Edward beheld the result of the explosion, it was pure devastation. A huge hole had been torn through the webbed ceiling, with swathes of webs loosely dangling from the opening. There were no residues of the nest, and even the webs on the ground had been either shredded or burn away. The tiny spiders had been vaporized and so were the wolf spiders. However, to Edward’s dismay, the black widow was still there. It lay on the ground with broken and missing legs, green fluids flowing out of its many injuries. But it was still alive and emitting weak squelching noises.

Edward decided to put an end to its misery. He walked closer to it. “To be honest I’m impressed. I didn’t expect you to be alive even after such an explosion.” Edward said while gesturing to the surrounding devastation. Its aura armor was really tough. If it was able to use that much aura, its blood essence must be enormous. “Let’s see what you have for me.” He teleported to the spider’s head and plunged a single dagger into it with his uninjured hand, ending its life.

An unending stream of energy flowed into him, first healing his burned hand that was in dire need of treatment. He flexed his fingers, the new flesh a bright pink as if it had never been injured in the first place. He stabbed a second dagger into the spider, enjoying the additional vitality flowing into him. There was so much of it that he was overflowing with energy. Even his mana had been filled when he had been digging inside the nest. His powers were once more enhanced by the spider’s blood essence, and he felt as if he was rushing through the predator stage toward the next. The spider had even more energy than the Mare Irae he had fought before. He wasn’t sure of how rare it was to encounter a monster at this level in normal times, but one thing he was sure of, is that such a bounty would normally have to be shared between numerous individuals.

Once the blood essence stream died out, the black widow’s body was nothing more than a dry husk. Edward was glowing with hope and confidence. He had already destroyed two nests and killed what he deemed to be the spider queen. The hard part should be over now. Without the queen to spawn the cocoons, the number of spiders should slowly dwindle with time. Even with a domain covering the whole forest, they can’t have that many nests. A single nest is draining the mana from a massive area. If I destroy two or three more nests, the spiders’ forces should be crippled. By then the local monsters should be able to take care of the rest. The dark time from when he had been almost killed by that tarantula was all but forgotten.

Edward glanced at where the nest had been. It’s actually a waste to burn so much mana. If I could meditate inside such a place it would be very beneficial. He shook his head. However, there is no way I will be able to do that while spiders are harassing me. I should ask Leyla if she can make an array to gather mana. It won’t be at the same scale as what the spiders are doing but it would still be better than nothing.

With nothing more to do here, Edward left in a random direction, searching for a shift in the threads’ alignment that would show the entry to another nest’s domain. He wondered what the spiders must be thinking. Their expansion had been lightning-fast and seemingly unstoppable, but now thanks to Edward, they had experienced two setbacks in a row.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when instead of the alignment’s shift he was expecting, he noticed a thread as thick as a rope that bypassed the webs’ usual patterns. The rope was made of several threads and was thrice as thick as the other threads nearby. However, what was more remarkable was its length. Edward couldn’t see where it began and where it ended. He frowned in confusion. Only this thick thread is aiming in this direction. The other threads’ alignment hasn’t changed. I’m still in the area of the destroyed nest and I didn’t enter another nest’s sphere of influence. Then what is this woven thread doing here? He didn’t believe in a coincidence, not after seeing this configuration for the first time after spending so much time in the spiders’ endless webs.

Edward stopped in place when he reached a conclusion. If this thread was having its own alignment without respecting the nests’ influence, and if its length was longer than the different nests’ area of influence, it meant it superseded them. Another structure took priority over the nests. I thought the spiders had only built different nests, covering the whole forest bit by bit. But this could indicate the true heart of their domain, their point of origin. Rather than blowing up another nest, this is what I need to destroy if I want to make their domain fall. It’s the first time I’m seeing one of those ropes in this forest, they must be quite distanced from one another.

Edward changed his direction, going backward to follow this lead. He may have found a faster way to get rid of the invading spiders. However, one idea was tugging at him. If the nests weren’t the true center of the spiders’ empire, was the giant black widow he had killed really the spiders’ queen or was it simply a more exotic spider just like the tarantula he had encountered before? If there is a more powerful type of spider acting as their queen I’m not sure I will be able to kill it.

His mood had been radiant after killing the black widow, but now he was tormented by internal turmoil and doubts. Still, no matter what was awaiting him, it didn’t change the fact that he was the only one apt to tackle it, and that destroying the origin point of the spiders was the fastest way to deal with them.

He was still in the area where he had blasted the nest, and the spiders seemed disorganized. He was making good progress and had only to deal with one squadron of wolf spiders which weren’t enough to hold him down. However, he didn’t loosen his vigilance and continued to use aura steps, keeping his distance from the webs on the ground. He never knew when another of those tarantula spiders could show up. In the heart of the enemy territory, everything was fine until it wasn’t. The situation could reverse drastically in an instant. Edward had learned it bitterly and he stayed cautious, not willing for such an event to repeat itself.

It was only when he entered another nest’s domain, the threads changing their alignment, except for the rope he was following, that Edward encountered real resistance.

I’m starting to wonder if the nests that I have destroyed have another role apart from breeding new spiders. From the way the wolf spiders were behaving, it is possible that the explosion destroyed enough webs that orders weren’t able to reach them anymore.

Edward kept an eye on his mana reserve while he was using his acceleration and fighting with waves of wolf spiders blocking his way. They were still using their annoying clones, masking their real bodies and making them annoying to deal with. But since Edward was heading to their nest, the rope only traversing the nest domain at an angle, the resistance that he was facing wasn’t as tough as before. He could deal with the waves of wolf spiders individually, preventing them from joining together.

He continued to move forwards for hours, fighting his way deeper inside the spiders’ domain. As he was approaching the end of this nest’s territory to enter yet another nest area, Edward decided to take a break. He didn’t know how far he would have to go, and he didn’t want to be exhausted when he would have to fight in an unknown situation to destroy the heart of this nightmare. Also, being at the edge of two nests’ influence meant that the spider density would be lower in this area. It was the ideal place to take a break.

He strayed from the thicker spider’s thread, not wanting to stay close to it while resting. However, he didn’t go too far either since he was afraid of losing it. Everything looked the same in here, differences blanketed under several layers of webs, and it was easy to get lost. Well, more lost than I already am after being teleported randomly by freaking tarantula monsters, Edward thought bitterly. This thick web was acting as a compass for him, showing both the way to the heart of his enemy territory and the direction to the way out.

Edward dug a hideout inside a tree, dissimilated the residues, went inside the tree, and sealed the entrance. It had been a long day. It hadn’t been that many days since he had entered this nightmarish land but it felt like forever. The things he kept encountering regularly exceeded his expectations. He was glad that he hadn’t chickened out and investigated the situation before it spiraled out of control and became unstoppable. Edward closed his eyes, entering overwatch meditation where his mind was at peace while still being vaguely aware of his surroundings.

When he opened his eyes, he was rested and ready to go. He left his hiding place and put the entrance back in place. He managed to find the thicker web without difficulty and resumed his march forward. He noticed that the wasp spiders hanging over his head had become more active. Waves of them were heading in the direction where Edward had obliterated the spider nest. He harrumphed in anger. Those spiders would repair the damage he had done in a few days at most, except for the nest itself of course. They could weave webs, but not breed new spiders.

This was proof that concentrating on destroying the webs was a fruitless endeavor. Edward had already given up on that prospect when he saw how little damage his improvised flamethrower was doing to the webs in the grand scheme of things. The spiders were drawing their strength from their webs, but one had to destroy them from the ground up before focusing on said webs.

He let them go on their way, continuing to move ahead, they weren’t a hindrance. After passing through two more nests territory, he finally saw it, the heart of the spiders’ domain. The layers of webs were so thick that no light was able to cross through the webs covering the top of the forest. It should have been total darkness if not for the eerie purple light emanating from what looked like a giant cocoon. The cocoon was spherical and wasn’t quite reaching the webs that formed a ceiling above the forest. However, it was still connected by a thick mesh of webs.

The purple light enabled Edward to see the scene but it didn’t bring any warmth with it. The cocoon itself wasn’t completely closed contrary to the other structures made by the spiders that he had seen until now. A large round opening was present at the bottom of the structure, letting the light spill out. They don’t do things halfway. This opening is so large that a house could fit in it.

Wait a minute…actually, it is just large enough for something like that huge black widow to go through it.