Chapter 67: Falling into the Depths

Arthur stared at the hideous ant emanating an aura surpassing E-Rank, and quickly thought about what he would do. It was blocking the exit with its massive body, and as long as it was there, getting out was impossible.

As though time had frozen before his eyes, he analyzed the situation from every angle, and became completely certain that the logical, no, rather the only choice, was to retreat back into the tunnel, and search for another exit, and this, unfortunately, was suicide.

Once again, he found himself caught between the hammer and the anvil, surrounded by danger from every direction. Resignedly, he retreated backward very slowly, trying not to provoke the ant, while his eyes remained fixed on it.

When he had moved a little away from it, he saw it open its mandibles, and its massive toothless mouth appeared filled with sticky saliva, then suddenly it sprayed him with a flood of red material from which thick steam rose.

His eyes widened, and all his senses screamed in terror, and since he had already passed through the tunnel, he did not need to examine it. Relying only on his memory, he jumped backward, then threw himself sideways onto the ground, hiding behind a large rocky protrusion in the wall.

That barely saved him, for the moment the red material touched the wall, it and everything near it dissolved at an astonishing speed, and from the sticky remains, a great deal of twisted red mushrooms grew.

Arthur was exposed again. He stared at the mushrooms with a terrified expression, then raised his head and looked at the ant, and without any moment of hesitation, he fled at his maximum speed. The ant squeezed into the tunnel and chased after him.

His movements were very agile, and with great fluidity he avoided obstacles, and navigated the dangerous turns and slopes in his path. His memory was strong, so he remembered most of the details of the way, and his powerful senses also helped him scan his surroundings quickly.

Unlike him, the ant faced difficulty keeping up with him, because of its large and armored body, so the gap between them quickly widened, and he moved far from it. He did not feel relieved, and did not stop running, until he reached the three-way fork.

There, he stood with his body tensed, and all his senses on full alert. He examined the three passages with great caution, for he did not intend to choose randomly. Every now and then, he stole a quick glance at the tunnel behind him, to see if the ant had reached him.

’Damn, now I am trapped in this cursed maze. Who knows where it leads? And worse than that, the full moon frenzy is about to begin, and my movements are restricted by that woman’s threads.’

He gritted his fangs, and felt a tightness in his chest. Suddenly, he heard a powerful sound coming from behind him, and he immediately realized that the ant had drawn close.

He did not have much time, so he calmed himself, and without further hesitation, chose the passage from which a breeze was coming, and went through it. Of the three passages, it seemed like the logical choice, for the passage of air through it meant the existence of an outlet to the outside.

Since he did not know the terrain of the new tunnel he had entered, he slowed down, and examined his surroundings with greater caution, but fortunately, there were no dangers, only more mushrooms, or so he thought at first.

For after covering a distance of half a mile of sharp turns, he saw before him a sight he had wished not to see, another ant, and although it was much smaller than the previous one, and only of E-Rank, he felt his heart nearly stop.

The presence of two similar ants in the same place meant one thing, a very terrifying thing, which was that he was now trapped inside an ant burrow, and it was clear he would encounter more.

’Well, I am finished, the situation is far worse than I thought. Ah, damn, why did I enter here in the first place? Am I truly this foolish?’

He did not find the right words to express the extent of his regret, and his remorse for following his curiosity, and yet, he did not let his regret and fear hinder him. He leaped over the ant, and continued his escape without slowing down.

The ant was stunned, and froze in its place confused for a moment before chasing after him. It moved the long antennae above its head in a strange way, and every now and then, sprayed him with acid.

Arthur did everything in his power to avoid its attacks, and did not allow even a small drop to touch him. The spider woman was not by his side this time, and if he were afflicted with the mushroom plague, his fate was death, or more precisely, to transform into one of these deformed creatures.

He widened the gap between them gradually, until he moved far from it, but he did not find enough time to rejoice in that, for he suddenly saw several small ants blocking his path. It was as though they had known he was coming.

They completely blocked the way, and left him no gap to pass through. They opened their mouths at the same time, and prepared to attack him.

His expression darkened, and he felt despair. He was fully aware that he was not capable of facing these ants directly, for any minor injury from them was enough to turn his body into a pile of living mushrooms.

In truth, the deformed bear was not the only mushroom monster he had faced, for during the past six weeks, he had come across many monsters infected with this parasitic mushroom, and through his confrontations with them, he understood that they were more like zombies, unable to be killed except by destroying their bodies or severing their heads.

"Damn." Even though all doors had closed in his face, he did not give up, as was his habit. He quickly scanned his surroundings and then saw a glimmer of hope—a small hole in the wall that could barely fit him.

In that moment the ants sprayed him with acid all at once, a massive red wave surged toward him, making mushrooms grow densely wherever it passed.

Without a single shred of hesitation, he jumped into the hole.

The hole was extremely steep, or rather more like an abyss that led him downward at an unreasonable speed, and before he understood what was happening, he had sunk into the ground for hundreds of meters, or perhaps kilometers, and in the end, he fell into a shallow underground stream.

Splash!

"Ah."

He shook his head slowly, for the fall had given him some dizziness, and the moment his clarity returned to him, his bloodline stirred, and the same thing happened with the sealed mushroom inside his body.

....

Above her vast nest, the spider woman lay in a relaxed manner on a bed of silk. Enjoying the refreshing evening breeze, she stared at the clear blue sky, which had begun to be tinged with a little orange, announcing the approaching sunset.

Suddenly, her pupils contracted, and her relaxed expression disappeared entirely, and at lightning speed she looked to the south, and murmured in disbelief: "The wolf has disappeared, this... this is not possible."

She stood in shock, unable to react properly, for she had completely lost the connection with Arthur, and could no longer feel the silk threads she had planted inside him.

"Did he die?" she asked in alarm.

But she quickly regained a little of her composure. "No, I do not think so, I would have felt his death. Then what happened? Is it possible he fell inside some kind of powerful mana barrier?"

Her shock and terror subsided, and in their place came intense worry. She did not know why her feelings had become this mixed up, but she could not remain still.

Without any hesitation, she headed quickly toward the place where she had felt him disappear.