The sounds reaching his ears were surprisingly crisp and childlike, almost… coquettish.
Why did his auditory hallucinations seem even worse now?
Had he simply banged his head too many times underground, scrambling his brain? Or had the invisible mental attacks from the infant-faced fish somehow harmed his mind?
Albert shook his head, trying to dispel the strange noises.
He cautiously turned toward the massive black shape advancing from the front of the tunnel, almost thinking he was facing yet another calamity on top of the misfortune already raining down on him.
But the target of the swarm seemed not to be him—or rather, the swarm was not attacking him.
A tiny black spider suddenly leapt from the ground, soaring over Albert's head.
On its abdomen was a white marking that hadn't fully developed yet:
Because it was so small, the marking hadn't matured into the ghastly face found on an adult female—it looked more like a crumpled little flower.
