An almost endless stream of footsteps echoed through the tunnels.
The tide of small spiders, at least by the standards of Elite creatures, was heading toward a single place.
Among them was a certain spider-owl carrying a young man whose movements were already beginning to return.
Kair’s eyes analyzed the surroundings in every direction.
They had been descending into the underground for some time now.
At first, countless crimson flowers had tried to devour them, but after a few minutes, they were all bound by webs.
Was this where the Elites had been sealed?
The roots prevented them from leaving.
A few moments later, Kair noticed small lights.
Several crystals illuminated the surroundings, revealing more and more details to his eyes.
The rocks…
No!
They’re not ordinary rocks!
They’re petrified roots!
Layer upon layer, one on top of another!
How many centuries would it take for this to happen?
Kair’s eyes fell upon the side of the creature’s face.
Almost as if it had noticed, its eyes turned toward him.
“Eh…
How long have you been here?” The moment his voice left his mouth, Kair regretted it.
They were creatures, monsters that, for some reason, could speak.
And they were insane.
What kind of answer could possibly come from them?
“You don’t remember?…
Ah…
Right.
You’re not Him.” The gentle words, laced with sadness, reached Kair’s ears.
He felt the weight of those words, but nothing more.
Can creatures have feelings?
The thought crossed Kair’s mind, but soon disappeared.
He remembered the fire, the battle against the insectoids that had killed his uncle.
These monsters couldn’t have feelings.
And if they did…
He wished them the deepest despair.
“We stopped counting a long time ago…, but thousands of times, the offspring of those imperfect lineages have come.
We’ve always searched for you!” For a few seconds, insanity appeared in the creature’s eyes, but soon lucidity returned, and, in the same sorrowful tone, it continued.
“No…
You’re not Him…” Kair’s mind had stopped at the word “thousands.” Thousands?
The Fracture of the Coming-of-Age Test has always happened once a year.
More specifically, at the end of the year.
That means everyone has already turned sixteen, or at least most of them.
If there were thousands…
No…
Kair’s mind struggled to process the information.
Not even a Rank 2 creature could live that long, much less people at the same stage.
They could live longer, but not that long.
“Where are you taking me?” He finally gathered the courage to ask.
Kair had been wondering this ever since he entered the tunnel, but only now had the poison released enough of his movement and speech.
“Not where…
But who.” The answer came hesitantly, as if the creature itself was afraid to explain, yet its nature would not allow it to leave a question unanswered.
“Then…
Who are you taking me to?” Kair closed his eyes and held his breath.
“To the Weaver!
She will make you like Him!
You will be Him!” Kair’s fear had become reality.
He might not know much about the levels of power, but anything capable of controlling an Elite had to be terrifying and invincible.
He even thought about escaping.
Running!
But, looking around, the ground was barely visible beneath the sheer number of common rank spiders.
And how could he possibly escape from an Elite?
Anguish filled the young man without a lineage’s chest, but it did not last long.
A light engulfed the entire tunnel and blinded him for a few seconds.
When his eyes opened…
Kair’s heart began to race, and his pupils dilated.
A world beneath the earth had formed before his eyes.
An almost endless amount of webs stretched in every direction, but there was a very clear difference between them.
Crystalline blue with shades of purple.
The webs that illuminated the world around him connected to the ceiling.
Instead of rocks or stalactites, he found the tips of petrified roots serving as supports for the webs, creating a luminous and strangely harmonious ceiling.
Below, another layer of webs formed something resembling paths throughout the vastness of that underground world.
At the center, floating above the magma and most likely connected by the webs, an enormous castle made of obsidian rock displayed its imposing presence right in the middle of the area.
The spider-owl stopped for a few seconds, almost as if it wanted Kair to appreciate the beautiful and deeply striking sight.
Soon, its legs began moving rapidly.
It ran across webs as wide as entire bridges.
Along the way, the now-thousands of common spiders fell in droves toward the abyss and, even when Kair looked down, he could only see the glow of magma at the bottom.
But not the ground itself.
Within a few minutes, he was already approaching the castle.
In the distance, he could see two other Elites converging on the same point along the webs where they would arrive.
One was a spider-seahorse, and the other was a spider-wolf missing two legs.
What could have been capable of tearing two legs from those abominations?
Kair had already understood something by that point.
These forces went far beyond what he had thought, and perhaps far beyond what he believed about his world.
So knowing which questions to ask was crucial.
He did not want to be killed by one of those creatures’ sudden fits of madness.
Quickly, the three Elites met, and the sea of spiders grew to the point where rivers of them fell toward the magma abyss.
The two Elites seemed to stop for a few seconds to assess the spider-wolf’s missing legs, but soon dismissed it.
Without a single word, they marched toward the castle gates.
Now, up close, Kair noticed something.
The castle was devastated.
Scars covered it from every direction.
Some of the walls had been completely shattered, while others still bore massive holes that revealed parts of the castle’s interior architecture.
Yet, even in its ruined state…
In a way Kair could not understand, the castle had only become more imposing.
What could have been necessary to cause this much destruction…
No, worse.
How terrifying must whoever lived here have been for this castle to still be standing?
Kair’s thoughts grew even heavier after he passed through the devastated gate.
Only fragments of what had once been the gate remained, but the rest of the twisted metal was still there, gathering dust and a few glowing webs.
Inside the castle, the footsteps slowed.
The place was narrow, and the corridors that should have been imposing to humans were small for the Elites.
Even so, something did not escape Kair’s eyes.
This place…
It was built for human proportions!
The realization brought absurd theories to Kair’s mind, and he began looking at the creatures around him with a faint expression of disbelief.
It did not take long for the three Elites to stop.
They stood before a gigantic double door.
It was adorned with various ornaments that had lost their color over time, but somehow, that only demonstrated how powerful they had been for them to still be standing.
With an air of anticipation and a tension that existed even among the Elites, the creatures took a step toward the large door.