She crawled into the glorified hole carved into the mountain while she cursed the world behind her with a scornful scowl. Her eight legs hauled her massive body inside of the dungeon while she clutched the sides of her still human head. It was loud and it made her very soul waver in its song. The thick, magical walls of the dungeon stifled it, and it completely muffled it the deeper she crawled.

Her human hands touched the cold walls, then she recoiled at the wet sensation she felt. She would hide here, and she would grow strong. That was her plan. It was more of an instinct than a plan, but she would stick with it. Yes, this fate would be better than answering that vile call. 

And thus, the dungeon swallowed her up as she crawled. The darkness that lay within its silent walls embraced her. Like the other monsters that crawled their way in, it hid them from the silent song that stained the world. 

----------------------------------------

"On your left!"

Stefan rolled away from the ball of venom that was hurled at him. He winced as a drop fell on his shoulder, melting away the cloth and the chainmail underneath. 

They couldn't get into a proper position within the large room, and so they couldn't launch a proper attack at the monster that guarded this room. Webs coated with corrosive poison have been thrown around on the floor, and the monster's legs made sure that all three of them were far apart from one another. In their eyes, she truly was a monster that stood far above others.

But in the eyes of Arachnea, all three of them were nothing more but flies hovering around the carrion in front of her. Her true foe was the once amusing Goblin that crawled into her lair long ago. He still had that fierce look in his yellow eyes, but he was different now. 

"Tch. You and I are-"

"[Earth Blast]! [Frost Spikes]!"

Balls of dirt and stone shot up towards her and small balls of sharp ice dropped from above. She clicked her tongue before easily blocking both of the attacks with her webs.

"Like I was say-"

"[Fireball]!"

The sound of fire as it roared through the air made her duck immediately. The webs over her head curled away and turned to ashes as the ball of fire passed over her. It crashed against the wall at the far side of the room, burning a few of the eggs into black cinders.

"I not here to talk. We talk before. Still not joining you."

She didn't answer him. She stared at the now charred remains of what was supposed to be three new soldiers in her small army. A sigh left her lips while she brushed away the Elf near her leg.

"You truly are a foolish monster. I gave you the chance to become powerful, yet you continue to choose that path of yours."

The Goblin raised his sword, only to be pinned down by one of her massive legs. The weight on his chest cracked a few of his ribs and squeezed the life out of his lungs. But it wasn't enough to kill him.

She made sure of that.

"I can still remember the time you were brought here. The response you gave me was... interesting at best, but it was nothing more but the delusions of a child. Yet I was kind enough to offer you that deal. A deal which I am once again offering you."

"Will... never! Will never join... your... children!"

He tried to bite at her legs, but the thick hairs and skin made it hard for him to bite through. Stefan was hacking away at her hind legs, but his sword was simply shrugged off by her. Arrows bounced off her abdomen or were simply caught in the thin strands that surrounded her.

But even in the face of such attacks, she ignored the three adventurers and focused on the Goblin underneath her. She could've easily bit off his head with her fangs, but that wouldn't be right. Instead, she looked at the Goblin in disdain. Her features contorted into an expression of disappointment and sadness while the Goblin continued to bite her in desperation.

"I am simply helping you, you know?"

She was about to end it swiftly. A quick strike from her fangs and it would be followed by instant death. She looked at him, her eyes filled with sadness while his yellow eyes flared with anger.

Then she was struck by a pillar of flame that scorched most of her left side. She screamed out in pain and anger as one of her legs struggled to brush away the burning strands of hair on her abdomen. Green blood seeped out of the burn as the skin beneath her black fair was finally visible to all. It looked like it had melted and some of it was even burnt off by the head to reveal a white layer of fat underneath. 

She stumbled to the side while she writhed in pain. While she did, the leg that pinned the Goblin down buckled to the side and Semilia immediately dashed forwards. She grabbed the Goblin and rolled to the side to avoid another leg as it came down upon them. Another leg crashed beside her, nearly crushing her to death but she managed to avoid it in time.

"Mage! You will pay for this!"

Her full fury was now directed at Riel. Her face was now distorted and twisted in a sickening expression of pure, unrestrained wrath. 

Fire was the natural weakness of Giant Spiders. The smoke made it hard for them to see and to smell their prey and the heat of the flame made it hard for them to move and sense the air around them. It was especially deadly when one is trapped in their burrows as the flames spread throughout the intricate webs that covered their homes. And Riel knew all of this from experience.

But she never would've anticipated Arachnea to be this angered by it. She crawled backwards, then up the wall as she scowled at her with eyes blind with searing rage. Her blood dripped on the floor while the four of them finally formed up into a small circle.

"Arrghhh... I will not make your death easy, girl!"

"Then come and kill me!"

Riel lifted her staff tauntingly, only for her to stumble backward when the monster hissed at her loudly.

She grabbed for a thick strand of web and tugged on it forcefully. The webs on the door tensed up, then it slowly opened the double doors. Spiders of various sizes entered into the room with slow and deliberate steps. Arachnea snarled at the four of them as her horrifying children entered her room. The snaps of her fangs rang loud like a booming thunder while she wrapped silk threads around her exposed skin.

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"There are worse things hiding in the shadows of the dungeon. Consider it mercy to be devoured by my children instead of being offered up to the horrors deep below. But rest assured..."

The Giant Spiders hissed at them as they were slowly surrounded. The violent snaps of their large fangs sounded like mocking claps that filled the room.

"You will not die a painless death."

She watched her beloved, little Goblin struggle in vain as her children swarmed them. The wound on her side made her wince every time she moved, but it was already healing. But the wound on her heart was the one that hurt the most. The searing feeling as it approached made her heart race and the sensation of flesh as it bubbled and melted away from the flame was still fresh in her mind.

"Fire... I thought I would never see it here. How foolish of me."

The bandages she made were now seeped in green blood and ichor. She grumbled to herself as she began to weave another set of wrappings.

"Stefan!"

Her eyes darted towards the Elf as she loosed another arrow at one of her children. She was looking at the man being pinned down by several of her children. The same man that wielded that Elven blade now struggled beneath the legs of a Giant Spider that climbed on top of him.

"Off him!"

She watched the Goblin as he stabbed one of her children through the side of its head. Yellow blood spurted out the opposite side as it struggled for a few moments before it curled up into a ball.

Such is life in the dungeon, she thought to herself. You live, you become strong, then you die someday. Weak things die, they break, they serve as nourishment for others. That is how the two of them lived within this depressing hole in the mountainside. She looked at the Goblin as he helped up the Human before he sliced off the fangs of another Spider.

He took a different path than her, a more pathetic path. She wondered if he could even hear that call from up above, and if so, why doesn't he run from it? She was sure that the monsters on the upper floors heard it since a large number of them are fleeing downwards. But the Goblin was different from them. He stayed up above in his hole, living so... so...

"Peacefully. Like a pebble in a stream."

She scoffed at the word "peace" and the Goblin's fondness of it. The true path lies in the last room of the dungeon down below. She was sure of it, and she will reach that room. And there, she would find what she has been looking for in this terrifying world they all lived in.

"[Flame Wall]!"

Another Fire Spell. Walls of flame walled off the rest of her children as they fought a small handful caught within the same side as them. She detested that small mage and her flames. But most of all, she hated the fires she started with that damned magic of hers.

But she was running out of mana. She could easily tell from the way she's breathing and the drops of sweat that formed on her head. Arachnea scoffed at her futile attempts to save themselves from the countless spiders. The burns on her left side throbbed, and she turned her head to deal with it.

That was a mistake on her part.

A web managed to entangle the flaming arrow aimed at her head. The Elf that shot it clicked her tongue as she glared at her. Her hand grabbed the arrow, its tip still burning with magical flames, and crushed it loudly. It would be bad if her webs caught on fire, and she hated having such a dangerous thing dangling near her face.

"Come fight us yourself, you damn bug!"

"Hah! Your taunts mean nothing to me. Just shut up and die down there and let my children eat you!"

"Oh! So these are your children?! I guess I finally know where they got their ugliness from!"

"Speak for yourself, Low-Elf! You don't even have that womanly figure Elves are known for!"

"The fuck do y- Who the fuck would even mate with someone like you?! Your ass is so fucking big that it takes up half of the room when you move around!"

The Elf fired another arrow at her. A poison ball took care of that quickly, but this was getting annoying now. 

"Shut up and d-"

"[Shadow Step]."

The voice from behind her made her turn quickly. The red glow that came from his eyes matched her crimson gaze as he unsheathed the dagger from beneath his cloak.

"Oh. I forgot you could do that."

It was the same move that allowed him to prowl the labyrinth. She stared at him as he crouched over her back, his red eyes glowed as brightly as the last time they met.

"I will kill."

"That's what you said last time."

"Now is not last time. Now is now. I'm different."

"Perhaps. Shall we dance like last time?"

The Goblin simply nodded as he raised his dagger defensively. She let out a sigh before she took a look at her own form. This one wouldn't do...

"[Metamorphosis: Visage of the Spider Queen]."

Something horrible began to happen in front of all of them. The flesh near her waist began to melt while she clutched tightly at the webs around her. She pulled herself up with her arms as bits of flesh and chitin fell off from the part where her waist connected with her monstrous body. The Goblin kept himself steady as her body shook violently, his eyes glued on the woman in front of him.

"No way..."

"Stefan! Where the hell are you looking at?!"

"Goblin! Guys, shut up! Goblin is still-"

"Behold! My true form! Look in awe at the body worthy of a God's love!"

Her voice cut through the air with such poise and elegance befitting of a queen. The air around her person still felt heavy and intimidating, but she had a different aura now compared to before and it made her even more terrifying in their eyes.

Her lower half was no longer that of a monstrous spider, but that of a woman. She was still naked, covered only with the silk robes that left nothing to the imagination. The Goblin let out a low growl as she gave him a sly smile. Her pale, white legs seemed to glow as brightly as the luminous webs that surrounded the air around her. Because of that, she looked like she had a halo of blue light around her.

"If only I had the time, I would have made myself something to cover my maidenly parts."

She glanced down at the smooth parts below as well as the spot where it still looked like her hairy abdomen. But the hair around it is much finer now compared to the bristles that covered her legs and spider body.

"Like what you see, Goblin?"

"No. You not Human. Was, but not now."

"Oh. So you still remember that story I told you."

She giggled softly as she produced a strand of silk from her hands. She licked her lips as she stared down at the Goblin in front of her. 

"You know, I'll make sure that you're tied up nice and tight this time. I can't have such a fine meal in front of me escape like last time."

"I'll... I kill this time. Not like last time."

The Goblin raised his dagger as she took a step towards him. She let out a sigh as the rope in her hands tightened into a thick strand.

"I guess this is goodbye, old friend. It shouldn't have been like this but I guess the webs we spun were just different."

The Goblin nodded and felt conflicted for a moment. Arachnea stared at him with genuine regret and pity in her eyes, and he stared back in disappointment at the only other person within the dungeon that was like him.

Both of them were outsiders. Both made a life for themselves within the dungeon. They both ran away from the songs that called out to them. And both of them were very fond of each other. They both wondered of what could've been between them if they took the other's path. Would they have been friends? Enemies? Or would they hvae simply ignored each other in the darkness of the dungeon?

Those thoughts didn't matter now. They are here, and they have chosen the path that led to it. It could've ended differently, but it didn't. On top of an empty shell of a monster, they faced each other with mixed emotions. He knew how it would end and she knew what comes next after this. No words were exchanged, just a simple nod and a sigh from both sides as they lifted their weapons against one another.

Within the dungeon's walls, only the strong survive to see another day. That was the undeniable reality of the dungeon, and this fight isn't any different. It wasn't special, nor was it important to anyone else other than those in that room. It was a pointless fight to the death that could've ended differently and one that will leave the dungeon a much quieter place after it was over.

Nothing more, nothing less.