Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 136 Ayesha's Desperation

A crowd of people were currently inside the Hole; people from different guilds who made it their priority to clear and sweep all the monsters. In truth, with few of Amerka's strongest explorers participating in this extermination, the only real threat was Arachnea's presence.

But aside from the leader of the Rescue team telling them that Arachnea was sighted somewhere, no one had really even seen a shadow of her.

And so, the extermination has been quite uneventful for them — and it did not help that Esme practically locked a quarter of the entire city and encased it in ice, making their jobs a lot easier.

And as they finally found themselves gathered at the very center of the monsters' source, the Hole inside the mall, the group started to relax. They were also told that the monsters in the Underworld had also started to calm down. But before any of them could actually fully lower their arms, however, they all felt their hairs stand up on their ends at the same time — and the reason?

Something—someone they thought they would never see in their lifetime, a god. The god of spiders, Arachnea. The only thing they could really do was just stand there extremely, and very still; hoping that if they did so, they would learn the art of standing so incredibly still that they would be invisible to the naked eye.

They were so busy making themselves invisible that they did not even notice Arachnea holding Rhys.

Fortunately for them, it seemed to have worked as Arachnea did not even heed them any mind and just moved past them. They were incredibly lucky too, as none of them were was maimed by Arachnea's sharp legs.

It was a weird feeling — some of them were even complaining about how easy the extermination was with this many people, but as soon as Arachnea entered the building, literally; the only thing in their mind was that even if a thousand more of them come, it would not be enough. But once again, fortunately for them, Arachnea just casually went down inside the Hole without actually doing anything.

And as soon as she was gone, everyone's breaths almost created an orchestra of utmost relief; some of them even added drums as their butts fell straight to the floor. There was someone who dived down the Hole, but none of them really saw who it was as they were all busy trying not to shit their pants there and then.

No one really said anything for minutes on end, and right when they were about to, they heard several thunders bursting from the floor; the entire mall, almost rumbling as the thunders became louder and louder. And soon, a silhouette emerged from the Hole, causing everyone to flinch and freeze again.

"Commander Ayesha!?"

Fortunately for them, it was just Ayesha, who was tasked to control the monsters in the Underworld part of the mall. She seemed to be holding someone, but all the people's eyes were just on Ayesha.

"What… what's going on, Commander Ayesha!? Was that Arachnea!?"

And as all the people started approaching her, the only thing she really did was throw the person she was carrying in her arm toward Sylas.

"This…" Sylas quickly but very gently caught the person, "...Emilia? Why is she—"

"Don't let her jump into the Hole again or I swear I'll put a Hole in you," Ayesha pointed at Sylas.

"She dived into the Hole!?" Sylas did not even notice it. Because as ashamed as he might be to admit, he was one of the many people who just froze when Arachnea slithered way through the mall, "Wh—"

Before he could even finish his words, however, Ayesha just turned around and rushed toward one of the stores; not even bothering to enter the store as she just punched through the glass and grabbed one of the large swords on display on the window — and without even saying a word to anyone, she made her way back to the Hole and dived back down; her descent to the Underworld, like the roar of a celestial beast as she once again forcefully pushed herself down.

And very soon, she reached the part of the Hole where she and Arachnea's paths crossed; the ceilings of webs that previously blocked her path, now a wall of webs as her gravity shifted opposite.

She was originally just going to brute force her way back to the Underworld, but to her surprise, Rhys's sister suddenly dropped toward the web — she was lucky the webs were already slightly elastic since Ayesha had already torn some of them, but if not, she would have died there and there with her neck completely snapped.

In fact, Ayesha had initially thought she died. But as soon as she realized she was still breathing, she just opted to go to the Surface — and perhaps it was the right decision too, as now, Ayesha had a big-ass sword.

"Hup!" Ayesha took in a short but very deep breath as her muscles started to contract; the large sword on her hard, vibrating from how tight she was holding it. And as she let out her breath, the sword in her hand seemingly disappeared as she swung it as hard as she could — the wind that escaped from the edges of the large sword, enough to distort the very air itself.

The webs that blocked her path, withering away completely as they fell to the Underworld. Unfortunately for the large sword, it also shattered soon after; almost turning into dust.

"Hurry… hurry," it did not matter at all for Ayesha, however, as she just clapped her hand to push herself to the walls of the Hole; grabbing onto it before forcefully pushing herself down again like a leaping cheetah.

For most people who do not truly know them, her relationship with Rhys might just seem like something casual, maybe even a fling compared to Lina. But the truth could not be more opposite — if they counted the hours they were together, she was the one who had spent the most time with Rhys; the two of them, almost never separating after the incident that took Rhys's limbs.

She could even confidently say she was closer to Rhys than even Katarina. She was also the first one to get to know Rhys's plans, even to the point of supporting it even though she had her reservations and doubts. She never really thought that she would be as close to a person as she was with Rhys, never in a million years.

After all, all the men in her life have either abused her, used her, or outright molested her when she was younger — the only men in her life were the soldiers of the Underworld corps, people who were as damaged as her.

But then, Rhys came, a man completely broken beyond repair, and yet still pretty much functioning even with all of his baggage. She was already intrigued with him at first, but when she risked his life to save her even though he didn't even need to…

…that's when all of Ayesha's walls broke.

And whether she liked it or not, all of Rhys seeped into the cracks and completely filled up her insides. Just figuratively at first, but it became literal as they spent more time with each other. It even came to the point where she started to feel tired all of a sudden when he wasn't near her.

Rhys… makes her feel good, and not just physically. She would not even lie to anyone if she said that Rhys…

…Rhys is the most important person in his life. And if she loses him, she would drag everyone she could drag with her and raze the entire Underworld even if it meant declaring war against the gods.

"Recruit!"

And as Ayesha found herself back in the Underworld, her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area, only to see nothing but Explorers who were obviously too stunned and shocked to even move from their spot; none of them seemed to be injured, however, a testament to how Arachnea does not even see them as a threat as she just moved past them.

The Underworld part of the mall was also covered by a dome, protecting it from the harsh environment and wild monsters of the Underworld, and only keeping the ones they used to test weapons inside — of course, the dome had proven to be absolutely useless as its security was penetrated by the monsters.

A mistake that could have been prevented if not for the arrogance of men.

"Arachnea, where did she go!?" Ayesha quickly grabbed the first explorer she could get her hands on; shaking him awake.

"...Who?"

"That god of spiders, damn it!" Ayesha was about to slap the man she was holding right on the cheek. Fortunately for the stranger, before he could have had the chance to probably die there and then, Katarina grabbed her from behind and tried pulling her away. Of course, they couldn't really do so, but Ayesha just let them.

"The Recruit, he—"

"We saw."

"Then… why are you here?" Ayesha began to frown.

"Lina already went ahead to scout," Katarina breathed out,

"I was just waiting for you. Now…

…let's go get our man back."

And while Katarina, Ayesha, and Lina were doing their utmost best to the point of desperation to try and rescue Rhys…

.

"Now…" Arachnea was completely bare; her large breasts, swaying as she very slowly approached Rhys, who was lying on a bed made of webs,

"...Shall we continue where we left off before the other humans interrupted us?"