"There is truly nothing as woeful as not knowing how to Skill against a monster far stronger than you, that is why it is always enforced by all Guilds to keep at least one Skiller."
-From the Records of Ashenborne, 122.
The sound of Uri's body colliding with the rocky ground was sickening, the crunch reverberating through the cavern. It was followed immediately by a shriek so piercing it seemed to come from the cave walls themselves. The group froze, their breaths caught in their throats. Danny's heart thundered in his chest, the echoes of that awful sound stretching endlessly in the oppressive silence.
Then came the screams.
Uri's voice, raw and desperate, tore through the stillness. It was the kind of scream that clawed at the soul, filled with anguish and the primal terror of someone who knew their life was slipping away.
Klover surged forward, her blade half-drawn, but Vanis caught her arm. "Stop!" he hissed, though his own voice trembled.
"She's alive!" Klover shouted, thrashing against his grip. "We have to—"
"She's gone!" Danny's voice cut through hers, sharp and unrelenting. He moved to grab her other arm, pinning her in place as her struggles intensified.
Uri's cries rose to a crescendo, then abruptly ceased. A new sound filled the void—the wet, sickening noise of flesh being torn and chewed.
Klover crumpled into Danny's chest, her body wracked with sobs. "We left her," she whispered, her voice broken. "We left her to die."
Danny tightened his arms around her, his face set in a mask of cold resolve. He couldn't let himself feel it—not now. Not yet. They had to survive first.
"We have to move," he said, his voice low but firm. "If we stay, we die too."
Seline nodded, though her face was pale, her lips trembling. Vanis gripped his crossbow tightly, his knuckles white. Together, they turned away from where Uri had fallen and began retreating toward the cave's entrance.
They had barely made it a dozen steps when the spider's shriek echoed through the cavern once more, this time louder, closer, and filled with rage.
"Run!" Danny barked, and the group broke into a sprint.
The tunnel twisted and turned, the rough stone walls scraping against their arms as they raced forward. Their breaths came in ragged gasps, and the thunderous sound of the spider's pursuit grew louder with every step. Its legs slammed against the cavern floor, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
"It's too fast!" Seline cried, her voice cracking. "We'll never outrun it!"
Danny skidded to a halt, his heart pounding. "Then we fight," he said, his voice steady despite the chaos. He drew his bow, his fingers trembling only slightly as he notched an arrow.
The group formed up around him. Klover unsheathed her sword, the blade glinting faintly as she doused it with basilisk oil. The sharp, acrid smell stung Danny's nose. Seline swallowed three pills from her tiny box, her veins bulging grotesquely as she cast her spell.
"Enhance Physical Ability," she murmured, the magic weaving around Klover like a shimmering veil. Klover's stance shifted, her movements now fluid and charged with unnatural strength.
Vanis crouched beside Danny, reloading his crossbow with practiced efficiency. "This is suicide," he muttered under his breath.
Danny didn't respond. He knew Vanis was right.
*
Danny remembered his old teacher Koil's teachings regarding categorization. All groups, individuals, and monsters are categorized by Ranks, a system ranging from Rank 1, the weakest, to Rank 10, the pinnacle of power. However, there are rare exceptions—beings so overwhelmingly powerful that traditional rankings fail to capture their might. These are known as Rank Breakers.
Humans who transcend the ranking system are classified into three tiers: Breaker, Saint, and Ascended. Monsters, on the other hand, are divided into five categories of Rank Breakers: Elder, Demonic, Disaster, Calamity, and Unholy.
For adventurers, mercenaries, and hunters, it is an unspoken rule to engage only with monsters of their own rank or lower. Tackling a foe one rank higher is considered a last resort, reserved for desperate or unavoidable situations. Anything beyond that is seen as suicide.
In this case, however, the group faced a dire mismatch. The Nine-Legged Arachnid before them was at least a Rank 5. The group, officially classified as Rank 2, had the skill and experience to contend with Rank 3 challenges, but this was far beyond their capabilities. It wasn't just a fight; it was a death trap and Danny knew it.
*
The moments stretched unbearably as they waited. The sound of the spider's pursuit grew louder, its movements heavy and deliberate. But it wasn't showing itself.
Danny's instincts screamed. "Back up!" he roared.
The ground beneath them erupted. A massive leg, sharp and jagged as a spear, shot upward, narrowly missing Seline as she stumbled back.
The Nine-Legged Arachnid emerged fully, its body monstrous and armored with natural plates that glinted like dark steel. It shrieked, a sound so piercing and malevolent that it seemed to scrape against their very souls.
"Cover your ears! Don't listen to it!" Danny shouted, loosing his first arrow. It struck the creature's carapace and ricocheted off harmlessly.
Klover darted forward, her blade striking at the spider's exposed joints. The oil hissed as it met the creature's flesh, leaving shallow wounds that ooze a dark, viscous fluid.
Vanis fired bolt after bolt, aiming for the gaps in its armor. One bolt struck true, embedding itself in a joint near the spider's third leg. The creature screeched in pain, but its movements didn't slow.
It lashed out with one of its legs, the movement so fast Danny barely had time to shout a warning. The jagged limb struck Vanis squarely in the side of the head, sending him sprawling to the ground. Blood pooled beneath him, stark against the gray stone.
"Vanis!" Seline screamed, her voice raw with grief.
"No!" Danny shouted, but Seline was already moving. She broke formation, sprinting toward Vanis's crumpled form.
The spider lunged, its legs piercing both Seline and Vanis in one brutal motion. The two of them fell limp, their bodies lifeless before they even hit the ground.
Klover screamed in fury, her enhanced strength propelling her forward. She aimed for the spider's fleshy underbelly, her blade driving deep—until the spell faded.
The edge of her sword caught on the armored plates, the cut barely a scratch.
The Nine-Legged Arachnid turned on her, its front legs sweeping out in opposite arcs. One struck her side, leaving a deep, jagged gash across her stomach. She collapsed, clutching the wound as blood poured through her fingers.
Danny's vision tunneled. Logic, strategy—all of it vanished. He dropped his bow and sprinted to Klover's side.
The spider reared back, preparing to lunge. Danny grabbed a vial from his pouch, its contents a sickly yellow. He hurled it at the creature, the glass shattering on its armored body. The poison spread quickly, the arachnid shrieking in pain as its movements turned sluggish.
It retreated a few steps, its hulking form trembling.
But Danny didn't care. His focus was entirely on Klover, her breath shallow, her skin pale. He pressed his hands against her wound, trying to stem the bleeding.
"No….no…this….this can't be happening.." Danny thought in desperation as blood started pouring out of his lover's mouth.
"Klove, hang in there please, please, don't leave me...Klove?" It was then that Danny realised, Klover was no more, her eyes lost the light that once charmed Danny and inspired him to move forward, her body became limp and she no longer gasped for breath. She was dead.
Danny wanted to cry out with every ounce of his being but he knew that he couldn't, the last thing he wanted was to garner the attention of that damned monster.
Does it even matter now? She's dead, my group…..my friends, they're all dead, what's the point of living anymore. Danny slumped as he loosened his grip on Klover, I've never been able to keep the things that I held dear close to me, my parents, my sister, my girlfriend, nothing of my old world is left….and now, my friends and my lover….
I…..am a failure, I can't Skill, I can't fight, all I am good for is leading people on…..even then I've failed now….oh why do I even try? I was doomed from the moment I stepped foot in this world….I should've….I should've ended it all when I had the chance….'
Then it hit him, flashes of the first time he met Klover, how he was about to give it all up but then there she stood, giving him hope, letting him cultivate a life here, no matter how tarnished it was. She picked him up from the dirt and allowed him to stand up all by himself, that was a kindness not even his closest friends and family helped him through. He owes everything to her. Now, she is dead, just a corpse without a soul.
His breathing quickened, his chest tightening as the suffocating weight of reality bore down on him. He wasn't a hero. He wasn't brave.
You're a coward.
The thought clawed its way to the forefront of his mind, undeniable and unrelenting. The proof of it lay all around him. Uri, Vanis, Seline… gone. And now Klover, too.
I couldn't save any of them.
The spider shrieked again, its hulking form shivering as the poison he'd thrown took its toll. But it wasn't enough. It was recovering. Already its legs began to move, slow at first, then more deliberate. The monster's many eyes gleamed with predatory malice as it focused on him.
Danny's grip on Klover loosened. His gaze shifted to the tunnel behind him, where the faintest glimmer of daylight flickered at the cave's far end.
He could run.
The thought was as vile as it was tempting. If he bolted now, while the spider was still recovering, he might make it. He could escape this nightmare and live another day.
But his legs didn't move. He was frozen, caught between the instinct to flee and the guilt that shackled him in place.
A single tear slipped down his cheek as he whispered, "I'm sorry."
He stood, leaving Klover behind. Her hand weakly reached for him, but she didn't have the strength to hold him back.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, louder this time, though it was unclear if he was apologizing to her, to himself, or to the gods above.
Danny stumbled backward, his hands trembling so violently that he dropped his bow. His breaths came in ragged gasps as he turned away from her, his cowardice dragging him towards the direction of the exit.
As he retreated, his mind spiraled into a torrent of self-loathing and regret.
Why did I take this quest?
The Baron's face swam to the forefront of his thoughts, his smooth, convincing voice dripping with false concern. "Just a routine investigation," he had said. "A disturbance, nothing more."
Danny cursed himself for believing those lies. He should've known better. The Baron was no friend to his kind—people like Danny, who couldn't Skill.
That truth burned the most. His lack of abilities had always been a shadow over his life, a constant reminder of his inferiority in this unforgiving world. He had been desperate to prove his worth, to show the Baron—and everyone else—that he wasn't useless.
Instead, he had doomed them all.
Klover, Vanis, Seline, Uri… They had trusted him. They had followed him into this cursed cave, believing he had a plan, believing he was strong enough to lead them.
And now they were dead.
He cursed the Baron. He cursed the world that let monsters like the Nine-Legged Arachnid exist. Most of all, he cursed himself.
Why couldn't I have been stronger?
The spider moved again, its armored legs scraping against the cavern floor. Danny turned, his breath catching as the creature loomed over Klover's limp form.
For a moment, he considered running. Truly running, abandoning everything and leaving her to her fate. The thought filled him with equal parts relief and disgust.
She's already dead, he told himself. There's nothing I can do.
But even as he thought it, Klover's face flashed in his mind—not as she was now, broken and bleeding, but how she had been before. Strong. Fierce. The only person who had ever believed in him.
Danny faltered, his legs locking up again. His breaths came shallow and fast as the spider's many eyes turned toward him.
He raised his hands instinctively, though they were empty. His bow was gone, his quiver depleted. He had nothing left.
The monster lunged.
Danny fell backward, scrambling away on hands and knees as the creature closed the distance. Its shriek filled the cavern, a sound so loud it made his ears ring.
"No, no, no!" he cried, his voice cracking as he scrambled to his feet and bolted toward the tunnel.
But the spider was faster. Its jagged legs tore through the air, slicing the rock walls as it chased him.
Danny tripped, falling hard onto the uneven ground. Pain shot through his body, but he forced himself up, his lungs burning as he pushed forward.
He could see the exit now, the light of day growing brighter with every step. Hope flickered weakly in his chest.
Then he felt it.
A sharp, searing pain in his back as one of the spider's legs pierced him. The force lifted him off the ground, his body jerking violently as the leg withdrew and he crumpled to the floor.
Danny's vision blurred as he lay there, his blood pooling beneath him. The light of the cave's entrance seemed so far away now, unreachable.
So….this is how it ends. I am glad, I won't be long….Klove.
His thoughts drifted to Klover, to the others, to everything he'd done—or failed to do. He had led them all to their deaths, and for what? A few coins? The fleeting hope of proving his worth?
He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face as the spider loomed over him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered one last time, his voice barely audible.
Suddenly a sharp pain entered his neck, it was cold and in a jolt of pain. Everything was over, his consciousness was fading away as soon as the pain entered his mind. Then, everything was darkness, everything was cold, soft and quiet.
He was dead.