Kuro’s fight with the Kori Federation’s elites was just beginning, and so were the rest of the remaining Payircis. Within the Purple Payirci, the Alliance’s raid force, led by the Mercenary Guild’s Spirit Saint Atossa, was rushing through the floating tower with cautionary speeds.

Unlike Ao’s and Kuro’s Payircis, the Purple one was set up in a bewildering labyrinth state. Spiderwebs measuring over ten metres wide covered the dark, decrepit walls of the Payirci while poisonous gas overflowed from the cracks in the walls. It was one thing to traverse within enemy territory, it was another to have literally millions of spiders crawling out from hidden locations, threatening the group with death from every single corner.

The Alliance members knew that it was going to be a disadvantaged fight from the very beginning. Hence, they mostly huddled up together, watching out for danger at any given moment. Fortunately for the Alliance’s raid force, the Mercenary Guild had the most experience out of any organisation in scouting and neutralising traps. Not only that, but they were also led by Saint Atossa and Guild Leader Xerxes themselves! The legends of the Mercenary Guild and the two best suited for playing the role of a guide.

The Blacksmith’s League and Healer’s Association’s members weren’t a liability either. Forged by fire and steel, the members of the Blacksmith’s League had the strength to wrestle a fully grown bear with their bare hands. And there was no way to understate the importance of the Healer’s Association. Their healing and auxiliary spiritual abilities had carried the raid force all the way to the very end, minimising the casualties and maximising the damage of their allies.

“Rotting flesh… Skeletons of both humans and Spirit Beasts alike… This is really the den to hell.” Saint Atossa groaned.

“Murasaki is the Arachne Queen, a predator species that eats any brain matter that she could get her hands on. I doubt we could count the number of victims that had fallen to her sticky webs.” Guild Master Xerxes replied with a moan as well. All around them, there was signs of death and violence. And most of that didn’t come from their fight against the Black Masks or the Umbras that guarded the Payirci.

It was highly likely that Murasaki used this floating tower as her own feeding lair, luring thousands of humans and Spirit Beasts alike to sate her never-ending hunger.

“Yeah, I know that… Look!” Saint Atossa pointed her finger towards a remote corner of the Labyrinth’s end. There were familiar woollen garbs, one that was used to represent a Spirit Venerate of the Mercenary Guild, laid out all over the place. “She killed most of our scouts that we’ve sent. For a mere Tier 9 Spirit Beast could cause this much death… Our Mercenary Guild will really have to re-evaluate our force’s true power.”

“They must have been caught off guard… Who wouldn’t be staggered by the vast array of webs and traps that this Purple Payirci produced?”

“Tsk, has the quality of Spirit Venerates really dipped that low? To die in a den of a Tier 9 Spirit Beast? Hopefully the next generation wouldn’t be as disappointing.” Saint Atossa complained for the last time before coming face-to-face with the final room.

Rather than facing an ordinary door or an opulent gate, the entrance to the Arachne Queen’s chambers was a simple hole in the ground. All the webs in the Labyrinth, all the spiders and arachnids, they were all coming from this one location. Saint Atossa was certain. Their target was just one leap away. However, that leap took a considerable amount of courage to pull off.

“Alright, this is the final step. Are you ready?” Saint Atossa glanced back at her fellow raiders.

“Born ready.”

“With this, the war will finally be over right? We can return back to our normal lives?”

“We’ll kill the Purple Queen and return as heroes!”

All kinds of responses came shooting back from the Alliance members’ mouths. They had been waiting for this moment for far too long. In fact, they were concerned that Saint Atossa wouldn’t jump down instead!

“Haha, what a stupid question. Forgive me.” The Spirit Saint shook her head, taking out an array of shining light sticks that the Alliance had prepared. In a dark place like this, it was imperative for the Alliance members to retain their ability to see. Furthermore, they were facing a Spirit Beast that thrived in the night, killing and feeding whenever their prey was encumbered without light. Against that kind of foe, Saint Atossa naturally had to be prepared.

The Alliance’s raid force dropped many of the light sticks down the hole while some Wind-Elemental casters blew them all over the place. Since they were highly viscous, the light sticks stuck to the walls like glue, giving the Alliance a more unobstructed view of the final chambers of the web weaver.

And true enough…

“Ara, ara… I didn’t expect that you would reach here this quickly.” A half-woman, half-spider glanced up with a smile. Her eight eyes blinked in unison, creating a mystical attraction that couldn’t be explained with pure words. However, the Alliance couldn’t be bothered with how charming Murasaki looked.

What their eyes were affixed on, were the fully formed webs that spread for kilometres upon kilometres. Baby spiders would crawl innocently through the sticky webs, unhindered by the vast amounts of web cocoons that were tied up all around them. Big and powerful looking spiders were also present. They guarded their mistress like the Kingsguard would their King. They shot unpleasant glares at the intruders who were disturbing their Queen’s rest and were ready to pounce once the order was given. And that wasn’t all…

Umbras crawled on each one of the jagged walls while towering flying Spirit Beast protected the entrance to the chambers. There weren’t any Brahmins present, notably because none of them dared to volunteer. Yes, they may be Spirit Venerates that serve the Allfather, but if Murasaki felt that their brain matter was too enticing, what was stopping her from eating them right there and then?

“You know… I’ve been starving for weeks now.” Murasaki let a little bit of her carnivorous instincts leak, and a purplish aura of death wreathed her entire being. Licking her lips, she continued: “Hmmm, the brain matter of a Spirit Saint. I wonder if that will satisfy my hunger?”

An invisible pressure forced the Alliance’s troops to take a step back, gulping down gallons of their own nervous saliva. It took Saint Atossa, the only one that could freely move in the deadly aura, to break the deadlock with her own mana.

Twitching her lips, the Spirit Saint muttered silently: “Hey… Didn’t you say that she was a Tier 9 Spirit Beast?”

“...”

“So why is she emitting the power of a Primordial Beast?”

“She… must’ve advanced recently.”

“You only had one job-!” Saint Atossa wanted to scold Xerxes even more, but ultimately, the Spirit Saint held back. Turning her attention back to Murasaki, she caught sight of a pulsating light hidden deep within the cobs of web that made up the Arachne Queen’s bed.

“No… There’s no point crying over spilt milk,” Saint Atossa sighed. “I’ll distract the Primordial Beast, you’ll find a way to destroy the Paradise Heart.” She unsheathed her dagger and spun around like a dexterous thief. In a split second, her muscles and bones all toughened up while her entire body turned as light as a feather. Hopping in place, the Spirit Saint was ready to unleash the full extent of her powers, even if it meant hurting herself.

Murasaki watched all of this unfold without much heed. In the Noble Beast’s mind, no one that stepped foot in her domain had a chance to leave it with their heads intact. In fact, there were droplets of water dripping down the sides of her mouth, as she waited earnestly for Saint Atossa to descend. If Murasaki killed the Mercenary Guild’s Spirit Saint, it would be her first time tasting such high-quality brain matter. So, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that she was anticipating that fall from grace.

“I’m counting on you,” Saint Atossa ordered her subordinate as she fearlessly leapt down into the weaver’s paradise.

“I’m gonna eat you!”