Jorōgumo

The Ash Woods were a grim, dirty and murky place, one that David didn’t want to spend a second in longer than he needed to.

It was cold, dark, damp and filled to the brim with monsters and animals, many of which growled at David.

It was difficult to see due to how little light penetrated the thick tree line, and the ground was rough with thick tree roots obstructing every single path David took.

Next time, I’ll send Mímir or someone else. I just hope the spiders are as valuable as Mímir believes them to be.

David had reached the Ash Woods early during the day and had spent about four hours walking through them, heading as deep into the woods as he could.

As he ventured deeper and deeper, he noticed that the number of eyes and webs around him had begun to increase dramatically.

Where there were once small, tiny spiderwebs, there were now much larger ones.

Where there were once one set of eyes, there were now several dozen.

Even though he wasn’t particularly scared of spiders, it was hard not to feel a slight chill when he had hundreds of eyes staring at you.

It seems that they might be as intelligent as Mímir suspected, given how they’re choosing to stay back and observe me for the time being. If they can be tamed, then this will expand my forces dramatically.

After walking for another twenty minutes, David came across a large clearing that looked like it had once been a lake, until something had dried it out, leaving a barren, cracked crevice in its place with a dark cave on the far side.

Once in the clearing, a hundred gigantic spiders gathered around its edges, staring at him, clacking their fangs together. A few of the spiders were stamping their feet and hissing at David, but he paid them no mind.

He couldn’t afford to.

The Demon Emperor isn’t scared of spiders! David told himself. There isn’t anything in these woods that could even scratch you. Remember that.

“How unfortunate,” David muttered. “It would seem that there are no intelligent spiders here to greet me.” He scoffed and folded his arms. “It seems that the rumours of your intelligence were exaggerated.”

The spiders went silent.

So, they can at least understand what I’m saying. Or did they realise that I’m stronger than them? Actually, am I stronger than them?

As David was lost in thought, several slow, powerful steps rang out from the cave before him. Whatever sort of spider it was, it sounded much bigger than the others around him.

Great. The mum’s bigger than a horse.

One by one, the several metre long, thin legs of a great creature crawled out of the cave, dragging out with it the spider’s gigantic body and hideous fangs, dripping with a green glowing substance. The spiders around David turned to face the gigantic spider as it finished stepping out of its cave before him.

David swallowed quietly in his helmet, trying not to panic.

It’s bigger than my house on Earth!

David cleared his throat and examined the purple-blue skin of the spider more closely.

Unlike the others he had seen, there were few dents and scars along its body, it still had all eight of its bright red eyes, and it gave off an aura that seemed to say it could, and would, kill anything that threatened it.

“…Oh? Are you the intelligent one around here?”

No matter how terrifying of a beast it was, David couldn’t afford to look weak before it.

He had to convince the spiders to join him no matter what, even if it meant beating them into submission.

‘It is as I suspected,’ an eerier voice spoke from the spider, yet its mouth did not move. ‘You are the great being I sensed.’

“You sensed me?”

The spider nodded. ‘A while ago, I felt a great disturbance in the air of this accursed country. Carried on the wind was a dark, foul presence like none I have ever felt, one that I could only describe as a calamity that had been brought into our world.’ The spider laughed. ‘It seems that you are that calamity, aren’t you?’

David smiled beneath his helmet. “Oh? You can sense my true strength?”

‘Of course, Dark Lord. Your presence on the wind was oppressive and heavy. To be in your presence face to face like this, it is a feeling so unpleasant I fear for all those that oppose you.’

Did I really make that big of an impact when I was first summoned here? David wondered. I didn’t feel anything like what this spider’s describing, but she’s acting as if I sent out a pulse or- David’s eyes widened. Wait a minute.

“You said that you detected my presence when I first arrived in this world?”

‘Indeed, Dark Lord,’ the spider replied. ‘I am sure that I am not the only one who felt your presence when you arrived in this world. Many other creatures that hide in the shadows did and would submit to you, too.’

And many of them would want me dead, David thought.

David clicked his tongue quietly and cursed.

Without his knowledge, Eris had already taken action to undermine his chances of success.

If someone as strong as this spider felt my arrival, then surely something else must have too! David cursed. That definitely means that I made the right choice by keeping my head down. If she really did feel my arrival that day, anyone else who sensed it might be able to figure out that I caused it just by looking at me!

‘Is something wrong, Dark lord?’ The spider asked.

David shook his head. “Pay it no heed. Tell me, spider, do you have a name?”

‘Jorōgumo, Dark Lord.’

“Then, Jorōgumo, I make you this offer: join me or-”

‘I happily accept your offer, Dark Lord.’ The spider bowed its head a little. 'I, Jorōgumo, and my brood, pledge themselves to the Dark Lord and his cause.’

“You would pledge your loyalty so easily?”

‘Of course, Dark Lord, for had you not arrived here today, I would have sought you out to offer myself to you.’

“Why?”

‘Because.’ The spider’s body began to glow a faint purple colour. ‘I know when to choose the winning side.’

As the purple light enveloped the spider’s body, it began to shrink and change, shifting into that of a much smaller humanoid figure.

Once the light had faded, David could see what Jorōgumo’s human form looked like more clearly.

She had silk like skin, red eyes with four small pupils in each eye which then promptly merged together into a single pupil in each eye, and her hair was a strange dark purple colour. She was wearing a white dress with a pattern of silver spider webs on it and, at the top of her dress along the back of her collar, were four spider leg like spikes.

Then, Jorōgumo curtsied to David and, at the same time, the spiders around them lowered their heads to the ground.

“Once more, I, Jorōgumo, pledge myself to the Dark Lord and his cause. Forgive the deception, Dark Lord, but this form is my true form.”

“It matters not. Knowing that you were originally a humanoid is a benefit more than anything; it is not a form of deceit.”

“As you say, Master.”

Another one who calls me Master? David cringed a little. Will I ever get used to this?

“Then, Jorōgumo.” David opened a portal behind him and held out his hand to her. “Come with me.”

I wonder if Abaddon had as easy of a time as I did.

***

Abaddon blocked the fifteen-metre tall giant Suttungr’s fist with his claymore.

Another giant, who was eight metres tall, kicked at Abaddon’s back, but Abaddon leapt over the foot, then threw his claymore through it. The giant howled in pain as Abaddon spun around mid-air and threw his fist into the giant’s face.

Abaddon landed roughly on his feet as the eight-metre giant fell down dead behind him and Suttungr launched a flurry of punches and kicks at him. Abaddon lazily blocked all of them with his sword, before parrying Suttungr’s leg to one side and cutting his foot off.

Suttungr screamed in pain and grasped at the wound, before Abaddon swung his claymore through Suttungr’s body, cutting him cleanly in two.

With both of his remaining attackers dead, Abaddon swung his sword onto his shoulders and roared violently to the other hundred giants around him.

The giants began dropping onto their knees in rapid succession, lowering their heads as close to the ground as they could, soon followed by the other fifteen metre giants, including Ölvaldi, their chieftain and Suttungr’s father.

Despite their anger and pain, none dared stand against Abaddon, not after he fought and killed four of their kin at once.

Upon witnessing such a sight, Abaddon loudly laughed at them, then spoke.

“If only you’d done that sooner. Your son would still be alive, Ölvaldi. Still.” He leant closer to Ölvaldi’s ear and whispered, “At least you have the rest of your family.”

Abaddon walked into the centre of the bowing giants and laughed proudly.

Look, Lord Emperor, I did it! I subjugated the giants for you!

***

“Goodnight, everyone!” Nate happily called as he saw off the last of his regular patrons for the night. Then, once he’d locked the doors, he turned back to his wife and the guests who hadn’t retired to their rooms. “How’s everyone doing? Anyone need anything else?”

Everyone shook their heads or said that they were fine.

“In that case, I’m going to head off to bed. If anyone needs me or my wife, our room’s down here and-”

The ground started shaking.

Everyone went silent.

“What’s going on?”

The ground kept shaking and shaking, so much so that it felt as if the ground was erupting beneath their feet.

“Dear!”

“Stay here, I’ll see what’s going on!” Nate yelled.

He hastily unlocked the door to see if it was an earthquake.

Much to his horror, it was worse.

Hundreds of skeletons were running past right through the main village street, screeching as they ran.

Nate threw the door closed and tried to lock it, but his hands were shaking too much.

“Dear-!”

“Bar the doors and windows, now! All of you! Now!”

The guests, sensing the desperation in Nate’s voice, quickly did as he said as Nate finished locking the door. Once he did, three burly men came over to him with a bench and planted it before the door. Then, Nate ran upstairs to one of the windows and looked out at the undead horde trampling through their village.

Nate had been terrified that the undead army was going to attack Cliff’s Edge and he had thought that today would be his last day.

However, to his surprise, the undead didn’t seem at all interested in the village or its people.

From his window, Nate could see several soldiers and adventurers, weapons drawn, watching on confused as the horde left the village. They were so stunned that they didn’t even try attacking the skeletons for fear of drawing their wrath.

Just as Nate was about to sigh in relief, he saw two flying undead mages in the air, speaking in some ancient language, urging the horde onwards.

What in the name of Themis is going on?

As the shaking grew less and less intense, Nate and the other guests unbarricaded the door and stepped outside, watching as the last of the undead passed out of sight to an unknown destination.

“We have to warn the empire!”

More than a hundred adventurers and soldiers had gathered in the streets, all geared up and ready to take action.

“Get the men geared up and get the horses ready. I want everyone ready to ride within an hour.”

“Wait!” Nate shouted, pushing through the crowd. “We shouldn’t send everyone out.”

“Why not?”

“If that horde came from the Shadow Tombs, then that means that there might be more where they came from,” an adventurer answered for Nate. “It might be worth checking it out.”

“Better to fortify the entrance to be safe,” a soldier said. “If tens of thousands of undead just came marching out of there, there could be even more of them up there. Or maybe even something far worse up.”

“…Good point. Wright, Edgar, James; get your squads together and ride north. Head to the capital and every single castle in Silverten. Get every lord and lady to send whatever men they can to Cliff’s Edge at once. Until then.” The captain’s expression darkened as he gazed up at the vicious storm clouds circling the tombs. “We’ll try our best to hold on.”