The sea of spiders descending towards his force more than tell him that he is getting closer to the nest. A smirk formed on his face as he slowly walked forwards, the portal to the system space opening.
More of his monsters, though only of the smaller ones for now exit the system space, from his army of bugs, hordes of Demonic Goblins, and tribes of Demonic Lizardmen, all ready to wage a full out war.
Seeing the monsters in front of them gaining reinforcement, the spiders let out a shriek before fleeing, going back to where they came from.
Alros did not stop them, as he had put a Phantom Wasp on one of the spiders with full intention of following them, in case there are more intersections on his journey to the main nest.
"Return for now," he ordered. With how small the cave is, it would be a brutal chokepoint that could end a lot of his monsters.
After his monsters returned, he walked into the deeper part ready for another onslaught.
-x-
"Well, this is anticlimactic," he said. To his surprise, there are no more spiders trying to swarm and killed him.
If he had to hazard a guess, they should be afraid of being killed by his monsters, or at least decide to wait in a battlefield that favor them. If the latter is true, the chances of them being lead by an Arachne is high, as only powerful monsters tend to be more intelligent and wise, with some exceptions.
So, he prepared himself, as the current state of not being attacked by spiders is merely the calm before the storm.
His assumption was proven true when he enter a large cavern, filled with countless large spiders, with the one monsters he had been searching.
Though, not just one, there are 4 Arachne, and behind them, is a larger Arachne, one given the title Arachne Matriarch.
Seeing the vast swarms of spiders, he was about to react when he heard something inside his head.
'Let us start now,' the spiders dispersed, leaving only him, the Matriarch, and the other Arachne. For his safety, he called out his Demonic Lizardmen Chief and Greater Demonic Goblin as his representative.
After the chosen site is cleared, the two began to fight. Despite her large size, the Matriarch is fast. Her hands possess sharp claws and her legs are equally sharp.
She went on the offensive, her hands strike where he was while her legs move to pierce him. Alros retaliate by blocking her with an offensive maneuver, his claws colliding with hers.
The two return one another attack almost nonstop. Each time the Matriarch strike, Alros will block before thrusting his claws towards her. When Alros attacked, the Matriarch either dodge or block with her hardened limbs.
Alros mostly blocked her attack, trying to unravel the pattern she is using. While she is smarter, she is still a monster and her base instinct is likely still there. He is waiting for a weakness to appear before taking action.
Sure enough, his stalling action cause the Matriarch to become more frustrated, as she began to swing wildly. Taking the chance, Alros blocked an attack before his tail wrapped her outstretch leg.
With a single strong tug, the Matriarch unable to stop herself and fell on her side. Before she could get up, a clawed hand touch her throat, signifying she had lost the fight.
'I have lost. In this case, I accept you as my master and I surrender my entire swarm to you. All of my broods will serve you, Master,' the Matriarch bowed towards him, signifying her being his subordinate.
The other 4 Arachne did the same, even with more reluctance. While they did not want to surrender, the will of their Matriarch is absolute.
'I will open a place for you to stay. Do not worry, there will be a lot of food there,' the Matriarch seemed hesitant at first before reluctantly nodding. While this place had been her home since the day she was born, the order of her master is absolute.
Screeching exit the maw of the Matriarch as swarms of spiders formed up, ready to go. Alros could see several carrying eggs like ants while some carried corpses and carcasses, likely for them to eat.
He merely shook his head before opening the system space, a portal appearing. When some of the spiders showed some hesitance, the Matriarch gave her order.
Unable to refuse the spiders enter the portal, leaving only the Arachne and Matriarch behind.