They continued advancing through the tunnel. A moment later, Null came to a sudden halt and so did the entire group.
Riven looked ahead and saw a massive spider web crawling with spiders blocking their path. The spiders turned toward them but then every spider dropped to the ground, bodies twitching, legs still moving.
Then Null glanced at Riven and said.
"You are the only one with a sword. Cut it down and make it quick."
Riven didn't say a word. He walked towards a big spider web blocking their path, took out his sword from his waist, and gripped it tightly.
Then he launched a barrage of strikes at the spider webs with his sword but every time the sword just bounced off. Frowning, he continued striking, but he couldn't succeed, no matter how he tried.
He halted his attacks, glanced at Null, and said.
"The string is too strong. It's not…"
Before he could finish Gravitor snatched his sword then using Riven's sword Gravitor struck the strings. The sword passed through the string with ease which Riven couldn't do with multiple strikes. Within a few strikes, the spider web lay on the ground.
Gravitor glanced at him and tossed back his sword. Riven caught it and sheathed it back. Gravitor said.
"You just don't know how to use a sword, kid."
Riven said nothing; instead, he stared at the spiders lying on the ground and mumbled.
"I will have to train later… if I want to stand a chance of saving my sister."
Then a faint clinking echoed from the darkness ahead. Something moved in the darkness and then he heard what he believed was a liquid flowing through one's body like blood.
Null looked back at them and said.
"Brace yourself for combat. Awakened spiders are approaching and I don't know how many."
A beam of string shot towards them. Null pulled him to the side. Riven looked at where he was standing, the beam of string had struck the ground, forming a huge crater where they stood.
He looked in front of him and saw four colossal spiders, their size much larger than the spiders he had seen earlier. Their entire body was as black as coal itself and a pressure spread across the entire tunnel.
"Stay here. We will take care of it."
Null looked at Gravitor, Forest Princess, and remarked.
"Help me kill them quickly."
Forest Princess laughed sinisterly and exclaimed.
"Don't worry — I will rip their flesh, brains, and bones out then feed it to the other spider in this tunnel."
Then Riven saw Null's aura flare up. Afterwards, the four spiders' movement became a little clumsy and they slowed down.
The rocks around them rose and slammed into their bodies. Gravitor's hand glowed, sweeping right to left, left to right — controlling them.
While Forest Princess took out seeds from her pockets and spread them across the ground. She only uttered a single word.
"Grow."
In an instant, the seed sprouted into a tall and thick root which shot towards the spiders. It tried to wrap tightly around the body of a spider but the spider moved so quickly that it was difficult to keep an eye on it let alone catch it.
And while they fought, countless string threads suddenly shot toward Riven. He jumped right, left, rolled forward, and back. He glanced and saw an Awakened Spider was upon him.
Null saw this and exclaimed.
"Just try to stay alive."
Riven didn't say a word instead he kept dodging for as long as possible. But then he failed and the strings wrapped tightly around his body. He tried to expand his arms to break free but nothing worked.
Then the spider moved from where it came from in a blur — too fast to follow. As the spiders moved, the threads attached to his body and mouth yanked him left, right, into the ground.
Slowly his entire body was covered with blood and he felt his bones had also broken.
After a while, the spider threw him into a large web ahead and went back to the fight. Riven looked around him and saw hundreds of horse-sized spiders crawling towards him.
A few reached him and bit down on his body, trying to tear him from limb to limb. But he twisted his arms and legs in an effort to break free.
No matter how hard he tried, he failed and a curse escaped his mouth as pain exploded throughout his body.
"Fuck you!!"
He glanced in front of him and the others weren't visible; only the faint sound of battle far away reached his ears.
Riven's expression hardened and he mumbled.
"I can use The Cage technique."
No one would see him so he could use it without the chance of others knowing the true extent of his powers.
So he channeled his mana throughout his body and his body began to glow. The golden aura began to expand until it had swallowed all the spiders that he could see.
A heartbeat later, golden chains manifested all around him, and even before the spider could react. The chains charged towards them but the spiders weren't so easy to get hold of.
The majority of the spiders scrambled and ran, getting as far away from him as possible. But a few spider shot string towards the chains and some even tried to destroy them with their legs.
Not only did they fail miserably but chains also wrapped tightly around their bodies. A few minutes later, their bodies exploded with a brilliant golden light.
And when the light cleared. He saw the spiders engulfed in a golden aura, chains wrapped tightly around their bodies as they stared at him with their eyes hollow of any intelligence.
Their sense of self no longer existed.
They had become his subjects.
So he commanded them.
"Get me off this web string."
The spiders showed no sign of hesitation, they crawled towards him and started to bite down on the strings with their own teeth. A heartbeat later, the strings loosened and he fell to the ground.
Then Riven looked around him and saw dozens of spiders engulfed in a golden aura, chains wrapped tightly around their bodies staring at him in submission. He looked at their eyes and there was no hint of emotion in them.
"I have to store them in my domain."
But before he could react, something rushed past—too fast to follow—followed by a heavy thud, a sickening krrrch, and the wet rip of flesh, ending in a slow, viscous sound.
Then came the whispers of the strange system.
(Your subject has been killed.)
(Your subject has been killed.)
(Your subject has been killed.)
Riven's eyes narrowed as he said.
"Another Awakened Spider is approaching."