Chapter 27

— Anonymous Constellation: …Are you asking us for help right now?

— Anonymous Constellation: Really? You’ve never asked before. You really want our help?

— Anonymous Constellation: I’ll help!

— Anonymous Constellation: Shut up! I’m going to help!!!

— Anonymous Constellation: You’re talking about the kid who gave you candy earlier, right? The sick one.

— Anonymous Constellation: She went toward the carriages!!

The carriages… that means she was still inside the Grand Plaza.

A far more dangerous place than outside the plaza.

‘Damn it!’

I quickly opened the shop and sorted by shield items.

But I was ridiculously short on points to buy a proper shield.

Even a single-use shield, a one-shot item that required perfect timing, cost 500 points.

‘This is insane. I shouldn’t have used the exchange coupon.’

If I’d known, I would have waited. What was the rush that made me use it the moment I got it?

I exchanged all my points for four single-use shields and handed them to Zenia.

Normally, I wouldn’t have given them a second glance, but I wasn’t in a position to be picky.

“You know where our carriage is, right? Your sister is there, so find her and hide in the carriage. If ours is gone, use another one. It has to be in that area. If you’re in danger, use these.”

“W-what are these?”

“Shield scrolls. They’ll block a single attack.”

“Then…”

“They’re useless if you don’t time it right. You must not use them unless a thread is about to hit you. That means you have four chances in total. Do you understand?”

Zenia shook her head, her expression a mess of confusion.

“A-after that? What do I do then? Princess, I’m so scared. I feel like I’m going to die from fear…”

“What’s there to be scared of? I’m coming for you.”

“Y-you’re really coming?”

“So hold on. Grit your teeth and endure, if only for your sister’s sake. If you die, no one will be there to protect her. Remember that.”

“…P-Princess? Princess!”

Stepping out from under the awning, I drew Arondight.

The blade was 1.6 meters long. From the pommel at the end of the hilt to the tip of its blade, the greatsword—a black canvas highlighted with gold—emitted a brilliant light under the sun.

Arondight. My beloved sword, which had been like an extension of my own body.

In my past life, I had saved up a billion points to obtain Arondight.

‘It took about seven years, didn’t it?’

I gripped Arondight’s hilt tightly and gave it a wide swing.

Miraculously, it clung to my palm as if I had been holding it just yesterday. I couldn’t even feel its weight.

A divine sword that was too heavy to even lift for anyone it didn’t accept as its master.

“Aron, it’s been a while.”

— Anonymous Constellation: Behold, the main event.

— Anonymous Constellation: Ooh, finally!

— Anonymous Constellation: She has arrived!!!

— Anonymous Constellation: Panting… I’ve been waiting for this ♥

— Anonymous Constellation: Astell, let’s goooo!

* * *

The Hunters quickly split their ranks.

The swordsmen would kill the spiders while the mages attacked the mother.

But they couldn’t destroy the cocoon enveloping the mother.

It couldn’t be torn by a chimera’s sharp claws, nor could it be burned by the flames of hell.

Arrows fired by archers were all deflected.

Lightning strikes were reflected, putting people in even more danger.

The Hunters gave up on the mother for the time being and focused all their efforts on eliminating the young spiders.

The young spiders, lacking a core, were easy to deal with if attacked before they could multiply.

The number of spiders that had blanketed the Grand Plaza in black gradually decreased.

Only about a dozen remained.

Dealing with this many wasn’t difficult. A sense of relief spread across the Hunters’ faces, but it was short-lived.

“My god…”

“When will this end?”

The mother laid eggs again.

Thirty this time. The Hunters let out ragged breaths.

“Aaargh! Help me!”

“Aah! No!”

The spiders that hatched from the eggs began hunting for surviving prey.

People caught in the webs screamed.

A Hunter rushed in and swung his sword, but it just bounced off.

The spiders’ bodies were soft and vulnerable to attack, but their silk was harder than anything.

Even Astell, in her past life, had used the silk not by cutting it, but by wrapping it around the spiders to reel them in.

“Hnngh! S-save me…”

People’s bodies began to shrivel.

Heart-wrenching screams echoed through the Grand Plaza.

If the Hunters killed a spider while it was feeding, the person it was feeding on would also die.

The moment they were wrapped in the silk, the lives of the spider and its prey became linked.

Behind the panicked Hunters, a dark figure appeared.

Dante.

He swung his sword and cut the throat of a person ensnared in the silk.

The screaming stopped abruptly.

The Hunters gasped at his brutal act.

“Y-Your Highness, why did you kill that person…?”

“Look over there!”

Someone pointed.

There, the spider that had lost its prey was thrashing about, its thread hanging loose.

Then, it suddenly burst, spewing yellow fluid, and died.

Everyone watched the spider’s remains tensely. Nothing came out of them.

Dante spoke nonchalantly.

“Kill the prey while it’s feeding. Then the spider dies.”

“…”

Horrified gazes fell upon Dante.

They knew that killing the spider would kill its prey, but no one had considered the reverse.

No, perhaps they had thought of it, but they hadn’t dared to act on it.

They were Hunters, chosen to save the world, after all.

The first Hunter to object to Dante’s cruel method was Johan.

“Are you saying we should wait until they attack people? And then kill the people? We can’t do that!”

“Then get rid of the remaining people. Before they become prey.”

“Your Highness! How can you say something so ruthless!”

Dante remained unfazed, even as he bore the full brunt of Johan’s anger.

He wiped his bastard sword on the dead person’s clothes and sheathed it.

“Cruel? If those things get outside the barrier, won’t something far more cruel happen?”

“…”

“Paladin, everyone dies. Only the method is different. If it were me, I’d rather die at the hands of a Paladin than as monster food. Do you think differently?”

No one could answer Dante’s question. To be honest, he was right.

“Your Highness, why must you be this way!”

While the Hunters were still in shock, the Grand Plaza fell silent.

The last person remaining inside the barrier had been devoured.

With no prey left aside from the Hunters, the spiders stopped multiplying and swarmed around the barrier of light.

As if waiting for the barrier to fall.

The clattering of the spiders’ legs echoed from all directions.

Their numbers, which had just been reduced, had swelled back to their original size, but it was a relief that they had at least stopped multiplying.

The Hunters stopped their debate and put their heads together, deciding to deal with the young spiders first.

Even with their swift movements and sharp mandibles, they were no match for the Hunters’ swords and magic.

The spiders were slaughtered helplessly, and finally, the last one stopped moving.

Dripping yellowish fluid, the Hunters gathered in the center of the Grand Plaza.

The mother was still unharmed.

That thing had to be killed for the gate to close. Kaiel asked Johan.

“How long will the barrier of light hold?”

“It will disappear soon. I’m sorry.”

“This is not something to be sorry for. Do not apologize. In any case, we must resolve this situation before the barrier disappears. If the queen lays eggs without the barrier, the capital will be annihilated.”

A Hunter, panting with exhaustion, screamed in desperation.

“Master of the Tower, didn’t you see? Our attacks don’t work! It’s protecting itself with a shield! How are we supposed to kill it?!”

“So you’re suggesting we just wait?”

Kaiel replied calmly, but he couldn’t hide the chill in his voice.

The atmosphere grew tense.

With the level assessment on the line, everyone was on edge.

Yulia watched the escalating tension and wiped away beads of sweat.

She was an eccentric summoner nicknamed the Magic Tower’s ‘Steel Receptionist,’ with no interest in constellations or monsters.

In fact, she only felt that becoming a Hunter had made her life more troublesome.

‘If only I were sitting in the cool Magic Tower guiding visitors right now…’

She was lost in that thought when…

Someone tapped her on the back.