Chapter 68: In the Tunnels

A loud, bold wail of the hurt abyss creature tore through the skies, and Roy watched it jump back away from Black Zero, who had used his Binary Clone and camouflage to catch the abyss creature unaware.

The gorilla-like monster was agile and fast, so right after Master Abraham attacked it, it turned tail and ran. He hadn’t expected it to flee so quickly and agilely, too. It was almost like one second he was going to be upon the creature again, and the next, it was gone, despite its lost foot.

“I-It’s getting away!” Roy pointed at the monster’s figure climbing up into a building and disappearing from sight.

“I can see that.”

Master Abraham tilted his head slightly, briefly in thought, before turning to Roy.

“That was a Strange Monster,” he said. “And it’ll be back.”

Horror was still much written all over Roy’s face, with his but on the ground.

“H-How did its foot come off?” he asked, pointing at the body part the abyss creature left behind.

Master Abraham, already bending down, flicked something that vibrated and dripped blood. Roy’s eyes widened.

The skilled executioner had set up a thin line that was hard to see; only God knew when. No doubt the line wasn’t ordinary, as it was able to cleanly cut through the flesh of a Strange abyss creature, of all things.

Roy let out a breath of relief and regained composure, muttering as he began entering the manhole without a jeer, “Goddamn monster. Next time, I’ll cut its stupid legs myself.”

Thud.

Landing on the dry base of the arched tunnel, Roy spotted Master Abraham’s clone up ahead, holding up a light bar. On the walls were rusted steel racks holding power lines and thin fiber optic cables.

The air here was stale and smelt of rust and droppings.

Master Abraham landed behind a minute later, and the clone constantly walked ahead of them, scouting.

Aside from the signs of abyss creature presence like feces, bones, and so on, Roy stopped when he spotted a dirty, small shoe in a corner.

He stepped close and observed it, breathing out heavily.

“Someone, a child, hid down here once,” he muttered.

“Keep up,” Master Abraham said, walking ahead. Roy peered his gaze away and continued forward.

On the holoRadar in Abraham’s hand, they were below the road they couldn’t traverse due to the thick web.

“Roy, what do you think it means to be an executioner?” Abraham suddenly asked, his eyes still glued to the holoRadar.

Roy simply shrugged. “To kill abyss creatures, of course. And be the heroes that save humanity.”

“Hunters… Heroes…”Master Abraham repeated. “Why aren’t we called that instead? Why are we ’Executioners’?”

Roy felt it odd that his mentor was suddenly asking him this type of question, but he answered regardless, “Um… I guess it’s because our systems are also called executables, so it’s derived from that.”

“Is that a proper reason to choose the term ’Executioners’ over ’Heroes’? The irregulars of the first raids, they were called the latter.”

When he put it like that, the title ’Executioner’ did pale in comparison. He knew there was no way he would give the answer his master was looking for an just admitted, “I don’t know.”

For the first time since this conversation began, Master Abraham looked at Roy.

“Throughout the ages, executioners were those responsible for beheading or hanging criminals of the state; those with actual crimes, and those that oppose the ruling head—in other words, the current order. They were in no position to hold an opinion, and executed whoever the ruling heads declared was a criminal.”

The tunnel stretched ahead, dimly lit by Master Abraham’s light bar. Roy kept close, his footsteps echoing softly against the damp concrete. The stench of decay grew stronger the farther they walked.

Roy understood the analogy Master Abraham was making, but he frowned regardless.

“It’s not the same, though, right? We only kill abyss creatures, not our fellow humans.”

Master Abraham’s clone paused at an intersection where three tunnels converged. The executioner studied his holoRadar, tracing their position beneath the webbed street above.

“We’re at the intersection now,” he said, hastening his pace to catch up with the clone.

Roy looked up at the cracked ceiling. Above was another access point, with bent bars leading up to the wider manhole cover.

Roots had broken through in places, and moisture dripped steadily. The thought of those massive webs just meters above made his skin crawl.

“This will be our central point,” Master Abraham said and climbed up the rusted steel bars.

Using low-sounding explosives would prove too risky, and there was no visual above, so he used the tools at his disposal to pry it open.

Roy waited in the darkness, listening to the drip of water and his own breathing. After what felt like an eternity, Abraham’s voice came through in a whisper:

“Come up.”

A bit of sunlight streamed into the tunnel as Master Abraham pushed the manhole cover to the side, dispelling the darkness.

Roy climbed the ladder, gripping each rung carefully. The metal was slick with moisture and grime. When he reached the top, Abraham pulled him up, cramping up the ladder but allowing them to see through the gap opened by the manhole cover.

Roy drew in a heavy gasp.

The webbing was massive. Thick strands as wide as a human leg stretched between buildings, creating a three-dimensional maze that filled the entire street. Smaller threads crisscrossed the larger ones, forming layers upon layers of sticky silk.

And there were spiders, scattered around.

Roy counted at least twenty of them. With a dark purple visage, they were nothing like any spider on Earth. Each one was the size of a child’s tricycle, with hard, segmented shells covering their bodies. Eight legs ended in sharp, blade-like points that clicked against the webbing as they moved. Their multiple eyes gleamed like obsidian in the filtered sunlight.

Most disturbing were their mouths. Instead of typical spider chelicerae, these creatures had vertical slits filled with rows of needle-like teeth that constantly moved, grinding against each other.

“Weak Beasts,” Abraham whispered, pointing to a cluster of smaller ones. “Spiders are the most solitary creatures. So these are hatchlings.”

“Those three over there are Strange. They’re older.”

The Strange spiders were twice the size of the others. Spikes covered their shells, and their movements were more aggressive and faster.

If Roy knew anything, it was that abyss creatures banded under the strongest amongst them. So for these Strange Beasts to be on the same side, and not opposing each other, meant there was another creature stronger.

“W-Where’s their mother?”

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