A strong scent of blood assaulted Riven's nose. He covered his nose with his hand as he stared in front of him.
Ahead of them was an Awakened Spider that had thrown him into its web of string; a few of its dozen legs were sunk deep into the body of a spider, which was his subject.
The golden aura engulfing the spider had disappeared; the chains wrapped around it had snapped, and blood poured out freely forming a pool of blood beneath them.
These three subjects were dead. There was no doubt about it. He looked around him as he mumbled.
"I still have more."
Nearly a dozen spiders clung to the ceiling, engulfed in a golden aura, watching him in submission — more to his left and right, all waiting for his command. He also had the wolf and the Archer, ready to pull from the domain at any moment.
This cave was practically crawling with these spiders and with how easy it was to seal their consciousness and make them his subjects — loss of a few weak spiders was insignificant to him.
Just then the Awakened spider let out a howl and rushed towards him, its legs were too fast for him to follow. So he manifested more golden chains, this time they manifested between his palms.
Then he threw the chains towards the Awakened Spider and as the chains traveled, they kept getting larger and larger with each passing second. The spider moved in a zig-zag pattern, dodging the incoming chains.
And when the chains were inches away from wrapping tightly around the spider's body, the spider shot a web string to the ceiling. Then using the web of string, the Awakened Spider pulled itself to the ceiling.
But the golden chains automatically adjusted their paths and continued following the spider as if the chains possessed a mind of their own.
Riven let go of the chains then he looked above him and saw his spider subjects. He commanded them.
"Attack him."
The spiders obeyed. The spiders shot a string towards the Awakened Spider, but it easily dodged all attacks. Due to the chains that followed it, the creature couldn't attack his subjects.
A heartbeat later, the golden chains wrapped tightly around one of the legs of the spider. It caused the spider to lose its balance and plummet down to the ground with a banging sound.
In response, Riven manifested more chains and threw them towards the Awakened Spider. He also pulled his sword out and charged forward. An opening was created which he couldn't let slide — he was going to kill it or seal it and make it his subject.
A heartbeat later, the Awakened Spider threw some liquid towards the chains charging towards it with its mouth. The liquid slammed onto the golden chains and immediately it started to melt.
At first, the golden chains appeared to turn into a golden liquid. However, a heartbeat later, it started to dissipate into countless small glowing golden sparks of light.
And by the time the chains got close to the spider, the chains had already dissipated into countless small sparks of golden light.
Riven's eyes narrowed and then the spider also threw some liquid towards him, so he quickly dodged by jumping to his right. He turned around to where the liquid had landed and his eyes narrowed.
Anything in the area where the liquid had landed was no more. It had turned into a stinky substance. Riven observed it for a moment and mumbled.
"That liquid is a deadly acid."
As he looked ahead, he saw the spider throwing acid onto the chain wrapped around its leg. The golden chains first loosened then snapped into two falling to the ground.
Then the Awakened Spider shot a lot of acid towards him. He dodged by jumping high in the air but the spider immediately shot a beam of string towards him. It immediately clung to one of his legs and he felt the Awakened Spider pulling.
But before the Awakened Spider could finish, something latched onto his back and yanked him backward.
He turned around and saw dozens of his spider subjects clinging to the ceiling, threads running from his back to their mouth, pulling him toward them.
Riven shouted and said.
"Nice job! Keep pulling."
The opposing pulls from both sides canceled each other out, making it seem as though he were floating in the sky.
Left with no choice, Riven launched a barrage of strikes to break the string attached to his legs but every time the sword hit the string, it just bounced off.
Gritting his teeth, he manifested more chains and threw them towards the Awakened Spider. In response, the Awakened Spider detached the string from its mouth and attached to walls of the tunnel and then it shot acid towards the golden chains.
The golden chains melted and disappeared. Then the spider shot acid at him.
He looked around him — he saw a spider engulfed in a golden aura and chains wrapped tightly around its body standing on the ground near the Awakened Spider silently.
So Riven commanded.
"Block the acid with your body…"
The spider showed no hesitation whatsoever. It jumped straight between the Awakened Spider and Riven then the acid hit the spider.
Then the spider slammed onto the ground and twisted in pain as multiple burnt marks appeared on its body. It was still alive but just barely.
Riven paid no attention and mumbled.
"Maybe I should summon my only Awakened subject… The Wolf."
After all, he couldn't break free on his own — and he wasn't willing to lose more spider subjects. It was the only choice.
As he thought about what to do next, he heard a familiar voice echoing through his ears.
"Where are you? Where are you, spider — the one who took our guide? Don't be scared. I'll only sever your legs, then your head from your body. I promise it won't hurt too much."
Riven's eyes narrowed so he turned around and saw the outline of a woman far away from him. A curse escaped his mouth.
"Shoot Forest Princess is heading in this direction."
This was bad… very bad. If she spotted him then she would know all his powers which he didn't want anyone to know.
He had to do something quickly.