'It's over.'

It was Red's first thought as the entire spider colony was alerted to his presence. However, his body had already reacted before his brain could fully process this information. His cover was blown, so there was no need for subtlety anymore.

With a jolt, the boy cut off the threads in front of him and started to run away from the creatures. The sound of the spiders' crawling limbs was already fast approaching him, though. His legs were struggling to keep up with their effort and he knew he couldn't outrun them even if he was in top condition.

The youth decided to rush towards the webs blocking his way to the stone pillar. It was the only chance he had of losing the monsters and so he slashed the obstructions with his cleaver. However, his strength was lacking and the threads were weaved very thickly around this area. One blow of the blade was not enough to open a path for him but he didn't have time to widen his passage.

Red twisted his upper body through the gap and threw himself in. He fell onto the ground with a hard impact, but still managed to get past the web. Looking up, the youth saw the stalagmites rising from the ground right in front. They offered enough cover for him to hide and had little to no strings weaved between them. He tried getting up, but something suddenly held his leg back.

Glancing over, he saw a piece of threads sticking onto the bottom of his right foot. Beyond that, the spiders were already splitting the web apart to reach the boy, barely two meters away. The one he had wounded was reaching with its feelers through the same hole Red had just opened and he felt the monster's appendages trying to drag him away.

Leaning over, the youth cut at the arachnid with his cleaver, but the beast had smartened up to the danger of his weapon. It dodged out of the way just in time and avoided getting slashed again. However, his target was never the creature in the first place.

With a swift motion, he managed to split apart the web stuck to his feet and dash forward to the rock spikes. As he turned around, Red saw the spiders break through the thick threads and charge frantically towards him. Just as he had made it between two stalagmites, the boy felt a sudden force hit him from behind.

He crashed against the rock surfaces with a loud impact, and his breath was knocked out of him. Looking over he saw many spider legs and fangs reaching for him but to no avail. They couldn't get in between the stone cover the youth was in. At least, not from this position.

Seeing that they couldn't grab the prey, they started to climb over the tall stalagmites, hoping to get him from above. Red, however, wouldn't give them this opportunity. Doing his best to ignore the pain, the boy got up and started to run away.

Suddenly, a thin black shadow lunged at him from above and the youth could only raise his cleaver to block it. Another impact and the boy was thrown against the walls once more, a pain shooting up his spine. He didn't stop, though, and used the impulse to push himself away from his pursuers.

Yet Red couldn't outrun them and their figures started to approach him. Thankfully, the number of stone growths began to increase and the spiders had a hard time reaching the boy as he kept low to the ground. One unfortunate creature had its leg cut off when it stretched it in front of the youth.

However, they didn't give up their pursuit. Red was able to see that their numbers were constantly increasing, and the monsters had surrounded him from above. They almost blocked all light the veins in the cavern wall emitted, and he had to bring out his own moonstone to illuminate the way forward.

Even in his precarious condition, the boy was able to dodge and completely avoid any wandering arachnid limbs trying to catch him, and he continued approaching one of the large stone pillars of the chamber. Red even saw some of those smaller round bugs running through the stalagmites, but he didn't have time to check on them. The spider legs brushed against his head and shoulder on various occasions, but they couldn't get a firm grip on him.

The monsters all hissed and watched his movements from higher up, not keen on giving up on an invader that had just hurt one of their own. After a minute of running, Red was finally able to get to the large rock column. Lots of stalagmites and other natural stone structures blocked the spiders from approaching him, and the arachnids could only watch as the boy slumped to the ground and started to rest.

Looking above, the youth couldn't count how many of those creatures were staring at him with their menacing eyes, eager to sink their dripping fangs into his flesh. They surrounded him in every direction, their legs barely one meter away from him, forming a writhing prison. Red was completely shrouded in the shadow cast by their large bodies, only the light of his moonstone illuminating the horror of the scene.

A few minutes passed by, and although the spiders still seemed very motivated to kill him, he was able to confirm that they couldn't get any closer to him no matter how hard they tried. At this point, Red allowed himself some relaxation, even as terrifying monster limbs waved in front of him. His body almost collapsed on the spot.

'Somehow, I did it.'

The boy wondered whether he could just sleep here and wait until the arachnids gave up. However, he was not very confident they would retreat at all. From experience, he knew that the monsters didn't take kindly to having their lair invaded, and they were extremely patient. The one spider waited more than an hour for Red to retreat before going away and that was when he was outside its nest.

What if they kept watching over him the entire time? Not to mention, how would he be comfortable sleeping in this place? Although they weren't able to reach him yet, what if they found a way while he was unconscious? That would mean his death.

'Can I lose them here?'

This was his best bet. Maybe he could find somewhere out of their sight and the spiders would give up on pursuing him. After that, he may be able to continue sneaking through their nest. However, Red wasn't familiar with his surroundings and there were too many beasts blocking his way to safely move. If he wasn't careful, he would end up being snatched without even noticing, so he decided to not wander around immediately.

The boy tried to think of a plan, but it was almost impossible in this situation. His heart was still close to pounding out of his chest, his breaths were short and ragged. The only reason he didn't feel more terrified of the situation was because he was too tired to do so.

This was the worst-case scenario, but Red had already steeled himself for it. In fact, it was much better than what he was expecting. The youth thought that he wouldn't even have a chance to escape if he was noticed, but he had made it far enough to seek cover in between the rocks. Now he was granted a second chance, and even if he died of thirst or hunger while being trapped here it would be a better end than getting eaten by these monstrosities.

Still, he wasn't ready to give up. The spiders weren't loud creatures, but with this many of them hissing at the boy, he had a hard time focusing on his thoughts. Red closed his eyes to consider his next steps while being careful not to fall asleep. However, a strong vibration suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

The hissing noises stopped and he looked up. The spiders ceased their frantic movements and retracted their stretched legs. They started to move away and the shadow their large bodies cast over the boy disappeared. The sudden glow of light from the rest of the cave blinded Red for an instant

But then the brightness suddenly diminished again. The youth was confused, but the shadow above him started to grow larger and larger. He recognized the silhouette of a spider in his vision, but somehow it continued to expand beyond the size the boy was used to. It took a few seconds for Red's tired mind to register what was happening.

Eight green glowing orbs looked down at him.

His eyes narrowed and he saw something move. The boy tried to roll out of the way, but he was too late. The leg of the large monster punched like a bullet and scrapped his left shoulder.

He heard the crunching noise of shattering bone and a wave of pain spread throughout his entire frame. He felt as if he had lost all feeling of his left arm, unable to gather any strength to move it. It took all of his concentration to not let himself fall unconscious.

He saw the spider lifting its leg and stare emotionlessly at the human. Perhaps it was surprised that this small prey had managed to survive its attack. Red tried to get up and run, but weakness overcame him, and he fell down after barely taking one step.

Desperation came over him, and the boy tried to crawl away, using his one good hand still carrying the cleaver to drag himself forward. Suddenly, however, he felt something else touch his back. It stuck to his skin, and slowly the youth was hoisted, the floor becoming distant.

He struggled, tried to grab onto something, but to no avail. Looking around, Red saw the giant spider's leg lifting his small frame with little to no effort. Gradually, he was raised past the stalagmites and onto the open chamber once more.

As his surroundings brightened, the youth could see dozens of motionless spiders staring at his figure. The creatures stood on the webs around them, witnessing the scene from all angles. All of them kept a distance, not daring to move forward as if they were afraid of him.

'No... Not afraid of me.'

Red felt himself stop moving. Glancing down, he saw the enormous figure of a spider staring emotionlessly at him.

Its foreleg held onto his back and hoisted the small human just above its head. Its eight eyes glowed with green light, and the boy could feel his skin tingling from the spiritual energy that emanated through the monster's body. He hadn't been able to tell this before due to distance, but somehow the pressure coming out of the the beast seemed even stronger than the one he felt from the insectoid.

The youth started to examine the head of the creature more closely. Its eyes all had different sizes, the center orbs larger than other ones. Its giant fangs dripped with venom and below that he could see its smaller mouth.

For some reason, Red didn't feel nervous.

"Are you going to eat me?" He asked.

The spider had no reaction.

"I probably don't have a lot of meat on my body. You'd be better off looking for something bigger."

It remained silent.

"They say I'm cursed, did you know that?" He continued. "Who knows what will happen to you if you eat me. It would be better if you just let me go."

As if on cue, the spider started to lower Red. Not towards the ground, though, but towards its large open mouth.

'Well, at least I tried.'

The monster didn't seem in a hurry. It was aware Red couldn't escape, so it had nothing to worry about. The boy, for his part, started to measure the gradually closing distance between him and his death.

Four meters. Three meters. Two meters.

"At the very least, I'm glad you're still not that smart." He commented.

One meter.

‘Close enough.'

Red's right arm swung over with all his accumulated strength. The cleaver he had been gripping tightly using his remaining functioning hand cut down right into one of the spider's eyes. It etched itself deeply within the beast's flesh, and green glowing blood splattered all over his body as the orb exploded.

The spider hissed in pain and dropped the boy from its grip. He fell down a large distance, hitting hard against the side of a rock spike and crashing onto the floor. His vision blurred, but he was able to see the sea of spiders charging towards him in anger.

'This isn't fair.'

The bigger creature's green blood painted his entire body. Red could feel the spiritual energy in the fluid burning his skin, but he couldn't bother with it right now.

He closed his eyes.

'Maybe Viran would be proud, though.'

The burning intensified, but this time it seemed concentrated in one area. A familiar green mist started to evaporate from the blood and flow towards Red's pouch.

The blazing sensation got so intense that the boy couldn't help but open his eyes and look down. A bright pale light emanated from the thin piece of cloth. The clear outline of the insectoid's stone could be seen through it.

It was glowing. However, its radiance suddenly shifted from green to a dark red.

And then the entire world became crimson with it.