"That took longer than expected..."
William collapsed onto a bench in Mifflinburg's central park in Pennsylvania. Getting there from Vermont would take him nine hours by car, which meant another nine hours back.
Thanks to William's second Principalis form, the six-winged Fury was able to get there in just an hour and a half of flight, covering a total of more than 600 kilometres with only brief rest stops along the way.
His flight speed was faster than that of a peregrine falcon, the world's fastest bird in a dive, and with each ring of the beasts, William's principal forms grew stronger. Now his Fury form had an extra pair of wings and could control its size at will.
"Eight missing since the 12th... According to Professor Orloff, it is a harmless species but with a powerful corrosive poison. Let's hope this has nothing to do with the other thing."
William had travelled from the academy to this small town at the request of Professor Orloff. An old friend of the professor's was ready to retire and wanted someone well-versed in supernatural biology to take care of his friend when he could no longer do so.
"Three streets to the right and then straight ahead..."
William munched on a doughnut as he looked at a map of the entire area on the large screen of his tablet.
(When Professor Orloff asked me to collect a specimen for him, I thought I would have something to hunt, but now it turns out I'm just a messenger, picking up and delivering).
William complained mentally, although it made sense; Professor Orloff would not endanger the life of one of his students.
"Are you going to the old church on the outskirts? I don't recommend it."
An elderly woman stood in front of the handsome young man sitting elegantly and looked at the device he was holding in his hand.
Before proceeding to give a warning, she hugged the blanket she was wearing tightly.
"Eight people have disappeared this month. The devil who devours our souls lives there!"
The woman's tone of voice became increasingly agitated, and she took a step forward, her hands reaching out to hold William's shoulders.
"Enough, Mum. Those are unfounded rumours. You know that only Father Blann lives in that old church."
said a young man in a scolding tone as he hugged his mother and took a few steps back with her. Apparently, he had followed his mother to the park after she ran away from home.
"I'm sorry, son, she's a little confused. We'll take her to Erie with us this month. Maybe the sea breeze will do her good."
William just smiled and nodded.
"I just have one question. Do you know those guys?"
"Who? Those over there? It's the first time I've seen them, but they don't look like good people."
The man followed William's gaze. Just across the street, a large black 4x4 truck had stopped to fill up with petrol. The men, dressed in camouflage and military boots, were carrying large-calibre weapons in broad daylight.
"Let's go, Mum. I suggest you do the same."
"This is no place for someone like you."
"Outcast?"
William tilted his head doubtfully at the young man's words, his blond hair fluttering to one side.
"Someone rich
- Petrol station -
"Hey Boby, did you bring what I asked for?"
"The bottled lightning. It cost me 50 grand, so I hope it's worth it."
"I'm telling you, those rich folks will pay well for something of this calibre."
Boby leaned against his van as he took a deep drag on his cigarette.
"That's not the problem. We'll have to capture it alive. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
Ashton threw his cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his boot.
"I've done it before, and with this equipment, it'll be even easier."
(It was a mushroom with legs, but an insect should be just as easy.)
Aston thought as he watched an old lady covered in a blanket and a young man walk away, seemingly in a hurry to get out of there.
"Remind me again what we're hunting? Some kind of insect, right?"
A third person joined the conversation, sitting in the back seat of the van, deftly placing each bullet in his magazine, taking them out of the cardboard box on the seat.
"It's called the Crypta Spider. It's been spotted hunting cats in this area."
"I hate spiders. They have too many legs."
Cody said, adjusting his belt with three magazines completely filled with 5.56 mm rounds.
"Wake Henry up, the place my contact gave me is close, and take off your badge, it'll be a problem if someone doesn't recognise you later."
Aston put his iridescent mica tactical goggles back on and got back into the driver's seat. Cody soon did the same after throwing his cigarette into the water bucket used to clean the windscreen.
"Right away, boss."
Cody ripped off the Velcro strip attached to his shoulder. The large letters SWAT revealed the origin of this group of five men.
The entire conversation was overheard by the crow hidden among the leaves of a nearby tree.
- 30 Minutes Later - Outside Town -
"All right, the plan is simple. We go down, find the creature, and Cody, you'll be in charge of firing the bottled lightning."
"We've done this thousands of times in every drug raid, assault, or hostage situation. Just add a huge creature to the mix, and it'll be the same job as always."
Ashton already had all his gear ready: pistol, assault rifle, bulletproof vest, and climbing belt.
They would descend more than ten metres underground through a small crack. Ashton had paid a good amount of money to an information dealer for the possible location of an unusual beast. For months, the demand for beasts and their prices had skyrocketed. Rumours in the underworld were that next year there would be a large-scale auction for the cream of the crop of the wealthy world.
His squad also wanted a piece of the action. The Knive Auction House opened a special section for the acquisition of this type of goods by private individuals.
"Henry, is the cage ready?"
"Yes, sir, cage hooked up and ready to descend first."
Henry, a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks, stood up and walked to the hole while putting on his night vision goggles.
The cage in question was a square made of transparent acrylic with metal reinforcements and multiple locks.
The ropes creaked as each member of the team descended, one after the other.
Ten metres below, the darkness was absolute and dust filled the air.
*Ding!!!*
The night vision goggles activated and a green-tinted view appeared before Ashton's eyes.
"In formation, Cody in the centre and get ready."
Everyone quickly surrounded Cody and raised their weapons, each point around them had to be watched by a member of the team.
The team advanced in an arrowhead formation, deeper and deeper into the stone crypt that was once just a cave, cobwebs and empty stone coffins everywhere.
*Shhh!!!*
The sudden sound of multiple legs scurrying quickly across the stone walls caused the team to stop and tighten their grip on their weapons.
"Gryyyy!!!"
The first spider in the crypt lurked in the doorway and let out a terrifying screech, its eight long legs increasing in speed as it snapped its chelicerae, a pair of appendages that spiders use to tear their prey apart.
"Too small, fire!!!'
Ashton gave the order. The specimen in front of them was too small, barely the size of a cat. They only had a cage capable of withstanding an unusual beast and a bottled lightning bolt to immobilise it
The photos provided as evidence by their contact showed a larger specimen.
*Prrrrrrr!!*
The long cannons fired short bursts. Having four machine guns pointing in one direction and its surroundings left no room for the spider to escape.
The bullets shattered its legs and pierced its head, bursting its ten red eyes.
"Cease fire, reload!"
(That was rubbish, it's scarier in person!)
Boby's hands felt heavy, unconsciously emptying the twenty-five-round magazine into the first spider they saw running towards them.
None of the men wasted any time. It was the first time they had encountered anything like this, and they panicked a little. Each of them had limited ammunition, and wasting it like this was a bad idea.
"Wasn't the objective to capture the specimen?"
"The images show a larger one, and we only have one immobilisation grenade."
Ashton replied. He was the only one who hadn't used up all his bullets; he still had about ten left in his weapons. This wasn't a video game, and bullets were limited.
Cody squeezed the glass bottle hanging from his chest. The lightning trapped inside seemed angry as blue sparks and flashes were constantly released in an attempt to break the small bottle, which was about the size of a soda can.
"Aren't you very quiet, Mikel?"
Henry turned to look at his fifth friend, who was covering the rear, the big guy with Asian features who had been in the unit the longest, to the point that everyone already knew his 15-year-old daughter, Gaby.
"Hey, Mikel!"
Henry stepped forward to grab Mikel by the shoulder with his hand and turn his body towards him when he got no response.
"Jesus Christ!"
Thousands of transparent silk threads had surrounded his body from head to toe, clinging tightly to him and anchoring him in place with threads attached to the walls.
Henry acted immediately, pulling out his combat knife and trying to cut the silk, but the sharp blade only bounced off with a metallic sound.
"Cody, throw the grenade!!!"
Ashton gave the order immediately when he happened to look up above everyone. The silver silk threads were a large web woven right above their heads.
And the owner of this web was watching them from above with its fifteen eyes. The five main eyes looked uneasily into the darkness behind them, and the ten secondary eyes paid attention to every movement of the SWAT team below.
Before Cody could throw the grenade, a thin silk thread as thick as a hair wrapped around his shoulder and tightened, completely severing Cody's arm from the shoulder.
"Arggg!!!"
Cody screamed in pain and clutched his wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
Henry, Bobby, and Ashton raised their weapons at once, their bursts of gunfire aimed at a single spot above their heads.
The spider began to run at full speed across the ceiling, dodging the shots.
The men needed no orders. They formed a triangle with their backs together and walked while firing at the ceiling. The plan was simple: cut off the escape route of the spider, which was the size of a German shepherd, and riddle its body with bullets.
*Prrrrrrr!!*
Before they had to reload, a section of the ceiling cracked right where the spider had placed its legs, forcing it to remain still to stabilise its body and not fall to the ground.
(You're ours!!!)
That's what Ashton thought, and the three assault rifles aimed at the same spot at once.
*Rrrrrrr*
Aware of its situation, the spider let out a sound similar to a cat purring.
The eight long legs covered with pointed hairs curled around the spider's body, the goal being to protect its torso by sacrificing its legs.