Chapter 339 - The Burrow XIII
Chapter 339: The Burrow XIII
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A suffocating pungent stench of something rotten filled the chamber of the Wolfspider Burrow.
The decomposing dead leaves that made up the soft ground released some heat. Coupled with the abundant thick cobwebs that acted as a heat trap, the temperature within the chamber was surprisingly higher than the outside’s near freezing point.
There was no sign of any Wolfspiders. During the last battle with the Demon-Hunters, all of them apparently rushed out of the burrow to defend their territory out of basic instinct.
Messy strands of spider webs intertwined with the decomposing leaves. The Demon-Hunters followed the trail and searched every chamber.
“Huh?! ”
As they arrived at a certain chamber, everyone’s footsteps stopped abruptly. Their eyes were fixed on an unfortunate Demon-Hunters who lay completely immobilized on a cobweb. They were none other than the ten-man Demon-Hunter party who appeared along with Alxa before Grimm’s party ventured into the Burrow World. They had now entered the presence of the final resting place of these valiant vanguards.
Grimm recognized them all. They were the exact ten members from the original team… their meeting still fresh in his memory… their leader, a Rank-2 Demon-Hunter…
Was…
The others paid their final respects to the deceased Demon-Hunters and moved onward to continue exploring the Wolfspider Burrow, leaving behind only Alxa and Grimm.
The two of them stood before their former Demon-Hunter comrades in silence.
Or one should say, what was left of them. Only their skin remained—their muscles, skeleton, and organs had all vanished.
“We’re too late. We couldn’t save them…”
Grimm could almost imagine their last moment’s struggle as the Thought Echo overpowered them. The feeling of one’s very own internal organs melting under their skin, only to be sucked dry by the ravenous Wolfspiders.
In other words, they were eaten alive! The feeling of helplessness… They must have hoped for someone to put them out of their misery. It was nothing but pure torture!
“Let it go… The life of a Demon-Hunter is always filled with danger. Consider this the course of natural selection. Only the strongest can survive and those who remain must bravely continue with the mission so their sacrifice will not be in vain.”
That very moment, everything was so still as if time itself has stopped. The old sorceress, Alxa opened her palm. The green sapling appeared once again.
“Hmm… It appears that the sorcerer who specializes in studying the force of life is still very much alive. Let’s see if we can find anything useful.”
Grimm nodded and scavenged the corpses of his fallen comrades. Nothing of much value here.
“Over here! I found something!”
Someone shouted from a nearby chamber.
Grimm and Alxa exchanged glances and quickly made their way toward the source of discovery, where their twelve-man-team had surrounded a Demon-Hunter with swollen and abnormally decaying skin.
They carefully freed him from his cobweb prison. His breathing was slow and he had since passed out. His unsightly and festering wounds emitted an unbearable, disgusting odor.
“Will he make it?” asked Alxa who approached the crowd.
A Ranked-2 Demon-Hunter from Alxa’s team examined the newly-rescued Demon-Hunter. He shook his head and did not say a word. Then, he left him where he was.
Alxa nodded. She, too, did not spit a word.
However, Grimm would not give up rescuing another life. He was one to do anything in his power to rescue another fellow Demon-Hunter. He approached the dying Demon-Hunter and attempted to wake him up using his crystal orb, but to no avail.
After a moment of thinking, Grimm lit up a tiny Soul Fire at the tip of his finger and proceeded to draw some symbols on the Demon-Hunter’s decaying wound.
Grimm learned this simple soul manipulation during the time of his apprenticeship with a foreign world Devil Lord. He outwitted him and got his hands on a copy of the Devil’s Contract. Through self-study, he managed to learn some simple soul manipulation tricks.
Grimm’s sudden utilization of the soul manipulation spell surprised everybody at the scene.
Usually, no Demon-Hunter would be interested in studying a soul manipulation spell. While it appeared powerful, those who would advance to Hearkening Sorcerer would naturally master soul manipulation spells anyway. Therefore, spending time learning these spells were largely considered a waste of time.
Even Grimm agreed to this consensus during his time as an apprentice.
The Demon-Hunter who was suffering from decaying wounds slowly gained his consciousness as Grimm cast the simple soul manipulation spell.
Slowly but surely, he came to, struggling to keep his eyes open. He tried to say something but violent coughing came out instead of words.
Most Demon-Hunters who were observing them, bar some Level-2 veterans were immediately disturbed by what they saw.
His eyes…
One of his eyes was filled with veins. Though looking unhealthy, it still looked normal for a human’s eye.
However, his other eyeball became the host of a three-centimeter translucent spiderling. It moved about slowly within the confines of his eyeball, as if ready to hatch anytime.
“Cough, cough, cough… ”
After a series of violent coughing, some peculiar thick fluid oozed out from the edge of the Demon-Hunter’s mouth. He tried to say something but could not summon the strength to speak.
Grimm’s tried to communicate with him using his own Soul Fire but his communication partner’s Soul Fire was almost extinguished. He was done for.
The previous Rank-2 Demon Hunter shook his head as he witnessed what had just unfolded.
“What are you trying to say?”
Grimm leaned his head closer toward the dying Demon-Hunter.
Obviously, the Wolfspiders had done something to him. Otherwise, why did he not suffer the same fate as the other Demon-Hunters whereby their internal organs were dissolved?
“Cough…. Plea… kil… me…”
The extremely debilitated Demon-Hunter took about a full minute to make his last wish known. Even so, Grimm had to employ the best of his judgment to understand what he was trying to say.
Should Grimm oblige?
Grimm mulled about it but dared not make the hardest decision.
As long as no one violated the Holy Tower’s rule, any fight between Demon-Hunters outside the protection zone was all fair game.
However, to take the life of another Demon-Hunter during any expedition constituted a crime if there was no reasonable justification for it. It would be equivalent to jeopardizing the interest of the Sorcerer World… a felony. One that could lead to capital punishment.
“Aa…”
The Demon-Hunter closed his eyes. It seemed like he did not even have the strength to react from the severe pain he was enduring.
“Eww! His skin…”
Parrot Leafie cried suddenly but held it back. It covered its beak with its wings. There was nothing but horror in its eyes.
Grimm also noticed something peculiar. His breath became slightly heavier under the Mask of Truth. Soon, everyone realized what was happening which gave them goosebumps.
A three-centimeter long light black spiderling crawled out from under the decaying Demon-Hunter’s skin, literally!
The reproduction method of Wolfspiders was to use the body of their victim as a living nursery.
It so happened that this poor Demon-Hunter who practiced a Force of Life spell was unfortunate enough to be chosen by the Wolfspiders as their unwilling host; a source of nourishment. Once hatched, their very first lunch would be him!
At this very moment, hundreds of Wolfspider spiderlings were feeding on his flesh and blood from within.
What a cruel and horrifying way to die! Even watching this was enough for anyone to be hit by a swarm of angry butterflies in their gut.
This was an evolutionary method unique to the Wolfspiders, one of the survival principles of Infinity World.
Alxa took out her crystal orb and said to Grimm without much emotion, “Let’s end his suffering. This is the least that we can do for him… I’ve gathered the necessary logs.”
“Ok,” Grimm nodded.
To have oneself used as a vessel against their own will… The Wolfspiders robbed him of his control over his physical body. This was worse than outright killing him. How inhumane! Grimm did not know what to do. He was left with an only option.
With that, a fireball ignited atop his Sabbatic Goat Staff.
“Rest in peace, brother. May you be cleansed and freed from torment…”
Under everyone’s watch, the fire consumed the infested Demon-Hunter. With a heavy heart, they split the sorcerer equipment of the Demon-Hunter. He would not be needing it anymore. Grimm received an ordinary ring, which he threw into the pocket world without a second thought.
They did not forget to collect some live specimens of the three-centimeter spiderlings for further study. The crowd cast destructive spells as they retreated to purge the inhabitants of Wolfspider Burrow.
In the sea of fire, Alxa and Grimm led their teams to continue on their journey, now more determined than ever.