However, they seem to match the story from elven history about them creating beastmen to fight the spiders. To have survived down here on their own for thousands of years is really impressive. Especially if they have been fighting against the spiders the whole time.

Before leaving to continue my exploration I pile up all the bodies and set them on fire. There is no reason to leave them for the spiders to use as resources. Once the fire is well and truly going I start looking at all the tunnels leading into the cavern.

Finding one that is larger and doesn't look like it was made by the spiders I head down it. Hopefully, this is the tunnel the beasts used, my goal now is to find them. Whatever has changed down here, I can't just let the spiders have their way.

In fact, if I can somehow tip the scales so the beasts are winning, that will solve a lot of problems. First of all, I need to find out what is actually going on, then I can see what I can do. So I move quickly down the tunnel, keeping my senses tuned to look for an ambush.

It is surprising to me that the controller hasn't made any moves against me. She obviously knows I am here, and I have even attacked her workers. She should have tried to kill me by now, or at least tried to drive me away.

The fact that she hasn't tells me she is occupied with something else, maybe the beasts. The lack of response might mean that all the spider forces might be busy fighting. If that is the case then they could be waging a full scale war against the beasts.

My thoughts are interrupted as I turn a corner and start hearing sounds ahead of me. The sounds are chaotic and confusing, especially with all the echoes, but it sounds like fighting. I pick up the pace, if there is a fight going on I want to get there before it is over.

When the tunnel ends I find myself looking into a large cavern, although I can't see all of it. The end I am in is the wide part of the cavern, the opposite end narrows and that is the source of the noise. At the narrowest point of the cavern is a fortress wall that is currently under attack.

While I can see that the cavern continues past the wall, I cannot see how far it goes. The wall is being defended by various types of beasts, but I can't tell much more from this distance. The wall is being attacked by warrior spiders and driders, both living and dead.

The dead ones, and their summons, are in the forefront of the attacking forces. The controller is obviously using them as cannon fodder, but it gives me an idea. The driders made from the elves are the only ones who can ignore the defenses of the elven city.

If they are all destroyed, and the holes in the city are blocked off, then the city can be made secure again. While that wouldn't be enough for us to take the barrier down, it would be useful. I can think of a ton of uses for a hidden city, especially for the beastmen.

However, now is not the time to think about it, so I spread my wings and launch into the air. With all the spider forces grouped up like that it is an opportunity I just can't resist. So I fly over until I am above the front of their forces where all the undead are and put my wings away.

I fall down onto the army like a lightning bolt, killing several driders when I land on them. Then before the rest can react to my presence I cast Holy Light and watch them turn to ash. Unfortunately, since the fortress is fairly long I wasn't close enough to get all of them at once.

376 Skeletons defeated! 9,400 Exp gained!

633 Zombies defeated! 12,660 Exp gained!

751 Driders defeated! 75,100 Exp gained!

With a huge chunk of their cannon fodder wiped out in an instant the spider forces quickly retreat. As the spiders retreat I can feel a lot of eyes looking down on me from atop the wall. Turning around and looking up I see a whole bunch of beast heads staring down at me.

Ignoring them for now I turn back to face the spiders, who have backed off but haven't fled. They have reformed a couple of hundred yards from the wall and the undead are gathered in the middle. It is almost as if the spiders are daring me to charge into the middle of them.

More likely, the controller is trying to bait me into a situation where the spiders can overwhelm me. However, that suits me just fine since I want to kill enough of them to tip the scales. So I do just what the spiders want, I fly over and drop right into the middle of them.

As I drop down I cast Holy Light to clear out the undead and draw Blitz as the living driders charge me. While I could easily escape if I wanted to, I don't want to, so I start swinging Blitz. The first drider to reach me is slashed in half by the first swing of Blitz.

As spider parts and ichor fly out from the body, a smile finds its way onto my face. As I start dancing around, slashing apart every drider who comes close to me, the smile grows. I could fly out at any time, but killing the driders is fun, more fun than I have had in a while.

It is probably because while I am fighting I don't have to worry about anything else. All there is to think about is the enemies around me and how I am going to kill them. If it were humans I was up against I might feel bad about bullying them, but spiders don't get any sympathy.

The crunching sounds their bodies make when Blitz tears through them is music to my ears. After a bit I even forget my purpose in fighting them, all that is left is the joy of battle. I don't try to fight it, in fact I even throw myself deeper into it, losing myself in the rhythm of combat.

This lasts until suddenly I have no targets to swing at, the spiders have run away. This time they keep on running until the only spiders left in the cavern are the dead ones. I am surrounded by piles of spider corpses and the smile is still plastered on my face.

67 Skeletons defeated! 1,675 Exp gained!

122 Zombies defeated! 2,440 Exp gained!

761 Driders defeated! 76,100 Exp gained!

33 Warrior Spiders defeated! 33,000 Exp gained!

The spiders running away makes me fairly disappointed, I wasn't ready for the fun to end. Now that it is over I have to go back to planning for the future and worrying about everyone. So I turn and walk towards the fortress wall under the eyes of the beasts.

When I reach the wall I jump up to the top, but when I land I get attacked. What looks like a young wolf stabs at me with his spear when I suddenly appear on the wall. Luckily, the spear is primitive and the head of the spear breaks off when it hits my armor.

The poor youngster just stares at what is left of his spear with wide, terrified eyes. The rest of the beasts are also staring at me, a mix of wolves and jaguars. I drop down and sit on the edge of the wall as I look around at all of them, trying to not be intimidating.

"I don't suppose any of you understand me?"