Chapter 757: The Lord Against the Spider Bride (Patreon)

All Luke had to do was register the giant spider without letting her eat anyone. He and Charlie raced through the forest with Norn close behind them. So far, she had spent the entire trip singing about herself and how well-fed she was. If Luke had learned one thing about the spider, it was that she was every bit as cheerful as she was terrifying.

“Luke, we’ve got a Dark Lord, a spider, and a wizard. Sure, the wizard has rat powers, but I’ll give Franky some credit. He’s one weird-ass wizard,” Artemis said. “So where’s Tom Bombadil?”

Listen, I’m really not in the mood for jokes right now.

“Of course not. The spider wants to devour you... sexually. Or both at once, considering she’s a spider.”

Artemis went silent for a moment. “Fuck. I just realized spiders are pretty hardcore. Good luck, Luke.”

Silence followed.

"Feeling guilty about what you did to the spider? Drugging her with an aphrodisiac potion?"

I didn’t do anything. It barely affected her. It was one drop.

The potion Norn had tasted from the cauldron was the aphrodisiac one.

"Then why are there hearts floating around her?"

There aren’t, you damn—

"Then why did you look back to check? I thought you were sure you hadn’t drugged her."

Luckily, it hadn’t done much. The spider was absurdly good at processing potions, though.

One drop.

They continued through the trees until Charlie slowed.

“We’re here,” she said.

Luke approached the edge of the woods and peered toward the castle. Several tents had been erected in front of it. People moved back and forth, carrying crates, lumber, and tools.

Right. Angie called the villagers here to stay in the castle. Looks like some of them preferred the tents.

“Norn, I’ll be right back.”

“They look delicious,” the spider said, staring at the humans.

“You can’t eat those humans. They belong to the nest.”

Norn continued staring at them. “None of them?”

“None of them.”

“All right. Norn will not eat them.”

Luke looked at Charlie. “Keep an eye on her for me?”

Charlie nodded.

Luke stepped out of the woods and headed toward the castle. He passed several people setting up new tents and reinforcing the ones already standing. Whenever they noticed him, they bowed their heads. Luke still wasn’t used to that.

Children carried tent stakes while their parents worked on the shelters. None of them looked ready for an orc attack.

“Lord Moon!” A man hurried over, dropping a bundle of firewood. “I’m deeply grateful for what you’re doing for us.”

“I’m doing what needs to be done.”

“My name’s Joseph, my lord. I’m not much of a fighter, but I take my turn on watch. I keep an eye out for trouble.”

“I respect that, Joseph. Can you bring me up to speed?”

Joseph fell into step beside him and explained the work around the castle. Most of the villagers had no Profession, but everyone who could stand watch took a turn.

Farther ahead, Otto hesitated before approaching them. “Lord Moon, I don’t mean to bother you. I just wanted to thank you for protecting us.”

“My plan was for all of you to stay inside the castle temporarily. But you set up tents.”

“We appreciate the offer. But until there’s real danger, we’d rather build something of our own.”

Luke glanced at the tents. It wasn’t much, but he understood the feeling. They wouldn’t last five minutes against an orc raid.

“If the orcs show up, get everyone inside the castle. Immediately.”

Otto nodded solemnly. No one followed Luke inside. Using [Soul Infiltration], he sensed Angie on the far side of the castle grounds. She was speaking with several people while others cut down trees under her direction.

As soon as he turned into a corridor, Franky burst out of a room and raced toward him, all fifteen rats charging after him.

“Hey, human! You said you’d help me keep leveling up.”

“The guild isn’t giving out missions to people at our rank. They don’t want Copper-rank adventurers dying pointlessly in the forest when there might be orcs out there.”

“Since when has that ever stopped you? We can just go out there and let me unleash my incredible rat magic.”

Franky’s rats nodded. Some punched the air. Others jumped around doing ninja moves.

“I’ll help you later. I’m about to finish something important.”

Luke continued to the Kingdom Core chamber. The core pulsed faintly beneath his hand as he conjured a [Citizenship Card]. When he returned, Norn and Charlie were talking. At least the tension between them seemed to be easing.

“What’s up, male?” Norn greeted him.

“I brought what I told you about.”

[Do you truly wish to accept the individual Norn as a citizen of your Kingdom?]

Luke looked at the spider. “What are you seeing, Norn?”

She was a beast, so she probably wasn’t seeing the same words he was.

“Hmm... It really is an official invitation to join this nest,” Norn replied. “Norn accepts. Under one condition.”

“What condition?”

“Defeat Norn in battle.”

***

Garen Voss rode one of the scaled striders provided by King Kyran’s soldiers. The creature loped beneath him on two powerful legs, its long tail shifting constantly to maintain its balance. Ahead stood a city enclosed by simple stone walls.

“Nyvma,” Kyran said. “We finally made it. The first city we’ve found.”

Crossing Rosemark’s territory had not been easy. They’d had no regional maps to guide them, but at least the orcs hadn’t taken anyone else.

“It’ll be the first city that army invades,” Garen said.

They urged the scaled striders into a faster run and raced toward the gates, their clawed feet pounding against the road. The guards panicked at first, perhaps thinking they were under attack. But once they saw the letter granting them passage through Rosemark, the situation quickly settled down. The document had been issued for the meeting in the capital, but it had proved useful all across Rosemark.

They brought the striders to a stop inside the city and climbed down from their saddles. Several guild members came to greet them. Townspeople gathered as well, cheering.

“The reinforcements are here!”

“Rosemark hasn’t abandoned us!”

Garen saw children among them, smiling as though salvation had finally arrived.

They had no idea how few men he had brought.

He forced himself to smile and wave as Brom Harker, the head of the Adventurers’ Guild, led them inside. Kyran kept his hood up to conceal his identity. He had revealed himself to no one and wore the armor and clothing of an ordinary soldier.

“I’ll go back to the front desk, Father,” Thea Harker said.

The door closed behind her.

Brom studied the two men for several seconds.

“You’re not reinforcements from Rosemark, are you?”

“No,” Garen replied.

He explained the situation.

The guildmaster listened in silence. When Garen finished, Brom dragged a hand down his face.

“This is going to be a problem.”

“How long until the orcs reach us?” Kyran asked.

“Not long enough.”

“How many soldiers can the city spare?”

“Not enough.”

Kyran stepped toward the map on Brom’s desk.

“Then we need the fastest routes to the nearest cities. We’ll send messengers, request reinforcements, and gather every soldier and adventurer this town can spare.”

“Gentlemen, this is a frontier city. A gray territory of the kingdom. The kingdom has never seen enough value in this place to invest heavily in it. This isn’t the capital. We don’t have soldiers standing on every corner.”

Even Rosemark, one of the wealthiest kingdoms on the continent, had limits to how much it could do.

“Fortunately, we do have one powerful group of adventurers in the city,” Brom continued. “I’ll have them brief Baron Edrien Vossel. Someone will summon him immediately.”

Harker left the office, leaving Garen and Kyran alone.

The cheering outside continued.

Garen wondered how long it would last once they learned what was coming.

***

“Defeat you in battle?” Luke asked.

“Norn will not join a weak nest. A weak nest becomes food.” She raised her body slightly. “Become Norn’s male, and Norn will accept.”

“No. I’m not going to be your male. I already explained that I have a girlfriend.”

“Then defeat Norn. Prove your strength. No help from your weak female.”

“I punched you so hard you passed out,” Charlie said.

“Norn saw the male. Norn was distracted.”

Luke sighed. “Fine. If I win, you don’t just join the kingdom. You defend it.”

Norn considered that. “Like protecting a web?”

“Exactly. You become one of my soldiers.”

“Then Norn agrees.”

How did the system translate soldier for her?

Whatever the system had shown her, it had worked. With the terms settled, Luke led Charlie and Norn deeper into the forest. They eventually reached a remote stretch of woods where no one was likely to stumble into the fight.

I’m almost certain spiders don’t form packs. But if her species works that way, I’m not going to complain.

“Norn, you’re a spider. Territory is part of how you fight. I’ll let you prepare the area.”

Letting a giant spider choose the battlefield was probably the dumbest fair advantage Luke had ever given anyone.

After agreeing to the terms, Norn disappeared into the forest. The battle would take place at nightfall, so Luke waited.

“Master Luke,” Charlie said, watching the woods where the spider had vanished. “Are you sure you want to invite that spider into your group?”

“She’s going to live in the forest anyway.”

Once night had fully settled, Luke entered the woods alone. At least, that was what Norn was supposed to think. Webbing had taken over the entire area. Threads covered trunks, branches, and entire paths. With every step Luke took, the strands trembled, carrying signals to the spider hidden somewhere nearby.

Luke began firing [Shadow Ball] at the walls of webbing blocking his path. Farther ahead, he spotted something. Norn crouched with her back to him, seemingly waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He fired a [Shadow Ball]. Norn’s body burst into flames.

Are those... strands of web?

It wasn’t the real Norn. Some kind of skill.

The ground jolted beneath him. Something burst from the earth beside Luke.

“Got you!” Norn shouted.

The spider’s legs clamped around him as webbing began wrapping around his body.

“You fell into Norn’s trap, male.”

“That was a little underhanded,” Luke said, pinned between her legs. “You made a perfect copy of yourself out of webbing. I couldn’t tell the difference.”

Norn cackled, staring at him with all eight eyes. “Norn is very good at traps. Norn wins.”

“Good to know. I only said that to make sure tricks were allowed.” Luke smiled. “And by the way, you caught the wrong male.”

His body cracked like glass, then collapsed into clay.

“What? This is not male!”

It was his golem. The real Luke smiled from his hiding place among the trees and threw a knife.

[Telekinetic Impulse]

The blade tore between the trees like a bullet.

[Meteor Shot]

The knife became a meteor and slammed into Norn’s side. At the same moment, a strand snapped tight around Luke’s ankle. His smile vanished. Norn had webbed his hiding place too. The strand ripped him from the branch and hurled him toward the ground. Luke twisted in midair and slashed through the web with his kukri, but Norn was already charging.

One of her legs raked across his side before he could fully evade. His cloak absorbed most of the impact, but the blow still sent him skidding across the dirt. Norn pounced. Luke rolled aside as her pointed legs punched into the ground where his chest had been.

“Male found one trap,” Norn said. “Norn made many.”

Luke pushed himself to his feet. “Good.”

This time, he was grinning. He threw three knives in rapid succession. Norn raised her front legs to shield her face, but the blades curved around her guard under Luke’s telekinetic control.

“Male is good at traps!” she roared. “Norn likes that! Now Norn fights for real!”

The spider charged through the forest at a ridiculous speed. She was on him in an instant. Luke dodged, drew his second kukri, and began deflecting the strikes from her legs.

Some kind of frenzy skill.

Norn’s blows were heavy, the pointed tips of her legs stabbing at him like spears. Luke dodged what he could and parried the rest with his blades. A strand brushed his shoulder. Luke ducked before it tightened around his throat. Another whipped toward his retreating foot. She was herding him. When she drew back for a heavier strike, he flicked one kukri into the air and fired a [Shadow Ball] directly into her face.

The explosion gave him room to retreat.

[Horns of the Darkness Demon]

[Cloak of the Arcane Witch]

He launched himself at a tree, kicked off the trunk, and shot toward Norn like a bullet, smashing into her with a brutal headbutt. The spider screamed as she crashed through the woods, snapping branches and slamming into trees.

Luke leaped high above the treetops before Norn could recover and, still airborne, threw his kukri.

[Knife Storm]

The kukri split in midair, eight copies spreading out around the original.

[Meteor Shot]

The projectiles transformed into small meteors and rained down on Norn. She fired a thick net of webbing above herself, but the first impact punched through it. The rest detonated across the area, ripping apart her defenses and blasting dirt, splintered branches, and debris through the forest.

Norn shrieked and charged through the destruction.

Luke drew another knife. This time, he threw it alone.

[Meteor Shot]

The blade transformed the instant it left his hand and tore through the forest like a cannon shot. It struck the ground directly in Norn’s path and detonated, stopping her charge cold. The blast lifted her off her feet and sent her tumbling across the dirt.

She dug her legs into the ground and forced herself to a stop, but Luke already had another knife in his hand.

[Meteor Shot]

The projectile struck beside Norn before she could regain her footing. The explosion hurled her across the clearing and through a curtain of webbing. She hit the ground hard, rolled, and scrambled upright.

Luke threw his kukri.

[Knife Storm]

The blade split into eight projectiles. They tore through the webbing around Norn and struck from both sides, forcing her out of the trees. She twisted away from one knife only to find another cutting off her escape. Every path closed around her as Luke drove her straight into the center of the clearing.

Exactly where he wanted her.

He drew one final knife. Norn saw it and lunged aside.

[Telekinetic Impulse]

[Meteor Shot]

The transformed projectile snapped toward her and vanished with a thunderous crack. Norn barely had time to turn before it struck the ground beneath her and detonated. The blast tore open the clearing and launched her into the air. She crashed through several strands of webbing before slamming into the base of a tree hard enough to shake the entire trunk.

Luke landed as dirt and splintered wood rained around him. Norn dug her legs into the earth and tried to force herself upright, but Luke was already standing in front of her, pressing the edge of his kukri against her head.

[Crimson Fang]

The blade glowed red. Norn tensed as if she might attack, and the red glow intensified.

“Should I keep going?”

“Norn surrenders! Norn surrenders!”

With one smooth motion, Luke sheathed the kukri.

“You are terrifying, male.” Her mandibles clicked excitedly. “Norn chose well.”

Luke’s stern expression faded as the horns disappeared. “That was a good fight, Norn.”

“Male is very strong. Norn loves male even more now.”

“I already explained that I’m not a spider.”

“Norn knows.” She studied him with all eight eyes. “Norn does not require perfection.”

Artemis laughed inside his head. Luke stared at Norn.

“If you have a core, you are a beast,” Norn continued. “And you are male.”

“She has a point, Luke,” Artemis said.

She really doesn’t.

“Right. Let’s take care of those injuries.”

Luke and Norn went to the riverbank. Charlie arrived shortly afterward.

Norn shook dirt and splintered wood from her body. Several of her legs were broken, forcing her into an awkward, uneven gait.

“Sorry about your legs.”

“It is fine. Norn heals.”

Luke pulled something from his storage item. “It’s the last potion. Here.”

He poured the liquid into her mouth.

“Norn likes this potion.”

Within moments, her wounds began to disappear. Her damaged legs snapped and cracked as the joints shifted back into place at an unnatural speed.

“You absorb healing potions incredibly fast. How do you do that?”

Healing potions took far longer to work on humans. Norn recovered in seconds, the exact kind of regeneration Luke wanted for himself.

“Norn has a skill that lets her take some of the power from what she devours. Norn became like this after drinking much blood from the tree.”

“I see. Your body absorbed some of the tree’s power. That must be why the potion works so well on you.”

“Yes.”

Luke handed her the card again.

[Do you truly wish to accept the individual Norn as a citizen of your Kingdom?]

This time, Norn accepted. Something shifted at the edge of Luke’s awareness. A new presence settled within the boundaries of his kingdom, vast, predatory, and strangely cheerful. The kingdom recognized her, and a picture of Norn appeared on the card alongside her information.

Age: 519 years...

Luke stared at the number. More than five centuries old.

He slipped the card into his pocket.

“You don’t need to worry about keeping this safe. If it breaks or gets lost, I can conjure another one.” He looked at the spider. “Now let’s make you a soldier.”

Norn’s mandibles clicked eagerly.

“What does a soldier get to eat?”

<< Chapter 756 | Index | Chapter 758 >>

Melkor, Tolkien’s first Dark Lord, and Ungoliant, the mysterious being who took the form of a monstrous spider, are two of my favorite characters from Tolkien’s world.

For those of you familiar with Ungoliant, she helped Melkor destroy the Two Trees of Valinor. She was driven by an insatiable hunger, and she even turned on Melkor when he refused to give her the Silmarils he had stolen.

Ever since I started writing this story, I knew I wanted to include a tribute to Ungoliant. There are quite a few references to Tolkien’s world scattered throughout the story, and a giant monstrous spider simply had to be one of them.

Norn has actually been part of my plans since the very beginning. In fact, I hinted at her much earlier in the story. Back in the temple dungeon, while Luke and Skeleton Charlie were making their way through the floors, they fought a giant spider. Some of you might remember that Skeleton Charlie ripped out its heart and offered it to Luke to eat.

That scene was meant to introduce two ideas I planned to explore later: Norn herself and the Spectral Beast’s ability to change its form by consuming cores.

Just a little behind-the-scenes detail for you all.

And to everyone who guessed at the beginning of this arc that a spider was going to show up: yes, you were right. You guys catch everything.

Now I can finally go back and reply to your comments without worrying about accidentally spoiling anything.