Deep within the dark jungle, a small flame steadily moved ahead, being the sole light in the endless darkness.
Zold quietly marched forward, taking slow and steady steps.
As he ventured deeper, the Lunarian Dark Jungle grew more and more dangerous, forcing even him to be cautious.
Although he had only been travelling for half an hour, he had already encountered two different Tier III Beasts that forced him to retreat.
The first was an azure-blue owl with blinding white pupils. Its feathers carried a metallic sheen, each one capable of piercing the human body as if it were butter.
The second was a gigantic frog with an extremely poisonous body. Every time it moved, it released a wave of toxic air, killing everything that came near it.
Although he was tempted, he decided to leave them alone.
The azure-blue owl was capable of flight, and its speed far surpassed the previous Tier III Beasts he had fought. Coupled with its metal-like body, it possessed strength, speed, and defense all at once.
The gigantic frog was an even simpler decision. Its poison was extremely overbearing. He didn't have any poison resistance skills yet, so the slightest mistake in fighting it could kill him if he wasn't careful.
Knowing when to retreat was as important as knowing when to fight.
Besides, neither of them was his target.
'But I can come back to them once I kill that monster…'
Zold calculated silently and felt he could give it a try.
He wasn't going to shy away from more Spirit Orbs.
'Wait, is that…'
At that moment, Zold suddenly stopped, his brows knitting together.
A few feet apart from his position, he saw a deep red stain along with some tattered clothes.
The redness had obviously lost its bright hue, darkening through prolonged exposure. But the bloodstain on the tattered clothes made it obvious that it was dried blood, sunk deep on the ground.
The way the bloodstain was spread out, it was as if the person had combusted from the inside, leaving a gruesome mess.
'A failed spiritual awakening…'
Zold immediately guessed the reason.
That meant somebody was in the jungle a few days ago.
He stepped closer to the stain, and a little farther ahead, he suddenly spotted a set of small, childlike footprints.
'Children…'
He frowned, feeling his heart skip a beat.
Again.
Following the footprints with his gaze, he saw that they led deeper into the forest.
'... Could they still be alive?'
But after that thought appeared in his mind, even he found it incredulous.
Judging from the dried blood, this should've occurred the day the Apostles descended.
That was four days ago, not a long time by any means, but in this jungle teeming with Tier III Beasts, could a child last even an hour?
Impossible.
Zold thought, pursing his lips.
Still, he wanted to follow the footsteps, wanting to confirm what happened.
It wasn't like he had a concrete direction any way, as long as he continued deeper, it didn't matter which way he went.
He silently thought, convincing himself.
As he traced the footsteps, he didn't seem to notice the black outline watching him from a distance.
In his pockets, one of the paper charms burned slowly…
At that moment, hundreds of spiders slowly crawled out from the shadows, staring at him coldly.
Zold stopped on his tracks, immediately activating all his skills!
[Mountain Breaker]!
[Muscle Tightening]!
With the combination of the two skills, he charged towards his front, squashing away the spiders on his way.
But the spiders were endless, just right after they were killed, more spiders arose!
"It's here!"
Recognizing the spiders, Zold's eyes lit up.
After half an hour of looking for it, he didn't expect that he was found by his target instead!
Turning around, Zold slashed with his sword, sending out a wave of fire that burned through the army of spiders.
But as the spiders burned away, more spiders erupted from the shadows, quickly replenishing the lost numbers.
Killing these spiders was a thankless task, he needed to find the Mother Arachnid!
But the Mother Arachnid was invisible, extremely cunning, and wouldn't reveal itself easily unless…
Watching the spiders crawl towards him, Zold immediately formulated a plan.
Instead of fighting back against the spiders, he turned around and escaped deeper in the forest!
The spiders chased after him relentlessly!
Some of the smaller spiders even converged, turning to large spiders!
But these spiders didn't just grow bigger, they also inherited the Mother Arachnid's abilities.
They moved incredibly fast, seemingly able to travel between the darkness with ease!
With their speed, they quickly cornered Zold and shot out webs, slowing him down!
Zold summoned a large fire, attempting to burn the webs.
But it was useless as they were incredibly durable, easily resisting his [Prideful Flame].
With webs stacking up on his body, he slowed down significantly until he stopped running entirely.
Cornered, Zold raised his head, showing a resolute expression!
At that moment, ten large spiders surrounded him.
Each of the spiders stared at him emotionlessly, and as they clicked their legs on the ground, they jumped on him!
Zold was barely able to dodge in time, saving himself.
However, one of the spiders managed to reach him, its leg piercing deep into his flesh.
"...!"
Zold clenched his teeth, shoving the spider away as he charged away again!
Left with no choice, he could only leave his sword behind, drenched by his blood.
[Mountain Breaker]!
[Muscle Tightening]!
But this time, the spiders no longer chased him.
Instead, in front of him, a large spider slowly appeared.
Zold pained expression immediately changed to a slight smile.
'Got you!'
Once the Mother Arachnid appeared in front of him, he stopped pretending.
At that moment, from where he came from, the sword flew towards his hand!
Using [Bloody Life] before he left it on the ground, it was granted temporary madness.
Once the Mother Arachnid revealed itself, the sword recognized his target and immediately came back to him!
Pulling all stops, he activated all his offensive skills!
[Mountainbreaker], [Muscle Tightening], [Extremely Tight Force], and [Prideful Flame]!
To add it up a notch, he raised a monolith on all sides, leaving the Mother Arachnid with no place to escape from!
Stunned, the Mother Arachnid watched helplessly as Zold's sword fell down on her face!
Sharpening his sword to the extreme, the Mother Arachnid was killed with one blow!
Dead!