Chapter 86: Spider Corpses

I quickly gathered the other two teams and explained the situation to them. After a brief discussion, we agreed to investigate the source of the smell.

After all, for Gopuro to detect the scent of blood from those Dark Giant Spiders, or whatever those monsters were, the creatures had to be injured and bleeding. Or possibly dead.

Perhaps the Bright Red Nose Tribe’s chieftain had already managed to kill some of those spiders and was now hiding somewhere nearby?

That was my best guess, anyway.

Of course, there was another possibility I didn’t particularly want to consider. What if the spiders had killed the chieftain instead?

Well... all I could do was hope for the best.

"Be careful," I warned my citizens. "Don’t rush into anything. If you encounter any living spiders, retreat immediately. Your safety comes first."

"Yes, Big Boss!"

With that, we set off toward the source of the scent.

The goblins followed the trail, tracking the powerful scent of goblin blood alongside the foul stench of the spiders’ blood.

Then, after walking for a while, we finally reached our destination.

Through one of my citizens’ eyes, I looked down at the scene from atop a tall tree.

It was a clearing that looked as though a terrible battle had taken place there. Several trees had been snapped in half, bushes lay flattened against the ground, and broken branches were scattered everywhere. Deep gouges marred the earth, while several nearby tree trunks bore enormous cuts, as though something had sliced through them with terrifying force. Probably the spiders’ doing.

And in the middle of that ruined clearing...

Five Dark Giant Spider corpses lay scattered across the ground.

...

Damn.

So these are the Dark Giant Spiders?

Oh my...

They were every bit as horrifying as my goblins had described.

Their bodies were covered in dark, almost pitch-black chitin. If it were nighttime right now, these things might have been practically invisible against the darkness. Even beneath the bright morning sunlight, their exoskeletons seemed to swallow the light rather than reflect it.

Their eight legs were ridiculously long, each stretching well over three meters. Judging by their proportions, their bodies might have reached three or even four meters above the ground if they stood upright.

And their front legs...

Good grief.

They really did resemble enormous curved blades, each one tapering to a wickedly sharp point.

But perhaps the most unsettling feature was their eyes.

Even in death, their clusters of crimson eyes was still faintly glowing with a sinister light. It was almost as though some trace of their terrifying presence still lingered within those lifeless bodies.

Then there was their blood.

Thick, black liquid oozed from their wounds and pooled across the ground. Whenever sunlight touched it, the blood sizzled, releasing thin wisps of smoke into the air.

And the stench...

Well, I couldn’t smell it myself, but judging by my citizens’ reactions, it was absolutely horrible.

Gopuro and Gopuran both looked deeply uncomfortable, while several of the others were already pinching their noses.

Yeah...

These things were seriously disgusting.

Unfortunately, the spiders weren’t the only ones lying dead in the clearing.

There were goblin corpses everywhere too, many of them. The bodies were scattered everywhere, and were already attracting crows and insects.

And judging by the state of their bodies, they’d all been killed by the spiders.

****

For a moment, all six of my goblins froze.

Even though the spiders were clearly dead, the sight of those enormous bodies seemed to bring back some rather unpleasant memories. My citizens stared at the monsters, their expressions tense, and none of them seemed particularly eager to approach.

I couldn’t really blame them.

They had already experienced how terrifying these creatures were firsthand. Seeing five of them lying dead in one place was probably reassuring, but it was also a reminder of just how dangerous their enemies had been.

Fortunately, after a little while, they began to relax.

The spiders weren’t moving.

Not one of those terrifying creatures showed the slightest sign of getting back up.

Only then did my citizens finally release their pent-up breaths.

"Big Boss!" Gopuro exclaimed, his voice suddenly filled with excitement. "The chieftain must have done this! He must have killed the five spiders!"

"Yeah," I replied. "It certainly looks that way."

Still...

To think that someone could slay five Dark Giant Spiders of this size....

Damn...

Hulgagoblins really are something else, huh?

I became even more curious about this chieftain now.

If he had genuinely managed to take down five of these monsters, his strength might have been far beyond what I’d initially imagined. Perhaps he really was approaching Level 100, just as the rumors suggested.

That was a frightening amount of power.

But as I continued examining the battlefield, I noticed something else.

There was no sign of a goblin corpse that looked as though it belonged to the chieftain.

Sure, several evolved goblins lay among the dead, but the strongest-looking ones appeared to be Hobgoblins or Hulkgoblins at most. None had the imposing build I’d expect from a powerful Hulgagoblin chieftain.

Hmm... That’s strange.

I quickly asked my citizens to look around as well, just in case I’d overlooked something.

Their findings were the same.

None of the bodies appeared to belong to the chieftain.

Well, that was good news, wasn’t it?

If the chieftain wasn’t among the dead, then there was still a chance he was alive. Perhaps he’d survived the battle but suffered serious injuries and was now hiding somewhere nearby.

Yeah...

That must be it...

I was just beginning to feel a little more hopeful when Gopushadow suddenly called out.

"Big Boss, look! Over there! Under that spider!"

I immediately switched to his vision.

And then I saw it.

Beneath the massive body of one of the Dark Giant Spiders, a green arm protruded from underneath its dark exoskeleton.

A very, very large green goblin arm.

It was even thicker and more muscular than Gopugiga’s arms, with several tribal tattoos running along its surface.