Chapter 547: Hero.

Shit…

That was the very first thought that ran through Flamme’s mind as her blurred vision slowly focused on the unfamiliar dark ceiling above her.

She had half-expected something like this the moment that nun— no, that demonic worshipper cloaked in divine light—released that celestial magic.

But she hadn’t thought it would cut her off so completely.

To be overwhelmed to the point of fainting… that wasn’t just unusual, it was terrifying.

Her head throbbed as she tried to piece together what had happened.

How long was I out? Minutes? Hours?

She couldn’t tell.

“Neru!”

No answer came. Not even the faintest whisper.

Tsk…!

Slowly, she forced herself upright, the rattling sound of metal confirming what she already felt—her wrists and ankles weighed down, her movements restricted.

Chains.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness enough to make out the outlines of her surroundings: a barren chamber, dim and suffocating, the air thick with stagnant cold.

There was a single chair placed directly in front of her, facing her bound figure, as if waiting for someone to sit across and watch.

The entire setup screamed of basic kidnapping protocol.

Whoever had dragged her here wasn’t sloppy—this was deliberate, calculated.

She inhaled sharply, closing her eyes for a moment as she tried to draw mana into her limbs, to ignite the core inside her chest.

Nothing.

It was like pulling on an empty well. The moment she tugged, her body screamed with resistance, the flow stifled.

“Mana chains, huh…”

Normally, ordinary sealing chains wouldn’t even begin to restrain her. Her dense mana output alone was enough to shatter most bindings

. But now… now her energy was scattered, drained to the point she could barely keep herself standing.

Whatever that nun had done, it wasn’t some cheap trick—it had severed her from her own strength in a way she hadn’t thought possible.

Even worse—she stretched her senses outward, searching, begging for the familiar whispers of her spirits.

Nothing. No presence, no response.

Not even the faint hum of distant elemental life.

Her eyes narrowed.

This isn’t just a cell… I’ve been moved. Far away from the forests, from the flow of nature itself.

A place stripped clean of life.

A cage within a cage.

“This is… bad.”

Still, panic wouldn’t get her anywhere.

She inhaled, forcing the rising dread down her throat. She had enough physical strength left to move, to resist if it came to it.

Even drained, she wasn’t someone who could be broken so easily.

Carefully, she shifted her weight, the chains clinking with each small step as she tested her balance.

Her body swayed, threatening to collapse, but she steadied herself with sheer willpower and moved toward the far wall.

Her hand brushed against the cold stone

She leaned there, pressing her ear against the wall, straining for any sound—footsteps, voices, the faintest clue about where she was.

Right now, sitting still wasn’t an option.

If her captor returned while she was helpless and uninformed, she’d be at their mercy.

She needed information, no matter how small.

Narrowing her eyes, she pressed forward through the suffocating darkness, using the faintest traces of shadow and texture to guide her.

Every step was careful, calculated—the kind of movement one only made when failure meant a broken neck.

Eventually, her hand brushed against something different from the cold stone walls: wood.

A door.

She swallowed, fingers curling around the handle before slowly, silently pulling it open.

A chill immediately swept over her, prickling her skin.

She squinted instinctively as the stagnant air of her prison was replaced with a sharp, biting breeze.

She was outside—or something close to it.

Yet the darkness didn’t lessen in the slightest.

If anything, it deepened, an oppressive void stretching endlessly in every direction.

The only break in that black canvas came from a single point: a distant, crimson dot, flickering faintly in the horizon like a star drowning in shadow.

“…Not natural.”

Still, she stepped forward.

The wooden stairs creaked beneath her as she descended, each groan of the old boards echoing in the emptiness.

Clank!

Her body tensed.

The heavy sound of metal chains dragging along the wood was deafening compared to the silence.

She bit back a curse.

At least the chains were long enough to give her some mobility.

Whoever shackled her hadn’t intended to keep her motionless… just bound.

A cruel difference.

She continued, one step at a time—until her foot pressed forward into nothingness.

“W–woah!”

Her body lurched forward, the chains jerking taut as she instinctively pulled herself back, heart hammering.

Her breath quickened as small stones tumbled from the edge of the platform, falling… falling… never striking bottom.

A cliff.

No—more than that.

An abyss.

Flamme gulped, her throat dry, as she peered into the void below.

The only thing that greeted her was infinite darkness, yawning and hungry.

It was then she realized.

She wasn’t just outside.

She was on top of something—high, unstable, exposed—and the only path beyond the door was a descent into blackness.

And without her spirits…

Her fingers trembled slightly against the chain links.

Normally, this wouldn’t even be a problem.

With Neru, with her spirits, she could have flown, or carved a path through the void, or bent nature itself to her survival.

But here? Here she had nothing.

“This… this is why I shouldn’t have accepted that damn invitation…even stupid Riena is probably at a similar situation how annoying!”

Ktikkitkkitkkitikkitikkitkkitikkitk!

A sound came—sharp, scratching, crawling.

At first, it was just a single echo.

Then another. Then another. Until the noise multiplied, bouncing off the walls and floor, surrounding her like an eerie chorus of skittering bones.

Flamme froze, her breath catching in her throat.

The noise was coming from below.

Against every shred of common sense, curiosity forced her to lean forward, eyes straining through the gloom.

And then she saw them.

Her pupils shrank. Her body stiffened. Her hand shot up instinctively to cover her mouth before the scream clawing up her throat could escape.

Below the platform, the darkness moved.

No—worse. It watched.

Hundreds… no… thousands of tiny red orbs glared upward, shimmering faintly like scattered embers. Eyes. So many eyes.

And then the shapes emerged from the shadows.

Glossy, bloated carapaces.

Long, jagged legs stabbing into stone.

Arachnid bodies, thick as horses and wide as men, all shifting, climbing, colliding with one another.

The scratching sound multiplied tenfold as they scuttled.

Ktkkkktkkkktkktk!

The sound of claws against stone, like blades on glass, all moving in unison.

Her stomach churned. Her skin crawled.

“S–spiders…?” she whispered under her breath, barely audible. Her lips quivered. “Of all things… why did it have to be them…?”

[Ebonnid.]

She knew that name all too well.

Monsters ranking anywhere between A and B in threat, their strength increasing with age.

And if—by some hellish miracle—one managed to survive the constant cannibalism of its kin, it could grow into an S-rank nightmare capable of rivaling entire armies.

Flamme squeezed her eyes shut, her heart pounding so loud she feared they’d hear it.

Calm down. Calm down. They haven’t noticed you yet.

She forced a slow breath through her nose, steadying the tremble in her hands.

Just as carefully, she opened her eyes again.

Her gaze dropped to the abyss—where chaos reigned.

“These… ugly things… why are there so many? Seeing how bloated half of them are… d-did they just eat their mother—”

Kiek! Kiek!

A piercing, guttural screech cut through the swarm below.

Flamme froze.

The sound didn’t come from beneath her.

It came from behind.

Her heart plummeted as her head slowly turned.

And there it was.

Eight colossal eyes glowed like lanterns in the dark, unblinking, reflecting her terrified expression back at her.

The creature’s massive shadow stretched across the jagged wall, dwarfing everything around it.

An [Ebonid].

Not the half-grown kind she’d studied.

Not the bloated juveniles feasting on each other below.

This one… was fully grown.

The rare, dreaded kind.

The kind that shouldn’t exist in groups. Its swollen body loomed as large as a two-story house, its legs spanning outward like spears, its fangs dripping with thick strands of venomous saliva.

The air itself vibrated as it shrieked.

KRIEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!

“Kyaaaahhhh!”

Flamme’s scream tore out before she even realized it, her instincts taking over as she spun on her heel and bolted. But she was far too slow.

The adult [Ebonid] moved in a blur.

One of its towering legs slammed down with crushing force, pinning her to the cold stone floor.

“Ghh—aghhhk!!”

The air was knocked out of her lungs. Her ribs felt like they were being crushed, her chest refusing to expand.

Black spots danced at the edges of her vision as the immense weight pressed down, nearly snuffing her consciousness.

No… no…!

Her mind screamed at her body to fight, but she couldn’t even breathe.

Tick… tick…

The spider clicked its mandibles, its movements deliberate. Two of its jagged limbs hooked under her, lifting her into the air with frightening ease.

“W-wait…! N-No—!”

Her protest cut off as the monster’s abdomen twitched.

Splrt!

Thick, adhesive strands of webbing shot outward, wrapping her body in sticky coils.

Again and again, it sprayed, cocooning her in layers of suffocating silk. Her arms were bound to her sides; her legs sealed together in seconds.

Only her face and part of her upper chest remained exposed—just enough for her to breathe, just enough to keep her alive.

Then, like a predator showing off a fresh catch, the [Ebonid] hung her upside down, dangling her over the abyss.

“U-ughhk…! N-no… let me… let me go!!” Flamme writhed against the webbing, but it was like steel—unyielding, suffocating. She could barely wiggle her fingers.

And then she realized.

Her eyes widened, blood draining from her face.

“This… this psychotic spider—!”

It wasn’t saving her for later.

It was feeding her to them.

Below, thousands of glowing red eyes turned upward in unison.

The swarm of juvenile [Ebonids], their mandibles clicking and gnashing, locked onto her with a hunger so palpable it made her skin crawl.

The sound of their scraping legs intensified, a cacophony of chittering madness as they began to ascend the cliff face toward her dangling body.

“N-No… somebody please save me!”

Flamme’s scream tore across the cavern, echoing into the void as the horde of spiders closed in.

…….

Meanwhile, from the darklands not far from where Flamme struggled…

Vanessa’s body hit the jagged stone ground with a harsh thud. A pained groan slipped from her lips as she rolled onto her side, her chains clanking.

“ELF! EAT! MEAT BREED GOOD!”

The guttural, broken mimicry of her tongue made her blood run cold.

Vanessa’s head snapped up, her violet eyes narrowing into sharp fury as they locked on the towering figure looming over her.

A Dark Orc.

Its mottled green skin was scarred and leathery, its tusks yellow and jagged, saliva dripping from its twisted grin as its eyes roved over her body with disgusting hunger.

Vanessa’s glare was sharp enough to cut steel—but to the orc, it was nothing but fuel.

Its lips curled higher, a grotesque parody of a smile.

The brute dragged its thick tongue across its tusks, savoring the sight of her pale, pristine skin.

She realized then just how exposed she was.

Her robes had been torn and replaced with ragged scraps of orc cloth, barely covering her.

Her skin was marked with dirt, her wrists bound tightly by glowing chains that devoured every drop of mana she tried to muster.

For the first time in her life, Vanessa felt vulnerable.

And that terrified her more than she would ever admit.

She clenched her teeth, hatred burning behind her eyes.

She wanted nothing more than to rip this beast apart with her own hands, to burn him down until there was nothing left but ash.

But right now, she couldn’t even twitch her fingers without the mana restraints biting into her flesh.

“SOON WIFE! HEIR READY!”

The orc’s booming voice echoed through the cavern as it stomped away into the shadows, its mocking laughter fading with every step.

Vanessa’s whole body trembled—not with fear, but rage.

Her nails dug into the dirt until they bled, small crimson streaks staining the ground beneath her clenched fists.

She hated this.

……..

It’s about time. The others should be waking up by now, no doubt shocked at where they’ve ended up.

Flamme, in particular, wouldn’t be taking it well. Spiders, of all things… her literal weakness.

She must be screaming her lungs out.

As for Vanessa… I did feel a flicker of guilt letting that filthy orc gets near her.

But I wasn’t foolish enough to let it go too far. I had already placed celestial safeguards on each of their bodies.

If anything, truly dangerous happens, the runes will trigger, their mana will return in full, and their chains will burn away.

That much, I’ve guaranteed.

“M-Master!!!!”

The frantic cry pulled me from my thoughts.

A burst of radiant pixel-like dust shimmered beside me, swirling before forming into Lavine’s small fairy form.

“So, you lost already…”

“I—I DIDN’T LOSE!” she squeaked back, flustered, her wings beating furiously. “It was a tactical retreat! I’ll have you know!”

I couldn’t stop the low chuckle that slipped out.

She looked utterly disheveled—hair messy, wings twitching unevenly, her pale skin marred by faint burns.

Even her tiny voice carried the tremor of exhaustion.

Most telling of all, though, was the thin red mark across her neck. A dangerous brush with death.

I’ll have to apologize properly later.

“Did you give him the necessary information?”

Lavine pouted, arms crossing. “Yes… but you’re already finished on your end, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” I replied, lifting my gaze. A soft feather rested in my hand, glowing faintly as I twirled it between my fingers.

In the distance, my eyes found her.

My sister.

Standing alone, draped in the flowing dress I had chosen for her, the image was almost too perfect.

She looked every part the tragic heroine.

And I couldn’t help but smile with quiet satisfaction.

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