18 Chapter 18

"SKREE."

The last remaining Jorogumo shouted wildly as a bolt of torrent of water flung it high up into the air. Moments after it exploded, and its black blood and guts spread everywhere in the vicinity, painting Vice and his companions in that color. Vice glared at Favor who had used that ability just now and thought, 'Couldn't she have used something else? This blood is so sticky.'

"Good stuff everyone, we have to be even more vigilant. Had it not been for Vice then we'd have been completely taken by surprise," Paul said as he huffed and puffed to regain his breath. All of the other individuals were similarly catching their breaths and allowing the thick arcana in the surroundings to restore the mana they'd just used up.

Vice, on the other hand, was in a better shape than the others, and instead observed the surroundings for any hostiles. "The fog seems less thick," Vice said as he looked around. He could not only feel that the arcana in the area had weakened slightly, but it was much easier to look about in this crimson area.

"You're right, I can see much further into the distance right now. Maybe killing those beasts has something to do with that? Just a thought don't take that as a fact," Favor said. Her eyebrows were arched up as she stared at Vice with curiosity in her eyes, much to the ire of Anne who glared at her fellow Mages Guild recruit. "You're like a demon, right? Does that give you certain powers or what's that all about?" Favor asked as she pointed at Vice's horns.

Vice was momentarily startled, and his mouth was wide agape as nobody had ever asked such a direct question which didn't feel like it was meant to be an insult. He wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what to say to answer that question. 'I don't know myself,' he thought to himself.

"Hey you can't just ask something like that," Anne said angrily.

"Why not? It's just a question. I'm interested in how that works," Favor replied, her hands stroking her chin.

"This isn't the time for squabbles, we've been given a task and we need to carry it out now!" Paul said. The group immediately went back into formation and began moving forward. Their formation was a slight bit more lax as they could finally see where they were going a little bit better.

The ground that Vice walked on felt like a mixture between soil and concrete, a weird sensation which he wasn't able to fully pinpoint. Everything he saw made him believe that this was the Gwabu area, as there were still many of the houses he'd seen before in the area. 'Favian, do you know what this place is? Or why does it look like the Gwabu area but doesn't feel like it at all?' Vice thought.

'That's because this is a different dimension moron. They work in weird and wonderful ways. Most of the time the dimensions will just use the landscape of the material plane, where you reside, to format their own plane,' Favian replied. 'Don't be surprised if a wormhole opens up from underneath you and swallows you whole, hahaha.'

Vice shivered at the thought, and looked down at the ground carefully to find the signs of any irregularities. The group barely talked as they walked, and the eerie silence mixed with the foreign plane started to make Vice feel uncomfortable. Before this could manifest into anything, the party reached a weird landmark. Right in front of them was a humongous dome made completely out of a white silk.

"These are spider webs…" Anne said. "The same ones from when we got trapped here Vice."

'How many spiders do you need to create a dome of almost twenty meters in height,' Vice thought as he nodded toward Anne.

"I think we've reached out destination. There's a huge dome made out of spider webs in front of us, I think there could be hundreds of Jorogumos hidden in there," Paul said into a golden card. "Yes. Alright we'll turn back now."

"What'd they say?" Austin and Jake said eagerly. Despite their huge muscles and chiseled faces, Vice sensed a certain childishness hidden inside them as they stared with puppy dog eyes at Paul.

"They will bring reinforcements now. We are to turn back and take a rest back outside until we are called to come back here again. Okay, let's go!" Paul said.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Jason asked as he pointed to a far away location with his right hand.

Paul instantly looked at where Jason pointed, his blue eyes shot out to the side after which his face dropped.

'DO NOT LOOK WHERE HE JUST LOOKED. I WILL KILL YOU MYSELF IF YOU DO VICE,' Favian said. His voice echoed loudly within Vice's mind, so much so that he had to clutch his head tightly for a moment.

After regaining his bearings Vice realized that all of his companions were similarly frozen to the spot with their heads dropped, and saliva was even falling from Anne's lips. Vice had made sure not to look to his right, where Paul and presumably the others had looked to.

Vice instantly ran back they way they'd come after picking up Anne. The decision wasn't a difficult one for him to make either, as she had the information on who tried to kill his mother. There were no thoughts in Vice's mind, just a deathly silence. He moved his feet one after the other, and that rhythm was the only thing he sensed.

"Something bad has happened, everyone except for me and Anne are stuck by the spider dome," Vice said into his golden card which he promptly put back into his spatial pouch after relaying the message.

As he ran he tried to shake Anne awake, however she was completely frozen, and her fingers were curled up tightly. It was almost as if she'd been petrified by a gorgon, yet she at least hadn't been turned into a statue.

"SKREE." "SKREE."

Two loud guttural screams erupted from the distance, and the sound of cement being crushed by a powerful force filled Vice's ears.

[DING! Two hostile forces are about to converge on to the host's location shortly. The host is advised to take any defensive measure possible]

"Fuck," Vice mumbled before dropping Anne to the ground.

'Just because I like this girl a lot I'm going to give you a tip. Take out that plant you killed a cute ass little fox for and put it in her mouth,' Favian said.

'What? Why? I don't have time for your stupid games Favian,' Vice quickly replied.

'Fine just leave her to die then. It's not like I've saved you dozens of times. No not at all, why would you listen to me anyways? I'm just an aged old man who has lived for centuries -'

'Okay just shut up, I'll do it,' Vice thought. He frantically reached for his spatial pouch and removed the plant that had a blue and a brown colored pistil. He then pushed the plant into Anne's mouth, after which a strong blue barrier formed around her body. The barrier wasn't able to accomodate Vice however, as it only reached a couple of centimeters off Anne's skin.

Vice breathed out a sigh of relief, but was instantly brought back to reality as he heard the Jorogumos coming even closer. His mouth contorted into a frown as he let the mana from within his body burst forth into his hands. Purple flames crackled brightly in both of his hands, leaving a warm sensation on his palms. Vice continued to push in even more mana than usual into the spell until each flame became as big as a boulder.

"Skree?" one Jorogumo voiced as it came closer to Vice, before turning around and running away. It's human hands swung about aimlessly as it tried to propel itself further away from Vice. Before the creature could get even five meters away, a purple inferno akin to a flamethrower engulfed it completely. The human-spider amalgamation was burned into a pile of ash before it could even put up a fight, and a charred smell rose through the air and reached Vice.

The second Jorogumo that was running at Vice received a similar treatment, and was instantly killed under the high temperature of the fireball that was flung from Vice's hands. A large explosion sounded out as it was hit, and a crater was left where it stood.

"Phew, the perfect weapon. You gotta love to see that," Vice mumbled as he took in deep breaths. The air was becoming easier for him to breath in, and the fog was again cleared up a tiny bit. From where he was stood he could make out almost 20 meters up ahead.

"WHAT?" Vice gasped as he look into the distance. His mouth twitched uncontrollably as the dome made out of spider webs was once again in front of him, along with the frozen statues that were his five party members.