Deralst always had to wonder, was today the day he ate his last pickle fruit? He thought so as he took out another peapple to eat while he holds onto a lantern on his other hand.

He and Vullen were currently at around the fourth floor of the dungeon. It was quiet on the way there, as Deralst walks along beside the other armoured warrior. They had encountered a few more undead monsters along the way but they had easily disposed of them.

The spiders' tracks had began to become more vague but the tall man covered in plated armor seems to know where he was going. As he led the way for Deralst.

“I find your current lack of tension disturbing here.” He remarked in a gruff voice “You also seemed to be quite fond of eating that fruit right now.”

Even now, Deralst was still chewing on the pickled fruit he had brought with him. While He could sense that though the visor, the other man was definitely giving Deralst a sour look as if he had seen him sucking at a bottle of vinegar or mayonnaise but it was not something Deralst minded too much anyway.

“I could have said the same to you too.” He turned his attention towards Vullen.

“Besides.” Deralst continued speaking on in a low monotone. “I never asked for this, about coming along with you.”

Vullen still seemed to be unfazed by the statement of what Deralst had to just said. Ignoring what Deralst said, he continued on by starting a new topic.

“I could somewhat guess what is actually your profession by now. Your lack of familiars may be one those indications.” The man spoke on. “It was unexpected that someone of your profession, whose emotions were dulled would care about morality.”

Deralst frowned, why does everyone always thought that being emotionless was a bad thing? Like he was some sort of apathetic psychopath. If anything, it helped him think rationally, when it was used properly.

“What does it seem? Do I sound like I wanted to kill everything?” Deralst responded in an exaggerated way that sounded sarcastic.

“That’s the problem about people like you.” The man asked back. “Do you?”

“While I may not feel much right now but at least I still understand common sense." Deralst answered back coldly. "Even monsters have things they would and would not do, much less someone else.”

“Morality maybe subjective to many.” Vullen continued on his talk vaguely, his voice sounding more mature now as he walked on. “It can make no difference and its degree is arbitrary, they can meddle and the definition blurred at times. But when it comes down to it, it all depends on how the world perceive it. Just like how you and I may perceive things differently.”

Deralst savour the sourness of the fruit as he listened to him. After he finished eating, he went on to ask him a question that seemed to be bothering him for a while now.

“On other hand, you seemed more like a mystery to me. What are you exactly? Shouldn’t a holy warrior like you already be quite eager to cleanse any form corruption?” Deralst insinuated mildly as he tried to observe the man's reaction but he could not see behind those metal covers.

“I will have you know that while we may advocate order and justice, we still mainly believe in freedom too.” The holy warrior’s deep voice sounded a bit annoyed. “So did you expect me to start screaming heretic everytime?”

“Well no" Deralst spoke casually this time. "But you do have the heart of a lion, and that's why I can't trust you.”

Changing the heavy topic, Deralst talked on. “Well how about this? I may seemed emotionless and my speech skills is a bit rusty right now but I am pretty sure I can still crack a few jokes, do you want to hear about it?”

Vullen slowed a down a bit as he thought for a while. The path to the spider’s nest seemed to be ways ahead and it may be urgent to save the kid, but that does not mean that he needed to rush in quickly right now to save the boy especially when they were inside a dungeon. That would surely invite them to many kinds of possible danger.

“While we be in a rush, but this may seem interesting. Surely I can hear about some of it.”

Deralst seemed to thought for a while as he asked. “....Do you know the difference between ignorance and apathy?”

“....What is it?" The armoured man walked on while sounding a bit tactful.

“Well, actually I don't know and I don't care.” Deralst gave his answer quite bluntly, his face was blank.

“Har har, that is damn hilarious, can we move on now?” Vullen said in a weary manner, as he sound like he was starting to regret his decision immediately already.

“Argh….fine I will crack one more joke.” Deralst grunted.

“So why is there a fenced gate around the cemeteries here?" Deralst spoke on "….It is because the people are dying to get in and out.”

“That joke is so dead that only a necromancer can appreciate it.” Vullen remarked sarcastically as he shakes his head in disapproval.

“….Then how about this? Your mom is so-”

“Alright Mister Deralst, while you may not be as good as a joker but I agree that you are at least….quite knowledgeable in humour.” Vullen quickly interjected as if he was trying to placate him.

“Bah, Jokes these days are quite corny and cheesy anyways. Besides, you made it sound like you are way better about this than what I expect of the people from the faith.” Deralst talked on rudely which caused Vullen to knit his brows in his helmet.

“Fine, so do you want to hear a joke from me?” He asked back, sounding a bit more earnest than usual.

“Sure”

There was a brief silence as Deralst waited for him to speak.

“Actually you have already just heard it.”

“Are you kidding me?” Deralst was a bit annoyed right now.

“No, I am joking.” He answered back in a lazy yet humorous tone.

“….I can never tell you are joking. Well at least I still have reasons for my bad jokes, but what about you and your sense of humour?”

“What? That was really a joke, you just couldn’t appreciate it.” The warrior spoke in an amiable yet sarcastic tone, as if he was grinning inside.

That was a bit irritating for Deralst as he tried not to roll his eyes but it felt strangely nostalgic. He quickly repressed his sentiments as he regard the older man coldly with a frown. Whom could still be a dangerous stranger that was not a friendly comrade or a party member.

There was a heavy silence for a while, as they continue to move forward towards their destination. Eventually, the way guided them to what appeared to be a large crevice on the walls of the corridor. The entrance through the cracked hole seemed to have led the way to another cavern. Vullen had insisted that the huge hole in the wall should be the right way, so Deralst had no choice but to accompany him inside.

“Even from here, I could still smell the foul stench of the miasma. We’ll see what’s in there, and then decide our next course of action.” Vullen had decided already.

The ground had started to change from stone cobbles to dirt and rocks as they entered the cracked hole to the cavern. Many long stalagmites could be seen as they hung down from the ceiling, their long shadows twirl around in a circular motion as the light was shone on them. Several of them could be seen reaching all the way down to the ground to form what seemed to be wet, slimy looking stone pillars.

“I have a feeling we are not in the ruins anymore.” The older warrior made his conclusion.

“I don’t think I have to feel it to see it myself.” Deralst replied back in annoyance as he looked carefully around the cave.

Both Deralst and Vullen kept quiet this time when they started walking down the path seriously. The air in the wet rocky dirt passages was quite humid, and smelled slightly of decomposed matter that seemed to have come from the various mushrooms and bugs found covering the place there. It seemed that the path Vullen had chosen was proven correct as more and more of the cobwebs was found covering the area around the place as they walked forward inside the deeper parts of the cave.

Sacs of webs could be seen hanging down from the ceiling this time. It’s contents of dead monsters and other corpses does not seemed appealing to him either. The twisting passages they moved through continued to be rocky and full of fungus. Until the way ahead started to widen up significantly. It seemed to lead to a natural chamber up ahead that was much wider than the passage they’d just come from.

“The spiders are poisonous, approach with caution.” Vullen suddenly warned Deralst at an annoying moment just before they started to approach the chamber.

“That was exceptionally perceptive of you, but thanks for the reminder, I will keep it in mind so please stop talking about unnecessary things right now.” Deralst replied in a considerate manner as he tried to hold back on his remarks. He felt that this was not the right time to be rudely sarcastic and Vullen seemed to know that too. He must be doing it on purpose, Deralst just knew it. In fact, Deralst felt that the man might just be this kind of person.

The entire chamber was covered in white coloured webs, making it seemed like a huge spider nest, as several dozens of spider like creatures could be seen from there, each one of them was the size of a large dog. Either it was due to the lights they carried on them or due to the webs they had cleared. The spiders seemed to have notice the two men’s arrival.

On a quick inspection, as the spiders started moving towards them, that Deralst had noticed that there were different types of spiders here. Some of their abdomen seemed bloated in a way that made them seemed like giant ticks while some of them had bristled fur that covered over their whole body, making them seemed more like hairballs. There were even some of them that seemed like a dark octopus that had tentacles for limbs.

More of the corrupted monsters started to crowd towards Deralst’s direction in large numbers, but he noticed Vullen pulled something out from a small pouch as he pushed Deralst away.

“Move out of the way Deralst, Justice ain’t gotta dispense itself.”

The man quickly muttered what seemed like a short prayer and with a swing of his arms, he threw the glowing object towards the spider swarm. Which seemed glow even brighter as its light covered the spiders. Loud screeching could be heard from the spiders as the bright explosion had caused the place to rumble slightly as pieces of rock fell around them, the tremble weaken as the chamber soon returned back to normal.

“You hear that?” Vullen told Deralst with slightly excited sound of zeal “I just love the noise of explosion and the screams of filthy spiders dying in the morning. It sounds like….victory.”

“....Yeah.” Deralst coughed as he had inhaled dust that had been thrown into the air by the explosion, more like overkill. He then eyed the man carefully, he could not see his face but the man sounded quite eager at the moment.

“I wonder how they are gotta glue them back together, if there is even a hell for them! Hahaha.” He chuckled humorously in a low and dark voice. “Don't underestimate the limitless destructive power of my faith!”

Just like some people, Deralst always thought that a knight with holy powers was a bit overpowered, but this….for some spiders. He wouldn't know true destruction when he actually worked with someone who actually threw around holy hand grenades at their enemies, and that’s coming from him. Now, he had second opinion on who was the crazy one now.

He seriously wondered if Vullen was trying to send a message to him. The aftermath of the blast had left a few pieces of the spiders behind, as the spiders at the front were quickly wipeout and it seemed excessive. But Deralst was pretty sure that the armoured holy warrior could adjust the power of the blast and it must have certain limitations. All people of the faith have some.

With a quick glance around, Deralst was able to notice that there was at least two other branching passages on the other side that seemed to lead deeper underground. He pointed it out to Vullen and they seemed have decided on a path to go next. But they still needed to clear out the remaining spiders around here.

It seemed to be quite troublesome as Deralst knew that it was bad idea to use his fire in a place where the webs could burn easily, and Vullen had said that he needed to conserve his bombs. So in the end, they had to clear out the spiders in a less efficient yet handy method that require some metal swinging.

“If we’re gotta go that way, you’re gonna need more bombs.” Deralst helpfully reminded the other warrior obviously.

—

After spending some time clearing away the spiders that was left in the chamber, they quickly continued to move on before more dangerous spiders started appear in the nest. They move towards one of the passages, which Vullen claimed to be the place with densest corruption around here.

As they walked on in the dark tunnel passage, the pathway forward had led them to yet another rocky chamber. But this one had a much lower ceiling than before and there was nothing inside the chamber except that the walls inside was covered everywhere in thick webs. A large shadow could be seen covering the center of the ground as they move inside the chamber.

It was then, that Deralst realised that the shadow was actually a very huge corrupted spider, which it raised its body as soon as it noticed the intruders. It was as wide as six bears being put side by side to each other and as tall as a huge horse. If Deralst himself had to find something as a reference. And that was huge, when compared with the dog sized spiders he encountered before.

It’s grey body was covered in long black bristle hair that felt like messy dead human hair especially when it’s hairy appearance was accompanied with the seemingly numerous amount of eyes revealed by it, which seemed to have a disturbing resemblance to human eyes and its pale grey body.

“I'm no coward, and I've a steady hand.” Vullen said in a cracked heavy voice. “But that thing makes my skin crawl.”

“I never asked for this and I never should have come here…...” Deralst simply replied back in a cold voice as he view the arachnid monster in its full glory as if he had eaten something sour.

The first row of the giant corrupted monster's long front appendages seemed to be sharp yet appeared to be swelling like a bulb. It’s fangs were dripping with venom and the huge spindex around its abdomen had started extruding wet, sticky silks as it weaved it into something that shaped like a bola.

Vullen immediately took out another glowing bomb from his pouch which he quickly readied it before hurling it towards the giant spider without hesitation. The bomb shined brightly as the brilliant blind light burst out from it as quickly as it ends. Smoke could be seen rising from around the explosion but from behind the black smog screen, Deralst could see that the spider was still alive but it seemed to be hurt as it screeched loudly, some parts of its body seemed to have melted, making it appeared to be more ugly than it should be.

“By the sweet divines....Quick! Kill it with fire before it can spawn more of such hideous monstrosities!” A loud hissing noise could be heard from the spider as Vullen growled loudly through his helm. As he quickly rolled to the side when a long appendage was swung towards him, intent on separating his body into two.

"Bloody hells!" Deralst quickly raise his palm as he infused his gauntlet to release a long stream of fire towards the smoking spider. More loud screeching could be heard as it starts to burn in fire along the webs around the chamber.

Suddenly, as if drawn by the spider's cry. More spiders started flooding into the chamber through the cracks in the ceiling and walls, some started spitting various fluids, while some were throwing threaded bolas towards both Deralst and Vullen.

Deralst quickly cancelled his flames, and jumped out of the way as a seemly acidic liquid was spat towards him. He embraced the fall with a roll and quickly unsheath his sabre like sword and his dagger as he lowered himself in a low sword stance.

“If you acknowledge any of the divines….pick one of them and start praying now!” The holy warrior was standing beside Deralst spoke in an excited voice as he started to yell loudly.

"It's been a while, a good old massacre!" The holy warrior rushed forward towards the spider, as his sword shined brightly.

"I am gotta sent you all to hell with the brilliance of my shiny sword!" His sword cut through the hard chitin of the huge spider's appendage as he curb stomped another spider on the ground with his metal greaves and then dive roll away as the huge monster tried bite him.

Deralst grunted, as he could hear the crazy warrior's ironic voice shouting that he will purge every corruption in this place, at least he did not need to see his stupid face right now. He stood to look around the place, the fire was starting to get stronger as it burns all web in the chamber along with spiders.

"I sure love the smell of the roasted spiders in the morning." Deralst commented nonchalantly on way.

The smoke was starting to thicken and soon it will cover the whole chamber and may eventually cause everyone to suffocate. But before that happened, Deralst immediately rush forward to join in the fray of the battle as he shouted to Vullen to call for his attention to quickly escape the place.

The other warrior seemed a bit reluctant as he swing his sword to cut down another spider but he quickly came to an understanding as they ran towards the exit as quickly as possible. Leaving behind the spiders that were blinded and trapped in the chamber by the smoke.

After they had moved back to the main chamber, Vullen quickly tossed another bomb back into the passage which its explosion had caused the tunnel to collapse on itself. Trapping whatever was inside with the fire.

"As they always say, if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the fire." The holy warrior turned to tell Deralst in a voice that it sounded like it was just another tuesday. Which almost prompted Deralst to roll his eyes again and was glad that at least he did not need to see the man's possible annoying smiling face right now.

They proceed to move towards the other passageway to search for the captured monk, who may or may not be alive right now. When they had entered the other chamber, they started searching the place for survivors. The place was also covered all over in webs along with various other objects and corpses stored there. They had managed to find the young monk covered in webs, alive and unconscious at the side of the area along with other webs that seemed to be bulging in human sized shapes.

Vullen stated he had sensed some form of minor corruption from the boy. Whatever the cause, it was not serious so he should be able to live on without a problem after he was returned back to the temple to be cleansed.

They also found a few other survivors inside the chamber, one of them was a girl who was wearing scarlet robes that seemed to be dirty and in tatters, showing parts of her skin but nonetheless alive. She was found beside the corpse of another girl with arrows jutting out of her chest.

Deralst noticed that among the survivors here, her clothes seemed to be the most fresh despite it being ragged. He guessed that she must be one of the recent adventurers that was captured by the spiders. She was currently unconscious and was covered in sticky spider webs.

"Just like the others, I can sense some form of corruption in her, it is not that dangerous either." Vullen said as he to check on the girl and the other survivors they found.

"What exactly had happened to the adventurers here before the time we tried to reach here?" Deralst said while sounding slightly curious as he looked around the place.

"I have seen enough misery to guess what might have happened here." Vullen answered back sullenly, his voice sounding old again. Deralst quickly realised what might have transpired here without the need to talk any further.

"....No, I do not want to know or think about what had happened here." Deralst quickly said when he thought about how the boy might have been corrupted.

"So are you gotta purge them from corruption too? You did say you are gotta purge every corruption here." Deralst continued on, as he looked towards Vullen emotionlessly.

"Are you joking? This is not the time for it." Vullen remarked in a tired voice.

"No, I am not joking."

"Surely, you can't be ser-." He quickly bit back his words.

"Yes, I am serious." Deralst said in a serious tone as his face remained expressionless.