162 Ending the Queen ...

Because of the pure mayhem that was happening near their Queen, it provoked a lot of confusion in the ranks of the spiders. Even if they had some free will in their everyday moves, not completely controlled by their mother, the latter could still send them orders and messages. And as one would expect when that creature was filled with fear, her intense emotion spread among her offspring.

If for Leilade, whether they were fearful, scared, angered or anything alike wouldn't change anything, it was not the case for the dwarves and the ratmen. Filled with determination after hearing an army of undead was coming to help them, they were still a little bit doubtful about the effect it would have on the ongoing conflict. After all, this stalemate had lasted centuries already, beginning after the Age of Darkness.

But to slap the nonbelievers in the face, everyone was baffled to see the previously never-ending stream of spiders dwindled to just a pitiful handful. Even now, all the underground fortresses of the dwarves that had begun their assault stumbled upon the same situation. Whether it was empty nests, deserted tunnels or just a few small spiders protecting it, it was nothing like they remembered. Some even pinched themselves to see if they were dreaming.

"My-my apologiesss for doubting them, commandant. They are ssstrong be-beyong belief, sreek sreek." A monster fully armored was looking with his evil red eyes at the same dwarf Leilade talked to. To be fully honest, the latter was not looking any less surprised than his interlocutor, only that his helmet hid it well. Nodding a few times to gather his spirit, he managed to dispel his stupor.

"What can spiders do to something already dead? You don't have to worry about us, we are not like those insects, powerless against something without being able to use magic. Between your sorcerers and our runes, we wouldn't be defenseless." As he was saying those words, a glint appeared briefly in the eyes of the armored ratman. Even if he was praising their new ally, it did not mean they would trust it unconditionally. But because the two thought the same thing, he was slightly less fearful.

Pondering about Pankow, he was not really knowledgeable about it. Like his dwarven counterpart, anyone sent to the depths of the Foundations of Iron would always be the latest to be informed of something. Therefore, besides knowing that the undead had never attacked the Iron Kingdom before, none of the ratmen, and even none of the dwarves knew how suddenly they turned from peaceful neighbors to helpful allies.

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Returning to the front, he gazed at the burning spiders that were still hesitantly attacking them. There was nothing in them like the ferocity they displayed during all those years. Their absence of fear toward death or injuries, their fighting spirit, until their last breath. No, sometimes they charged, sometimes they retreated, sometimes they even stood there until an axe or a flame touched them.

Grabbing the binocular on his waist, he could see that this nest won't pose any problem again. As the last spider was killed, the cleaners began their work. A few ratmen removed their heavy armor and put a strange outfit. Later, they began to fix huge metallic barrel on their back, with the help of the dwarves. Gripping the cannon-like barrel that was linked to the thing on their backs, they began to rotate a small lever on its side.

Red flames immediately began to spread from it, burning to the ground all the spider webs that were blocking the way. At the same time, they could hear the screams of the halfway born spiders that were dying in their cocoons. Watching the spectacle, they suddenly saw a vast amount of spiders incoming from a tunnel. But to their surprise, the moment they spotted the dwarves, they rushed toward them, without even attacking anyone.

Because of their numbers, there was always a few that managed to bypass the warriors in the front. The only weird thing was that instead of surrounding those fighters and kill them, they only wanted to head deeper, making it a bit harder to slay them. After all, between something that was desperately trying to dodge and flee and something that was rushing toward your weapon, one was easier to touch. But even if the spiders numbered to the hundreds, it was nothing they haven't seen previously.

Quickly, all the monsters that had tried to break through had been killed. Even the ones that were climbing the ceiling and the walls had been either turned into ash or shot down because of the rifles and crossbows. Approaching the body of a heavily injured spider, the commandant of the two races fighting could still see it trying to run. Even with half of its body immobilized by the axe on his back, three legs were madly grabbing the ground, slowly advancing the burden behind it.

"What madnessss co-could make them behave like that?" Before anyone could answer the ratman, they heard the sound of more spiders arriving from the same tunnel. Only it was far louder than what was produced by those small monsters. "The soldiers. Get ready!" After killing so many of those eight-legged creatures, they had naturally learned the differences between each type of spiders.

If the smallest were called the workers, since they were most of the time the one sent to spread the webs the closest to the dwarven fortress, they were also the weakest. Above them were the ones that were nearly as tall as the ratmen warriors. The small traces of green on their head and their size was oftenly used to differentiate the two. But the way they walked was enough for those that fought them for decades to immediately know what will appear.

"BY IRONSKULL'S BEARD!" The shout of the dwarf quickly grabbed the attention of everyone, as they could gaze upon the thing that was now visible. The putrid smell it carried quickly swarmed the cave, letting a bad taste in the mouth of everyone. Beyond that atmosphere of death, decay and rot, its appearance looked that it came from a nightmare.

Multiple body parts of the spider soldiers were sewed together, into a mass that shouldn't be called by any name. Even now, they could see at least five different heads, all moving in discord and not at the same location. The body was painted completely green, as the blood was still dripping fresh. If at first, it only looked at the living beings with disinterest, it soon spotted the injured spider trying to escape.

The order imprinted in its brain was absolute. Still starring at its new target, it did not care about anything else, including the numerous cannons aiming at it. "Warriors get back! The rest, fire! FIRE! BURN THIS THING!" Letting place to the ratmen carrying the flamethrowers, the retreating warriors could see the flames surrounding the moving pile of corpses. But even then, it was not enough to stop it immediately.

The bodies of those spiders were far more resistant than the one of the workers. Seeing the monstrous thing getting closer and closer, not slowing down even when its legs were shot down, the closest ratmen and dwarves began to fear for their lives. However, they did not retreat in panic, only beginning to step back rapidly. Soon, they bypassed the mortally wounded spider that was still using his remaining legs to flee.

SHRRIEEEEEEEEE

Pierced in the middle of its broken body, the unfortunate spider finally stopped moving, its body beginning to burn as the thing that killed it was detaching itself from the main body. The thing finally began to show signs of crumbling, as the weak joints of the limbs were completely burned. Losing the leg that it used to kill its prey, the undead started moving toward another tunnel that had the scent of a spider. But before it could even take another step, the few limbs it still had broke.

Falling to the ground, it was greeted by even more flames and projectiles. Only after a minute after it stopped moving did someone approached it. Using a halberd to poke one head, the ratman officer repeated the gesture one all the other ones. Not seeing any movements from the fallen body, he raised his weapon high and split in half one skull. After methodically destroying the body, he finally breathed a bit better. But before they could discuss what happened, a small ratman appeared, shouting that an unknown monster had been spotted in the East.

As for Leilade, she did not even thought that some of her undead servants would be killed by the dwarves. After all, her orders were to hunt only the spiders, so if there was none in sight, the monsters that she created would just go elsewhere. Because they had the same enemy, that also meant there was no possibility of a spider surviving near a dwarf.

No, currently, she was just following her routine, meaning slaughtering nests after nests. While sometimes, staying a bit longer to create more undead. Deciding that five of them was enough, anytime one was destroyed she will sew another. Since they only served as cleaning dogs, hunting the escaping spiders, it was only out of convenience.

Unlike the undead spiders that she hardly cared about, the thing she created to hunt the Spider Queen was far more important. And she always kept an eye on it and its progress. But even after so many hours, her target was still not in sight. It was almost making her want to use some spells, to fight boredom. Knowing that the Saksa was very far away from this place and definitely in no condition of even spotting the gods, she would hardly be restrained by it.

Glancing in what was happening in her mind, she saw her other self sadly playing with mud, currently sculpting a small statue. With just a peek, she could see the huge beard and the wrinkles on the face of the man, knowing full well who it was. As for where she found the mud, it was no different from the trick she did to the Archmage. As long as mana was present, nearly everything could be done. But it was good, that she was occupied by something.

Suddenly, she felt that her mental connection with one of her creatures had been destroyed. Chuckling about it, she let go of the few spiders still alive near her. "Found you." Not caring anymore about the stone walls, she directly floated through it, not having forgotten that she was just a soul in the end. Feeling that she was getting closer and closer, she finally arrived into a cavern of crystal.

Looking at the myriad of colors all around her, she remembered seeing the same thing near the body of the troll Hero and the Akûl. Wondering if this time it was natural or caused by something, she saw the large body in the middle that was completely immobile. All around it, thousands of spider corpses were laying on the ground, some half-eaten and even a few still stuck in one of the mouths. What was also in one of the mouths was an abnormally long leg, and another one was piercing completely the head of her creation.

Barely meters away, an equally large monster was leaning on the stone pillar behind it and using it to help her. Her two limbs were still stuck inside the thing that she fought, and even now, she was having a hard time pulling it out. But to her despair, she noticed far too late that something dark had entered the room, bypassing all the scouts the spread inside the tunnel.

On her back, the workers that usually worked on the jungle of strings were all paralyzed, before dropping dead instantly. Feeling the loss of her dear children, she gazed at the numerous cocoons all over the room, before realizing she felt nothing at all. Nothing alive. Disregarding the floating enemy, she gently opened one, only to find the almost born baby not breathing anymore. Calling in her mind her dear children to defend her, she realized none of them were coming.

Starring at the entrances of the tunnels, she saw all of them turned into statues. Looking left and right, she was beginning to consider cutting her legs to escape, only to realize she could no longer do so. Dark flames were blocking the way, and she already knew about the terrible pain that accompanied those. Feeling a whirlpool of emotions, the one that was predominant was still incomprehension. Why was she targeted by that thing, that tiny dark monster? Even as Leilade raised her hand, the last thought of the spider was still this question.