Noah’s sense of humour was not for everyone, I knew that. John and Johann’s contempt for his joke was clear, while Ani seemed indifferent. I smiled, but mostly out of awkwardness. The only one who he actually managed to get a chuckle out was Sarah. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was the outcome he wanted.

With the plan laid out and all parts in agreement, the quick meeting was about to reach its conclusion when Ani gave us a final warning. “The spiders have venomous tips on the ends of their legs. The venom is not usually lethal, but it causes local paralyzes. If you receive enough of it, it can completely paralyze your body and for some sensitive people cause more severe symptoms. Even death.”

That was an important bit of information that I was glad she shared. With a more somber attitude, we all set to our tasks. Sarah and I would move to the upper floor while Noah and Ani would provide support to the frontlines. Noah left, but not without giving me a meaningful look that he would love to have traded places with me.

‘Tough luck bud.’

“How are we doing this, Sarah?” I asked when we arrived on the upper floor.

“I can take the front and you provide support?”

“I do have a longer reach with my spear. That sounds like as good a plan as any I could come up with.”

“Don’t worry, it’s going to be a straightforward fight, Ani-” Sarah was cut off as some people passed us to go down the stairs. Johann had just sent someone to call the injured down. Two of them were being carried.

“Anyway, I am more curious about what is up with you that got my friend all rattled.”

“What do you mean?”

“That girl, Ani, she was always cold like a stone, almost business like, but when she is around you… I can barely recognize her.”

“I-. I don’t know what to say to that, honestly.”

“Sure…” Sarah squinted her eyes at me. “I will find out sooner or later. We should focus on the upcoming fight.”

I nodded, happy to leave this subject alone. It didn’t exactly make me uncomfortable, but it was something I would rather leave it as is. Time would tell what it was that brought Ani to be, apparently, so interested in me.

We discussed a few possible scenarios while we waited for the common feeling of pressure to descend upon us. Since we were indoors, we had no idea how close it was for the wave to start. Or so I thought, because apparently, I was the only one ignorant of it.

“It’s coming, a few more seconds to go.”

“How do you know that?” I fired back.

“Magic.” Sarah said with a wide grin.

Before I could say anything else, it hit me. But this time it was different. Instead of feeling like a huge weight was on my shoulders, it felt more like I was submerged in a very thick viscous substance. I didn’t buckle, but moving was extremely sluggish. And as fast as it came, it went away and the air became normal again.

The usual sound of war didn’t come this time. There was no roar, howl or anything of the sort. Just an eerie silence lingered. If Ani was right and we were facing spiders, this made a lot of sense. I hadn’t doubted her for even a moment, but the realization of the grotesque creatures that would soon be crawling here was dawning on me. I suddenly remembered.

‘I really don’t like spiders.’

The next minute or so was full of tension. We didn’t speak, but we knew there was some time before the creatures arrived at our location. Part of me wanted to go to the window and check on their advance, but the fear of losing my position to some unforeseen circumstances kept me in place. Sarah was probably thinking the same, as she eyed the windows sharply.

The crescendo of shouts coming from below was our first warning. What followed was the sounds of battle and an unnerving tip-tap of something hitting the glass windows. Spider legs, I imagined. I am not sure how long it was before the first shout and when the first of the creatures finally emerged through a distant window on our right.

Eight long legs covered in dark chitin armor that shone in the sunlight; a heavy looking body covered in spiky protrusions that seemed as sharp as it’s tipped legs and a large, bulbous head, with long, nasty looking mandibles that flanked a gaping maw containing more teeth than any crawler had a right to.

I couldn’t help but grimace in horror as the creature walked along the outside of the window, more and more of them showing up by the second. A sound of glass shattering came from our left, and we both turned to look as a small group of spiders made their way through a broken window. The sounds of glass shattering started to come all around us as the first group approached in speed.

I positioned myself slightly to the side and behind Sarah. I had never fought in this formation, to be fair, I had very little fighting experience, but plenty of confidence and motivation to do well. Still, I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

When it got relatively close, the first spider jumped, it jumped at Sarah. I would have probably fumbled, but she masterfully cut the spider in half, and dodged to the side to strike at the ones behind. These ones didn’t jump, and I took the opportunity to stab one as it got too close while Sarah was busy with another. My spear went in surprisingly easy. Although their carapace looked extremely hard, it was somewhat brittle. The dying creature emitted a low screech as it bled out. I shook it away from my spear, sending it tumbling across the floor. A nice pop up came from the system.

[You have slain a Hatchling Horror Maw.]

‘That is a fitting nasty name.’

We didn’t have the advantage of a narrow passage, but we kept the stairs to our back. They came at us in varying group sizes, the largest being a little over half a dozen. Sarah was skillful with her sword, but what impressed me the most was her footwork. Despite the odd jumping spider, they had no chance to even scratch her. Which made my job extremely easy, as Sarah took most of their attention, I merely stabbed or slashed as she dodged or moved around.

Sarah had such an understanding of the battlefield that she even found time to kick some of the spider’s bodies out of our immediate perimeter. I started doing the same whenever we caught a break. I also tried to launch them far when they got stuck in my weapon.

As the room filled with dead spiders, more kept coming through the windows. The number of them was slowly and steadily rising, and we started facing groups of a dozen every so often. One such group had finally managed to land a scratch on Sarah, even with her riot gear. She sidestepped as a spider jumped at her, and gave the creature a deep cut on its abdomen. It flew down the stairs as its innards burst out, meanwhile a second spider tried to pull at her ankle, this one I quickly pinned down with a stab.

After using too much strength, I had some trouble freeing my spear, while Sarah was faced with another three spiders. She cut their legs and heads as they got too close, but she couldn’t backtrack, else she would expose me. Finally getting my weapon free, I slashed at another that was rushing for Sarah’s blind spot, I managed to cut half of its legs and give it a deep gash on its abdomen.

Turning to see if Sarah needed more help I watched as two others jumped from opposite spots towards her. I don’t know if she missed one, or if she made a choice to stand her ground. But as she cut one of them, the other managed to slam against her. The spider frantically tried to stab Sarah with her spiky legs as its maw snapped dangerously close to her face.

I quickly thrust my spear through the creature, skewering it. With a quick motion I pulled it away from Sarah and slammed it against the floor, twice for good measure. I saw as the system’s message popped and informed me the creature had died. I had to use my feet to push the half crushed spider off of my spear. Green blood ran down the shaft of the spear and dirtied my hands.

‘This is fucking disgusting.’

I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as more of the creatures made their way through the broken windows. At the time I thought Sarah was fine, there were no serious wounds, but a small rip on the protection of her right thigh. Eventually, as we fought on, her movements became more sluggish and one of the spiders almost crushed her ankle under a snapping bite.

“Sarah, let’s change position. You are getting tired.”

“Shit… Alright.” Sarah spoke between gritted teeth.

We shifted positions, and I found myself under the gaze of a multitude of dark eyes. I suddenly felt nervous, but I wasn’t sure why. I had been in this situation enough times already. Maybe it was because these creatures were incredibly repugnant.

I tried to prioritize slashing instead of stabbing, but sometimes I couldn’t help it. When that happened, and I had a spider stuck, I just used my spear as a long club and smashed a dead one against a live one. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it did cripple it sometimes. Regardless, it gave Sarah enough time to cut them down as I focused on getting rid of the dead weight or fighting another.

With Sarah's support, I eventually grew confident. With the longer reach of my spear I started doing something she had been avoiding. I took two steps forward, increasing the area of our battleground. I wasn’t going to run after them, but gaining a few steps wouldn’t be a problem. It was probably better, since we could afford a couple steps of retreat, something Sarah hadn’t had the luxury of.

[You have leveled up.]

This time I saw when the message popped up. A smile crept on my face as I declared with no small hint of satisfaction.

“I gained a level!”

“That’s great, but we have other things to worry about. Don’t you get distracted now!”

As if on cue, two spiders jumped at me and I saw myself faced with the same situation as the one that got Sarah hurt, but differently than her, I stepped back. The two jumping spiders missed their target, me, and with the help of my partner swordswoman, we made quick work of them.

The battle continued without many surprises. The number of spiders seemed to stabilize at around a dozen per group, with the odd a dozen and a half. Although they continued to come from all directions, we held our ground. Fatigue was starting to creep in when a high pitched screech assaulted our ears.

I cringed as I dispatched the last of the spiders. Despite the carpet of black chitin that covered the entirety of the upper floor, none of them seemed to be moving. The increasingly louder shouts from below got our attention instead. I exchanged a glance with Sarah and we both silently agreed to leave our post.

We trudged with care among the carnage of dead arachnids, or whatever this creature was, afraid of a crippled one getting a nip on of us. No such thing happened and we soon arrived at the window sill.

The scene that unfolded in my view was something I barely had words to describe. If we had a carpet of dead spiders in the upper floor, they had a sea of it below. The line had retreated significantly, but they still held. As I looked further away towards the alleyway, I saw something that would surely give me nightmares later that night, if we survived.