Biggest thanks for Ace-Triad for fixing my SPAG problems, help expanding this chapter, and Angel Wraith for beta-reading the chapter and providing feed backs.
As always, I will blabber some more in my end note.
Cross posted on AO3, for anyone who prefer that site.
Mittelt doubles over on the stone wall. She would have dropped head down onto the street, with snapping maws of the Wave spawn monsters waiting below if Blake hadn't grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. The daughter of the Menagerie Resort's owner isn't going to have her fight on the frontline in her current condition, or perhaps she doesn't want Mittelt to distract the other more capable fighters. She grabs the young little crow girl, and slips down one of the ropes onto the little courtyard and lies her against one of the many crates. She actually looks worried for Mittelt, as she Waves her hand in front of her eyes and asks. "Hey, are you alright? You looked sick there."
"I'm alright. Nothing is hurting me... but I'm worried for Big Sister Janne." Mittelt turns her face to look north again. The Wave of malice she's been feeling since earlier didn't grow weaker. In fact, it only got ever stronger since she started to feel something truly evil breached into their world. It reminded her of that time, when she was still one of the squatters surviving in the slum, fending for herself before big sister Janne showed her light, a life that has more meaning than her own meager life.
No... that's not exactly true. She didn't only have herself. It's something much worse. Before she realizes it, she has blurted out the first thing that's on her mind to Blake. "Have you ever met a demon yourself?"
"I'm sorry?" The little black-haired cat girl flinches back at Mittelt's question. The former slave templar of the Three Heroes' Church briefly wonders what got Blake so spooked. Yes, the teaching of the Chief God has drilled into everyone that demons and devils from another world are bad, and you should avoid them and report their whereabouts to the nearest church officials, preferably one with experience in fighting.
But most people who have never encountered one in their life (thankfully compressed over 99.99% of Medea's population) have no idea how malicious those entities truly are. Therefore, they have no true fear for them. In fact, it wasn't that uncommon to see one of the novels of the more trashy variety to romanticize them, making them off as more benevolent than they are. It's obvious heresy to the Chief God and his pantheon, of course. But even the church could do little to stop the spread of gossip since those writers would never use their true name to get their degenerative works published. And the church could do little more than burn any physical copies they find, and forbid their own members and faithful from consuming them.
"I have never consorted with a demon, or their foul worshippers, sister. We at Cal Mira Island don't revere the Chief God as strongly as the people of the mainland, but I can assure you that we would not consort with our world's biggest enemies." Blake's response makes Mittelt do a double take before it occurred in her mind. That the little cat girl thought she was interrogating her for possible consort with demons.
"No, worry not, little miss. I'm not interrogating you. I wasn't part of the inquisition." The former slave templar Waves her hand at Blake, and then she turns her face back toward North once again. She's still very far from the source of the eminent aura of malice, but it feels practically right next to her. She wonders how strong this sense of evil would have been if she followed big sister Janne to the Wave. Would she even be able to stand? She really shouldn't do it. She doesn't know the character of Blake that well, and this information could ruin her... and
Big Sister Janne too if it gets out. But she can't help it. It's been staying buried in her mind for too long, like an old wound underneath the skin that's been allowed to fester. And now, it has been reopened with a powerful demon breaching into their world once again. So she whispers to Blake, almost like the little cat girl is an agent from the Chief God and she needs to confess her sins to gain absolution. "Before I was brought to the church's light... I was raised by a demon."
Chapter 15: The Fourth Wave, Dispersed
"Brother Abel." Janne opens her eyes up, trying to look for the heroes who are hopefully still fighting against the invading outer goddess. She tries to push herself up from the ground, but fails. Her limbs feel like dried up twigs, going to snap at any moment. Her battle brother didn't answer her, but the ragged breath tells Janne that the peacock is still alive beside her. But Abel isn't in any better shape than she is in. Knowing what she has to do, she gathers her remaining strength in her left hand, and sends it towards her battle brother. Unlike most of her fellow Sons of Biscas, Abel is a strong sorcerer due to a peacock's enhanced elemental sense. But Janne is the better user of the Chief God's miracle. So it makes sense that she gives her remaining strength to Abel. To have one of the two of them be battle ready, rather than both of them lying around uselessly while their father's appointed successor fights for his life. "Do the right thing. For our father."
As her vision grows dark, she feels Abaddon Abel prying the Replica hero weapon off her hand.
The bodies of humans aren't made the same way as a dragon. Malty knows this very simple fact. And no matter how strong a mage's affinity is with the fire element, they should not be able to blow fire from their mouth like a dragon.
There certainly isn't any historical record about Founder Brimir spewing fire from his mouth. But then again, there's no record of him being tied up either. She's pretty sure he would have resorted to some rather unsavory methods to save his life otherwise. So with her arms very much preoccupied, the princess turned slave looks for the most unorthodox way to save her own life, and help the heroes in their effort to take down the goddess. She wasn't sure pushing her magic towards her mouth would give her the attribute of a dragon, or burn her up from the inside.
Then again... immolating herself from the inside out might be a better way to go than whatever the white goddess had in mind. She can't imagine the last moment of Tact's maid was peaceful as her body was covered in boils and then turned to ash.
Thankfully, she managed to breathe out a wave of fire towards the invading outer goddess like she hoped. The sensation feels familiar as well - like she's watching every drop of magic flowing in her own body as they move through some invisible veins.
It feels almost exactly like that time when she managed to get into that eldritch state when she was fighting the newborn outer god outside of Balafon. Is it because of that outer god's influence, or did she end in this state by complete accident?
The white goddess herself was distracted by three of the four cardinal heroes orbiting around her, sending attacks to her any chance they find an opening, as they're bouncing about, trying to stay on balance and find an opportunity.
She clearly didn't notice the stream of fire Malty sent her way. And as the wave of fire finally scorches her back, she actually flinches once again and hisses out a pained snarl.
"GRRRaaaaA–AAAAAAaAAaAh~!"
The enemy sounded more like an animal than a man, with that burning scar tarnishing her pale back. It didn't matter that the once-composed enemy turned feral, for scars began to heal with her absurd regeneration. But as her magic touches the goddess, Malty begins to 'sense' the inner body of the goddess just like her own.
And to her confusion, she found that there was nothing inside. Almost as if she's looking at the hollow insides of a tree, or a piece of rock where everything was filled up. But instead of something structured like wood branches or stone lattices, the mana flow feels much more fluid and chaotic at the same time, like a violent torrent endlessly spinning around something that's glowing in the center.
The goddess turns to look at Malty again, her face twisted into an angry glare as her eyes light up in purple ... only to have her head instantly recoil back as ten arrows in total buries into her eyes, with one in each.
Malty is pretty sure Itsuki hasn't arrived on this northern island after Naofumi and Motoyasu, and the legendary bow doesn't shoot out physical arrows anyway. But clearly he isn't the only archer among the gathered fighters.
Ren and Motoyasu used this chance to surge forward. The Sword Hero charging at the goddess' behind and leaves a diagonal slash on her back, while the Spear Hero charges from the opposite side and shoots out his spinning stab at where the heart should be located for a mortal. Both of their attacks land true, as a bloody hole is drilled through the goddess' chest, and her body collapses on the ground as Ren seemingly cuts her spine in two.
She slumps on the ground, and Malty briefly wonders if the goddess would cast her body aside just like she did when facing the three veteran heroes.
But she didn't do it this time, as her twisted flesh began to slowly try to knit itself back together. Perhaps she only has a number of bodies she could throw away? Regardless, their attacks seem to be having an effect, and begin to weaken the goddess.
Unfortunately for them, the invading outer goddess isn't the only one being weakened. Ren's body suddenly begins to convulse, as the pygmy form of Gaelion flies off his sword. Whatever Gaelion did to give Ren his power clearly pushed the young hero's body to his limit, and all of them weakened as the Sword Hero's power dropped to even below his average baseline stats.
The goddess seems to know Ren's weakness even without her sight. She brings her scythe down, looking ready to lop his head off from his shoulders. But at the last moment, Naofumi manages to bring his [Crown Shield] back out again. With a loud yell, the Shield Hero coils his saiga into its attack form and swings it at the weapon wielded by the white goddess. He isn't alone this time, as a purple beam of light falls towards the goddess like a comet. Abaddon Abel is holding the Replica in both hands, the peacock's entire body is spinning like a hurricane with all the power collected at the front of the spear tip. As the spinning speartip and the chained hammer meet the goddess' crimson scythe one after the other once again, the complete opposite happens - this time. A small crack formed on the goddess' scythe after Abel's attack even as the petite peacock was sent flying back from their clash, and then the coiled Crown Shield shattered the goddess' scythe into countless pieces.
With the prized scythe shattered, the goddess paused.
The goddess, for her part, had darted her widened eyes, now tense and fearful. A look of desperation and fury erupted on her face as she quickly opened her mouth and shot out a web, aimed at a bright white wisp that emerged from the shattered scythe blade, catching it and swallowing it. This white wisp was no mere magical orb for a foreign "goddess" of innumerable mana reserves, but what Malty probably surmised as a fragment of her soul.
Soon, her pupils dilated, as her eyes widened. It was as if something awakened, or snapped within her, after absorbing the wisp back into her body.
"More …", the Goddess muttered. "More."
Suddenly, the thunderclouds rumbled as the air grew dense around her. Large mists of crimson magic flooded the vicinity.
"Everybody, get away!" Naofumi screamed. "She's going to try and attack!"
A large fog of thick, red mist enveloped the whole area, as the heroes' vision became clouded, and they instinctively started covering their faces, coughing all the while.
"No … shield yourselves!" Malty screamed. "Your flesh will burn and melt to ash!"
However, no such thing occurred. Instead, when they came to and the clouds cleared, they saw something else entirely.
"What's going on!?" Motoyasu cried out as he jumped and stomped around, while patting down his body with his free hand. "Are we dead already!?"
"That wouldn't be the case," Ren surmised. "We'd be screaming in agony. The fact that we can feel our skin tells me this isn't the enemy's acidic poison."
Then, they saw the grassy field. Lush grasses, and verdant forests under a bright sun and clear blue skies. This wasn't the hellscape they had expected - nor was it the afterlife. Pristine white castles stood on the far side of the lands. What kind of trick could it be?
"Wait …" Naofumi muttered, "... this is a field? No, this can't be right. The Wave still isn't over. Is this … a vision?"
They saw from the eyes of the fair, white-haired maiden, as she gripped the scythe tightly.
They saw from the goddess' many eyes how her land was destroyed in front of her, as a dark cloud formed in the skies, and legions of demonic creatures and soldiers with blank crimson eyes on their death march, as lush grasses and trees became rotten branches and immolated fields. Even in her transformed state, with poison magic, and her array of spells and webs, did little against the Burning Legion. Their numbers were too innumerable, and their powers were too great.
Soon, scars, and blood awaited the outer goddess as she struggled to stay conscious …
When she came to, the room was dark. The goddess, now in her arachne hybrid form, was stripped naked and bound by her arms, her many legs … and even abdomen.
Her white hair, once braided, was now unkempt and disheveled, her scarlet eyes revealing apprehension at what was to happen next. Slowly healing scars were laid across her pale, bare alabaster body.
Then, the approaching march of the Legion's faceless infantry heralded many of their so-called officers. Judgment was to be decided for this goddess who dared to stubbornly resist.
The faceless drones simply saluted, and stepped aside.
The leaders of the Burning Legion had captured many who were strong enough to survive. By all accounts, for an enemy of her caliber to remain alive, she must have inflicted quite a lot on the Legion's troops before being finally worn down.
One of them steps forward, and approaches the now-bound goddess with the sauntering clack of her heels.
"Shiraori the Merciless," the woman called out, her face hidden in the shadows of the room. "Your reputation precedes you. You think that just because you fight fiercely, you can match the might of the Burning Legion? What do you have to prove by resisting us? That everything you do is for the greater good? You have no friends left. The mistress you submitted yourself to is indisposed of. We are on the verge of driving you to the brink of starvation."
"Why …," Shiraori asked. "... why … me …?"
"You have so much potential," the woman coldly replied. "You conquered nations without quarter given, all in the service of protecting your interests. You slaughtered countless people, warriors and civilians alike, taking no prisoners. How very narrow-minded of you. You belong right with the Legion."
"Please …," the goddess had begged in a more coherent speech, " … what … more do you want?"
The figure's face was obscured, their voice distorted. But there was just something about that... familiar, yet completely alien.
"I will give you what you want," the Legion's leader had replied, before she stepped forward. "I will give you … more."
Who? Malty wondered. Who are you!?
The veil was dropped; and Malty's eyes widened. She knows the face beneath her medium length brown hair and fluffy raccoon ears. This member of the Burning Legion ...
"No … it can't be …", Malty muttered, in such disbelief.
It was the face of Raphtalia.
To be more precise, she resembled Raphtalia in her older form, yet that familiar face was sinister. Her triangle shaped eyes narrowed with glaring contempt, in contrast with Raphtalia's boundless wide-eyed optimism. And her lips are curled into a contemptuous smirk down at an earthbound demi-goddess kneeling by her feet. Malty can't imagine Raphtalia would ever look at anyone, not even someone like Fuckboy, with this much open disgust.
"Naofumi, I'm not delusional, am I?" Ren buries the blade of his sword into the sand, the exhausted Sword Hero trying to use his hero weapon like a cane as he struggles back on his feet. "That looks kind of like Raphtalia."
"It's a LIE! She's trying to trick us!" Motoyasu loudly declares with Naofumi (and Malty herself) in stunned silence . "Raphtalia wouldn't be someone like this! Keep your guard up! She's trying to trick us!"
"Motoyasu's right …", Naofumi muttered. "Raphtalia was with us the entire time. She knows exactly what torture would be like. Hell, she never even met this outer goddess."
"This might not be Raphtalia, but… this could be her memory... I mean the goddess' memory. Not some illusion or fabrication to trick us." Malty gasped, horrified at the realization. "Think... Why does a goddess need to trick us into thinking Raphtalia is related to the Burning Legion? She could have killed us all if she wanted to without some mental trickery to cast us into doubt. And even if she wants to play mind games... Why choose Raphtalia? She's not with us right now, and she's not particularly powerful enough to leave a lasting impression with us to leave us confused and paranoid for long. If the goddess meant to use some fabrication to erode our will to fight, and wanted to choose someone we all know. Wouldn't it make more sense if she chose someone like... me?"
A solemn expression appeared on their faces as they realized they bore witness to. This invading outer goddess, with a reputation for slaughtering entire races for her master's ideology, was conquered and mistreated so badly, reduced to being a timid and pathetic slave for a faceless horde.
"I want you … to find a certain person … and bring them to me," the doppelganger commanded. "You will do … what I say … when I say … back on this front."
And soon, with one finger, she concentrated the crimson mists of what Malty assumes to be chaos magick (based on what she felt when she metaphysically touched the goddess), glowing a bright scarlet, as a searing hot needle opened up her bare torso, from her bare chest to navel.
Shiraori screamed in agony. She thrashed about, trying to undo her bonds, and break free with pure strength, but it was in vain.
This Raphtalia could now see her mana reserves, and her internal organs, before she gathered a stream of crimson energy and placed her palm on her torso, as Shiraori's magical energies began to violently fluctuate, from the chaotic energies now seeping into her body.
Slowly but surely, her abdomen turned from white to red. Her spasming arachnid legs bulged with enlarged blood vessels, underneath the hardened chitin where spikes began to grow.
Struggling to resist, another set of arachnid legs and abdomens burst from her back, u
Blood opened up on her forehead, the skin opening to form her four new smaller eyes - sockets, blood vessels and eyeballs without irises and pupils, leaving only the bloodlust her glowing crimson sclerae had revealed. Red, glowing ley lines begin to cover her body like some kind of grotesque vines, or blood vessels.
Her heart beat can be heard, faster and faster as if her mana flow began to violently swirl around in many different directions. She
With the chains released, Shiraori's arachne form slumped on the ground, as she panted, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Please … no more …", the goddess pathetically mumbled. "The pain … it hurts! So painful … why!? Stop it … please! Help me! I'm scared … someone … save me! Pain … No … no … no …"
"Pathetic. For a goddess that decimated your world's armies and abetted the genocide of this world's elves, you are quite ill-prepared for the … discipline required of a Legionnaire initiate." The older Raphtalia was displeased. She slowly walked up to the mutant arachne, and gently lifted her chin, tilting it up so that Shiraori could look her right in the eye.
"No," the older and meaner looking Raphtalia refused. "More. I will give you more. And you will live, only for the sake of the Burning Legion. You will command my armies, breed my children, and conquer worlds on our whim. You would have made a fine general, but it's a shame you lack the vision to carry it out. You will live only to consume, and destroy. You are to be bred to kill them all - anyone who stands in our way without exception. You will remain our servant, until you fall."
And with a kiss on the cheek, 'Raphtalia' quickly generated an orb of chaos magic.
Shiraori slowly consumed the orb, choking at first, trying to resist. It must have been less painful compared to the torture, because she eventually swallowed.
"Good girl," 'Raphtalia' gently cooed … before patting her on the head, brushing aside the snowy locks of her hair as the arachne swallowed.
Shiraori's trembling cries soon ceased, replaced with the longing eagerness of a child desperate for the love and approval of a mother. Then, her eyes narrowed in fury, feral mania of her hunger. The goddess was now a mere attack dog, an ignoble fate that befell a mighty deity, strongest of her world.
"Now go. Go to the world of our Goddess, the one who brings the truth and unites all. Bring me my quarry, and you will be fed with the corpses and blood of our enemies. You will feast on their flesh and drink in their despair."
The mists having cleared, the heroes now realized they were in the present, with the goddess still stuck in her trance.
As the fog dispersed, the goddess' bipedal feet stumbled back. Pupils dilated as she was sent into a feral mania, staring fiendishly at the skies, as she helplessly arched her back. She could only open her mouth and scream at the skies.
Malty had to wonder … was this something that triggered her past trauma? Was this a suppressed part of her personality that resurfaced?
A large ray of crimson energy struck the goddess, sending her into a manic frenzy. Large mists of crimson magic were swallowed up.
"MORE! MORRREEEE!"
First, four large crimson legs violently burst from her back, each ending in a razor thin blade, now had bulging crimson flesh, reinforced with strong, human-like muscles, veins bulging beneath the skin. Each leg possessed their own silk glands and spinerettes, ready to weave webs (or shoot many more projectile-shaped threads) at such an unprecedented pace.
The goddess immediately climbed up the island and ran across the sides, sending spider leg after spider leg towards the group, forcing them to scramble forward as the appendages slammed against the sand.
Naofumi struggled as he caught the sharp limbs with his bare hands. His shield, still in its hammer form, lay too far away from the collision with Shiraori's scythe for him to defend himself with. Then Naofumi did the previously unthinkable - he landed a mighty gut punch to her stomach, knocking all four of her arachnid off balance and sending her tumbling back onto the ground. Because even without the Crown Shield literally in his hand, its attack power still boosted the Shield Hero's innate strength. Not to mention he's now linked with Motoyasu, Ren and Malty herself, letting him borrow all of their strength.
The goddess arched back, and the entire skin of her upper back burst apart. Revealing the four spider legs extended, bursting through old cells and vessels, as they grew joint after joint. Pus-like growths were on the top of the bladed tips. And they were soon joined by two smaller legs that began to grow from her shoulder blades, and one from the base of her spinal cortex, below her neck. Leaping from spot to spot, she continued to advance on the Shield Hero, trying to confuse him and catch him off guard. Finally, she retracted her seven legs, and leapt in the sky, ready to dive at the Shield Hero and using the fall to increase her own strength like Abaddon Abel's previous attack.
However, Naofumi timed his counterattack right, grabbing her by the waist and head, and choke slamming her down onto the ground. Her exaggerated movement at the end proves to be her own undoing, as it was too telegraphed, and allowed the Shield Hero to react in time. Violently thrashing about, she tried to extend her legs outwards, in a hissing. But Naofumi didn't hesitate as he pinned her in place and shouted out to his comrade in arms. "Do it!"
Naofumi's fellow heroes and Abel began attacking the large, pus-like growths with their weapons, causing them to explode.
She screeched in pain and arched her back, as the growths' destruction sent her thrashing about . They must have been connected to her nervous system as the feedback reverberated back to her spine.
However, she snarled and kicked Naofumi away in the chest, sending him away with a cough of his blood escaping his mouth while she twirled to the side, knocking Ren, Motoyasu and Abaddon off their feet with her spider limbs. Seeing Naofumi hurt by the spider goddess, Malty tries to gather her magic in her mouth once again. Collecting it into a shape that's more refined than simply a wild stream of fire to send it further at the goddess. All she managed to do is have her own fire literally blow up in her face. Gathering magic around her mouth is very different than shaping it through her hand.
For his part, Ren was now disarmed of his precious sword, as Shiraori cracked a smile, the goddess pinning down the Sword Hero, she giggled, ready to impale her prey. Ren gritted his teeth as he struggled to fend off the offending venom-tipped leg. Any closer to his neck, and he would be done for from the sheer sharpness and girth of the tip, let alone the venom.
So, he did the only thing he could - he hoisted off a whole leg, and rammed the leg back to her exposed, fleshy navel, sending her screaming.
"Graagh … agh!"
Pulling out the venom, Shiraori hissed in anger. Ready to finish her work on the Sword Hero. Motoyasu and Abaddon jump back up, but they are still too far to reach Ren. Before either of them could do anything, a stream of compressed air hits the goddess in the head like a flying hammer, knocking her away from Ren. Everyone turns around, and sees Dio the Gauntlet Hero has freed himself from the goddess' webbing as he right fist pointed at where the Goddess was. The goddess reacted like a wounded animal, leaping at the white tiger lord next.
"Tch," Dio muttered, and he got to work conjuring another spectral arm to catch the appendage mid-stab. This time, the goddess was not amused, and rapidly sent her limb back and forth, thrusting faster than any mortal fencer witnessed. Dio's clutches however, snapped the offending arm in half, causing the goddess to scream.
Next, however, Shiraori snarled, as an abdomen emerged just above her buttocks. Hissing and snarling, she screamed in pain as the transformation continued to be painful.
Another abdomen expanded, this time at the center of her spine, where an entire spider's torso, complete with another set of legs, grew out and expanded.
"Look out!"
Soon, the other eight legs began firing arrow-like threads at the three heroes, forcing Motoyasu and Ren to awkwardly tumble and roll away respectively on the sand in order to avoid being hit. Abaddon quickly flies over to Naofumi and pulls the Shield Hero from the line of fire. The Shield Hero casts a healing miracle on himself, snaps the Crown Shield back into its shield configuration on his arm. He did both just in time as Abel tosses him away when the peacock is caught in a strand of webbing. The Shield Hero didn't have time to worry for his own downed helper as he jumps back on his feet.
"Follow me!" With Naofumi tanking the blows with his mighty shield, the mighty heroes followed suit in a single file line, with Motoyasu then hurling his spear towards the enemy.
"JET STREAM ATTACK!"
With the spear having missed the goddess, Ren then somersaulted above the formation and left a couple of nasty gashes across the
… before Naofumi jumped up and drop-kicked the goddess in the torso, sending her tumbling towards the sand a good few feet away.
"Again!" Naofumi rallied
However, the goddess underwent yet another change. This time, bony chitin grew from her skull, her abdomen expanding even further. Four, bonelike ribs expanded from her midsection,
As Motoyasu made another leaping strike, the goddess quickly opened her mouth and spewed out a collection of razor-sharp webbing trying to bind him in place. The Spear Hero only had enough time to pull his lunge attack back, and spin his weapon in front of him like a defensive shield to keep the webbing away from his body. But it still formed around his falling form and threatens to engulf him like a cacoon.
"Damnit, Motoyasu," Ren grunted as he imbued his sword, rushing to slice apart the thin threads of webbing, trying to free his friend from being strangled, if not sliced apart to pieces.
In her muddled state to deal with the three Cardinal Heroes, the goddess has made a fatal mistake in ignoring Dio. But the Gauntlet Hero didn't show any grace to her. He charges at her, fingers extended out from his palm like sabers, as he begins to slice up the goddess with his hand blade. Soon, she was reduced to a limbless head and torso, crying in agony as excruciating pain must have been felt.
Screeching, the goddess wasn't finished. Her thrashing torso, the core of her being, continued to glow a bright red aura as the flesh around her stumps began to wiggle and move again.
From the bloodied stumps, veins started extending and branching out, as bone, muscle, chitin and exoskeleton began being formed out of thin air. Flesh became gooey blobs until they hardened and solidified.
More crimson blood vessels burst from her hips, as they flailed like tentacles, before they began to grow a new pair of hind legs. Her human arms were now bound by the vessels to a new pair of fore legs, while her legs were bound to her abdomen. And to make matters worse, another quartet of legs emerged from her back to replace the lost appendages.
Snarling with a feral hiss, she continued to fire her barrage of bullet threads from her back legs, forcing them aside. The goddess' legs became pedipalps, as her abdomen continued to expand, with many more legs bursting out from the sides of the newly-formed abdomen.
It became clear as day that this was a more monstrous version of her arachne form from earlier.
The goddess then shot another layer of webbing at Malty, before putting all of her legs on the web she constructed between the islands.
Then, the goddess began to scurry away with her quarry, all the way back towards the crimson sky.
"After her!" Naofumi screamed. "We can't let her capture Malty!"
The heroes continued the chase as they climbed back up the webbing. Naofumi, for his part, climbed underneath the base of the threads, having seen a large gap to flank the goddess from underneath, akin to the net.
"Now!"
Leaping back from under the hole, Naofumi snaps the Crown Shield into a hammer and slams the goddess on her human back, stunning her, and leaving her wide open. The goddess violently slammed her pedipalps down, which forced the heroes to tightly cling onto the webbing, hanging on the threads for dear life.
"Now!"
Motoyasu quickly ran his spear right at center mass; impaling her in the heart. Blood began to flow heavily as Shiraori shrieked in pain.
With the creature shrieking from the stab wound, she felt her head arch back. An arrow flying from the crowd had hit its mark and scored a headshot. If the creature could not think coherently, then it could never mount a proper counter.
The foul beast still wouldn't die, however, as she pulled out the arrow. She still had the damned regenerative ability, as flesh knitted itself back together. Large slabs of meat filled the slab wounds, until her bare skin was fully healed.
"FEED! FEED! MORE! MORE!"
And in response to her manic command, her main abdomen continued to swell up, and her legs grew even larger than before. The holes in the webbing continued to fill as her spinnerette kept shooting out more silk, which hardened densely and quickly.
The heroes steeled themselves. Fortunately, with how strong the webbing had become, they could now stand on it like solid platforms.
And the goddess herself continued to violently slam on the net with her forelegs and pedipalps, trying to violently shake them off back into the murky seas.
"We've got to flank her!" Ren called out.
Then the goddess did something unusual - she hoisted her main, bloated abdomen down at the base of the webbing, and proceeded to lift her entire underside up, curling her legs downward, firing strand after strand at the heroes, who had to run and roll away to another part of the solidified webbing. And, they had to keep an eye out for any strands that erupted from the network of threads they stood on - that bloated
Motoyasu then rammed his spear into the bloated abdomen, sending the goddess rearing her entire torso back, and crying out in pain.
"Ra~A~a~A~a~A~aAAgh!"
"Go!" Naofumi screamed.
Ren leapt upwards on the shield, fearlessly deflecting the barrage of bullet-like threads raining down on him, as he immediately sliced apart her pedipalps and forelegs, before leaping down down and impaling the blade on the heart, and ripping her apart at her human navel.
The goddess violently thrashed and flailed about, as she hissed and screamed, the wounds on her torso continuing to painfully repair itself. Her spider legs continued to engorge and expand, alongside her abdomen.
Not only does she have an arachne body, she has a second set of arachne limbs emerging from her back, constantly emerging. Her main spider limbs are bloating, ready to burst underneath the chitin armor, the end of each leg possesses a spinnerette that spins silk, a second abdomen is growing from her mid back (fanfiction of Veran, in Spikerman87's Seven Deadly Sorcerers)
Soon, all they saw was a hulking abomination.
Multiple massive, muscular legs emerged from her back. Her main abdomen glowed a sickly green, ready to spew out acidic bile. And that wasn't counting the other small abdomens emerging from her shoulder blades on her humanoid torso.
Several large legs, reinforced with muscle fibers and spiked chitin, obscured the large, spider-like body. Each leg was large enough to carry their own spinnerets, silk glands, and of course, reinforced by a tangled, bloated network of veins underneath. And on these legs appeared to be crimson, humanoid eyes.
The goddess reared her head back, and began vomiting green bile. Some of it began melting entire portions of the webbing
The goddess hisses before opening her mouth, spewing out the red mist once again. Naofumi pulls the chain of his [Crown Shield] back, straightening it into a great shield in his hand. Without hesitation, he pushes his shield forward without activating any of his shield weapon arts.
Before Malty has a chance to worry for the Shield Hero, the red fog begins to get absorbed into the [Crown Shield] like water going down a vortex. Naofumi charges forward with his shield in front of him, pushing it right into the goddess' body. "My Saiga is the [CROWN SHIELD]! Let's see how you like your own medicine!"
The invading outer goddess writhes in pain as her right side is covered in the same red mist she uses to kill others. As half of her body boiled over, she didn't turn into ash like her victims. But the side of her body that's been affected by her own attack looks withered, almost like a husk.
She might have some resistance to her own attack, but she definitely isn't immune to it, even if her regeneration quickly undid the scars and boils on her bare, alabaster torso. But that wasn't the only weakness this abominable goddess possessed.
Malty concentrates her mind, focusing on the goddess' internal body. The violent energies inside her body haven't stabilized in the slightest. In fact, she feels like they are ready to burst at the seams now that the goddess' shell has been repeatedly damaged.
And this was something Malty was ready to provide. Inspired by one of Abaddon's attacks where the peacock fires attack out of all the 'eyes' from the tail feathers, the princess turned slave focuses every drop of her magic, pushing them out from every pore of her body like countless needles. Something she doesn't dare to do before... or after unless she finds herself in this strange state again.
Her thousands of magic needles shoot towards the body of the goddess, but they don't imbed themselves into their target. No, all of them press along the goddess' skin, and start to 'travel' around her body like Malty is trying to wrap her up like the goddess did to her own opponent with her webs.
But instead of binding the goddess' physical form, Malty's own magic begins to agitate the goddess' physical shell, making it more and more actively unstable, speeding up the process of her own energy bursting from the inside.
Naofumi, Motoyasu and Ren clearly have no idea what Malty is trying to do. But they aren't simply standing around doing nothing while she works her magic. Their weapons fall on the goddess just as her physical vassal reaches its limit to contain her power.
She began to retch blood. She vomited.
Slowly, but surely, her many bloated limbs, one by one, had their blood vessels pop, bleeding through her skin, before bones and muscles snapped apart, from the femur . Her multiple abdomens bled from the top, as her exoskeletons began to crack and snap apart..
The goddess herself, with her human hand, clutched her chest as it beat first, very slowly, with ragged breaths. Agonizing pain seared across her chest, as she struggled to draw breath, her Then, it beat very quickly . Her heartbeat was now arrhythmic as it expanded, its walls expanding larger and larger in dilated cardiomyopathy … before it exploded, her veins finally rupturing from the magical feedback.
With a loud cracking boom, and a flash of crimson light, her body finally burst open, knocking all three of the heroes flying away. Naofumi, in particular, releases a gush of blood from his mouth.
It reached critical mass as the goddess' bloated, physical body then proceeded to explode, limbs and internal organs strewn apart, leaving a mass of blood and rotting innards on the ground, as a surge of magical energy erupted from the source. A raining mist of crimson blood surrounded them in the vicinity.
Malty could see a white wisp shoot out of the explosion, towards the red tear in the sky as it began to diminish.
Her teary-eyed face was aghast, in terror and sadness, decapitated from the explosion, from the rest of her human torso, limp and bloodied several feet away.
They did it! The Fourth Wave is coming to a close, even if they haven't truly killed the invading outer goddess. Most people even noticed the goddess' soul trying to escape, and they most certainly lack the strength, or the ability to stop its escape, Malty herself included.
She'll just have to accept that it'll go back to where it came from, and probably come at them again in the next Wave. At least, that's what the former princess thought until a purple ethereal hand suddenly appears around the white wisp, and grabs it with a tight squeeze.
The soul of the white spider goddess helplessly flails about, clearly still trying to escape its confine to no avail even as the dimensional fissure in the sky finally closes. Malty turns around, and sees Lord Dio walking towards them while holding his balled up right hand towards where the goddess' soul was captured.
Now that the goddess' corporeal form has been destroyed and her soul captured, Malty realizes the webbing wrapped around her slowly breaks apart.
"You are just going to keep that soul of a god captured?" Ren slowly sits up from the ground as he looks at Dio. Malty looks towards the Gauntlet Hero as well. His purple ethereal hand slowly descended down from the sky hovering right in front of her. "I wonder how she compares to the goddess Lautrec summoned in the Third Wave. We got beaten pretty badly."
"I don't know about the goddess you are talking about. But if I have to guess, this one's probably very weak. More like a scrub among the divinity. The dragon lords called her an earthbound, something more akin to a demi-god than a full fledged god-ling. And she would have her power reduced by [Divine Limit Fifteen Thousand]."
Lord Dio's gaze remains at the struggling little white wisp in his energy construct hand. Reduced to a pathetic, and pitiable spirit, the goddess tried to squirm, clawing for one last bout for survival. There was still that feral mania as she clamored for more. More food to eat, perhaps. The primal, ravenous instinct to consume, devour and satisfy, overwhelmed her reason and corroded her higher thoughts.
"More … more … more …", the spirit muttered.
But there was a hint of sadness, really - behind her face. One could see that she was a more simple creature, but with her exhausted, tortured eyes lay a lifetime of torment. Whatever the Burning Legion did to her and her home must have been so devastating if she was mutated into this spider-like abomination. Part of her was probably begging for release … tired of suffering, and longing to be free from the influence of the chaos magic that corrupted her body … and mind. If spirits could cry, it would be now.
"I'm … dying … why …? Born … die …", she mumbled, making it clear as day why she would have to suffer such a fate - to be enslaved, tortured, and have her fate decided by her enemies.
Malty, for her part, was downtrodden. This was supposed to be the enemy, merciless, mindless and feral. She should've been reeling from the trauma. She should've hated her foe and reveled in her impending demise. Most would have felt it just to demand that she spend her last moments suffering in her predicament.
But she couldn't help but pity that this was once a sentient person stripped of her happiness and bred to be a pet, a feral slave meant only to destroy, and cursed the Legion's unseen masters .
The heroes thought the same, and Dio probably agreed, solemnly closing his eyes with a parted breath.
He squeezes his hand tighter, and the soul of the goddess lets out one last shriek as it gets snuffed out, putting the pathetic arachne out of her misery. "Still - better destroy it completely, than risk it coming back again," he muttered, leaving Malty to wonder if he regretted having to kill her.
"Someone get Naofumi some help! My healing isn't working!" Motoyasu's panicked voice makes Malty spin her entire body to look back. The Spear Hero laid the body of Naofumi on his legs, while propping up the Shield Heroes head with one of his arms. Naofumi's face is deathly pale, as he continues to cough up blood. Idiot, idiot, IDIOT! Naofumi risked everything to save her life from an invading outer god, but she's distracted thinking about what to do and that captured soul rather than attending to him at the first moment!
"Feed this to him. Should keep him alive for better healing. If he still needs it." Prince Tact's voice accompanies a bottle flying towards Motoyasu. The Spear Hero snatches it out of the air, and Malty instantly recognizes the content inside. It was the same pills the Whip Hero's subordinate gave to her when her heart was acting up. And it saved her life in Rabier County: Pills made out of Yggdrasil's leaves. Malty gives Motoyasu a quick nod, and the Spear Hero stops hesitating. He quickly pulls up the cover, and feeds the pill into Naofumi's mouth. He brings out a waterskin out of his spear, takes a mouthful, and presses his lips on Naofumi's mouth. Malty knows that Motoyasu is helping Naofumi to take the medicine... but she doesn't know how to feel about a man kissing Naofumi barely a week after she shared her first kiss with him.
"Thanks for taking care of Naofumi, Lord Motoyasu. But next time... maybe let me do it..." Malty's voice grows progressively faint as she looks away. Feeling too ashamed for ignoring Naofumi's well-being after their battle against the white goddess... and her whining towards Motoyasu for taking better care of Shield Hero than herself did. As she looks away from the Spear Hero, she notices Ren's eyes are also shifting away, looking equally embarrassed and guilty than she probably feels. He's honestly being too hard on himself if that's how he feels. It's really not his place to worry about the Shield Hero's well being and that's not her being courteous.
Throughout the chronicle of the ages, it's very clearly recorded that the Cardinal Heroes tend to be rivals, if not bitter enemies towards each other more often than not. To cover up her shame, she turns to the Whip Hero, whose slightly hunched over back makes him look more lonely than she ever saw him. In Spite of the pair of dragon and griffin girl hanging by his arms. "Thank you for providing medicine to Master Naofumi, Prince Tact. We are in your debt."
"Think nothing of it. Too many people have died in this Wave already, damnit..." The Whip Hero didn't even turn around to look at Malty. He takes an urn out from his star whip, and walks back towards the spot where he fought the goddess alongside Lung and Lord Dio. The purple hand that restrained the reconstructed body of his maid no longer exists. Neither does the ash creature his former maid had become, only a pile of ash remains on the ground. Tact kneels down by his maid's remains, and begins to collect the pile of ash into his urn with the two little monster girls' help.
Once again, Malty finds herself not able to help as everyone else around her keeps themselves busy. She has expanded all of her magic when fighting the goddess, and there's not many fighters around her who are injured. Those who got wounded fighting the spider minions had been pulled to the backline where they were getting treated. And anyone who was unlucky to get affected by the goddess' foul sorcery were instantly killed. Naofumi's condition quickly stabilized after Motoyasu helped him down the pills given by Prince Tact. The Whip Hero didn't try to harm them by giving them poison. With the Shield Hero quickly back to his feet, Malty runs over to him and props up his right side.
"Tisk. What a waste having to kill that so-called 'goddess'. She would have made a fine trophy even as a disembodied soul. And I'm sure I could have found a way to put her into a harmless body to keep around like a pet." Lung cast a glimpse at Lord Dio's back. She can't be serious... doesn't she realize how dangerous that white spider goddess was? The Gauntlet Hero didn't dignify her mewling with any response. Lung turns to Prince Tact next, as she screams at him after some giggles. "Stop digging through the dust of your maid, Tact. Where's my ride back to Menagerie resort?"
"Find your own way back, you STD carrying old hag. I'm busy here." To Malty's surprise, Tact looks up and sends a withering glare towards Lung. The princess turned slave doesn't know what surprised herself more. The Whip Hero openly spat with one of his fellow veteran heroes in the most severe way, or that he used Naofumi's words against Lung.
"Well, isn't the little pup woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Lung's eyes narrow at Tact, clearly unhappy that her new nickname got spread among such a huge crowd. But she didn't do anything more against the Whip Hero. Perhaps emboldened by Dio's lack of rebuke, Lung strides her way over to Tenzen. She grabs the still pale looking young white tiger's open collar, and begins to drag him away like he's a pet puppy. "You seemed to have had enough rest, you big ero-tiger. Come with me. The night is still too young for sleep."
She can't be serious... is she going to fuck around with that white tiger warrior right after a Wave battle? In which she nearly sucked him dry in the most literal sense? Malty is apparently not the only one who gets completely indignant with Lung's lecherous behavior. The girl with white quills in her head instantly stabs her sword at the Princess of All Dragons. Not that she had much success, as all Lung had to do to stop her was to grab the tip of her sword between her index and middle fingers like a pincer.
The girl's face turns a deep shade of red as she tries to pull her sword out of Lung's hand. A ray of silver shoots at Lung's head from behind. The familiar looking attack makes Malty realize that it's the same sniper who shot out the goddess' eyes when she tried to use her gaze attack. Yet Lung acts like she predicted this attack. She tips her head sideways, and easily dodges the silver arrow. The playful smirk didn't grow any fainter from the Princess of All Dragons. "Well, well, well... Dio... and little Tenzen's little cheer squad. You don't need to get anxious. You can join Tenzen and I if you want to."
"That's enough, Sennen, Petals! Stop attacking Lung. You two aren't strong enough to face her." Tenzen quickly calls off the attack. For a brief moment, Malty wonders if he is fearing for the well being of his subordinates after witnessing the death of Prince Tact's (wo)men. But then, a lecherous smile appears on the face of the young white tiger. He turns to cast an almost taunting wink at Whip Hero's direction. "Besides, as a perfect gentleman I'd never turn down a lady's invitation even if I'm at death's door. Dying under a blooming rose would be the best way for a young man to part with this beautiful world."
Malty can't resist rolling her eyes at the idiot. Apparently, it's possible for a man to be even more of a loin-brained idiot than Tact. She takes away any possible compliment she might ever give to the foolish young white tiger.
The former first princess of Melromarc isn't the only one who finds the situation ridiculous. The girl with quills in her head (Malty still can't tell if she is supposed to be 'Sennen', or 'Petals') turns to Dio, as if trying to find some support. "Is it okay to leave young master Tenzen in the hands of Lung, Master Dio?"
"Tenzen isn't a boy. I'm not the one to make all the decisions for him. If he wants to drop dead on a woman's stomach, let him." Dio's eyes twitch, like he is trying his hardest not to roll his eyes like Malty did a brief moment ago. His lips part, letting out a soft sigh as he strides away towards the ice bridge to the south of the beach. Just like how he came to this northern island, the Gauntlet Hero doesn't seem to have any intention of riding Tact's airship back. The girl with quills in her head gives one last look to Dio's back, as she quickly runs to catch up to the retreating form of Lung and Tenzen.
Malty feels Naofumi moving away from her. She quickly refocuses her attention on the man she's trying to support, and realizes he's walking towards the Whip Hero. To offer his gratitude for the Yggdrasil pills? Or condolences for his dead companion? Both would be in character to someone like Naofumi, even if he should be aware of the masked contempt from his previous meeting with Tact (and Lung). So she leans closer to Naofumi's ears and whispers to him. "Now's not a good time to socialize with the Whip Hero, Master Naofumi. He's unstable because he just lost someone he clearly cared for. Look at how he just snapped at the Claw Hero. You don't want to get him mad at you, and let him do something that's regrettable later."
Naofumi stops his feet, clearly thinking over Malty's words even if his eyes are still focused on the back of Prince Tact. After a brief moment, his gaze becomes more focused, face stern with determination. "Maybe, but I'll be careful. He's clearly in a bad spot and needs someone's help. We can't afford to lose someone this powerful if we are already fighting a god level threat on the Fourth Wave, and everything only grows harder from this point on."
Malty opens her mouth to protest, but she couldn't find a good reason to rebuke Naofumi. He is right of course, that they'll need the strength of veteran heroes like Dio and Tact to match up against any more possible outer gods the Burning Legion probably have. And letting him wallow in his sadness will not be good no matter how one looks at this situation. She simply wishes someone else other than Naofumi would be the one to try and comfort the Whip Hero while he is so upset. Motoyasu didn't leave Naofumi's side, and Ren steps up behind him showing his silent support.
They wouldn't mean much against a dragon lord, and a griffin queen by Tact's side, not to mention the probably over-leveled veteran Whip Hero himself. But perhaps the unity of the Cardinal Heroes (minus the Bow Hero) might make Tact think twice about starting a fight with them. With a sigh, Malty whispers to the Shield Hero once again. "Just be careful with what you say to Prince Tact. You saw what he could do in battle. You don't want him to turn on you."
Naofumi pauses for a brief moment, and then gives her a stern nod before making his way over to the Whip Hero once again. Stops about ten paces away from Tact. "I want to thank you for saving me with your pills. And my condolences about your loss."
Tact's body stops moving, indicating he has heard Naofumi's voice. But he doesn't turn around, or speak back to the Shield Hero. Both girls standing beside him spin around on their feet, and glares at Naofumi. It would have looked more cute than scary, if Malty didn't know their real bodies are one of the twelve dragon lords, and a giant griffin queen respectively. After the brief glaring contest, the Whip Hero finally speaks in a dismissive tone that sounds deeper than his usual voice. "I don't need your fake sympathy - leave."
"I know you don't want to hear this right now. But this isn't the first time an outer god invaded during a Wave. At the end of the last Wave, a goddess was summoned. I lost two of my companions because of what she did, and she almost killed Malty. I don't think outer gods will stop coming to invade this world, and if we don't step up, more people will get hurt." The Shield Hero slowly raises his opened up right hand towards the direction of Tact in an offering of peace. "I can tell you don't think much of us. Because we are new, and because we are low on levels. But if we work together, we'll be able to look after each other's backs. That's how my friends and I have stayed alive so far."
Prince Tact stays silent for a few more moments, his body unmoving. Malty can't tell if he finished collecting the ashes of his maid, or if he's genuinely thinking over Naofumi's words. After a brief but tense moment, he rises up from the ground and turns around. The urn containing the remains of the young woman who saved his life pressed tightly into his body with his free hand. Malty's heart drops as she sees his face. He has his usual smirk on his face, but it doesn't look aloof, or playful this time. As his lips stay open in a way that dangerously exposes his teeth. "What? You think you know how I feel because you lost some companions you picked from some tavern in the last Wave?"
Malty certainly wouldn't have said the same thing to Tact as Naofumi. The Shield Hero appears to be trying to appease the Whip Hero's more heroic aspiration, which he might not have much if any. As someone who used to live a pampered, privileged life, Malty is deeply aware how self-centered and self-serving someone like her would be. She's honestly more surprised that Tact didn't throw Naofumi's words back into his face like he did to Lung.
"I obviously don't. I have no idea what you, and your own companion went through together. But I know how I felt with my own companions." Naofumi replied back to Tact without missing a single beat. Malty didn't even have a moment to pull on his arm, cover his mouth, or to do anything to have him step back and not directly confront the much more powerful Whip Hero. "One of them was named Farkas. He used to be a captain in Siltvelt, but he got involved with some rebellion and got turned into a slave. He didn't think too much of me, I think he despised me because I'm a summoned 'hero' who doesn't know how this world truly worked. And he made sure I knew how he thought of me every chance making dismissive comments at my actions. But he always came through when I needed his strength, even though both of his arms were broken. And he died charging the Three Heroes' Church when they turned against me at the end of the Third Wave. Let me have a chance to escape."
Malty steals a glance at the Whip Hero. His facial expression didn't change, which surprised the former princess. From their previous encounters, she has assumed Tact to be someone who is arrogant as he was bold. A brat who constantly tosses around his own unhidden feelings to everyone around him, not caring about who he might offend because of how much figurative weight he had to throw around both as the scion of Faubley, and as a veteran hero. But now, his face is frozen in that slightly aggressive, teeth exposed smirk he had from the start. Not getting better, or worse as Naofumi speaks. It makes gauging his feelings, and possible reactions very difficult. Since when did this smug little shit begin to learn one of the more useful skills at playing The Game? Or perhaps he always had it, but he simply never bothered to use it? Regardless, it made Malty realize that she has once again underestimated the Whip Hero. And this brief encounter would be highly beneficial for her later confrontation with him be it friend or foe. Assuming they survive this current meeting.
"Kyubei was another one of my companions I met with the slave trader. He unnerved me at first because the way he behaved reminded me of someone sinister from my own world, and I never fully trusted him." Naofumi's confession to Tact surprised Malty a little. Now that she thinks back, the Shield Hero does seem to act a bit jumpy around Kyubey (and more around Lautrec, but that's for a good reason). She thought it's due to his lack of emotion on his face, and his voice. She never expected it to be caused by the rabbit man reminding Naofumi someone from his world that he's afraid of. "He threw himself into a fireball to detonate it prematurely, to cover our escape when we were being hunted down by the Three Heroes' Church."
Tact didn't say anything back to Naofumi. He made his ire known through action by striding menacingly in front of Naofumi. Malty expects the Whip Hero to attack, and she knows that with her magic reserve depleted, there is nothing she can do to help the Cardinal Heroes if Tact decides to attack. Her eyes furiously darted around all the people near them, trying to find anyone who could possibly help them. All she saw are Tact's (wo)men standing in a circle around them, looking every bit as malicious as their master. But the Whip Hero didn't attack, all he did was raise his balled up fist that's not holding onto the urn with the ashes of his maid, and pressed it into Naofumi's chest. "Never, ever, compare Ellie to some slave you picked up one, maybe two months ago from some shady skin trafficker. You heard that?!"
"Duly noted." To Malty's somewhat relief, Naofumi didn't do anything more that could further provoke Tact's aggression. Malty glanced back between the words exchanged by them, and noticed that around the southern beach where Lung's ice bridge still stands, Lord Dio the Gauntlet Hero has stopped his stride back towards the main Cal Mira Island. His feet firmly planted in seawater drenched sand, looking over towards their direction. Malty is reminded of the gossip that Tact, and the current Hammer Hero had a very violent spat back when they were both attending Faubley's Hero Academy. And it was stopped only by the intervention of Lord Dio. Did the Whip Hero forsake this chance to harm the Cardinal Heroes when they were surrounded by his (wo)men because Naofumi's word reached him on some level, or is it due to the fear of Lord Dio? She will never know.
"Come with me. It's late at night, I'm tired." Tact spins on his heels, turning towards the direction of his airship which is slowly setting down on the ground. He makes a hand gesture that invites them to his airship. Malty isn't sure if this is meant to be a genuine invitation, or a trap where he could take out them all in the privacy of his own vessel. But she knows that rejecting his offer would be seen as an act of disrespect, and would only give Tact more reason to hurt them.
End Note:
As I mentioned at the start. Ace-Triad has contributed greatly for this chapter to the point I'd say he wrote half of it. Originally, the fighting scene in this chapter was very short, and Shiroari's flashback (with some of my own suggestion, such as the Rapthalia look-like Burning Legion officer) was entirely absent. Not that I don't want to show this Shiroari is a slave of the Burning Legion instead of a willing accomplis, I simply didn't think of a way to show it without it dragging down the pacing of this chapter. But obviously, Ace-Triad had a better idea. And the fight against corrupted (and enslaved) Shiroari turned into a real endurance round for all the heroes, as it should.
On Shiroari from her own series (as a few readers already asked), my thought was that the story was pretty interesting and great in its first half where it's human minded spider Kumoko playing survival craft/horror game in an abyss dungeon, but turned into trash in the second half where Shiroari become a demon lord and started 'deconstruct/subvert' the whole Japanese Hero trope popularized by Dragon Quest. Which isn't to say the trope itself is perfect and can't be deconstructed, it's just most writers (of the hack variety) who 'tried' to deconstruct the whole narrative took the most lazy, and pretentious route to do it: just turn the heroes into some kind of idiotic loser and simp after the demon lord trying to retroactively justify all their actions with bizarro world logic, or excusing them through some freudian excuse.
[I'm a Spider, so what?] isn't the worst offender on that front. But to me, Shiroari has the same problem as a character as Alipheese Fateburn XVI from Monster Girl Quest. Yes, both stories have an even worse big bad who does more atrocities than themselves out of malicious reasons. And both have their own reasons (at least in their own mind) 'for the greater good' to have done what they did. But it still doesn't change the fact that both Shiroari and Alice had allowed, or personally committed enough atrocities enough that would have them court martialed, condemned and executed a thousand times over. Trying to excuse these actions and paint them both as wholly sympathetic to me is like saying "well, aside from all his war crimes, Hitler was actually a pretty nice dude and Stalin did more atrocities than him".
But hey, who cares about nameless mooks who become a number on a statistic book when the main character was 'nice' to the other named main characters in a make belief story? And to be fair, it's perfectly fine liking bad characters in pop culture (I'm definitely a bigger Lannister fan than Stark fan myself. Heck, I made Malty from RotSH my story's main character). So long as you don't turn full simp and try to excuse, or worse, justify a bad character's atrocious actions.
And of course, after the fight we get to see how different characters reacted to fighting, and killing an invading (demi-)goddess. The original highlight of this chapter. Now the 4th wave has been flipped over in this book, we'll get 2 chapters of the immediate aftermath already written, pending editing (yeah... I surprised myself on how long the aftermath chapters took) before the Hero Conference officially start.