Chapter 104 – Undead Spider.

Rusty’s iron frame remained perfectly still as he scanned the chamber, his glowing eyes dimming as they swept across the remnants of the caravan. The rhythmic tapping sound in the distance grew louder, carrying an ominous weight. It wasn’t random; there was intent in the sound, as though whatever made it wanted to be heard – or was too large to move silently.

“Stay sharp, something’s alive in here and it might be responsible for

Alexander commented, his voice more of a whisper. Gleam chirped softly, moving onto her usual perch on his shoulder. She didn’t speak, but her silence spoke volumes. Even the usually boisterous Aburdon refrained from his usual sarcasm, knowing well that if Rusty died, then so would he.

The tapping grew closer, its echoes amplifying in the cavernous space. The acrid stench of decay intensified, and Rusty’s grip on his sword tightened. He shifted into a defensive stance, preparing for the worst. Then it appeared.

Out of the darkness, something enormous moved into the torchlight’s faint glow. The rhythmic tapping ceased as it stepped fully into view: an undead spider monster of grotesque proportions. Its once chitinous exoskeleton now bore the rotting marks of decay, webbed with necrotic veins glowing faintly green. Eight skeletal legs, jagged and splintered, scraped the ground as it moved, leaving faint trails of black puss. The spider’s eyes were hollow, pits of greenish light that flickered like dying embers. On its back, webbing pulsated grotesquely, as though something alive and unspeakable squirmed beneath the surface.

“What’s a corrupted arachnid doing in a place like this?”

Alexander whispered as if afraid the monster might notice, even though he knew no one could hear him conversing with Rusty. Rusty, on the other hand, remained calm. Instead of succumbing to fear, he used his identification skill to determine what kind of monster they were up against. There was still time to retreat; the monstrosity stood motionless, not yet lunging forward. When the classification appeared, it confirmed that Rusty was in over his head. However, there was one small detail suggesting he wasn’t entirely out of options.

Rusty could see the mentioned absorbed victims sticking out of its abdomen. He was a monster who lacked a sense of disgust by Alexander was being quite vocal about it. Arms, legs and even faces were pushing out of its rear end, it was as if the monster fused bodies onto itself creating a grotesque patchwork of torsos and limbs, their mouths frozen in silent screams.

“ ( ˶°ㅁ°) !! ”

Gleam’s antennae twitched violently at the sight of the monster. As an F-rank creature, she found an entity two whole ranks above her utterly terrifying. Rusty wasn’t much better off – being only an E-rank himself, winning this battle seemed almost impossible. Yet, he wasn’t backing away. There was a reason for that. By some stroke of luck, this monster might actually be something he could handle, despite its higher rank.

“Feeling adventurous, Rusty? What are you planning to do with those?”

Aburdon remarked, watching the living armor rummage through his inventory before equipping a bow and arrow. The monster’s body, a chitinous arachnid form, appeared impervious to physical blows. Its undead nature only made it more daunting, allowing it to fight on even without a head or brain. Unless Rusty could locate and destroy the corrupted core within, the monster would likely continue to fight relentlessly.

“I might be able to win…”

“You might be able to win? I’m not sure if we should be doing something on a hunch.”

Alexander retorted, his gaze fixed on the stationary target. The monster didn’t seem to react to their presence, likely because Rusty was a monster himself – a living armor, not truly alive. Undead creatures were notorious for their hatred of the living, driven by an insatiable hunger to attack anything with a life force. Rusty’s unique nature as a non-living construct granted him a brief advantage, but it wasn’t one he could depend on for long.

Rusty nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring, the metal of his fingers creaking slightly. He aimed carefully, his glowing eye sockets seemingly narrowing as he searched for the creature’s weak point. The corrupted core was likely hidden deep within its body, but he had a theory based on the necrotic veins pulsing across its decayed frame. The glowing green lines converged around its abdomen, which consisted of a grotesque mass of fused victims and writhing webbing.

“It should be somewhere around there… right?”

He wasn’t quite sure about his theory but he was willing to give it a try. His situation looked dire but there were still several ways for him to survive. Previously he had noted a few smaller openings in the walls, ones that a gleamnig ant wearing a miniturised helmet could fit through. If all seemed lost, he was willing to retreat to hide. However, he did have one big trump card against this monster and that was his light elemental skill.

The projectile whistled through the air, glowing brightly white and struck the monster’s abdomen. It struck the monster’s abdomen with a sickening thud, embedding itself deeply into the writhing, grotesque mass. A ripple of energy surged through the creature’s form, and for a moment, nothing happened.

Then, a small radiant explosion took hold and the monster screamed. The sound wasn’t like anything Rusty had heard before. It was a layered echo, a mix of the shrill cries of the absorbed victims and a guttural, inhuman roar. The spider’s massive body twitched violently, and its skeletal legs scraped against the ground, sending shards of stone scattering. The corrupted green veins across its body pulsed brighter, radiating a sickly glow as it turned its hollow gaze directly toward Rusty.

“So much for the element of surprise.”

Alexander muttered.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Nice shot, but I think you just made it angry.”

Aburdon added with a dry chuckle while the undead spider charged. Its skeletal legs propelled it forward with a terrifying speed but there was something that he noticed, a limp. The light elemental arrow that he had used had done more damage than he initially thought. The Corrupter Arachnid’s movements were erratic, and its right side lagged slightly, as though one of its legs had been weakened by the blast. Rusty quickly nocked another arrow, his focus sharp as he prepared to exploit the weakness.

The chamber shook as the arachnid’s charge reverberated through the ground. Rusty sidestepped just in time as the creature’s massive legs smashed into the stone floor where he’d stood moments earlier. The impact sent debris flying, forcing Gleam to cling tightly to his shoulder.

“ ( ˵ •̀ □ •́ ˵ ) “