Chapter 150: Chapter 150: Arachne (2)

-The leader of Arachne is Arniel.

Rina’s other words didn’t sound particularly threatening. Since Denif and I were together, I thought we would handle it smoothly. It’s not like Arachne had a Sword Master or anything.

However, upon hearing the name Arniel, my thoughts changed a bit. I should have asked about him in advance.

Not that it would have changed my actions, but the thought crossed my mind.

Arniel was one of the named devil worshippers. She was highly skilled in both swords and magic, especially dangerous with magic.

‘It was illusion magic, wasn’t it.’

Among the mages I encountered while playing the game, she was the only named one who used illusion magic.

The in-game message said the illusions felt real.

It was quite troublesome. Our allies would go berserk and attack each other, slashing at empty space.

To be honest, it was a bit disconcerting.

‘So Arniel was one of Arachne…’

I didn’t expect to encounter her here. What I thought would be a simple expedition now had a bit of an issue.

If Arniel was a devil worshipper at this point, it would be quite a headache.

Based on the game timeline, the East hadn’t fallen into their hands yet, but the details were unknown.

The indoctrination may have already begun.

If the devil worshippers deduced my destination was the East, a pursuit could have begun here.

It meant the journey to the desert would not be easy.

‘Of course, it may not be the case yet, but it’s better to consider the worst.’

The same applied to confronting her. The Arniel I knew could wield the powers of darkness like Pelia.

She would be more troublesome to deal with than Pelia.

Unlike Pelia who physically attacked with tentacles, she would utilize that power through magic.

It meant we wouldn’t need time to adapt like with Pelia.

‘He was essentially treated as an Archmage.’n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not officially, since Arniel only dealt with illusion magic.

I didn’t know where she learned the mystical magic from, but regardless, I had to modify the plan.

Originally, I had thought to bring Aron and Jofor along too. Such live combat was more effective than dozens of training sessions.

But if Arniel was the enemy, the situation changed.

If Aron and Jofor fell under her illusions and attacked each other mid-battle, it would become quite problematic.

They were both considerable talents.

‘To be honest, I’m worried about Denif and Rina too.’

It’s a situation where I have to trust them. It’s difficult to leave behind Denif, who is on par with me.

Even if I told him not to come, he would follow, and confronting Arniel and the others alone would be tough.

While I had some mixed feelings when we first met, with how things have turned out, it almost feels like fate is on our side.

Moreover, since Rina had agreed to handle Arachne together, I couldn’t exclude her either.

In any case, we decided to raid two nights from now. Today would be for rest, and tomorrow to observe the enemy’s movements.

Only Denif, Rina, and I would move.

Aron and Jofor didn’t particularly object. Through Rina, they understood the dangers of illusion magic.

Of course, they did seem disappointed, especially Jofor.

“Ah, I really wanted to participate.”

“Can’t be helped. More training is needed.”

They must have been quite fired up from the journey here, as they immediately went outside to spar upon hearing the news.

In fact, it would have been impossible elsewhere.

We did find lodgings with a training room, but making metallic sounds at night would furrow brows.

It was something we, who needed to avoid attention, absolutely shouldn’t do.

But this place was the holy ground of the Moon God Lu Nanna. Their followers considered moonlit nights to be sacred times.

It meant there were many who wielded swords at night.

‘The active hours were also slightly different.’

Not a complete night and day reversal. They would sleep around 3 AM and wake up in the morning. Instead, they took naps.

Around 2 PM, which was called Lu Anuma time in the southwest. I suppose it was like the siesta in Spain?

“But it’s my first mission after joining this nameless organization! I thought we’d move like a secret society.”

“Nameless organization?”

“Ah, Brother said the organization doesn’t have a name.”

“It’s fine, isn’t it? It seems to have something going for it.”

Hah…

Aron’s reaction fell a bit short of my expectations. I thought he would find it strange. Did he get influenced from being so close?

“Hey, but you know. Looking at Brother Denif, don’t good swordsmen seem a bit strange?”

It was Jofor’s remark. Aron pondered for a moment before tilting his head.

“Isn’t that just Brother Denif being special? Brother Carlyn seems normal, doesn’t he?”

“Brother Carlyn has quite a few strange parts too, relatively speaking.”

This brat Jofor, talking behind my back?

I agreed Denif was strange, but I couldn’t understand how I was.

“Hey, what’s so strange about him?”

It seemed I could only trust Aron.

“Well, he has that mysophobia for starters.”

“He could just like cleanliness.”

Aron, who followed me quite well, defended me. Good job, Aron.

“But he’s a bit on the extreme side, don’t you think? Brushing his teeth even in the mountains. Always cleaning with Winds of his.”

“He’s better now. He was worse before.”

Well, before I got Purification, I was a bit more particular. I didn’t even eat much.

“Putting that aside. He does some strange things sometimes too don’t he?”

“Ah…”

“Like that time he suddenly climbed on top of the carriage and took a nap? And this time he got into a fistfight with a bear?”

Um, err.

When he brings up those incidents, I don’t really have a rebuttal. Both were due to the effects of Eccentric Actions.

It rarely manifested, but this time it activated in quick succession.

While looking outside from the carriage, I suddenly wanted to sleep on the roof. Then upon seeing the bear, I wanted to get into a fistfight with it.

As always, there was no reason for it.

I did think it wasn’t that strange, but well, it wasn’t exactly normal either.

“Listening to you, it does seem that way.”

Aron, who had been tilting his head, nodded in agreement. I felt a slight sense of betrayal, but this was due to Eccentric Actions, so it couldn’t be helped.

It was unfair. If not for that penalty trait, I would be just a normal person.

“But compared to Brother Denif, he hardly does those strange things. In fact, he almost never did those things before meeting you.”

“Is that so?”

True. Eccentric Actions had manifested twice after meeting Jofor.

When it was with just Aron, like creating that sandstorm, it was impossible for him to notice.

“Anyway, my conclusion is this. To become a true master, you need to have some strange quirks.”

“That seems like a strange conclusion.”

“No, look. Even Sword Masters used to go on bizarre quests, like trying to split a river with just one sword.”

“Is that so?”

“So I’m thinking of becoming a bit stranger too.”

What is he even saying now?

I couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh. It was such an absurd leap of logic to become strange in order to become stronger.

And in my view, Jofor already had quite a few strange aspects to him. Just look at his liking for secret societies.

It’s human nature to not think of yourself as strange, so I suppose he could think that way.

“How would you become strange?”

Aron asked more seriously than I expected. Did he get influenced just from hearing such nonsense?

“Should we try imitating Brother Denif? Constantly pestering for sparring matches like a madman.”

“Now that you mention it, Brother Denif does seem obsessed with swords. It doesn’t seem too strange though?”

I’d rather he not imitate Denif… It seemed even the relatively normal Aron was heading down an abnormal path.

I felt like going down immediately to stop him.

***

The reconnaissance on the second day was not very successful, though I had my concerns when I first heard about it.

The entrance was not an easily accessible structure.

Arachne’s main base was not inside a building. It was hidden inside Lu Nanna’s mountain, the holy site.

According to Rina, there were two entrances, but she only knew of one.

‘The Moon Well located mid-mountain.’

It was named such because moonlight shines into the well at night, but it was closer to the size of a lake than a well.

Seeing the blackness below the surface, there seemed to be quite a deep underwater cavern.

Inside were multiple caverns, but only one led to the entrance.

If you entered the wrong one, you would die unable to breathe in the dark underwater cavern.

‘It’s amazing, even though it wasn’t artificially made.’

In any case, we couldn’t go too deep. There was a magical barrier right in front of the real entrance.

It meant the enemy would be alerted the moment we entered.

Maybe Orhen could dispel it, but Denif and I couldn’t.

It was too risky to rely on Osten, the magic tool expert. A real mage would have been helpful at this moment.

In the end, we could only confirm the location and retreat. We briefly searched for another entrance but found nothing.

So the next day, we returned to the Moon Well again.

“Ready?”

“Of course.”

“…I’m ready.”

Denif answered confidently, while Rina seemed quite tense.

When we first discussed it in the Empire, she had seemed expectant, but the closer we got to Elish, the more tense she became.

Reality tends to weigh heavier than one imagines. Moreover, since Rina knew the enemy, she could feel that way.

In any case, Arachne had 14 members.

There were 7 Stars and 7 Starlights. Mentors and disciples, essentially. A master-disciple system structure.

When the 7 Stars gave orders to their 7 subordinates, starlight was said to be shot there, hence the name Starlights.

It sounded a bit silly, but with Arniel present, we couldn’t let our guard down.

’13 or 14 members.’

Rina had left, but another Starlight may have been appointed. However, not all were present.

I heard usually about half were there.

They operated for the sake of the Heretic Inquisition and Elish’s national interests. But at minimum, 3 Stars remained here.

So the expected number was between 6 and 10. There could be more, but worrying excessively was pointless.

The Starlights were said to be around Rina’s level.

Depending on their Traits, they could be stronger or weaker, but the Starlights wouldn’t be a major problem.

Denif and I had to handle the five Stars. Arniel would be the most troublesome.

We decided to figure out the specific countermeasures after entering.

‘There’s no one around.’

It wasn’t just the magical barrier present for no reason. This was Lu Nanna’s holy site, so there were no people.

It became a holy site because the mountain’s shape resembled a crescent moon when viewed from the peak where moonlight shone brilliantly.

Since the soldiers of the Elish Kingdom guarded the mountain, outsiders rarely entered.

Of course, it was easy for us to infiltrate.

“Let’s go.”

The moonlit well seemed to glow with a silvery light. The black dot in the middle of that silver glow looked ominous.

We threw ourselves towards that dot. I enveloped our party with Winds.

Holding our breath or getting our clothes wet wasn’t a major issue, but it was still quite bothersome.

Since I could do something about it, there was no need to leave it be.

Rina, who seemed a bit surprised by my Winds, dove in first. Down, further down. As we descended, we couldn’t see even an inch ahead.

I took out a magical lamp. Its faint light spread through the water, but didn’t reach far.

‘It would have been quite troublesome without Rina.’

Even as we descended, small underwater caverns could be seen. I sent Winds in to check, and they were quite deep.

Without Winds and a guide, we would have had to check each one.

Having to also mind our breathing, we might have died before finding the right one. It was good I enveloped our bodies with Winds.

Who knows how long Arachne had been using this place, but quite a few people must have died in this well.

-This way.

At some point, Rina gestured towards the entrance with her hand.

It was a passage hidden in a small cave behind the direction we were descending. An easy spot to miss in the darkness.

Following Rina, we swam up through the hole. And at the water’s edge, there was a barrier.

After one last check, we nodded at each other.

-Enter.

The moment we surfaced from the water, I sensed magic sweeping over our bodies. There were no other effects.

It only detected that someone had entered. Not whether we were enemies or not.

In other words, it meant we had to swiftly and cleanly deal with the first one to approach to check.

I drew out Moonlight while straining my ears towards the Winds extending down the passage.

Author's Thoughts

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