ash's original world, dedicated defensive magic had existed long before modern defensive magic was developed.
Though killing spells could still pierce through them instantly.
The Dragon God's Barrier belonged only to a tiny number of monsters.
And these opponents didn't even possess defensive magic.
They relied solely on resistance to block attacks.
It made Ash feel like he was bullying them.
Especially because their large bodies made dodging killing spells difficult no matter how good their mobility was.
Trying to tank killing magic with only physical toughness and magic resistance was hardly a wise choice unless one was at the level of the Bloodstained War God.
Even if this world eventually developed defensive magic, it probably wouldn't matter much against killing spells with such extreme penetration against both physical and magical defenses.
"It really does feel like bullying."
Looking at the wreckage covering the ground, Ash shook his head in boredom and turned away.
Of course, it wasn't actually that they were weak.
Their opponent was simply too powerful.
After taking a few steps, however, he noticed Spider hadn't followed.
Suspicious, he turned back and looked at the still-shocked Spider.
Then he casually kicked her butt.
After a brief daze, Spider finally snapped back to reality and hurried after him.
Yet the scene she had just witnessed continued echoing in her mind.
Her eyes remained fixed on Ash.
A burning, unwavering light shone within them.
Brighter than the sun itself.
It was as though she had once again found the meaning of her existence and the direction of her life.
She wanted to keep climbing toward the peak of power represented by Ash.
The idea had already become deeply engraved into her soul.
But...
'Rather than figuring out how to catch up to Ash, shouldn't we think about what to do about Mom first?'
The parallel consciousness inside her head suddenly interrupted her emotions and reminded her of the most important issue.
Spider immediately struck her palm with her scythe.
'Right! I need to come up with something. Mom is seriously angry right now.'
Following behind Ash, Spider frowned as she thought things over.
Before long, she simply used the connection between their consciousnesses and sent one of her parallel minds directly through it to give her mother's mental world a proper mother-and-daughter reunion.
'Well~ I have no idea what'll happen, but there should be some solution once it gets there, right?'
Within the mental world, Spider watched her three consciousnesses crawl toward the other end of the passage.
She had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to do.
But, having momentum and taking action was always better than doing nothing.
'The rest depends on fate. And then...'
Returning her awareness to reality, Spider immediately leaped onto Ash's back and began chattering nonstop.
'I want tasty food! That scene just now really scared me! Let's go eat something good together!'
"You're really noisy. I should've let those spiders fight you after all."
'Hey! That means you agreed, right? I know you agreed! Since that's settled, no taking it back and no denying it!'
"Come to think of it, could the spiders' master and the earth dragons' master be the same person?"
Ash turned to look at the spider head on his shoulder.
The moment their eyes met, Spider excitedly chirped.
'Ooh! Did you understand? You understood, didn't you?'
"Forget it. Asking you is a waste of time."
With Spider chirping directly into his face, Ash's mouth twitched slightly and he gave up on the meaningless question.
Although they couldn't communicate normally, after spending so much time together, Ash already understood Spider's habits almost completely.
From her constantly moving limbs and the occasional special chirping sounds she made, Ash could tell that she was probably craving something delicious right now.
Thinking back, he remembered enjoying good food by himself while leaving Spider behind.
That made him feel just a tiny bit guilty.
Looking at it now, what he had done really wasn't very nice.
To make up for it a little, Ash decided to head to the nearest human settlement to the maze entrance, Keren Territory. There would surely be plenty of food there that could satisfy Spider.