An entire plague of Shadow Stingrays was flocking from the bordering jungle and towards the farm. It was the Drow who first noticed the threat. Shouts of warnings filled the air and the MegaFarm was put on the code red.

The Spiders, Lamia, Centauri, all grabbed their weapons ready for a fight. However, fighting something that can fly won’t be that easy. Considering the amount of approaching monsters it might be impossible.

The King took a look at the darkening sky. “This is bad.” He turned towards a nearby spider. “Fetch me my tome. Hurry!” He commanded.

After all, the best weapon to fight shadow monsters was magic. And just so, the spider mages were already slinging spells into the sky. And those who couldn’t cast magic used the Magic Scrolls.

The sky lit in all the colours of the rainbow and thundered with the sounds of explosions. But the Shadow Plague was fearless, its relentless approach didn’t slow.

The spider mages were already readying a ritual on a large scale, but whether it would be finished on time was still unclear. Meanwhile, the Spider-Nom-Nomicon reached the King's hands, it flipped its pages on its own presenting the most suitable spell.

The King gazed upon the depiction of the magical formula committing it and the magical circle to his memory. His passive perk Comprehend aided him in this task. The tome presented him the chant to activate the spell, obviously it was written in a Spider Chirp; the language itself was potent in magic.

He finished visualising the spell formula and moved on to reading the chant out loud.

“Darkness beneath me I command you to gather.” He pulled the mana towards his fingers. “Like a spider, I weave you into a thread.” A web-like magical circle popped into existence right in front of him; it was dense with glyph-like letters of the Spider Chirp. “A web is made to trap my enemy.” The spell took shape exploding from the magical circle and reached for the sky. “And drain it dry of life, All Consuming Web!” He committed all of his mana towards the spell.

This was the spell the tome had suggested, it was like fighting fire with fire, or in this case Darkness with Darkness.

Threads glowing and purple reached for the Shadow Stingrays and trapped them like flies. Much like lightning the web pulsed with energy. A series of explosive pops thundered throughout the sky. The web flashed purple one more time and then all was gone.

The King fell to his knees, drained of mana. This wasn’t something a single mage should cast, but even then he managed the complex spell all on his own.

However, the fight wasn’t done. He had only culled the nearby monsters, half of the approaching plague at best. He quaffed a series of potions to help him with mana recovery and turned to look at another magical circle that glowed encircling the Spider Palace. Yes! He had managed to buy enough time for spider mages to complete their ritual.

A dome-like web-shield spread from the magical circle and enveloped the very centre of the MegaFarm. Yes, this was a protective spell only, but it was just as important; there were eggs and young that had to be protected. The main buildings were shielded but most of the farm fell outside the protection of the magical dome.

“So it begins...” He looked at the descending monsters.

Like their ground-bound cousin, the descending stingray targetted the TomGrape plants. It landed on top of the web and jabbed its sting-like tentacle into the innocent fruit vine. It was drained dry of life leaving only a husk; the stingray grew in size ever so slightly. A similar sight repeated all over.

Naturally, those with scrolls or the ability to cast magic were shooting spells at the flying monsters thus further thinning their numbers. But the monsters were many and once they were too close to the plants, flinging spells was not a good idea. A fireball hitting the TomGrape would defeat the whole purpose of the protective effort.

The King cast a few more spells at the flying monsters and then he retrieved a bow from his inventory. It was a masterwork item he had crafted with The High Chief. The benefit of using the bow was that arrows, unlike explosive spells, would do far less damage to the farm. And as a bonus, this enchanted bow didn’t need normal arrows. He was able to conjure Dark Arrow using his mana, so he didn’t need to worry about running out of ammo.

He aimed at the Shadow Stingray and let his arrow loose.

*Pop – the monster died, it was that easy. The trouble was the sheer number of the monsters.

Well, there were more challenges, or challengers to be precise. The shadow wolf jumped out of under the web to defend its brethren.

“You!” He aimed at the monster. “Dark Arrow.”

A single arrow wasn’t enough, the monster turned out to be rather tough.

“Dark Arrow, Dark Arrow.” A few more did the trick. *Popity-pop!

But the distraction meant that the TomGrape couldn’t be saved, another stingray had drained it dry.

“King, sss, let me assist you.” A wild lamia appeared.

She was dressed in light leather armour and held a long spear in her hand.

“Friendly Lamia!” He recognised a familiar face. “Please do.”

With her, the monster ambush was less of a distraction so he could focus on shooting down the flyers.

*Pop, pop, pop. – he shot one monster after the other.

The lamia was guarding his rear and he was firing arrows to protect the fruit vines and the webs. The two made quite a team.

Ever so often, there was a loud popity-pop coming from behind him, naturally, at those moments he turned around to check if his rear was still safe. Of course it was safe, the Friendly Lamia did her job well; but when he did look, at those moments, their eyes would meet but only for a fleeting moment. Even so, he couldn’t help but notice a fair blush developing on her cheeks.

Stolen story; please report.

*Pop. “...” *Pop-pop

He kept looking and she kept blushing. He had to wonder if she was a battle maniac. After all, people like that existed, people who got a hard one from life and death situations. The two kept fighting in tandem.

*P-pop!

“Sss.”

However, it was getting hard to ignore the rugged breaths coming from behind.

“Sh-ahh!” It was way too loud and weird.

He turned back out of worry. “...” The lamia was okay, but then why the sound? “Is everything alright?” He asked out of concern. “If you need a potion tell me.” He had plenty in his inventory.

“N-No, sss. Everything is-sss fine. Ignore me and concentrate on sss-shooting monsters.”

He did just so, he fired another arrow.

“Sh-ahh!” *Pop.

And another.

“Sh-ahh!!!” *Pop

He killed two monsters but... Was the Friendly Lamia making that sound to cheer him up? Regardless, he decided to trust her fully, and this time he didn’t turn around to check his back.

...

The Drow archers were firing arrows at will. And they were rather successful. Their high posts on the top of IronOaks protected them from the shadow wolves lurking right below.

More and more of Lamia flocked to the farm, all armed with enchanted spears. Their targets weren’t the flying monsters but those lurking on the ground.

The scandalously dressed Drow Archer thanked the spider for an extra two quivers; they were brimming of full of arrows. These arrows were spider-made, but just as good as the ones she had brought, If not better.

The Drow Archer marvelled at the arrows with a tinge of jealousy. The craftsmanship was above her skill.

“Where is no time for this.” She stopped her idle thoughts. “Let’s see if they’re as good as they look.”

*Pop, *Pop – she shot two stingrays with one shot.

“Impressive! Are these enchanted with Pierce?” She wondered out loud.

No, to defeat the shadow monster the arrow had to have a magical affinity imbued into them.

“Two enchantments...” She spoke with wonder. “No, Reinforced too, so that makes it three.” She reached a hard-to-believe conclusion.

Well, what mattered was that the arrows were good, and good they were, so she kept firing. In between the shots, she took in the distant view of the battlefield. The spider warriors were forming a defensive circle outside the magical shield. The flying monsters were slamming their bodies into the shield making the surface ripple, but there was a counter for that too.

Spider archers were shooting arrows at them from inside the shield. It was interesting that the shield stopped the monsters but not the arrows. It was very similar to a particular elven ritual magic. Did the spiders somehow reverse-engineer that?

And here she thought that those spells were lost with now deceased elven elders. The elders who ran away like cowards. No, they were much worse.

“Traitors!” She spat remembering something unpleasant.

She wasn’t a part of the fire walker squad, the heroes who cleansed the forest at that time. Anyway... Good riddance! And, if this one ends well, she could boast of protecting the Spider Kingdom and by a cheeky stretch – the King himself.

“I will be a hero...” She entertained herself with that fantasy.

Of course, the idle thoughts didn’t keep her from killing monsters. Her body was in a trance state there, knowing what to do without even the need to think about it. Even then, she was keeping the mental count.

*Pop – count 119. She already was past her previous record.

However, there in the distance, she couldn’t help but notice a certain regal figure.

“The Spider King.” She looked in awe.

Apparently, the current high record holder wasn’t slacking off either. Expertly he was killing one monster after the other. He was quick, his movements were precise and his form was flawless. After all, there was a reason why he held the high record.

Both awe and envy filled her mind.

“Are they?..” She looked with interest. “Yes, they are.”

It was likely that the King didn’t notice but the Lamia warriors were protectively surrounding him at a distance. From afar, it was obvious that they formed a protective perimeter. If the King moved between the webs so did the lamias; they were always keeping him at their centre.

“Must be nice to have so many bodyguards.”

Well, she did have a few of them too. Two spiders stood below the IronOak. They were there to ward off any opportunistic monsters from trying to climb up towards her crow’s nest.

So, she was safe. And she was busy! She was shooting one shadow monster after the other.

“180.” She spoke her count.

The King was moving ever so slightly towards her position. And soon they were sharing the same hunting spot. She was on her tree and he was right below her.

“We are pushing them out.” He spoke in a booming royal voice.

It might be because he was royalty, or maybe because of his natural charm, regardless, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“King, are you keeping the count of your kills?” She shouted towards him.

“Huh,” he glanced at her. “Yes, 911! You?!”

Their eyes met for a brief moment, and her knees became weak for some reason. Her legs gave up, and worse, she forgot her ‘pop’ count.

“I-I...” She stuttered indignantly.

“Are you alright? Do you need a potion?”

“I-I...” She was drowning in his gaze, her mind was spinning.

His concern deepened further. “What am I even saying? Of course you are at your limit!” *Pop. “No normal person could weather this...” *Pop. “You did well.“ Pop. “Come down. The spiders will escort you to safety.” He kept killing the monsters as he spoke.

“N-no, I-I,” She pushed past her stutter, “I’m not tired!”

“Pride will get you killed. Spiders get her down.” He commanded with full authority.

That voice, the strength of it, sapped whatever strength remained in her knees.

“Oh, no...” She wheezed out.

The two spiders despite her protest carried her down the tree.

“I can walk!” She broke free and stood up. “I can fight!” Her legs felt much better, that was, so long as she didn’t look at the King.

There was something off about the aura the King gave off. She looked at his bodyguard and frowned. She didn’t notice from afar, but there was definitely something wrong with her too.

*Pop-pop-pop...

“This spot is all good now. Let’s keep pushing towards the outer edge.” The King instructed.

“Sss!” The lamia hissed.

Unlike the serpentine woman, she could manage a proper response. “Understood! I’ll help you.” And then she added hurriedly. “I insist!”.

She kept her eyes towards the skyline and away from him, but even then she could feel his piercing gaze. She felt hot, way too hot, drenched even.

“That was a vigorous reply. I might have misjudged your condition. And I might as well use another bow at my side, but before we go, here...” He pushed a couple of the potions into her hand.

His hand touched hers, she felt an electric sensation course through her body. It was too much!

“Muah!” She let an obscene sound and then promptly passed out.

...

“So she wasn’t alright at all. Pride, eh?” He looked at the Friendly Lamia.

She didn’t look particularly good either.

“Wait... Wait! My aura... Shit!” He realised that he had messed up.

He wanted to blame his wife for putting him in his secretly pink mood. And the drow’s choice of wardrobe didn’t help either. You see, this was a nighttime and his wife would... Well, that is private!

No, he was the one at fault. His romantic mood leaked subconsciously and tainted the Aura Projection. But since he was now aware of this, he was able to tweak it.

“Hey, is this any better?” He looked at his friendly companion.

She blinked twice and her blissful grin was replaced by a deep frown. “What did you do? SSS!” She hissed sternly. “Put it back on!!!” She demanded unreasonably.

...

The Drow Archers turned out to be a very wise choice, a choice made just before the calamity struck. Thank you mysterious entity for the warning! They were instrumental in the defence of the farm.

With their help, the remaining flyers were popped from existence, and the Drows’ expert aim meant that the damage to the plants was minimal.

By the dawn, by the first rays of the sun, the battle reached the conclusion: Victory! The Spiders, Lamia, Centauri, all cheered and clapped.

However, a certain phenomenon was taking place. The dying monsters didn’t leave corpses, but they did leave... something.

Strange darkness loomed mixed within the air - much like heavy smoke. It was Dark mana and it was so dense it was visible with a naked eye.

A certain spider mage was running around collecting that wispy smoke-like substance into jars.

“This is. The monster fuel.” It chirped mostly to itself.

A new theory was being contemplated: this was the mana the monsters used to make their bodies. If the theory was right it would be rather scary. What this meant was that as long as mana remained it didn’t matter how many monsters they ‘killed’. It was so because they could simply recycle that energy and just reform their bodies by the next night.

If, and only if, the theory was true, it also meant that the Darkness couldn’t be defeated in a conventional sense.

“Consume. Eat. Devour.” The spider thought out loud.

The spider walked in circles thinking. “No mana, no monsters...” But equally so. “No mana, no life...”