It was like ringing the dinner bell. Her horror seemed to shed the creature of its own. In an instant, the goliath lunged across the chamber and dove straight for her.
Spitting a curse through her teeth, Ferris shot at the creature, but not before catching it in all of its terrifying glory. It was not a true arachne, or any other breed of monster from what she could tell. Its eyes were empty and it didn't even have the correct number of legs. It looked to be some kind of automaton, a mesh of earth and rock and fungi. What created it?! Was it animated through magic or possessed by someone else?
How anyone could've fabricated it was beyond the mage. Why was clear: Disposal.
Since it wasn't a living being, there was no telling if it would stay down if she continued to try to fight it. Even if there was still a horde of spiders waiting for her, she had to find a way back up! Ferris summoned a few bullets in a protective arch around herself and leapt across the mess. In the almost nonexistent light, she could just barely make out the sight of protrusions jutting out of the wall.
She fought to envision that her body was far lighter than it actually was, scrambling to focus on both the magic that partially shielded her and the blue spell she tried to envelop around her own soul. Castellar could do it, the Guildmaster could do it—even one of the blasted minstrels that treated a mage's life as some kind of great game did it! She could do it, climbing over roofs and treetops, but this was not just a simple exercise.
One of the bullets erupted as a leg shot toward her, catching it in her place. Bits of stone hit her body and the heat of the detonation singed her jaw. She pulled herself up, trying to ignore the rust-colored prints of hands that had tried to do the very same long before her.
It was nearly impossible to keep her focus. All she could think of was the automaton at her back.
It hesitated to attack her a third time. At least it apparently had some sense of self-preservation. She would already have died if it didn't. A deranged giggle left her. How dare she think of that now?! Now that she knew how to expose Lord Weaver's crimes, the simple and smart choice was to let this thing kill her and catch the noble the moment he entered her room.
However, she couldn't will herself to do it. Clearly, she'd gotten too comfortable in recent years. She thought she was experienced enough that the idea of dying no longer concerned her, but the thought of being caught in that abomination's maw and ending up like the bodies below terrified her too much.
Another strained laugh rippled out. How unfair was that, when her pain would only last a moment? Ferris offered a mute apology to the deceased and kept climbing.
She pulled herself level to where she'd fallen. There was no easy way across. She had to jump. Her right arm felt like it would pop out of its socket as she landed harshly against the edge of the drop. She clawed at the floor, not quite able to lift her torso past the threshold. Something sharp caught her leg.
Something else caught her arm. Fine, violet threads laced around the lower half of the limb and dragged her to safety, but her relief barely lasted a second. The next thing Ferris knew, those same cords flung her into one wall and then the next—like a child haphazardly playing with a yo-yo. Ferris was able to burn through them similarly to the bonds that had held her in laboratory, but collapsed to the ground as the world raced to catch up with her. She could barely see straight.
"I didn't think you'd pretend to be caught. That was a bold move."
Familiar footsteps moved toward her in the dark. A thousand tiny legs scuttled to either side of the hall as Lord Weaver stepped forward.
"But you should've known better than to walk directly into a spider's web, young Ferris. And since you have come this far, I will be taking my prize."
Ferris opened her mouth to hurl the first of many obscenities at the noble when two, pin-prick lights caught her attention. Noticing that her gaze had shifted past him, the arachne looked over his shoulder.
Another light appeared, this time in the shape of a splintered bone. Castellar appeared from the shadows, holding the weapon firmly by his side. His hardened stare lingered on Ferris for only a moment before landing on the other noble, who he commanded in a steady, yet menacing tone, "Lord Weaver, step away from my colleague right now."
Given the chance, Ferris pushed herself back onto her feet. She checked her HP, which had dropped close to half. She couldn't bring herself to care to wonder why Castellar was there—when he should've still been out on patrol. For the moment, she was just glad to catch her breath.
The arachne glanced between the pair, piecing together his own circumstances. He was trapped. Slowly, he lifted his arms as he turned around to face the skeleton completely, "We can speak with reason, can't we, Castellar?"
The latter took another few steps toward him, "I do not barter with sinners."
"Is it true that your father wants the girl?"
While the arachne asked his question in an unfazed tone, the air grew tense. The young woman scoffed, hardly believing that this is what the situation had come to: She and the guild's traitor forced to unite to snag a criminal only for the latter to offer her capture in exchange for his own. Oh, how everything had come back full circle!
Tobius and Madame Valda both promised her that Castellar would never betray them again. Even if he tried to, there was no way he would get away with it. Too many powerful people knew about his and his father's deceit. She herself had grown too strong to be brought down easily. He wouldn't dare make the same mistake twice.
Right?
"Don't deny it. We spiders hide within all corners of Ebott. Few secrets are safe from us," Lord Weaver clicked when Castellar waited too long to give him an answer, "Which is why I presume you don't really stay in the Boroughs out of your own desire, do you?"
Again, there was only silence.
What times that Ferris had sparred with Castellar, the two were never permitted to fight at full force. It was always under observation, always with someone to call them down before either student could greatly hurt the other. It wasn't that their teachers didn't want them to fight rough: Their history warranted that precaution, lest they took things that one step too far.
Even if she was confident in her own abilities, she didn't know if she could beat Castellar for certain. And if the two monsters teamed up against her...
Castellar closed what little distance between them remained. He pointed the bone at the arachne as a sign of warning."Lord Weaver, you are under arrest for crimes against the Two Kingdoms: For the trafficking of mages, and for the murder of countless innocents—"
The other interrupted him with a harsh laugh, "Innocents?Humans that possess magic are not merely a threat to monsters; they are an insult to the natural order! Theirown kindthinks so! I have been cleansing a scourge."
The quiet that followed this time was different. It felt like the tension in the air became mixed with a kind of... buzz, the sensation of whirring insects disturbed from their nest. The feeling didn't come from their audience.
"Don't be their dog, Castellar. You're meant for so much more than this."
A strange look crossed over the skeleton's face. He shifted his stance. Suddenly, the bone in his hand was flung in Ferris' direction. She threw her body out of the way and it spun past her.
There was a fierce shriek. She glanced behind her to find the weapon drilled into one of the automaton's eyes. While it was much too large to crawl over the threshold and squeeze into the passage, it had tried to make a swipe for her with its limited reach. Chunks of the floor were ripped apart as it scrambled for purchase. It fell backward, dropping into the pit.
Castellar practically growled, "I won't ask you to surrender a second time—!"
The smaller, watchful arachne swarmed over him. He was forced to retreat, manifesting his shield to push back against the hoard. Ferris spotted a purple light coming from Lord Weaver's claws, extending into cords. She lunged at him from behind. Quickly, he caught one of the nearby fragments of rock with the thread and slung it at her skull. She nearly lost her footing from the impact, catching herself and bringing her Astral Dagger into her hand. Keeping low, she managed to land a cut at her opponent's waist.
"Switch off!" her colleague barked.
Ferris kicked off the floor and she and Castellar traded places. There was no choice. He didn't have any kind of sweeping spell that could handle enemies like this. Admittedly, Lord Weaver had her outclassed. Sliding into his former place, the young woman summoned a maelstrom of bright orange flames—taking out any arachne too stunned to face them.
There was a loud racket behind her as Castellar clashed with the other noble head on. She continued to act as support, clearing the cramped battlefield of anyone who might intervene. At one point, she risked a glance to check how the two fared against each other.
Lord Weaver clearly knew how to fight and his stats were impressive, but he was not really the close-combat type. His only advantage there was in the number of limbs—and therefore attacks from varying directions—that he forced Castellar to keep up with. Even that was countered by the brunt of the skeleton's shield. As the two locked themselves into a brief stalemate, Castellar slammed the floor with his heel. A large bone rammed upward, straight into Lord Weaver's chest and almost knocking him into the pit with his deadly pet.
The latter caught himself by flinging several violet webs back into the tunnel. Some caught the walls to brace his body. One latched around Castellar's leg and threw him off-balance. As the skeleton tripped backward and dragged his feet to keep from being pulled into the hole with Lord Weaver, it actually gave the other monster the momentum he needed to vault himself through the air and back into hall.
He landed on top of the skeleton, all six arms braced to strike. Castellar didn't allow him to how that advantage for long. Mandibles clattered as he slammed his fist into the arachne's face, whirling his body around to get back into his feet.
Then Lord Weaver's arms spread wide with another web-based attack. Before she knew it, Ferris was yanked backward. The two mages collided into one another. Castellar caught them both before they could tumble to the ground.
The magical spider threads encircled them completely. Before Lord Weaver could ensnare them, Ferris' dagger changed from its usual red and white glow to a yellow one. She adjusted her grip and threw it. It pierced the arachne in the shoulder, causing little damage, but distracting him enough to keep him from completing his spell.
Another Astral Dagger was summoned, extending into a longer blade. Lord Weaver had left himself open. She moved forward to deal the final blow and saw a fearful realization flood his eyes.
Ah… Was it fair for him to show fear now, after how brazenly he'd threatened her?
Before she could strike, a bone shard pierced Lord Weaver right through the head. He gasped, his eyes going wide and his limbs slack. Seconds later, his body began to crumple into dust.
There was a loud clatter behind Ferris. She jumped at the noise, turning her head just in time to see purple threads evaporate from around a mass of rock hovering in the air before harmlessly hitting the ground. The lingering magic slowly vanished, tracing back to where the fallen noble once lay.
Too flustered to muster any gratitude, the young woman fumed at the skeleton instead,"Cas!"
"Next time, don't hesitate." He didn't bother looking her way as he scolded her, instead casting a fierce glance at few the remaining arachne. Some had fled mid-battle, others as soon as their leader had fallen. He waited for the last of them to fully dissipate before continuing in a surprisingly softer tone, "You should check your LV."
Ferris bristled. Reluctantly, she did as Castellar said.
The number next to her name had shifted from a 2 to a 3.
She sighed through her nose. It was... to be expected. She had only thought of survival from the moment she escaped the laboratory, but the fact remained that she'd killed a number of arachne.
The number mocked her, just as it had when she'd gone from a LV. 1 to a LV. 2. She'd accepted that change when she'd had to fight for her and her sister's lives on the streets. She'd been preparing for this change throughout her training as a mage. It was likely to change again one day in the future.
If she entertained the idea of going back in time to spare the spiders, it was short-lived. Despite the heavy shedding of dust and that there never even was a single victim left to save, she and Castellar had completed their mission. Maybe she could try again. Maybe she could take down only Lord Weaver, all by herself, but who said the result would be any better than this? And what for? To save a villain and his underlings, or in some poor attempt to spare her own…
No. Ferris walked away, returning to the edge of the drop. All of the rest of the world lived on with their decisions, never given the gift or curse of correcting the past. Yet Lord Weaver and his ilk had made the same poor choices over and over again, never choosing to learn from their mistakes. What made her responsible for them? She would not force herself to suffer for their sake.
"Mine went up as well," the skeleton muttered behind her—not that she cared.
Castellar soon stood by her side. Morphing the shield's shape, he raised up the mass of magic to shine its light down into the pit below. All too acquainted with the scene, Ferris averted her eyes. Castellar hissed through his teeth.
"If we had thought to check his LV, we may have caught on sooner," he said, "Lord Weaver served in many battles in his younger years. I would've suspected a high number nevertheless, but... It would not have been to this extreme."
She merely nodded. Truthfully, as much as people emphasized the importance of one's LV in relation to their innocence, it was an overly simplistic system. A knight that fought to defend king and country could carry a number that matched a serial killer's. An abusive family member—who beat and kicked and starved their young relatives daily, but never spilled enough blood to call for attention—could carry a number that matched a saint's. A parent who protected their offspring from an amateur criminal would forever carry a mark higher than their attacker's. In this case though, yes; knowing would have helped.
The young woman soon noticed that something was missing: The strange automaton was nowhere to be seen. When she brought it up, Castellar raised a brow at her, but soon explained, "That was a living spell—an advanced technique, to be sure, but nothing more than an extension of Lord Weaver himself. It perished the moment he did."
"That thing was a spell?!"
His expression abruptly sharpened, "Don't try it. I shudder to think of the beast you'd make."
Ferris gave him an awful scowl of her own before her eyes once more fell to the deceased. For whatever justice had finally been offered to them, she knew that they would never leave this castle. It was too risky to move the bodies, both due to the potential for disease and the uproar the sight of them would cause. They and their secret would need to be burned.
Steeling her resolve, the only things left Ferris had to give the fallen were a prayer and a spark.