Subaru could only watch as Kazuma picked himself off the ground, uncaring that his arms were bent wrong in several places. He turned his gaze to the rest of the scene unfolding before him. The sight of a man with a shield hopping off some large Chocabo like bird which began speaking in a little girl's voice. He watched as several Demi Human girls dragged themselves out of the car...? groaning and moaning as they did so. Then a small mermaid like girl was let out of the the arms of an albino woman, and jumped into the arms of a white haired man with cybernetics.
He looked back at Kazuma.
"What the hell have you been up to?" he asked, covering Yuika's ears as he spoke. "Ah, that. Got a request from a certain friend." Kazuma said while leaning in and winking. "To go look for a certain solution to the whole Waves of Calamity/Crimson Storms Issue. I'd say I'm about a quarter done the first part. So how did you get here? This definitely isn't Tempest?" Kazuma answered honestly. "A Storm dragged me in and threw me around. But you said you had a solution." Subaru replied as he took another cautious glance at the new arrivals.
"Yep, Eris said that there's four heroes from the world that was facing the waves that can help put a stop to them." Kazuma said while he pointed at the man with a shield who was now helping the Demi Humans. "Four poor saps who got Isekaied, each stuck with a weapon." Subaru guessed. "Right on the money." Kazuma replied, somewhat tired.
They stood there for a second, then Kazuma spoke up. "So, that isn't Sophia with you. Where'd you find her?" Kazuma asked while pointing at Yuika. "Adopted her, the locals were going to leave her on the streets, saying she was a Cursed Child." Subaru answered while hugging Yuika closer to his chest.
"Well then Kazuma, you going to introduce your friend to us? Since you two seem to be having a swell time talking while were trying to get the Hummer up." The white haired man half shouted. The young girl in his arms was resting her head on his shoulder as he got close to them. "Natsuki Subaru." Subaru said before Kazuma could speak, holding out a hand to them.
This seemed to cause the man to stop, pausing to look him over for a second. "The Kuro Street Case." the man seemed to mutter as he raised his artificial arm and took Subaru's. "Is that what they're calling it?" Subaru asked in a joking manner.
The Man didn't seem amused. "Right, sorry. Kazuma told me a bit about how it went down in Japan. Anyway, what's your name?" Subaru tried to maintain a conversation. "Nagamo, but that's besides the point." Nagamo replied. "Hajime, we need your help. Shea got her head stuck in between the seats." The white haired woman called for him. "Coming." Hajime shouted back as he returned to the hummer.
The other misfits of the group gathered themselves off the ground and took quick notes of the surrounding terrain. The man with the shield seemed to absorb both dead Wave bosses into afformented weapon. The various demi human girls were either taking stock of their supplies or making sure to help those injured. Hajime had just finished pulling the rabbit girl out of the Hummer while the white haired girl held onto the small child.
That and the bird turned into another little girl. It was very strange to watch.
"You have any idea where we are?" Kazuma asked him. "We're in Kumoko's old turf, or close to it. Been making my way towards a port town to hopefully join some Merchants on their way to Axel." Subaru replied. "What about Kumoko's old teleportation points?" Kazuma raised a point. "We only knew where one of them was, and it's in a country torn up by war and left to smolder." Subaru shot that down.
"That spot yes, but what about her other spots? She said she had numerous ones set up in some underground Labyrinth?" Kazuma asked. "But we don't know where it is, much less what could be down there." Subaru shot it down. "If we find any of them, We can teleport out of here." Kazuma argued, raising his voice enough to get the other's attention.
"What's this about teleporting?" The shield bearer spoke up. The two could see that everyone else was looking at them, and the car was gone. "This place was were we met that other one I told you about, the one we've been using to set up teleportation point. We just have to find one of her spots then we can teleport out of here." Kazuma explained. "Issue is, the only one we know of is unusable and the others are in some monster filled Labyrinth." Subaru countered.
"Just a Labyrinth?" Hajime spoke up. "We have no idea how big it would be, nor where it is." Subaru continued. "Its massive and underground. There's a couple different exits for it." Kazuma countered. Subaru used Invisible Providence to pull Kazuma face to face; "Stop." he pleaded with grit teeth. Kazuma just raised his arms in defense; "I'm just saying." he started as some of the others rushed to pulled them apart.
Then the ground made a loud cracking noise.
They all looked back at its source, the spot where the hummer and two wave bosses were but moments ago.
Then they heard another, then another.
The very ground around them began to break.
Subaru quickly tucked Yuika close to him and Kazuma swore loudly. Naofumi called his Demi human companions and the bird girl close to him. Hajime seemed completely calm as the ground around them broke.
Subaru used Invisible providence and stretched the limbs to their limit. Kazuma quickly latched onto him as the shielder threw his demi human companions out of the hole while summoning a large translucent shield as a foot hold. One of the demi humans? from Hajime's group turned into a Dragon and allowed the rest of their group to climb on her back.
Subaru quickly grabbed the shield guy with one of his spare limbs from Invisible Providence while Hajime's group picked up the rest of his group. Subaru was now floating with Yuika in his arms and Kazuma hanging off of him. The dust kicked up giving all a veiw of Invisible Providence's ten limbs.
"Now Subaru, before you drop me. We have a way into the Labyrinth." Kazuma spoke up. Subaru just looked down at him.
And Groaned.
They recuperated a fair distance away from the newly made hole. Proper introductions were made and Subaru got to know the others. No one commented on Invisible Providence so Subaru could wipe some sweat from his brow.
Of course, they were now set on exploring the Labyrinth to find one of Kumoko's teleportation points.
The plan was to have Tio carry them down in her Dragon form then travel the rest of the way on foot. Subaru was still against it, but he would rather stick with them than drag out his impromptu journey.
Tio somehow held all their weight (and a tantrum from Filo about having to ride a dragon) and they decendes. Light disappeared, replaced by an expanse of darkness that only allowed minimal vision. Subaru adjusted The Star Gazer as the others pulled out lanterns.
Small monsters were already making themselves know. Swarms of large wasps and wall crawling lizards tried to strike Tio as they decended further down. Failing to gain anything as Tio's Dragon hide was too durable, their only reward being swift executions by her occupants.
When they finally reached the bottom they all took a look around. The ground was littered with the old debris from the surface and there was several tunnels each leading too different locations.
"Should we split up?" Kazuma asked. "It will be safer if we stick together." Naofumi spoke up as he got to absorbing the monsters into his shield. "I second that." Kaori spoke up as she carried Myu on her shoulders. "Then which path to take?" Kazuma asked as Tio finished turning back to her human form. "We go straight ahead, I've got a trick for this." Hajime said as he pulled out what looked like green chalk.
"How much do we have?" Kazuma asked. "More than enough" Hajime shot back, not even turning to look at him. Subaru took another look around, adjusting the Star Gazer until he could see comfortably in the low light. "Hey guys, there's a lot of spider webs on the walls." he warned them. "How do you know that?" Shea asked hesitantly. "My eye patch can magnify and alter the visible spectrum. It's currently working on low light and there's a lot of spider webs." Subaru replied as he felt along them.
"Just like Kumoko's" he muttered before using Invisible Providence to get the web off of his hand. Naofumi got his hands on another and began to absorb the material. Hajime doing similar with a blade he had built into his artificial arm.
They continued onwards, talks of keeping the webs around for later use mostly ignored by the others.
'Man, it sure is boring around here.' Body Brain muttered as she messed around with her web. Kumoko had left her, Magic Brain 1, Magic Brain 2, and Information Brain in the Labyrinth while she left with those two other worlders to do God know's what. 'Seriously, we haven't even seen any non-spider monster in weeks. I just want something to happen.' She lamented before making her way back to the home the Kumoko Sisters shared.
'Maybe Granny finally followed through and brought us an auntie to take control over those Spider?' Body Brain pondered. She and her sisters had been running themselves ragged trying to keep the other Spiders below them under control. Ariel had heard their plight and promised to bring in a new Queen Terratect soon, but soon hasn't come quick enough.
'I mean seriously, couldn't Our United self have left us with something more to do than the same old.' Body brain ranted as she reached home.
'Is she doing it again?' Magic 2 asked Magic 1. 'Yes, it seems she's still jealous of Kumoko's adventure.' Magic 1 replied. 'Ah don't worry. We just have to find something else to do, then she'll be back to normal.' Information Brain chimed in.
Then they all felt the Labyrinth shake and rocks fall.
'Like that?' Magic 2 asked. She received no answer as the other three Kumoko sisters rushed into a huddle. 'What do you think happened?' Body brain asked. 'Maybe Granny brought a new Queen Terratect.' Information Brain suggested. 'Or maybe some adventurers tried to blast a new way into the Labyrinth?' Magic 1 chimed in.
'Bah, who would be that stupid?' Body Brain replies. The other three sisters just looked at her. 'Right, we're talking about humans here.' She replied while rubbing the back of her neck. 'Either way, we should investigate.' Body Brain said with Vigor before she took off.
'Fine.' The other three replied as they followed after her.
Kazuma cut another Web out of the way and let Naofumi take it. Their path was slowly being covered in the thick silk. Any suggestion to burn it was ignored as it was safer to just let Naofumi absorb the large clumps while cutting away the larger ones.
With one final slice the thin wall of webs fell.
And they could hear loud skittering. "Sir, we should retreat." Raphtalia spoke up. "Don't worry, they haven't triggered my Detect Enemy Skill yet. it's probably just some small cave spider crawling in a gap." Kazuma replied as they pushed forward.
Hajime took a different approach, grabbing Donner and keeping it leveled with the cave in front of them.
The skittering grew louder, the group began to change into a circle formation.
"Any chance we could get the monsters to go away by saying that we know Ariel?" Subaru whispered to Kazuma. "Maybe, but not every monster listens to the same being." Kazuma replied. Subaru covered Yuika's eyes and ears and pulled out the broken sword he had sheathed at his side. Kazuma simply breathed in, and pulled out a large mana crystal.
Then something collided with him, causing the crystal to fly out of his hands and break Hajime's lantern.
Everyone turned in that direction. Three sets of eight eyes stared back at them with an unsettling brightness. Shea let out a loud shriek as the eyes landed on each of them. Subaru just watched as Kazuma pushed the other monster off of him, a large spider with... a Headband?
"Don't tell me." he muttered out loud. The spider turned to him, and he felt like he had met Kumoko for the first time again. "No... No... " he muttered, getting louder each time. Kazuma had quickly caught on, staying on his knees while he let out a loud cry of Anguish. "NNNOOOOO!!!! WHY ARE THERE MORE OF YOU?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Hajime and Naofumi's groups just watched the scene unfold, unsure what to do. "TELL ME, WHY ARE THERE FOUR MORE OF YOU KUMOKO?!" he continued shouting. Subaru was busy covering his face and groaning.
"Is... he trying to talk with a giant spider?" Yue asked. "I think so, they must be crazy." Rifana replied.
'Hey Kazuma.' They all heard suddenly. "Don't Hey Kazuma Me. Why. Are. They. More. Of. You?" he asked. "Those spiders can talk." Shea said while cowering behind Hajime. 'Kumoko left us here to go with you guys.' They heard while the other spiders got close.
The one that ran into Kazuma had a headband with the Kanji 'Body Brain' on it. Next was one with a pair of large glasses and a radiating smirk. The other two each wore a hat, a wizard hat and a top hat respectively.
By now Subaru was also screaming in anguish alongside Kazuma. The two seemingly lamenting the decisions they've made.
"You called her Kumoko right? Like the one you supposedly had with you when you traveled through the Wave?" Naofumi asked. 'That's Us.' The four Spiders said telepathically. Kazuma and Subaru simply continued screaming.
"So, would you be willing to guide us to one of the teleportation points?" Naofumi asked. The spider sisters seemed to consider it for a second, even going so far as to huddle in a group to make a decision.
The spider with glasses turned back to them as they split up. 'We'll take you, but only if you can tell us where our original self went.' Information Brain answered. "Well-" "Only they have that answer." Hajime interrupted Naofumi while pointing to the two guys who were still screaming. Body Brain scuttled up to them and smacked them with the flat of her scythe leg.
"Kumoko's been living out in the Crimson Demon Village. She's also been frequently visiting Tempest since they have Light Novels for sale there. That Enough?" Kazuma asked in an emotionless tone. 'Deal!!' The four Spiders said at the same time.