--------------- ‌‌‌‌
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------

Chapter 61
He stepped closer to me, his presence pressing in.
"No matter how I look at it, this dangerous egg ‌‌‌is clearly from a Monster, so why is it only favorable toward you? It doesn't make sense. And ‌‌how did you even learn a method to pierce through mana flow? Why hide the reason and help us anyway?"
Kaiden's eyes narrowed to slits as he studied my expression, as if determined to see through every secret ‌‌‌‌I harbored.
"That's... well, everyone was already suspicious of me, so I didn't think it necessary to say more. But wait, Kaiden, we don't have time for ‌‌this. The sun is setting."
I quietly pointed toward the sky. The sunset was indeed painting the horizon. It was the hour when Monsters emerged.
"I'm fine. What about you? Should we spend the night here together? Truth is, I'm not particularly afraid of dying."
Kaiden leaned his face closer to mine, a wild gleam ‌‌‌in his eyes suggesting he would remain here until I spoke the truth.
"Something's been off about you. Not just one or two things. Margaret, tell me what you're hiding."
Kaiden pressed ‌‌‌‌again, and though I struggled desperately to wrench my hand free from ‌‌‌his grip, he wouldn't budge an inch.
'Should I use a flare? If I distract him ‌‌for a moment, I could escape.'
With that thought, I reached toward my crossbody bag—but then ‌‌my gaze locked with a pair of sharp, bestial eyes peering over Kaiden's shoulder.
"You were planning to run away ‌‌‌‌alone? You only think about escaping, don't you? You meant to abandon us from the start."
"Wait, hold on."
I was so startled I tried to push him away, but he only tightened his grip, refusing to let me play games.
Kaiden's hand clamped down on mine with iron strength.
Then the Monster's shadow emerged from the Forest. ‌
"It's not that—behind you...!"
Kaiden turned to follow my gaze, ‌‌looking back into the Forest.
Thick, hairy legs stretched out between the undergrowth. My skin crawled.
A massive tarantula burst through the vegetation, its enormous body dominating the space—easily three times my own size.
Eight eyes set in a body covered in black ‌‌fur locked onto mine. ‌‌‌My hair stood on end. Terror froze me in place, unable to move.
"Damn it."
Kaiden stared at the tarantula Monster with an expression of shock.
Then the tarantula's body moved with terrifying speed toward Kaiden.
"Danger!" ‌‌
I shoved Kaiden ‌‌with all my strength, then pulled a bomb from my pocket and yanked the pin.
I steadied my stance, aimed at the tarantula's body, and hurled it.
Boom!
The massive tarantula's body shattered, its legs collapsing as it crashed ‌‌‌to the ground.
But that was only the beginning of our troubles.
Skitter, skitter, skitter, skitter, skitter.
Smaller spiders—still medium-sized but dwarfed by the giant tarantula—began pouring ‌‌toward us ‌in waves.
"This is bad."
I stepped back further, despair flooding through me. This was undoubtedly the tarantula colony that Yuanna's group had encountered.
Kaiden drew his short blade and pulled my arm firmly against him. We couldn't retreat any further—we were standing at the edge of ‌‌‌‌a Cliff.
I opened my crossbody bag and retrieved ‌‌my bombs, quickly counting what remained. ‌‌‌Only two left.
The small size of ‌‌my bag meant I couldn't carry many bombs—a bitter limitation. At least I'd had the foresight to bring all my flares.
"Don't come out. It's too dangerous."
Kaiden positioned himself in front of me, adjusting his grip on the short blade.
Beyond the corpse of the massive tarantula, five ‌‌spiders surrounded us in total.
The tarantula's elongated legs were covered in coarse, bristling hair. They twitched and writhed, as if contemplating whether to lunge forward.
Beneath the torso studded densely with pitch-black eyes, a viscous liquid dripped steadily from what appeared to be an open maw.
Sharp pincers that resembled venomous fangs clicked and clacked together, as if the creature ‌‌were smacking ‌‌its lips in anticipation.
'Damn it. I want to pass out. I hate spiders so much.'
I gripped two bombs in each hand and pulled the pins out with my teeth.
Kaiden, understanding what ‌‌‌I was about to do, lowered his stance and adjusted his grip on his short sword—preparing to face the tarantulas that would be sent flying by the explosions.
Wait, but what if detonating all of these ‌‌‌causes the Cliff to collapse?
But if I do nothing, I'll just become food for the Monsters.
'What should I do....'
After deliberating for a brief moment, I finally made my decision.
"I don't know anymore—die this way or that way!"
I hurled the bombs one by one toward the tarantulas.
Boom—!
Crash!
I could see fragmented bodies and what appeared to be green liquid—their blood—spraying through the air where the grenades had struck ‌‌‌true.
Below, one creature staggered to its feet and advanced toward me; another appeared completely unscathed, as if it had taken no damage whatsoever.
Two of them were still alive.
The shockwave from the explosions sent tremors through the ground beneath my feet, and the floor began to crack with ‌‌‌a sickening sound. I wouldn't be able ‌to hold out much longer. Sweat pooled in my palms.
With a tense expression, I pulled a flare gun from my crossbody bag, loaded a round into it, and pulled the charging lever. My hands trembled uncontrollably.
"I've survived this long—I can't die here."
The words came out, but my quavering voice refused to steady itself.
The tarantulas crept closer ‌cautiously, and as I watched their movements with ‌‌‌‌bated breath, they suddenly raised their front legs and began spraying web after web like tangled thread.
"Damn it!"
Multiple strands of webbing erupted continuously, wrapping around my wrists before coiling around my ‌waist.
"No! Why are they ‌‌only attacking me!"
I was immediately pulled flat against the ground, dragged toward the tarantula. ‌‌
"Margaret!"
Kaiden seized my wrist firmly and used his short sword to sever the webbing. But the creature that had spun the threads continued to target me. I quickly scrambled to my feet and drew the flare gun.
I aimed at the body of the spider that was pulling the webbing and ‌‌squeezed the trigger. ‌‌‌
Bang!
The recoil sent my body flying ‌‌‌‌backward slightly, but Kaiden caught and held ‌‌‌me, preventing me from plummeting over the Cliff.
My ears rang from the gunshot.
The ‌‌problem was the other tarantula that had been limping toward us. It had already closed the distance to within striking range.
Its long leg rose high into the air. Kaiden rolled across ‌‌‌the ground to evade the leg as it came crashing down.
Boom!
The impact was so tremendous that it gouged a deep crater in the floor. Another leg immediately launched its assault.
"Damn."
Kaiden cursed and pulled ‌‌me behind him, then swung his short sword in a wide arc.
Slash! The leg was severed cleanly. Watching the thick green liquid flow from the severed limb, I shuddered in revulsion. Ugh....
The spider shrieked in agony, a sound like tearing flesh, thrashing wildly in its death throes.
The problem was that its long legs flailed about in the chaos, and I, ‌‌‌‌‌standing ‌‌behind Kaiden, took the full brunt of one and was sent flying backward.
It felt as though that single moment stretched out in slow motion.
I was struck by the spider's leg and launched off the Cliff, suspended ‌‌in the void ‌‌‌‌as I looked down at what awaited below.
A River flowed far beneath me.
Damn it all.
"Margaret! No!"
Kaiden cried out in despair and leaped from the Cliff's edge, his arm stretching toward me. He caught me and pulled me ‌‌‌into his embrace.
We plummeted together down the Cliff.
Splash!
Even as we sank deep into the River, Kaiden held me protectively against his chest, refusing to let go.
I thought to myself that Kaiden was truly mad in his own way.
Facing possible death, his ‌‌‌hand reached for me without a moment's hesitation. ‌‌‌‌
His expression ‌‌as he watched me get pushed beyond the Cliff ‌‌‌‌‌was one of utter devastation, as though the world itself had crumbled.
It was impossible to reconcile with the man who, moments before, had doubted and watched me with suspicion, driving me forward relentlessly.
Had he not distrusted me?
And yet here he was, offering his life for me without reservation.
Kaiden was truly incomprehensible. I could not fathom what went on ‌‌‌‌in that mind of his.
Of course, I had no capacity for further contemplation—the River water choked ‌off my breath, and consciousness slipped away from me.

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and ‌enjoy the latest releases, please read ‌‌‌‌directly on our official site: ‌valirscans.org
---------------