Chapter 43 Handsome Devil

Rein’s mouth opened, ready to lash out — but a clicking hiss echoed from the darkness behind them. He turned—

A shape lunged from the darkness of the cave. A spider the size of a bull burst from the wall, eight legs scraping over stone, fangs clicking.

Rein moved without a thought. He spun, snapping a kick straight into its face. The thing screeched — legs flailing — before it slammed into the far wall with a wet crunch, its body splitting apart in a mess of black blood and twitching limbs.

“Careful, Rein. Don’t use magic down here.”

“What?”

He looked around — and for the first time noticed where they were. The ceiling was collapsed, barely holding by rubble, thick with spiderwebs. The walls pulsed faintly, like something alive. There were tunnels branching in every direction, narrowing into blackness. 

 “Where the hell are we? Did you teleport us somewhere?”

“No. After our spells collided, the explosion destroyed the ruins. The ground gave out. We fell. This place… it’s underneath the ruins. Monster-dug tunnels. A Spider Queens' nest, most likely.”

She pointed at the webbing. It shimmered faintly, faint strands of light moving through it like veins.

“Don’t touch the threads. And don’t use magic. They absorb it — feed it to the Queen. That’s how she grows.”

“Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you the one controlling them? Isn’t that your monster?”

“No. I don't control anyone. And you know that.”

Rein took a step forward.

“I know nothing, and I don’t believe a word that comes out of your mouth! You lie with every breath. You twist things — just like the rest of your kind. You can say whatever you want. I don’t care if we’re above ground or buried under it — I’ll finish this.”

He raised his hand. Electricity cracked across his fingers. From behind him, a high-pitched hum answered — his Hero sword, buried under the rubble, shuddered, then tore free, flying through the air and slapping into his palm.

He pointed it at her.

“Maybe being underground is a good thing for you. Because once I’m done, you won’t need to dig a grave. You’re already in one.”

Demon Lord exhaled softly — a long, tired breath.

“Ah, Rein… Arthur’s lies have poisoned your mind. Twisted everything. But I don’t blame you. I believed him once too.”

She raised her hand, fingers curling. A ripple of black opened beside her like a wound in space — a dark void pulsing quietly. From within it, she drew her blade — an obsidian claymore, carved with glowing red veins like molten cracks in stone.

She stepped into stance, sword low, eyes never leaving his.

“Talking time is over, Demon Lord, it’s time to end this. Lightning—Double Accel!”

He launched forward, an explosion of speed — but the moment his foot slammed down, the ground gave way. The cave floor split open beneath them, brittle stone shattered from the pressure of Rein’s raw power. The whole chamber crumbled entirely, and they fell.

Aura twisted in the air and landed smoothly. Rein wasn’t as lucky.

He slammed into a wall of thick, sticky threads — webbing snapped around him like a trap. His limbs yanked back and held tight. His sword clattered to the floor.

“What the—?!”

He jerked his arms. Nothing moved. Then he felt it. His mana — draining. Fast.

“What the hell—! My mana! It’s getting sucked out of me! What the hell is this place!? Damn it!”

He growled, muscles flexing. Lightning flickered along his arms as he strained, trying to tear free.

The threads didn’t budge. They felt like steel wires — thin but unbreakable. The more he struggled, the more the webs tightened, drawing energy out of him like leeches.

From the far side of the chamber, Demon Lord appeared through the settling dust.

“Stop struggling! You’re only feeding it more! This is the Spider Queen’s chamber and your stuck in her web.”

Rein was about to shout — to demand what kind of trap she had led him into — when something massive shifted in the darkness, dislodging loose stones from above. A clicking hiss echoed through the cavern like bones scraping together. Then a wet, rumbling growl.

Eight glowing eyes blinked open. The Spider Queen emerged from darkness — easily the size of a multi-story tower, her grotesque face armored and twisted with twitching mandibles. Sparse black fur clung to her limbs, each one ending in a point that sank into the stone beneath her.

A green light pulsed from her swollen abdomen — corrupted mana, glowing through translucent flesh like a furnace from hell.

Rein barely had time to react.

The Queen shrieked and lunged — one of her scythe-like legs lifted high, then came down like a guillotine aimed straight for him.

Demon Lord moved. Faster than she had ever moved before.

A black arc of steel cut across the air as her obsidian blade clashed with the Spider Queen’s strike. Sparks exploded like fireworks. The impact kicked out a shockwave that rocked the tunnel.

Both forces reeled back.

The Spider Queen skidded, crashing into a rock outcrop and shattering it, her hulking frame making the cavern quake. Debris fell from the ceiling. The webbing trembled.

Demon Lord was flung back as if shot from a cannon.

She slammed into the stone wall with a crack that echoed through the cavern — but even mid-flight, her blade snapped out in one smooth swipe.

SLASH!

The web holding Rein tore loose.

He dropped, knees slamming the cold stone, one arm bracing against the ground.

His chest heaved. His limbs felt like lead. The mana drain from the webbing still clawed at his body.

Spider Queen reoriented, rising slowly, legs shifting to encircle them both. Her mandibles clicked — drool sizzled where it hit the ground, eating through the stone.

Behind him, Demon Lord coughed — pushing herself from the wall. A faint crack ran down the length of her breastplate, but her eyes stayed locked on the enemy.

“Rein, are you okay?”

“…Yeah. Just pissed.”

----------

On the surface, the world was on fire.

Stone screamed as it split apart, towers collapsed like sand, and the battlefield was swallowed in blinding light. Mari had only a fraction of a second to act—she threw her arm around Kaia and shouted the incantation of the strongest barrier she knew.

"Adamant Shieldo!"

A blazing dome of light flared to life, wrapping Kaia in its embrace.

But… there was no time for her.

The shockwave hit.

The world went black.

The world was buried in ruin. The explosion had torn everything apart, leaving nothing but stone, smoke, and silence.

Mari blinked, her head spinning. She tried to move—but her arms wouldn’t budge. Panic clawed at her chest until she realized something heavy pressed down above her… yet she wasn’t crushed.

Instead, she found herself curled up like a little mouse beneath a man.

Slowly, her eyes focused—on broad shoulders, a frame braced over her in a perfect push-up stance, arms planted firmly in the rubble around her. And that face—sharp jawline, silver hair falling just right, yellow eyes gleaming with calm.

Even here, buried under a mountain of ruin, his black tuxedo was pristine. Not a speck of dust dared to touch him.

“...Handsome devil? What are you...”

“My, my. That’s quite the greeting. Flattering, even. Most people would be screaming or crying in fear. But you— you call me handsome.”

Mari’s face lit pink.

 “D-Don’t twist my words! I only said that because you— you—ugh, you look like the type of playboy who tricks women into following him!”

“Playboy? I prefer ‘charming,’ but I’ll take what I can get.” Verron teased, leaning closer until his nose was a breath away from hers.

“Hey! Stop with your flirting, have you forgot we are enemies?!” Mari sputtered, squirming, but there was no space—his body was pressed against hers, holding the rubble at bay with nothing but strength. 

He smiled, as if reading her thoughts.

 “You know… if we weren’t enemies, I’d almost believe fate buried us here together on purpose. Cozy, isn’t it?”

 “C-Cozy?! Don’t get the wrong idea! This is nothing like—like that!”

 “Then tell me, little mage… why is your face redder than the flames outside?”

Mari clamped her mouth shut, staring at him with flustered fury. Inside, though… every box she never admitted she had was being checked one by one. This handsome devil was her type of a man.