Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Translator: Yonnee

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As Radis calmed down and returned to her senses, she finally looked at the monster with more impartial eyes.

Compared to what Radis remembered, Arachne seemed to be different.

The spider’s shell, which was supposed to glint in the light as though it was made out of iron, had lost its luster and was dented here and there.

Her upper human form also seemed to be in a bad condition.

When Radis first encountered Arachne, she looked like a young, beautiful woman. But right now, her hair was white and her skin was so dry that it looked like she’d crumble any minute now.

Besides that, it didn’t seem like she had any intention to regenerate herself.

[ Place, to that place… ]

Arachne’s shaky front legs buckled beneath her.

Still, she continued moving forward.

The monster looked towards the bottom part of the Tree of Tartarus’ trunk.

“That…”

Radis knew that place.

In her previous life, she and the other members of the subjugation squad fought for three days and nights against the monsters who were guarding the Tree of Tartarus.

She had survived in the end, but by no means did she win.

Most squad members had lost their lives, and the rest had been eaten away by the powerful miasma that poisoned their bodies. All they could do was groan away in pain.

‘No, you can’t… Tez, wake up. Merrick, open your eyes, please…’

She had dazedly walked around amongst her squad members who were barely breathing. Then, at that moment, a strange light entered her periphery.

It was a magic stone.

It was that same magic stone that had the brilliance of five colors.

The spoils of her final battle.

Strangely gravitating towards it, Radis had picked it up and brought it back to the Tilrod residence, but… That magic stone eventually fell into Margaret’s hands.

‘Will that still be here?’

Keeping her guard up, Radis followed after Arachne.

Her surroundings matched her memories.

At the base of the Tree of Tartarus, there was a huge crevice to show a hollow interior.

But there was no magic stone there.

[ Place, to that place… ]

Arachne continued to let out the same crying sound.

Then, she slumped down in the middle of the hollow crevice.

There was another noise.

It was the sound of her outer shell breaking as her trembling legs gave in.

It didn’t seem likely that the spider would rise again.

However, it didn’t look like Arachne cared at all.

Arachne continued to cradle the shiny egg at the base of the tree, right in the spot where the magic stone was supposed to be.

[ It is done. ]

And she didn’t move anymore.

[ …… ]

In reality, all the sounds Radis could hear were only the monster’s squeals, but as Arachne was still breathing, she was clearly muttering something to herself.

Raising her sword, Radis approached Arachne.

The monster’s spider body continued to break under her, and at the same time, black blood flowed out to a puddle.

[ …nce. ]

The metallic smell of Arachne’s blood was unbearable, but Radis kept walking closer while holding her breath.

[ …of the providence… the wish… balance… ]

With a hardened expression, Radis backed away.

“What’s this?”

She couldn’t hear the monster.

Some monsters were also intelligent enough to communicate with each other.

It’s generally known that the closer a monster’s form was to that of a human, then the higher its intelligence and communicative abilities were.

Mermaids could talk to each other using a language that humans couldn’t understand, and the elves also had their own ancient script.

But that wasn’t the case for Arachne.

Although her upper body resembled a human, the only sound that it should be able to make were squeal-like screeches.

To compare an Arachne to animals, sounds were no different from a dog’s barking and a bird’s chirping, and this enough was its ‘language’.

“What the hell… happened to me?”

Her heart pounded and her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

In the first place, she already thought that it was impossible for her body to absorb miasma from a magic stone.

But apparently, that wasn’t all.

“As if I’m… a monster…”

Goosebumps rose all over her skin.

Radis dropped her sword.

“No. That’s impossible.”

One of her arms was wet with blood.

It was from when she had cut off Arachne’s spider head earlier and when she had gotten injured from its spikes.

The wound itself wasn’t big.

But she was rather relieved to see bright red blood flowing out.

“I’m human.”

Even if she had memories of dying once, even if she could absorb miasma from a magic stone, even if she could understand what Arachne was saying… She was a human being.

“I’m human.”

She had to be.

The blood flowing out of her arm trickled down to the floor.

“I’m hu…”

Buckling from loosened tension, Radis collapsed to the floor.

She closed her eyes and breathed heavily, her face now covered in her hands that were stained with sticky, black blood.

So now, Radis couldn’t see.

She didn’t see how Arachne’s black blood, which had been pooling on the ground, and her own red blood both slowly disappeared as though being absorbed.

Then, the egg’s soft glow brightened into a stronger luster.