Chapter 119

Chapter 119

You Were Kidnapped

***

After the deal with the Night God was complete, Kraush poured a potion over his leg to heal the wound and walked down the corridor.

It didn’t take long for him to find a room.

Inside, he saw relics broken here and there.

Haring was doing as instructed, breaking the relics.

Following the trail of shattered relics, Kraush soon saw black hair.

She was none other than Haring Lagrain, holding a dagger high and breaking a relic.

“Haring.”

When Kraush called her, Haring turned around quickly.

She looked at him with eyes slightly wider than usual.

“Did you resolve it?”

“Yeah, no need to break them anymore.”

Haring slowly lowered the dagger, showing a relieved expression.

It made sense, considering she had faced the Night God herself.

She knew how dangerous he was.

She must have been worried about her own safety if Kraush’s plan hadn’t worked.

It was fortunate she followed instructions well.

“Did you defeat the god?”

“His power was weaker than a true god’s, but yes.”

She looked at Kraush with curious eyes.

“Are all Balheims like this?”

Kraush shrugged.

“They’re worse than me.”

“I see.”

Accepting this easily, Haring then heard a rumbling noise from afar.

It seemed Aniks and the Erosion Species had collided.

Even without the Night God, the Erosion Species were still a threat.

They were never so full as to ignore prey right in front of them.

“What will you do?”

Haring asked, putting the dagger at her waist.

“We should join them.”

Though Haring might not have used much strength, Kraush had exerted a lot.

His legs were still trembling.

Joining Aniks and his group was the best course of action.

“Also, we should bring the Erosion Sorcerer with us.”

“Let’s go.”

As soon as Kraush spoke, the stoic Haring moved ahead.

Kraush tried to follow but staggered.

Thud!

Barely maintaining his balance, Kraush struck the ground with his foot to avoid falling.

He almost made a fool of himself rolling on the floor.

Seeing this, Haring stopped and looked back at him.

“Should I carry you?”

“Can you even lift me?”

In response, Haring moved her hands near her hips and tilted her head.

“Maybe?”

“Stop joking and let’s go.”

Kraush sighed and tried to move again when his instincts flared.

[Evade.]

Following his instinct, Kraush thrust his hand forward.

Haring was right in front of him, and as he pushed her aside,

Crack!

A spider Erosion Species burst out from the collapsing wall and sprayed webbing at Kraush.

‘Damn it.’

With Haring’s wide-eyed gaze behind him, Kraush was ensnared by the web.

The spider Erosion Species quickly grabbed Kraush and ascended.

“Kraush!”

Haring screamed as she chased after him, but Kraush had already been taken far away.

Gone.

Out of sight.

Her eyes trembled fiercely.

Her breathing grew rapid.

‘No. Calm down.’

She forced herself to calm down.

The situation had triggered a past trauma.

She needed to pull herself together.

She was the only one who could save him now.

“Haring!”

A voice called from behind.

It was Aniks and his group.

They looked a mess, likely from fighting the Erosion Species.

Aniks quickly approached Haring and looked around.

On his way, he had found someone who seemed to be an Erosion Sorcerer and restrained him before rushing in to find Haring and Kraush, but only found Haring.

“Where is Kraush...?”

“...He got captured because of me.”

Haring bit her lip hard.

She had been too slow to detect the spider Erosion Species before it appeared.

Her detection abilities were weak.

Kraush took the hit for her, getting captured instead.

If it wasn’t for him, she would have been the one taken.

‘Why did he save me in that state...’

She recalled Kraush’s condition.

Even his strong self was in bad shape after fighting a being imbued with divine power.

Knowing this, she had intended to escort him back to Aniks’s group.

She hadn’t expected to be the one being protected.

Pathetic.

A noise and vibration came from behind.

Turning, Kraush saw a tree sprouting in the passage he had just left.

‘Right on time.’

Recognizing the tree, Kraush closed the pouch.

There was no need to use his strength now.

The one who summoned the tree was Aniks.

Sure enough, Aniks was the first to appear from the tree.

Seeing the spider Erosion Species behind Kraush, he raised his hand.

“Hiss!”

The tree shot up, piercing and killing the spider.

Aniks immediately looked up, spotting the mother spider.

The mother spider began descending the ceiling.

The other Twin Sprout members arrived one by one.

“Can you handle that?”

“I have to.”

Aniks rolled up his sleeves.

Despite being a 5-star creature, Aniks was confident.

Kraush backed off, trusting him to handle it.

“Kraush!”

Haring rushed to Kraush, checking his condition.

Seeing her urgent actions, Kraush blinked.

He had helped her, but her reaction was a bit much.

Haring, holding Kraush’s collar, trembled.

Seeing her, Kraush’s keen intuition reacted.

‘She has something bothering her.’

It seemed Haring had a trauma.

And he had inadvertently triggered it.

“Haring.”

Kraush spoke to Haring, who hadn’t calmed down.

“I’m fine. See? I’m okay.”

He covered her hands holding his collar, and Haring flinched.

Finally, she seemed to come to her senses and released his collar.

“Sorry, because of me...”

“More importantly, we have a problem.”

Kraush pointed to the ceiling with his chin.

As the mother spider moved, Aniks summoned trees and attacked her fiercely.

The Twin Sprout members climbed the trees, launching an offensive, but it would take a while to subdue her.

“I can’t help. You guys have to handle it.”

Kraush initially planned to use a poison packet, but the situation changed.

He left the task to them, and Haring’s eyes hardened.

“I’ll handle it.”

She drew her dagger and dashed forward.

At that moment, Kraush’s instincts flared again.

“Damn it.”

Couldn’t he get a break?

Kraush looked up.

Rumble—

Small stones began to tremble under his feet.

“Kraush!”

Haring turned back and rushed to Kraush.

“Mr. Aniks! Something is coming from above!”

At that moment, a Twin Sprout member noticed the anomaly and shouted.

“Hiss?”

The mother spider looked up.

Crash!

A loud noise and tremor shook the place as the wall above the mother spider shattered.

“Brace for impact!”

Aniks quickly raised trees to block falling debris.

Haring sliced the rocks falling towards Kraush with her dagger.

The poison on her dagger could easily cut through rocks.

But that wasn’t the problem.

“Shrieeek!”

The mother spider screeched as her massive body collided with Aniks’s trees.

The trees couldn’t withstand the impact and some collapsed.

Twin Sprout members running on the trees were exposed to falling debris.

“Ahh!”

“Ugh!”

Cries of pain came from all directions.

Elfin and Aniks shone at that moment.

Despite the falling rocks and trees, Elfin moved lightly, catching the falling members.

Aniks created platforms for Elfin, preventing the fall of Twin Sprout members.

“Shrieeek!”

Meanwhile, the mother spider sprayed venom at the ceiling, flailing her legs wildly.

The whole place turned chaotic.

Rocks fell, and smoke filled the area.

As the mother spider fought, Aniks quickly gathered his members and returned to Kraush.

He hurriedly checked above.

Through the smoke, he saw something.

“...Damn it.”

Aniks’s face hardened.

A monster with four arms tore chunks from the mother spider.

The monster resembled a monkey.

Its size dwarfed the mother spider, with countless tendrils writhing on its skin.

Its glowing blue eyes, lacking pupils, sent chills down his spine.

A 6-star Erosion Species.

Decarabia.

The true ruler of this tomb.