163 ... and its bloodline

"One already killed. And it didn't even take me more than 5 hours." The immense network of tunnels built by the dwarves had been constantly expanded during the years by the moles. In fact, it could probably cover an entire human nation, by its size and its depth. However, it was usually harder to walk inside the underground passages, slowing down most creatures. Besides the ones that did not need to touch the floor.

Cleaning up the place, she spared none of the remaining moles that were looking at her with their terrified eyes. When everything was done, the immense cave filled with crystals was no longer obscured by the numerous spider webs. As she roamed, she searched the reason for such a thing to appear at two vastly different locations. But even then, she could not see a corpse frozen inside one of the minerals.

As for the memories of the Spider Queen, it only amounted to its birth between the cold stone walls, the death of her mother and the birth of her own daughter. It made sense, since it was not possible for such a creature to live forever. And it explained why the ratmen oftenly found that a new Spider Queen had appeared, between the death of the mother and the birth of the new child. Right now, the last remaining queen had only a few decades.

The last time the two met, it was only an hour ago. The sight coming from the multiple eyes of the spider was not enough to perturbed Leilade, as she had gazed at far worst inside the souls of her victims. As for the fugitive, she had used a smaller tunnel hidden behind a crystal. Using her power, she uprooted the last obstacle between them, unveiling the secret passage.

It was barely smaller than the size of the large spider. It took time for a new queen to grow to such an impressive size, as well as the ability to give birth to so many offsprings. Meaning that for the moment, the prey was not really that different from the rest of the spiders and could hide inside the small tunnels without any problem.

Not having to pierce her skin anymore, she extracted a bit of her essence to have three drops floating in the air. Supplying them with darkness, the drops grew larger, beginning to take the shape of a human. Their ethereal bodies were getting more and more concrete, as they began to merge with the shadows Like three angels of death, they split up as soon as Leilade waved her hand.

"This will take care of the rest of the spiders." It was time to end this once and for all. Even if she had nine other days after that before the criminal dwarf arrived, she also had to pay a visit to the dragons. To see what they knew about this world. And about who breached the security of the Ancients and disrupted the Saksa.

"But now, let's see how fast you managed to run in one short hour." Remembering the fact that this was not displayed on the plan shown by the dwarves, she wondered if the Spider Queen that dug this knew about that. Probably. After all, the one that arrived here had managed to escape the same disaster that forced the ratmen to flee. Something she still did not understand completely.

Not even a minute later, she entered the secret lair of the Spider Queen. Looking around, she saw numerous types of armors, weapons, and banners that were sometimes familiar, sometimes not. However, it was cleanly ordered, as much as it was possible with the issue of not having proper hands. Not a complete mess like that was sometimes seen inside monster lairs.

As for the only living being that was inside it, it was crawling away when it spotted Leilade. Just a small little bug, without even an intent of murder. Only fear could be felt from the monster, not that it was truly surprising. After all, her entire life, her mother had been the biggest protection she could ever get. That large body was the only shelter she needed. But she was intelligent enough to know that if the thing that hunted them was here, it meant everyone else had died.

"Farewell, little one." A small tentacle began to leave the body of Leilade, as it slowly approached her prey. The latter stared at it, before jumping on the walls, still trying to flee. But as much as the monster wanted to get out, the entrance was completely sealed by the moving soul. And seeing the shadows creeping closer and closer, filling the small hiding spot to the brink, the spider realized she had no choice anymore. Nowhere to go.

Returning to the room filled with crystal, she explored it once more, just to be certain. She did not believe in accident or coincidence. Especially when both cases involved special monsters and locations. Grasping in her hand the mineral she grabbed, it was easily destroyed. The little pieces that fell to the ground did not offer her any mana either, making it quite useless, besides improving the esthetic of the cave.

Retracing the path that she took, she stumbled upon a few burning corpses after a while. Approaching it, she felt the presence of spiders inside a crack on the ceiling. Looking upwards, she didn't have to wait long for a ghost to approach them and claim their lives. The sound of the corpses falling to the ground id not slow her down as she followed the trail of flames.

By sheer luck, she managed to find the troops led by the commandant dwarf she previously encountered. Of course, her sudden appearance was not looking kindly by the warriors that had bathed into the green liquid. But beyond the terrifying appearance of Leilade and the initial shock, they quickly rejoiced and even cheered for her.

Contrarily to the undead spiders that were too horrifying to be considered friendly, the three human ghosts she summoned were, in fact, confirming the news that their former allies, Pankow, had come to help. With that small lie, and the fact that numerous reports were stating the presence of ghostly humans killing spiders, even the presence of a monstrous being like Leilade was bringing joy.

Combining this with the fact that everyone knew how far they were in the depths, many of the warriors that were still fighting had a wide smile on their face. In their lives, most had barely managed to go deeper than a hundred meters. Now, they were beyond five times this distance, and the number of monsters in sight was quite pitiful. Meaning that their days staying in the dark depths of the Foundations of Iron would finally be over.

But when she arrived near her known acquaintances, she saw his bearded face beginning to darken. He had removed his helmet, as he was previously chatting with a large ratman near him. Not really concerned by the cold welcome she got, she only noticed too late what was in his hands, before it quickly moved toward her.

"TO LEILADE OCTAVIUS! SLAYER OF THE SPIDER QUEEN!" Raising high his bottle of alcohol, he drank it in one go. Behind him, she could see numerous ratmen carrying huge barrels of beer and wine, before distributing it to everyone. Removing their dirtied helmets, ratmen and dwarves began to celebrate early their victory.

"I was joking with you, don't make such a face. Maybe you don't realize, but many of us thought we would die in this place. Even if the casualties are not too high as the spiders rarely attack, who would want to get old without their families?"

"Yes-Yes. The spidersss are no more, sreek sreek. Thousandsss of years, su-suffering under their mandibles. But you. You killed them all, ex-exterminated them. To the lassst of them." The evil face of the ratman was grinning evilly while saying this, but she could see that it was joy. Even as they celebrated, it never occurred to them that she could have returned without accomplishing her task. Feeling a bit naughty, she wanted to see their faces crumbled.

"The Spider Queen escaped."

PFUIII

Both officers spat instantly their drinks while looking at her with stupor. After that, their eyes landed on their warriors that were happily chatting and drinking, wondering how they would be able to tell them the hard truth. Realizing that they may have jumped to the conclusion too fast, the jug in their grips were crushed, letting the strong liquid taint their hands.

"Joking, she is dead." Hearing this, both looked at each other, then at Leilade, then at each other again. the dwarf began to sit down, his heart not capable of sustaining any other jump of emotions. With his breathing getting louder and louder, even the soul near him feared a bit that she had shocked them too much. It would be bad if she killed someone by accident, after telling a bad joke. Regretting once more to have succumbed to an impulse of emotions, the worst did not happen.

"Don't ... pfuiii ... Don't ever ... Joke like that again ... haaaaa ... You're killing me." Grabbing another jug from someone that passed nearby, he drank it far more slowly this time, only taking a few sips at a time. Right after this, the reports of the other troops informed them that they had not sighted a single spider since at least half of an hour. But each time they entered a new cavern, they could spot the countless corpses laying on the ground.

"I guess those ghosts are your doing. And if you say that the queen is dead, we have to trust you. It would take weeks to explore everything, but I think it's fine if we already inform the king of the news. I wonder how big the feast will be at our arrival in the capital?"

"You won't inform anyone." The cold, infantile voice broke the thoughts of the two living beings, that merely raised their eyebrows about that remark. "For the next ten days, no one will leave the Foundations of Iron. If someone comes, you will tell them that you are still fighting hard. No one will know about what I have done until this period of time has ended."

Instead of being angered or anything alike, the only thing she could see was sheer disinterest. Like what she said didn't concern them in the slightest. Feeling the gaze of the dark soul perturbing their small celebration, the ratman finally acknowledged what she said. "Fi-Fine fine. We heard from you. What'sss ten days anyway?" "Do what you want. Just, before you leave, can you let those ghosts kill the last spiders for us? Even with our good visions in the dark, it is still hard for us to spot some hiding spots on the ceiling and the walls."

Lifting her hand, Leilade did a small hand gesture as a dark orb was created. Extending her hand for the dwarf commandant to pick it up, she explained its utility. "This is linked to my summons. When they will be done, the orb will immediately disappear. Meaning that all the living beings in those tunnels have been exterminated. As for the ranger that followed me, he can go back to the capital. Tell him to only speak to the king."

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Finalizing to fix the last miscellaneous issues, she then listened to the dwarf to know where to go next. "The orcs? Hard to miss those greenskins. If it was me, it would take a long time before reaching them, but you don't have that problem. Just go to the West and it will be fine. And if you want more actions, aim at the river that is leaving the Iron Kingdom. It will lead you directly to a huge lake, where most monsters of those forsaken plains go to drink."

Soon after saying those words, the two officers could see the soul in front of them beginning to disappear into a nearby stone wall. Finally getting rid of the morbid and glacial atmosphere that followed their savior, the taste of the drink in their mouths was greatly improved. Returning to the fortress and after learning that they had not lost a single man, celebrations resonated in the depths for all those days. And when the black orb crumbled under their happy stares, it only made the party even bigger.