The sounds disappeared then Riven turned towards Forest Princess and remarked.
"I thought you said it was safe?"
The Forest Princess put her hands on her hips and said.
"I did but what can I do if the beast chooses to hide from me in fear when I was scouting the area?"
Riven didn't reply; instead, he took a few steps towards the tunnel and then turned towards Null, saying.
"Let's go."
Null grabbed his hand and said.
"What are you doing? You won't know how you will get killed in the dark."
Riven frowned, he replied calmly.
"So what am I even supposed to do?"
Null didn't reply; instead, he took something out of his pocket and handed it over to Riven's palm. Riven stared at his palm, and there was a very small, black, bead-like object.
He stared at Null and asked.
"What is this?"
Null said calmly.
"Channel your mana into it."
Riven frowned and said.
"You haven't…"
Null cut him off and said.
"Don't question, just do what I said. I don't want to waste too much time."
Riven's frown deepened but even he was in a hurry and he didn't want to waste time so he did what Null told him to do. He channeled mana into the bead — it started to glow and then expand rapidly.
As it expanded, his eyes narrowed since it began to take on the shape of a very familiar object. By the time it stopped expanding, a mask similar to the one they wore rested on his palm.
Then Null's voice echoed through his ears.
"Wear this, it has a special enchantment that allows you to see in the dark."
Riven's eyes narrowed — so the mask that they wore had a function and was not entirely a fashion choice. He put the mask on — immediately his vision changed. When he looked inside the tunnel, the darkness was gone, and he could see clearly now.
Satisfied, Riven walked into the tunnel — and this time no one stopped him. Null, Gravitor, and Forest Princess followed. Within a heartbeat, Null had pushed ahead of him.
By the time they were inside the tunnel, darkness had completely swallowed them but due to the enchantment of the mask, everything was crystal clear to him.
The tunnel was straight so they continued walking forward.
As Riven walked, he heard the sound of drops of some liquid falling to the ground. He wasn't sure what it was so he turned around and saw drops of blood falling to the ground.
He tilted his head and froze. Above him was a colossal network of webs of spiders stretching as far as the eye could see. Just above the place where blood was dropping, there was a mutilated corpse of a bird that was being devoured by dozens of spiders above it.
Worse, the spiders weren't small — they were enormous, bigger than horses. As his eyes remained fixated on it, a voice echoed through his ears.
"What's wrong with you kid?"
Riven said nothing. He just pointed his finger towards the roof and when everyone saw it they also became still for a moment before Forest Princess broke the silence.
"Wow! There are so many insects for me to squash under my feet."
Riven turned towards her and just said.
"You didn't do your job properly."
The Forest Princess put her two hands on her hips and said.
"Why are you blaming me! What can I do if they choose to hide away from me?"
Riven snarled and said.
"Are you blind! How did you not see such a colossal network despite the enchantment of the mask!"
Gravitor glared at him and exclaimed.
"I think I warned you during our first meeting… No one speaks to her like that!"
Just then Null's voice cut through them.
"Silence everyone… we need to think about how to deal with these Devil Beast species."
Forest Princess asked, her voice quiet.
"Devil Beast species?"
Null nodded and Riven looked at everyone in confusion. He asked.
"What are Devil beast species?"
Null replied.
"Beasts that have the highest potential to become Awakened or reach the rank beyond are Devil Beasts. As for the Devil Beast species, it's much more dangerous…"
Null paused and added a heartbeat later.
"A species with multiple Awakened individuals among its kind in a single nest is known as the Devil Species. These spiders are called Mountain Demon Spiders, and according to the records in our empire's library, they are one of them."
Riven's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the sound of that so he asked.
"That means there could be multiple Awakened beasts among them?"
Null just nodded his head as he stared above him and said.
"'Could' is the wrong word. You should use 'are' instead."
That meant there could be dozens of Awakened Beasts or even those of a higher rank in this nest and if they met them… things wouldn't end well for them.
As they pondered what to do, the spiders noticed them, and most of the spiders glared at them while some began to gather above them.
Then the spiders unleashed a volley of silk — Riven jumped right, left, forward, barely clearing each thread. Above, rocks tore through the air, slamming into the spiders one after another, dropping them to the ground howling.
He glanced at Gravitor and his body was glowing — he was attacking the spiders. Then Null's voice echoed through the tunnel.
"Don't do anything, I don't want us to get stuck here for long."
Then the rocks floating above them fell to the ground and then Gravitor shouted, his voice carrying a sense of urgency.
"So what should we do?"
Null replied in an emotionless tone as his body began to glow.
"Nothing. Leave everything to me."
Null's body began to glow. He looked up at the spiders — then a pressure swept through the tunnel. A second later, every spider dropped from the ceiling and slammed into the ground.
Then Null dashed straight ahead, his voice echoing throughout the cave.
"Follow me! Don't get left behind if you don't want to die."
A chill ran down Riven's spine but he didn't waste a second instead he ran as fast as his legs allowed and followed Null. Gravitor and Forest Princess did the same.
As they ran, he saw the spiders that were above them slamming onto the ground. The spiders weren't dead — their body still trembled and twitched violently.
He looked at Null. Only a single word appeared in his head.
"This man is dangerous."