Cold sweat dripped from Riven's forehead as he thought about what to do. He had two options: either show his powers to the Forest Princess or risk being killed by the Awakened Spider.
He thought for a moment and then drew his conclusion. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as a large hole in the fabric of reality began to form.
Then he stared at every single subject all around him and issued a single command.
"Go inside the domain."
He had chosen the risk of death instead of his powers being exposed to the allies that he didn't trust.
The Forest Princess had come to save him because they needed him. She was very close to him so he believed that he could survive against the Awakened Spider until she spotted him.
It was just a matter of a minute or two before Forest Princess found him.
He could survive until then but he was worried about a different matter. He looked around him but only the spider subjects who weren't pulling him back were heading to the entrance of the domain.
He didn't know why. Maybe it was because the spider thought what they were doing right now was more important… that was protecting his life.
But they weren't supposed to have any free will… No, maybe he was wrong since he didn't know much about his powers himself.
So Riven took a deep breath and issued the command.
"Go inside all of you… right now."
Then the spiders cut off the beam of string attached to their mouth one by one as they rushed towards the entrance of the domain in a hurry.
Immediately, he was pulled towards the Awakened Spider since he had no one pulling him back. Riven tightened his grip around his sword as the distance between him and the spider decreased.
He took a deep breath. When he was within reach, he swung his sword with everything he had. A heartbeat later, his sword slashed the eyes of the spider.
The Awakened Spider let out a roar as the strings wrapped around him began to loosen. He twisted his body free and landed on the ground then he charged straight towards the Awakened Spider.
When he got close, he launched a barrage of attacks at various places on the Awakened Spider's body but his sword just bounced off. He didn't know if the skin of the Awakened Spider was just too tough or if his swordsmanship was that bad.
He mumbled under his breath.
"It's probably both."
Then he heard the whisper of the system.
(Your Subject Mountain Demon Spider has been stored…)
(Your Subject Mountain Demon Spider has been stored…)
(Your Subject Mountain Demon Spider has been stored…)
Riven heard the same message a dozen more times in the next few seconds then he heard a rumbling sound. He turned around and saw from the corner of his eye, a woman charging towards him.
That was the Forest Princess. She had found him but it didn't look like she had spotted where he was exactly.
His head immediately snapped to his right — he saw the last two spiders entering the hole in this fabric of reality. He willed it closed. Then it began to close.
His heart started to pound as he thought about what would happen first… would Forest Princess spot the entrance to the domain or would the entrance close first? He wasn't sure but hoped it was the latter.
A heartbeat later, the entrance to the domain finally closed. He heaved a sigh of relief but just then the spider attacked him with a mouthful of acid. He couldn't dodge so he blocked the attack with his sword.
Riven looked at his sword, it hadn't melted. Then the creature used one of its countless legs to launch a barrage of strikes at him. But he dodged every single one.
A few seconds later, the Forest Princess echoed through his ears.
"I finally found you Riven! For causing such inconvenience to me I will have one of your fingers — just joking!"
She had finally noticed him. Riven saw from the corner of his eyes that she was holding a very long black object. At one of its ends, were large and sharp claws.
Riven's eyes widened as realization dawned upon him.
"That's the leg of another spider."
And from the size of it… It didn't belong to an ordinary spider; instead, it was highly likely that it belonged to an Awakened Spider.
As he thought about this, she threw a few seeds towards them and a few seconds after they landed on the ground, they sprouted into nearly a dozen roots.
One of the seeds sprouted into a large flower whose stem was as thick as one's finger. Then the flower released green pollen all around him. When he inhaled it, he felt a bit dizzy.
He looked at the spiders, and it stumbled as it turned, claws scraping across stone while its weight dragged a moment behind the rest of its body.
Riven's eyes narrowed as he thought to himself.
"It's poison."
So he quickly got far away from the Awakened Spider. With the Awakened Spider a bit dizzy, no one attacked him while he moved away from it.
A heartbeat later, roots shot toward the creature. Its movement was rough and poorly coordinated — the roots coiled tight around it, pinning it in place.
Then Forest Princess jumped from the root and landed straight on the back of the Awakened Spider a heartbeat later. She drove the claws of the beast into the creature's head.
Then purple blood poured out from the creature's body forming a pool of blood. A strong scent of iron filled the air. Then the creature stopped moving. It was dead.
Riven looked at Forest Princess. She had literally fulfilled her word of killing a beast from the remains of its kind. She meant what she said earlier.
The Forest Princess turned to him and asked.
"Is there anyone else for me to kill? Don't worry I will make sure they die a painful death for trying to kill our guide."