In the dark, shadowy forest, as the elven army steadily advanced deeper into the southern woods, the number of giant spiders they encountered grew ever larger.
The elven warriors, agile and deadly in battle, moved and leapt lightly among the trees as if walking on level ground. In no time, they had cleared out several giant spider nests.
Especially at the vanguard, leading the charge, was Legolas. Unlike other wood elves who preferred long-range archery, his talent for shooting was unparalleled—but instead of a bow, he used a wand to cast spells with pinpoint accuracy.
He moved like a swift, graceful stag, darting through the dense forest so quickly that only a fleeting blur could be seen. Yet his spellcasting never faltered; almost every incantation sent a giant spider tumbling from the trees.
Legolas did not bother with overly powerful spells; instead, he chose quick, simple ones effective against spiders—such as the Leg-Locker Curse and the Tarantallegra dancing charm. Sure enough, under these enchantments, the eight-legged creatures either found their limbs magically bound or flailed uncontrollably in an absurd dance, soon toppling from the treetops.
Below, waiting elves swiftly finished them off with a single strike.
From behind, Thranduil watched Legolas's exceptional performance, unable to hide the proud smile in his eyes.
Of course, he didn't forget to thank Luke.
"Luke, Legolas has learned a great deal from you. For that, I am deeply grateful!"
Luke waved off the thanks with a smile.
"Legolas is my friend, and he's helped me a lot lately. It's nothing."
Then, seeing the elves take down a few more giant spiders, his eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he ran to the corpses, waved his wand, and transformed several leaves into glass bottles to collect the venom.
Giant spider venom must be gathered quickly; if the spider's body fully dies, it will spoil and become useless.
After collecting the venom, Luke also tucked the corpses into his spatial pouch.
By now, he had hundreds of giant spider bodies stored—enough to keep the basilisk well-fed for a long time.
And all without lifting a finger in combat—just following behind the warriors and reaping the spoils.
He found this extremely satisfying and wished the spiders would come at them even harder.
Seeing Luke's behavior, Thranduil immediately ordered his lieutenant to assign elves specifically to deliver spider corpses to him.
The elven army advanced rapidly southward until they reached the Old Forest Road.
Here, they finally faced a concentrated counterattack from the spiders.
Though they could not speak, giant spiders possessed intelligence and were extremely cunning and wicked.
Upon learning of the elves' advance, they had rallied over a thousand of their kind to lay an ambush near the Old Forest Road.
The elven army's progress halted.
Thranduil frowned at the sight before him—
massive webs blocked the forest, stretching from ground to canopy, covering the air above like a vast net. From east to west, they divided the dark forest in two.
Elves struck at the webs with sharp swords, but the silk was not only tough and elastic, it was also incredibly sticky. Blades failed to cut through and often became stuck instead.
Even if they managed to slice a few strands, clearing the entire layered webbing would take who knew how long.
Just as Thranduil's brows knit deeper, Ellohir and Elladan stepped forward.
"Your Majesty Thranduil," Ellohir said, "the battlefield situation has shifted. These spiders clearly intend to slow our advance—we mustn't give them time to recover. Let us and Legolas take the lead in clearing the way!"
"We've just learned quite a bit of magic from Luke. This is a perfect time to put it to the test," Elladan added.
"I'm joining too!" Arwen stepped forward.
Her usual gentle grace shifted in an instant, replaced by fearlessness and courage—like a blend of a goddess of beauty and a valkyrie.
Thranduil didn't refuse; he nodded his agreement.
"Then I'll trouble you all with the task."
"Need my help?" Luke asked Arwen.
Arwen shook her head with a playful smile.
"How could we trouble our professor to step in? Let your students handle this one. After all, we should show everyone the results of learning magic under you."
Luke chuckled helplessly, surprised she remembered his joke about calling him "Professor" during lessons.
"All right then, I'll let my students have the spotlight—perfect chance for me to keep reaping the spoils."
"Don't worry," Arwen teased, "since you love strange creatures like giant spiders so much, I'll be sure to hunt plenty for you—as a student's gift to her teacher."
Ellohir, sensing a strange tension between the two, quickly cut in:
"Arwen, let's go!"
Neither Arwen nor Luke seemed to notice; they exchanged a knowing glance without any "be careful" farewells.
Luke watched as Arwen, Ellohir, and Elladan rode to the front lines to join Legolas.
Thranduil noticed Luke's gaze and gave him a subtle, knowing smile—but said nothing.
The four gathered, discussing how to combine their magic to blast open a gap in the webs and allow the army through before the spiders could respond.
Raising their wands toward the webs, they shouted in unison:
"Reducto!"
Four sharp white beams converged, their power multiplied, instantly blasting apart the web ahead and destroying several more meters beyond.
A wide opening appeared, and without pausing, they leapt through and continued clearing the path.
The elven army surged forward through the breach—straight into the thousand-strong spider force.
From above, spiders attacked relentlessly with webs and venomous stingers.
Legolas, Ellohir, Elladan, and Arwen reacted swiftly, wands flicking spells into the fray.
Arwen moved like a nimble doe, light and quick as though gravity did not touch her, sprinting up a tree trunk in a blur and leaping branch to branch. Wand in one hand, short sword in the other, she danced around the spiders, dodging silk and venom.
No longer the pampered Evenstar princess of Lothlórien and Rivendell, she fought like a true elven warrior—sharp, fast, and decisive. At times, she seemed to hang briefly in midair, twisting to kick a lunging spider down from the treetops.
From behind, Luke watched in awe.
If before she had impressed him with beauty, grace, and nobility—the perfect image of an elven princess—now she revealed another kind of beauty: the beauty of power, radiating decisiveness, courage, and unyielding spirit.
Even Thranduil admired her deeply—though he regretted that she and Legolas had no romantic interest in each other. If she could be his daughter-in-law, he would gladly approve.
Meanwhile, the three male elves fought fiercely as well.
With superb physical skill, reflexes, and magical aid, countless spiders rained down from the treetops.
The other elves fired arrows and struck with weapons, pressing the attack.
Soon the massive spider force began to falter, retreating southward in disarray.
The elven warriors seized the chance, chasing them down and leaving corpses scattered along the way—corpses promptly delivered to Luke by the logistics elves.
Naturally, Luke accepted them all with delight.
He had now gathered enough venom to fill several barrels—plenty for brewing many potions—and an entire spatial pouch crammed with spider bodies.
Still, he wasn't satisfied; such opportunities were rare. Once Sauron and the forces of darkness were defeated, these creatures would become scarce. He needed to stockpile—and the basilisk's growing appetite wasn't small.
The elves pursued the spiders south beyond the Old Forest Road—but the further they went, the harder it became.
The forest and air had been poisoned by the spiders. Trees grew twisted and diseased; soil and leaves reeked of decay; streams carried sleep-inducing magic; and the air was laced with hallucinogenic toxins.
In such an environment, progress was slow.
They had to watch for hidden spiders, fight the haze of toxins, and resist the illusions creeping into their minds.
But they were prepared—each elf took out a scarf soaked in a healer's concoction to ease the effects of the gas.
Luke received one as well; it smelled pleasantly of herbs and cleared his head.
Still, the scarves only mitigated the poison, not eliminated it—so Luke cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself.
Lifting his staff, he poured magic into it, the green gem at its tip glowing brightly before releasing countless shimmering bubbles. These floated toward the elves, enveloping their heads.
At first, the elves were startled—but soon realized the bubbles filtered the air, leaving only fresh oxygen to breathe.
Seeing his warriors breathing freely, Thranduil was pleased—though when a bubble floated toward him, he subtly pushed it toward the head of his elk mount instead.
"Luke, you've helped us greatly once again," he said.
Luke waved it off, but then noticed Thranduil lacked a bubble.
"Your Majesty, where's your bubble? Shall I give you one?"
"No need," Thranduil replied. "These toxins can't harm me."
He certainly had no intention of wearing such an ungraceful thing on his head.
He was still a king after all...
With Luke's Bubblehead Charm, the poisonous gas in the surrounding air could no longer affect the elven warriors.
Freed from worry, the elven army once again displayed their formidable combat power. They advanced rapidly southward, killing every giant spider in their path. The rest fled south in a panic.
The army pushed forward without pause, quickly reclaiming half of Mirkwood.
But soon, everyone sensed something was wrong.
There were no more giant spiders ahead—not even in their lairs.
It was as if the spiders had abandoned this place entirely.
Dozens of miles further south, it was still the same.
In the spider nests, apart from a few half-eaten animal corpses, there were even unhatched spider eggs left behind.
It seemed they had fled in haste, and not long ago.
However, no one looked pleased—rather, their expressions grew grave and serious.
The giant spiders were cunning; if they were absent from their lairs in such an unusual way, there was only one possibility: they had all moved south.
Gathered together, their numbers would surely be immense, and what lay ahead was bound to be a difficult battle.
Luke stopped the elves from destroying the spider eggs, instead collecting the black-pearl-like eggs.
Some he froze for use as potion ingredients; some he kept for hatching as a future potion source—and as reserve food for the basilisk Herpo.
The army continued south with heightened vigilance.
Suddenly, there was a commotion in the forest.
The elven warriors quickly drew and loosed arrows, but the incoming figure blocked them with ease.
From afar, a wooden sleigh pulled by a giant rabbit rushed forward and skidded to a halt in front of the elven ranks.
"Radagast! Why is it you?" Luke stepped forward in surprise to greet him.
It was indeed Radagast the Brown. He looked slightly mad, but when he saw Luke, his eyes lit up.
"Ah, it's you, Luke! What are you doing here?"
"King Thranduil is hunting the giant spiders in the forest. I came to lend a hand," Luke explained, then asked in return, "But Radagast, what brings you here? Has something happened?"
"Me? Oh, right—I nearly forgot!" Radagast startled, slapped his forehead, as if suddenly recalling, and said at once, "I'm here to warn you! To warn the elves!"
"What warning do you have for us?" Thranduil asked, frowning.
As fellow inhabitants of Mirkwood, Thranduil naturally knew of the Brown Wizard, though they had little direct contact.
Spotting Thranduil, Radagast seemed to have found his target. "All the spiders are gathering in the south! There are thousands upon thousands, packed so densely that every animal in the forest is terrified—so am I!
These spawn of Ungoliant are preparing to attack, led by their spider queen, who means to wipe the elves out entirely. You must be ready—"
"Wait—what spider queen?" Thranduil seized on the key point.
"Spider queen? Ah yes, the spider queen! Her name is Senatha, the largest giant spider in the entire forest! She's the leader of them all!" Radagast replied in his scattered way.
At the mention of the spider queen, his expression grew especially agitated, even fearful: "She's bigger than my house! And she's a servant of the Dark Lord! She's the one who has summoned all the spiders to prepare for the attack!"
Hearing this, Thranduil's face grew stern.
Luke was equally astonished.
He hadn't expected such a creature as a spider queen to exist in Mirkwood—much less one connected to Sauron.
Learning the spiders were massing, Thranduil didn't hesitate. He immediately led his army south, vowing to drive every spider from Mirkwood. Radagast joined them.
With Radagast guiding the way, they pressed straight toward the queen's lair without stopping.
The lair lay at the southern end of Mirkwood, not far from Dol Guldur.
Here the trees grew taller and denser, the sky blotted out entirely by layer upon layer of webs and leaves so that no light could penetrate. It was so dim the ground could not be seen clearly.
Because the giant spiders had lived and bred here for thousands of years, the whole forest was shrouded in webs. Only special web tunnels for the spiders to travel through formed a vast spider kingdom. Other creatures could barely move here—and often became spider food.
When Luke and the elven army entered the valley, they saw before them the endless "Spider Fortress."
Such a kingdom could not be destroyed by simple brute force.
Seeing the web-walls like copper and iron, Thranduil's brow furrowed, his expression grim.
If they didn't take this chance to wipe out the spiders completely, this campaign would be a failure.
Once the spiders multiplied again, they would inevitably spread north, shrinking the elves' territory and threatening the Woodland Realm's safety.
But to attack now, the countless webs ahead were a massive obstacle, incredibly hard to destroy.
"Father, let me lead a small team through those spider tunnels to flush them out," Legolas said firmly.
Thranduil shook his head. "No. We don't know how many spiders are inside, let alone the queen. Going in would be walking into a trap!"
"But if we let them remain, Mirkwood will never know peace. Before long, they'll multiply and head north again, threatening us!" Legolas argued.
"And now, with the magic Luke taught me, I have the means to protect myself."
But no matter how Legolas pleaded, Thranduil would not let him take the risk.
Seeing their dispute, Luke spoke: "Your Majesty Thranduil, since the webs can't be broken through, what about using fire?"
Both Thranduil and Legolas looked at him in surprise.
Thranduil shook his head. "I've considered that, but once fire is set, if anything goes wrong the whole forest could be affected. Not only would the creatures here suffer, but we ourselves would be left homeless."
"But if your army clears a firebreak in the forest, then burns only the southern end, the fire shouldn't spread north," Luke suggested.
But he had underestimated the elves' love for nature. The elves of Mirkwood were closely tied to the forest, relying on it for survival—it was their home and refuge. They rarely cut down trees, let alone burn vast swathes to destroy the spiders.
Radagast, as a Maia of Yavanna, loved plants even more than the elves did, so he opposed the idea fiercely. He had even abandoned his mission in Middle-earth to live among the forest's flora and fauna—he could not bear to see the trees harmed.
Seeing this, Luke regretfully abandoned the suggestion.
Otherwise, a single fire would have been a simple, effective way to send the spiders to their doom—and he was confident he could control the blaze to prevent its spread.
Since fire was out of the question, Luke offered another, slightly more troublesome idea.
"Your Majesty Thranduil, I have another way to drive the spiders out. It's a little risky, but would you be willing to try?"
"What way?" Thranduil asked, knowing Luke wouldn't suggest something without purpose.
Luke took a leather case from his dimensional bag.
"What's in there?" Thranduil frowned, sensing from it a dangerous black-magic creature unlike anything he had seen before—something that made him feel his life was threatened.
"It's a creature I bred, called a basilisk," Luke explained. "Its eyes are dangerous—any living thing that looks directly into them will die instantly. Even looking through a mirror will cause petrification."
"Such a creature exists?!" Thranduil was shocked. From the description alone, he could tell how deadly it was. Legolas, Arwen, and the others were also startled—they had never heard Luke mention keeping such a creature.
"So, if you're willing, I can release the basilisk into the spider lair to drive them out. But first, everyone must be warned not to look into its eyes. I can't guarantee anyone's safety otherwise!" Luke said seriously.
Thranduil hesitated, but ultimately agreed.
He immediately ordered everyone not to look at the basilisk, explaining its dangers.
Once everyone was ready, Luke opened the leather case and stepped back.
The next second, a massive serpent's head crowned with a single blood-red feather emerged from the dimensional space.
All the elves except Luke, including Thranduil, closed their eyes immediately.
Even with eyes shut, elves could still sense their surroundings through their heightened perception. A powerful, ancient elf like Thranduil could use spiritual senses nearly as well as sight.
In their perception, a ten-meter-long, trunk-thick green serpent slithered out of the case, radiating powerful black magic.
Luke didn't close his eyes—having signed a "blood oath" with the basilisk Herpo, the creature could not harm him in any way. It even closed its eyes voluntarily when facing him.
The basilisk had grown quickly, especially after devouring two giant spiders from the tower, nearly reaching its adult size.
Like other snakes, it could navigate with tongue, smell, and heat sensing even with eyes closed. Now it was excited, sensing the air with its forked tongue, thumping its tail against the ground.
"Master, I smell food! Delicious food!" (Parseltongue)
Luke patted its head.
"Then go find your food—use your eyes to kill them and drive them out!" (Parseltongue)
In the elves' ears, they could only hear Luke and the basilisk conversing in a cold, slick, hissing tongue.
Then, as if receiving its orders, the great serpent slithered straight into the spider web tunnels.
"All right, you can open your eyes now!" Luke's voice rang out to the others.
The elves opened their eyes.
"What do we do next?" Legolas asked Luke.
The others also turned to look at him.
"Wait," Luke replied.
"Herpo is already inside. It will drive the giant spiders out, and we'll be waiting here like hunters by the rabbit's burrow."
Meanwhile, the basilisk Herpo was swiftly moving through the spider tunnels.
"Delicious… I smell delicious food. Where are you? The hunt begins!"
The tunnels had silk trip-lines set by the giant spiders, so the moment Herpo moved inside, the spiders sensed it. They became excited and rushed toward Herpo's location.
"Food has come to us!"
In that moment, both sides considered the other as prey, and they closed in on one another.
The tunnels stretched in all directions. Following the scent of the giant spiders, the basilisk made its way deep into the inner sanctum of the lair.
Above it, a top-tier predator in its own right—a giant spider—was silently closing in.
Just as the spider was about to spit silk to bind the serpent below, the basilisk suddenly raised its head, an expression of mocking amusement on its face.
"Got you!"
(T/N : I don't know how fast basilisks grow, but Herpo should be 1 year old)
The spider's cluster of eyes instantly met the basilisk's golden gaze.
The giant spider felt a strange lightness—and in the next moment, its life was silently snuffed out. It dropped limply to the ground.
Staring at the fallen spider, Herpo's mouth watered, and it opened its jaws, eager to swallow it whole. But just before biting down, it stopped and shook its head.
"No… Master said kill all the tasty ones first. I can't eat yet!"
It cast a longing glance at the corpse before moving on to hunt more spiders.
From then on, Herpo entered a frenzy of slaughter.
Any spider it saw died without exception.
At first, the giant spiders didn't think much of a ten-meter-long snake; they had hunted animals bigger than that before.
But they quickly discovered this serpent seemed born to counter them—its sense of smell was incredibly sharp, and no matter how they hid, it could track them down.
It ignored their venom and illusion attacks entirely.
Its body was so well-armored and slick that even their silk could not stick to it, letting it weave through their webs as if it owned the place.
Worst of all were its eyes: any spider that met its gaze died instantly.
They even felt a natural, instinctive fear in its presence—like this serpent had been created for the sole purpose of hunting them.
The giant spiders were horrified and confused.
They were descendants of the dark god Ungoliant—how could they have a natural predator?
But the basilisk didn't care what they thought. It became death itself—cutting down all in its path, its bright golden eyes flashing deadly glances that sent them to the afterlife.
Many fled in terror, refusing to meet its gaze.
Some even destroyed their own uncloseable eyes, hoping to escape the serpent's death gaze.
Even blinded, spiders could still move using the fine hairs and sensory organs on their legs, so their eyes weren't essential.
But this plan failed too.
While Herpo's gaze couldn't harm blind spiders, it had another weapon—its venom.
The basilisk's venom was among the most lethal poisons in the world, capable of killing almost instantly. Even the most powerful wizards would be hard-pressed to survive without immediate, specialized treatment.
Its venom was also highly corrosive and destructive—powerful enough to destroy Horcruxes.
Only the tears of a phoenix could cure it—and no phoenix existed in this world. The venom was thus virtually incurable, except perhaps by Elrond, bearer of Vilya, the Ring of Air and the greatest healer in Middle-earth. For anyone else, a bite meant certain death.
Herpo caught up to fleeing spiders, biting them one by one—just a drop of venom was enough to kill them instantly.
The basilisk rampaged through the lair, unstoppable.
Terrified spiders fled wildly, many abandoning the forest entirely. But the moment they emerged from the lair, they met the waiting elven army and were pierced by countless arrows.
While Herpo wreaked havoc inside, the elves outside waited like patient hunters.
Every moment, more panicked spiders burst out, as if the serpent within was more terrifying than the elves outside.
Soon, the ground outside the lair was piled high with hundreds—if not thousands—of spider corpses.
Luke busied himself like a worker bee, collecting venom before the spiders fully died and storing their bodies in his dimensional bag—showing no concern at all for the basilisk's safety inside.
But before Luke and the elves could continue their ambush, the spider leader could wait no longer.
A sharp, piercing screech rang out from deep within the lair.
A colossal spider burst forth, its body the size of a house. Its eight legs were like massive, spear-sharp spines lined with barbs, capable of tearing a man apart with ease.
This one dwarfed all others, taller than the surrounding trees.
"It's the spider queen, Senatha!" Radagast cried, his face changing.
"Prepare for battle!" Thranduil ordered gravely.
The spider queen seemed furious, as if chasing something toward them.
"Herpo's coming back! Everyone close your eyes!" Luke suddenly sensed something and shouted loudly.
The elves obeyed at once, closing their eyes, though their bows still aimed unerringly at the queen.
A moment later, Herpo emerged from the tunnel, looking slightly worse for wear.
It quickly slithered to Luke and hid behind him, complaining:
"Master, the big tasty one chased me! It's too big—I can't beat it!"
Luke looked up at the spider queen and noticed her eyes were covered in webbing—no wonder she wasn't afraid of the basilisk's gaze.
Herpo was still a juvenile, shorter than one of her legs, so it was no surprise it had been driven back. The queen exuded powerful dark energy, her fangs bared, locking onto Luke and the elves even without sight.
"Elves, you will all die here today, and become food for my children!" the queen hissed coldly. "And you, little snake—I will tear you apart myself!"
Her ability to speak startled everyone.
As she appeared, tens of thousands of giant spiders poured from the lair, surrounding the group on all sides.
Hearing the queen's hatred for Herpo, Luke couldn't help asking the basilisk, "What exactly did you do in there to make her hate you so much?"
Herpo answered proudly, "I found the hatching chamber—so many eggs! So I poisoned them all!"
Luke laughed, patting its head. "Well done! I'll reward you with one giant spider a day from now on."
Herpo brightened, then quickly added, "Master, when you leave, be sure to take all the ones I killed! I got hundreds! And don't forget the eggs—they're my favorite snacks!"
"Fine, I won't forget," Luke promised helplessly. "Now stop talking and deal with those spiders—and don't hurt the elves, or there'll be no snacks for you!"
At Luke's command, Herpo charged the spiders with renewed ferocity.
This time, it kept its eyes shut near elves and only opened them against spiders.
The battle was fierce: the spiders outnumbered the elves, and the queen was monstrously strong. Her armor-like hide resisted arrows, and even spells from Legolas and the others did little damage.
She spewed poison gas that not only harmed but also caused hallucinations and dizziness. Even with the Bubblehead Charm protecting their heads, the gas seeped through their skin over time.
The queen also possessed powerful mental illusions, luring victims into dreamlike states and disrupting their senses.
Against such a foe, Thranduil, Radagast, and Luke all fought at full strength.
Leaping from his elk, Thranduil drew his elven blade, scaled the queen's legs with agility, and plunged his sword deep into her vulnerable abdomen.
The queen shrieked, thrashing to throw him off.
Radagast struck at her legs with his staff, the blow so forceful that she staggered and toppled.
Luke, gripping his staff, poured magic into a dazzling spell:
"Scourgify!"
The powerful cleaning charm instantly cleared away all the queen's poison gas—and stripped the webbing from her eyes.
"Herpo—look at her eyes!" Luke hissed in Parseltongue.
Realizing her sight had returned, the queen sensed danger.
But in the next instant, she found herself staring straight into the basilisk's deadly golden gaze.
Seeing the pair of yellow vertical eyes, Spider Queen Senasa looked on in despair.
"No!" a sharp scream tearing from her. The Spider Queen instantly collapsed to the ground, her reluctance palpable. Her densely packed eyes, now covered with a dull film, grew dim. Her breath became shallow, her immense form weakening rapidly.
"Huh? Not dead yet!" Luke raised his eyebrows, surprised. The Spider Queen was still alive after looking into the Basilisk Herpo's deadly eyes! Could it be that because Herpo the Basilisk was still young, its Death Gaze's power wasn't strong enough? Luke could only speculate. Yet, it spoke volumes about the Spider Queen's formidable power. After all, other spiders would die instantly from the Basilisk's stare.
Seeing that the Spider Queen still clung to life, Luke had no intention of granting her a reprieve. He immediately summoned his divine spear, Aegros, and thrust it forcefully into the Spider Queen's head. The sharp spearhead effortlessly pierced her defenses, then erupted with a destructive force, shattering the Spider Queen's body into a pulpy mess. The Spider Queen died instantly, utterly vanquished.
Thranduil looked at the spear in Luke's hand, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes. "It is said that no one can withstand the spear of Gil-galad and the sword of Elendil," he mused. "Today I see that Aegros and Narsil are indeed worthy of such reputations!" The standing of the divine spear Aegros among the elves was akin to that of the holy sword Narsil among humans. It was no wonder Thranduil was envious of such a magical weapon, a testament to the supreme craftsmanship of the Noldor elves.
However, at this moment, Luke and the others had no time to dwell on Divine Spear Aegros. With the Spider Queen's death, the other giant spiders immediately became leaderless, falling into chaos and scattering in panic. Naturally, the elf warriors seized this opportunity, giving chase and cutting them down. As for some of the giant spiders that managed to flee back to the spider's nest, Luke simply instructed the Basilisk Herpo to hunt them down or force them out into the open.
Thranduil watched the giant spiders flee in terror as the Basilisk pursued them, and could not help but sigh to Luke: "I truly don't know how you managed to cultivate such a powerful and dangerous creature. It's so potent at such a young age. When it grows up, I'm afraid it will be a creature as formidable as a dragon!"
"Your Majesty Thranduil, thank you for the compliment!" Luke smiled and shook his head. He knew his own business. The Basilisk looked incredibly fearsome and dangerous, with its deadly eyes and unpredictable venom. But in reality, it possessed a very fatal weakness: the crowing of a rooster. A rooster's crow could make a Basilisk flee in panic, and prolonged crowing could inflict fatal damage upon it. Like the thousand-year-old Basilisk in Slytherin's Chamber, even after living for so long, it still feared the crowing of roosters, to the point of compelling Voldemort's soul, possessing Ginny Weasley, to kill the rooster raised by Hagrid.
Therefore, until the Basilisk's fatal flaw of fearing rooster crowing was resolved, it remained a vulnerable creature, no match for a true dragon. Luke truly wished he could consult Saruman on this point. He remembered that after Saruman's blatant betrayal, he had specifically bred orcs who were not afraid of sunlight. If Saruman were to come, he might be able to find a way to remedy the Basilisk's shortcomings. By then, a flawless Basilisk would indeed be a powerful weapon.
The elven warriors spent a day and a night relentlessly pursuing the fleeing giant spiders in the dark forest. Except for a few giant spiders that managed to escape beyond the forest's boundaries, all others were utterly annihilated. The giant spiders remaining in the spider's nest were either killed by the Basilisk Herpo or dealt with by the elves after being forced out of their lair. In this way, Mirkwood finally and completely belonged to the Woodland Kingdom once again. Thranduil was overjoyed by this victory and announced that he would hold a grand banquet to celebrate their triumph upon returning.
However, before the army's return, Thranduil, to express his gratitude for Luke and the Basilisk Herpo's assistance, specifically instructed the elven warriors to collect all the corpses of the giant spiders and hand them over to Luke. Under Herpo's guidance, Luke followed the intricate spider web passages into the spider's main lair.
He then placed the giant spider corpses scattered everywhere into his space bag. The spider's nest was vast, like an enormous maze. Luke navigated it for a long time, meticulously collecting all the giant spider corpses, until he finally arrived at the spider's hatching place.
In the room, the spider hatchery was a very large underground cave, completely covered in spider webs. Inside were huge, silk-woven egg sacs, each filled with tens of thousands of densely packed spider eggs. Luke couldn't help but gasp at such an enormous number. If these spider eggs had been allowed to hatch, the population of giant spiders would have exploded, which would undoubtedly have been a disaster for the entire Mirkwood!
However, these spider eggs had now been thoroughly poisoned by the venom of the Basilisk Herpo. Each egg sac had been bitten by Herpo, and a drop of venom injected. Although it was just a single drop, the venom's potency, once evaporated within the egg sac, directly killed all the spider eggs. Even Luke couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Herpo's ruthless efficiency. Truly poisonous! No wonder the Spider Queen was so furious and wanted to eliminate it.
Luke collected all the spider eggs, preserving them with a freezing spell, partly as a snack for Herpo, and partly to explore their potential for potion-making. By the time Luke had packed all the giant spider corpses, several space bags were already full. The giant spider's venom also filled dozens of barrels, most of which had been collected for him by the elves. The body of the Spider Queen, Senasa, was especially precious, and he placed it in a separate bag.
He also extracted and preserved the Spider Queen's nerves. This was an excellent material for making wand cores, particularly wands biased towards offensive and dark magic. Although he couldn't use it personally, it satisfied his collecting habit as a staff maker.
After all these matters were dealt with, Luke and the others returned triumphantly with the elven army. The elves held a grand celebration banquet. Luke, Elrohir, Elladan, and Arwen all became Thranduil's honored guests.
Luke, in particular, was seated at the same table with Thranduil himself. "Luke, today, thanks to you and your pet Basilisk, we were able to achieve such a great victory and reclaim all of Mirkwood. The Woodland Kingdom and I are deeply grateful for this!" Thranduil raised his glass and happily toasted Luke. "A toast to you! A toast to our greatest friend!" The other elves were also smiling, and they all toasted Luke from afar with respectful eyes.
Luke raised his glass and saluted, "Your Majesty Thranduil, you are too kind! Everyone present today, including the elven warriors, has made significant contributions! We should all salute you!" Hearing this, Thranduil looked even more appreciative.
The banquet lasted for a whole month. Finally, Luke politely declined Thranduil's repeated requests to stay and returned to Weathertop with Arwen, Elrohir, and Elladan. As for Legolas, he stayed in the Woodland Kingdom for the time being. Now that the giant spiders of Mirkwood had been destroyed and the southern forests reclaimed, the Woodland Kingdom needed to address many issues, such as the migration of forces to the south and the restoration of the southern forests.
As the heir to the Woodland Kingdom, Legolas needed to stay with Thranduil and handle things together, meaning he couldn't return to Weathertop in the short term.
Returning to Hogwarts Castle, Luke finally breathed a sigh of relief. Elves, with their eternal lives, saw no issue with holding a month-long banquet, but Luke felt a little exhausted. Arwen went to the treehouse in the garden to see the young eagle Thorondor, while Elrohir and Elladan headed to the library to read magic books.
After meeting the butler Edward, Luke went alone to the cellar where Smaug resided. Smelling Luke's scent, Smaug instantly woke from his slumber, looking at Luke warily. His massive body instinctively blocked most of his treasure, as if a robber had arrived. Just when he was about to lament his poverty, Luke interrupted the words that were about to come from his throat.
"Okay, I'm not here to ask for money this time!" Luke rolled his eyes at him. "On the contrary, I'm here to give you money this time!" Hearing Luke's words, Smaug immediately swallowed his complaints and looked at him suspiciously.
"Truly?"
"Indeed." As he said that, Luke took out a space bag and poured its contents out. In an instant, many dazzling gems and diamonds flowed out, piling up into a small hill as high as Luke himself. These were the gems given by Thranduil as a thank you for helping to reclaim Mirkwood.
Seeing so many jewels, Smaug's attitude changed instantly. He showered Luke with flattery, praising him to the skies, while subtly moving all the jewels towards his own hoard. Luke didn't concern himself with the behavior of this greedy dragon and turned to leave the cellar.
He first went to the potion room and refrigerated the giant spider venom and some spider eggs he had collected. Then, he went directly to the 30th floor in the middle of the tower and used the Traces Extension Spell to expand a room countless times, making it the size of several football fields. After some further arrangement, it transformed into a small giant spider's nest covered with spider webs.
Luke waved his wand, keeping the entire room dimly lit, with only the moonlight providing some light. He then placed a giant spider egg bag containing spider eggs into the nest and waited for them to hatch slowly. After doing all this, he left the room, locking the door with magic and concealing it. This place would serve as a breeding ground for giant spiders in the future, later becoming a food reserve for the Basilisk Herpo, as well as a collection site for giant spider venom.
Then, he went to the innermost wall of the second floor and spoke "open" in Parseltongue to the small silver snake pattern on the wall. The silver snake instantly came to life, bit its own tail, and transformed into a snake-shaped door knocker. Luke pulled the door knocker, and the entrance to a hidden room was revealed.
Opening the door, Luke walked inside, which was a space as large as a football field. Luke waved his wand and poured out all the giant spider corpses from several space bags. Soon, the corpses of the giant spiders piled up into a mountain. Luke used his wand to carve runes on the surrounding walls, and as magic power was injected, the entire space became cold. He then walked straight to the wall opposite the door and said "Open" again in Parseltongue to a larger silver snake pattern.
The silver snake coiled around the wall to form a circle and bit its own tail, then transformed into a circular stone door and opened automatically, revealing a huge pipe leading to the bottom. Luke did not continue down the pipe, as below was a secret room that Luke had opened specifically for the Basilisk, located deep inside the mountain. He took the suitcase containing the Basilisk Herpo out of the space bag and opened it. A somewhat bloated Basilisk crawled out of the box, its distended belly almost getting stuck in the exit.
"Master, it's so cold!" The Basilisk Herpo burped and shivered from the air conditioning in the room. Luke looked at the stuffed Herpo and was a little speechless. He pointed at the mountain of giant spider corpses around him and said, "When you're hungry in the future, just come to this room and get food. Okay?" The Basilisk looked at the mountain of delicious food and immediately slapped its tail on the ground in joy.
There was so much food, enough for it to eat for a long time. And as it ate more, it would shed its skin faster, growing bigger and stronger. After settling the Basilisk, Luke left the secret room. The door of the room disappeared again, leaving only a small, easily overlooked silver snake on the wall.