Published at 4th of May 2021 02:09:07 PM

311 Spider Gods

Bella leads me between the anti-abyss shelters where I heal the injured.

The next closest is in the medical building Well take a right at the next corner, then its the big building opposite

As Im receiving directions from Bella, another Lithovar woman comes running from behind. Shes short of breath, and tears are trickling from her eyes. Its shallow, but theres a mark where a sword cut her arm, and her clothes are covered with mud. While Im wondering whats happened, she flops to the floor, then prostrates herself towards me.

Bellsama! Dragon-god-sama! Would you please consider coming this way first?

P-please calm down! Wh-what has happened?

The truth is, our hiding place was broken into They left shortly after in fear of dragon-god-sama, but the children, they took the children

After saying that, the woman breaks down sobbing.

Those guys, theyre going as far as to abduct people In any case, since they broke in directly, the damage there should be worse than anywhere else. Itd be best to go there first. If we dont get there soon enough, it could be too late. We change our course and follow the woman.

Other Lithovars are tasked with bringing out the wounded when we arrive. The rate Im burning through my MP is unexpectedly fast, but I dont need a lot for battle. The amount restored on the move should be enough for the occasional self-heal or attack magic.

While my partner is focusing on healing, Bella asks what happened from someone inside. Apparently, ten children were abducted. It seems theres no longer any fighting around the village, so I was wondering if theyd been fully driven away, but It seems they made a complete mess of things on their way out. Id like to hope this is just their final struggles

Why did they take the children? Did they say anything? How likely is it they were killed right away?

If I remember correctly, after slashing someone near me at the start, one of them saidYou know about the glittering beast, right?

Gl-glittering beast? No way, is why they came into this forest and poisoned the village to try and massacre them?

That matches the information I was able to get from the prisoners Those people They might plan on provoking the feared gods

Bella says, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Her voice trembles with fear.

Feared gods The forest children. Ive heard about them. Maybe they have some relationship with that glittering beast. But still, when she speaks of the feared gods, Bella looks quite scared. Those guys, were they that dangerous?

I look at Bella to request an explanation. She activates [Telepathy] with a chant and fumbled hand motions, then explains.

It is said that a long time ago, our Lithovar ancestors incurred the wrath of the feared gods, and half of the village was buried. Children are taught of this from a very young age so such a tragedy never repeats itself. Im worried for the safety of those children, but If they hear about them from the children and purposefully provoke the feared gods, I dont know what will come of this forest

Th-the forest children would destroy the forest? Those guys, were they not just tottering monsters that suck magic power from trees?

A moment later, I hear a scream from the edge of the village.

Monster Monsters are attacking! Everyone who can fight, grab your weapons and come! It looks theyve already attacked some people!

Monsters, with this timing. Are they abyss survivors? No One of their mages summoned a wyvern. It wouldnt be strange if theyd set other monsters on us.

T-the The monsters are going away already? K-Kale!? It-its the abducted children! The children that were taken are back!

Wh-what does this mean? I rush towards the voice and see injured children being nursed by Lithovars. And a slight distance away, the spiders are rustling away. It seems they brought them back.

Its the children that were taken!

Those spiders must have brought them back!

Theyre spider gods! Spider gods!

I had a feeling it might be the case, but is godhood cheap here? Im glad that they wont attack the spiders by mistake, but I have slightly complicated feelings too

Bella, who was chasing after me, counts the children while catching her breath.

Three, four Five. Five are still missing

Its likely that the remaining five are still abducted. Had these children not been brought back, who knows what suffering theyd have gone through. And Im worried about the feared gods.

If the spiders came here, then Aros probably also nearby. I want to check that shes well. Im more or less done healing the village. A few of the injured might still be hiding, but It doesnt look like I can put this off any longer.

Bellsama! Weve learnt of their war potential from the prisoners! Since multiple of their testimonies agree, I think it might be the truth!

A Lithovar man runs towards us from inside the village.

Is that true! Their scale

In total they had about six hundred, but it seems the majority were headed here, so they should be mostly collapsed now! There shouldnt be any more attacks coming, I think!

Then with the enemies I dealt with in the village, there should be hardly any left? So if I can recover the children and kill their director whos trying to pick a fight with the feared gods, this conflict will be completely over.

In my mind, I see the guy with a bad taste in clothing, Tolman. Now that I hear hes after this glittering beast, I understand the situation. As I thought, hes their boss. I really should have done everything I could to kill him. If only Id taken him hostage at that time, there wouldnt be this pointless struggling of theirs. Its regretful that his subordinates got in the way.

Guooo

I groan to draw Bellas attention, then indicate the village and the forest with my head.

! I understand. Well treat the remaining injured!

After hearing her words, I run in the direction the spiders went. Probably This battle will be the last.

As I run, I see the spiders gathered around a single spot. The petit nightmares with them too.

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As I slow and approach them, I see a limp Aro. Her skin looks like lifeless earth, almost like before she evolved.

Dragongod-sama

She weakly opens her mouth. Her abdomen has traces of being pierced by a sword.

Name: Aro

Species: Revaana Lowlich

Condition: Cursed

Lv: 31/65

HP: 53/284

MP: 58/299

T-this is bad! Shes falling apart!

Gaah

My partner quickly chants [Fake Life], wrapping her in black light, and the wound on her body quickly closes.

I stretch my tail out in front of her. She touches it and sucks out MP with [Mana Drain], and the freshness returns to her skin.

She staggers to her feet and supports herself against a nearby tree.

She must have been in quite the battle. But it looked like she had a surprising amount of MP left As I think that, the tree that shes leaning against turns to face me. Its the lesser treant.

Species: Lesser Treant

Condition: Cursed

Lv: 11/25

HP: 37/75

MP: 34/60

Was the treant also fighting? But its level hasnt increased As I think that, my eyes meet Aros. I consider the treants status again, and realise that, though status has dropped by about half, it hasnt got any external wounds Ah, did she take a little from the treant? If anything, Aros wounds looked worse than her status implied.

I couldnt win That pale-faced swordsman. He took the children

A pale-faced swordsman? That must be the guy who summoned the wyverns and fled with Tolman right at the start. He seems to be quite the active guy. More than Tolman, it might be more important that I neutralise him.

As an insurance, it would be best to have Aro watch the area around the village for any returning soldiers. Ill strike at them directly. But I could do with someone to guide me

As I think that, the treant bursts forwards. Y-youll guide me? But, treant Your movement speed is a bit slow Its not like I can run with you on my shoulders.

One of the spiders jumps in front of me and runs into the forest. Its telling me to follow, I think.

Guo

I bow my head towards the treant, then chase after the spider.