Chapter 40: Family Civil War, Start!
"Yay! We won!"
Shiro ran forward and shared a synchronized high-five with Shirazawa, her face beaming with joy. Looking at the scattered remains, Shirazawa gave a wicked grin, revealing his pearly white fangs.
"Looks like breakfast and lunch are sorted."
Even though these spider monsters were of the same kin, they didn't feel the slightest bit of disgust eating them.
"Oh~ Sister tastes pretty good!" Shiro picked up a piece of spider meat roasted to a perfect well-done and took a bite. Instantly, the tender, juicy flavor flooded her taste buds. "Mmm~ delicious~"
Shirazawa's mouth twitched, and he couldn't help but reach out and rap her on the head. "Don't say such suggestive things while eating, it ruins the appetite!"
"Owuu~" Shiro clutched her head and wailed, sticking out her cute tongue to play off the moment with a "cute-confuse" tactic.
The two ate for a long while until they truly couldn't take another bite. Shirazawa stored the remaining ingredients into his Space Storage—his personal sub-dimension. Having maxed out Spatial Magic long ago, things like sub-dimensional storage were second nature.
"OK! Onward to our new adventure!" Shiro brandished her scythes, looking full of fighting spirit. After a brief rest, they set off to explore further.
...
Meanwhile.
In the Lower Stratum of the Labyrinth.
Upon losing the mental link with her kin, the Queen Taratect realized that her subordinates had been completely annihilated. Could she tolerate this? No. To bring these two rebellious children back, she decided to take action personally. Furthermore, she had to report this matter to her own mother—Shirazawa and Shiro's grandmother.
*Static/Coded Communication*
Through ultra-long-distance Telepathy, the Queen informed her superior of everything that had occurred recently. After a long wait, a cold and majestic voice echoed in the Queen's mind.
"Eliminate them directly. The plan must not be exposed."
Hearing her mother's command, the Queen nodded.
*Rumble!*
Violent magic surged into the sky. A pillar of black light blasted straight through the labyrinth ceiling, revealing the azure sky above.
"ROAR—"
With a hiss, a rumbling sound echoed from the depths of the labyrinth. An endless tide of spider monsters swarmed in that direction. Among them were fifty to sixty Greater Taratects, all of Dragon-class caliber. If Shirazawa saw this, he would have released his Parallel Minds to deal with Mother immediately. Fifty monsters comparable to Araba, plus a Queen whose combat power was five times his? Yeah... no hope of winning that.
Looking at her "lovely" children, the Queen's mouth twisted into a gruesome smile. She flicked her crimson tongue over her fangs, eyes flashing with excitement.
"ROAR—"
A deafening roar echoed through the labyrinth as the spider army began its march outward. To avoid exposing the army to humans, the Queen was strategic with the hole she had blasted. It opened on a mountain peak right near Shiro and Shirazawa, completely bypassing the labyrinth entrance. (The labyrinth connects all continental plates; 70% is under the ocean, and 30% is beneath the two main continents.)
The two little spiders, currently wandering leisurely, had no idea how serious the situation had become.
...
"Shirazawa, do you think Mother will actually come out of the labyrinth to hunt us down herself?" Shiro followed behind Shirazawa, munching on a piece of delicious fruit as she asked worriedly.
"Let her come. If it gets bad, we'll just use Spatial Magic to warp away," Shirazawa said nonchalantly.
"True."
As they strolled, they suddenly heard a strange sound.
*Skitter, skitter, skitter—*
"Eh?" They exchanged a confused look and turned toward the source of the sound.
"That's the sound of spiders crawling," Shiro said with certainty, swallowing a fruit pit and tilting her head to listen closely.
They slowly turned their heads, only to see a long dragon-like line of spiders charging toward them at high speed.
Shirazawa: "..."
"Holy crap!"
The two staggered back several steps, completely stunned. What the hell was going on?
*Whoosh—!*
Thirty Greater Taratects, led by the Queen herself, were rapidly closing in. Looking at the gargantuan leader, Shiro and Shirazawa's pupils shrank, and their hearts hammered against their ribs.
"W-what do we do?" Shiro's voice trembled, her eight spider legs shaking. Despair washed over her. "Mother is playing for keeps..."
Shirazawa swallowed hard, feeling the overwhelming aura crashing over them. "Forget it! Run!"
He gritted his teeth and immediately began constructing a long-distance Teleportation array. Since they hadn't sent their Parallel Minds into Mother yet, the array was completed in an instant.
*Flash!*
The next moment, they appeared in the Upper Stratum of the labyrinth.
"Phew~~" Shirazawa let out a long breath and slumped against a wall. He had seriously underestimated Mother's power; they were almost cornered! "This won't do. We have to deal with Mother as soon as possible, or I won't even dare close my eyes at night."
Just as Shirazawa prepared to dispatch his Parallel Minds to invade Mother's mental world, twenty white figures suddenly dropped from above.
*BOOM!*
The ground shook as dust flew everywhere. The two scrambled to avoid the impact. As the smoke cleared, twenty Greater Taratects had them completely surrounded.
"Mother actually predicted our escape route and set an ambush," Shiro noted, frowning in distress at the closing circle.
"Go!"
The Magic Minds constructed a Teleportation spell instantly. Before the Greater Taratects could attack, Shirazawa grabbed Shiro and warped them to the Middle Stratum. This was the only place ordinary spider monsters didn't dare approach.
By teleporting directly, they avoided a blockade by Puppet Taratects and escaped a disaster. He felt lucky he hadn't sent the Parallel Minds out yet; otherwise, this would have been a grueling fight with no chance of escape.
"Shirazawa, what do we do next? The fire in the Middle Stratum won't stop the Greater Taratects for long," Shiro asked anxiously. They currently had no room for counterattacks.
"Sigh~ no choice. We'll have to rely on Body Mind and the others." Shirazawa sighed. This time he had lost, completely. While they wouldn't necessarily be killed, being chased around by Mother was quite embarrassing.
Shirazawa then relayed the battle plan to her. "We do this, then that, and finally..."
The more Shiro listened, the brighter her eyes became. She was thrilled. She hadn't expected they had such a trump card against Mother.
"Okay, let's do it!" Shiro decided immediately, rubbing her claws together.
"Body Mind! Magic Minds 1, 2, and 3! I'm leaving it to you!"
"Roger!!" x4
At Shiro's command, the four Parallel Minds surged forward through the mental link, charging straight into Mother's mental world. Their mission was simple: eat Mother's soul until nothing was left.
As for Shirazawa's side:
Body Mind: (Hehe, finally getting to meet the other Body Mind in person. I'm actually a little excited.)
Information Mind: (Hey, hey, remember the mission. There's plenty of time for romance later.)
Magic Mind 1: (Whoo! Since we're finally meeting, I have to dress up and look cool.)
Magic Mind 2: (Glad I wove a magic cloak in advance. I'm definitely going to be the most stylish one there.)
Magic Mind 3: (Seriously? You guys are even competitive about this?)
Information Mind: (Damn it, are you even listening to me? You're going there to fight, not on a picnic!)
Body Mind: (Relax, relax. Mother doesn't have any mental skills, and there's eight of us combined. It's not like she can one-shot us.)
Magic Mind 1: (Exactly, Information Lead, just chill out~)
Magic Mind 4: (Waaaah~ my Number Four, why can't I go to the meetup?)
Information Mind: (I can't construct magic arrays and run for my life at the same time. Someone has to stay behind.)
Magic Mind 4: (Waaaah, then why did it have to be me?)
Information Mind: (Because you're the most handsome.)
Magic Mind 4: (Ahem, I see. In that case, I'll reluctantly guard the home base.)
Body Mind: (Nice, Number 4 successfully PUA'd.)
After a brief exchange, Shirazawa's Parallel Minds also set off for Mother's mental world. Whether they were going there to fight or for "other things," Shirazawa wasn't entirely sure. He just wished them happiness.
To ensure they could guarantee 100% magic construction, Magic Mind 4—the most recently born—was left behind, missing out on the grand "meetup." The horn for the counterattack had sounded; the family civil war of the spider clan had officially begun.
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