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Chapter 12
Five men trudged through the muddy swamp.
Their sharp eyes scanned the surroundings as they moved forward — the forest ahead was pitch-dark, and they didn’t even dare to carry a torch.
In a place where demons could lurk anywhere, lighting a fire would only expose their position.
Their eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, and the more they walked, the heavier their feet felt as the mud clung to them.
“Captain, are we really just going to keep walking like this without a plan?”
Marck, one of the Heratz Baron’s soldiers, whispered to Mamut, who was walking just behind him.
Mamut replied in a low voice, barely above a mutter.
“He said he knows where the demon is. We’ve got no choice but to follow.”
For some reason, Mamut trusted Dermo.
After all, this was the man who somehow managed to neutralize the Tarantula’s venom — something no one else could do.
“What is it?”
When Dermo, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped, Mamut quietly asked.
That’s when the strange smell hit their noses.
“Ugh… what’s that smell?”
“Something’s rotting.”
“Where the hell is it coming from?”
Despite his heightened sense of smell — a perk of being a Half-Demon — Dermo simply lifted his head silently.
He looked up — at the oldest, largest tree in the forest, towering over all the others.
The others followed his gaze.
“What the…?”
Up in that high tree, now visible through their adjusted eyes, hung a faint shape.
Mamut squinted to get a clearer look.
“Damn it… that’s a demon.”
The first to identify it was Tom, who let out a low curse.
The foul stench was from a decomposing demon corpse.
“Don’t tell me the Tarantula ate that demon’s Soul Stone…”
“Captain, a one-star demon like Tarantula would never consume another demon’s Soul Stone.”
“Yeah, but… look at that — only the part where the Soul Stone should be is torn open.”
“…”
When a demon consumes another’s Soul Stone, it grows stronger.
But that only happens with demons ranked two stars or higher.
A one-star demon like Tarantula shouldn’t have been capable of that.
Yet, there it was — a demon corpse, bound in webs, with the Soul Stone cleanly missing.
Mamut’s doubt wasn’t unfounded.
“It’s Tarantula. It ate it.”
At Dermo’s quiet statement, everyone turned toward him.
“I’ve never heard of a one-star demon devouring another’s Soul Stone.”
“Me neither.”
“Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the stone’s gone?”
Tom’s skeptical tone was echoed by two of the soldiers, while Mamut stayed silent, deep in thought.
“There’s always an exception.”
When Dermo first encountered the Tarantula, he hadn’t thought much of it — just another main-quest boss designed by the developers to make the mission harder.
But after dying during Baron Fyonn’s quest, he realized something.
The Tarantula wasn’t a random encounter — it was tied to the Baron’s entire storyline.
“What are you looking for?”
Mamut asked as Dermo circled the tree, scanning the area.
“Something… ah, there it is.”
Dermo began moving his finger through the air, as if strumming invisible strings.
Tom frowned.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think? We came here to hunt a demon. I’m calling it out.”
The large tree marked the boundary — beyond it lay the Tarantula’s territory.
Dermo was plucking at the Tarantula’s web threads.
Mamut’s eyes widened.
“You’re summoning it? What’s your plan once it comes?”
“You take the hatchlings. I’ll handle the adult.”
“Alone? That’s—”
“It’s coming.”
Dermo cut him off, his gaze fixed on the darkness ahead.
Everyone turned to look.
There — multiple pairs of red eyes glimmered in the shadows.
“How many of them are there!?”
“Three! Four! No, five— they’re still coming!”
“Damn it, I hate demon blood…”
The red eyes multiplied until there were seven pairs in total.
Tom quickly nocked an arrow and fired.
The arrow sliced through the air and vanished into the darkness — but one pair of red eyes abruptly stopped moving.
It was a hit.
‘Not bad,’ Dermo thought, quietly impressed.
Tom went to fire again, but the Tarantulas were already charging.
“Shields!”
Mamut shouted, stepping in front of Tom and raising his shield.
His men followed suit, bracing themselves.
Moments later, the hatchlings crashed into them.
BANG! CRASH!
Screeeech!
“Ugh! Put more strength into your legs!”
“I’m trying!”
The three of them wrestled with the six hatchlings while Tom fired arrows in support.
‘They can handle that much.’
Dermo slipped silently into the darkness, moving swiftly through the underbrush — toward where the adult Tarantula was surely watching.
He circled around, heading in the direction the hatchlings had come from.
‘There you are.’
A large shape came into view — larger than a bear.
The adult Tarantula.
[Evolved Demon: Tarantula (★☆)]
It had grown stronger after consuming a Soul Stone, but it wasn’t yet a full-fledged two-star.
‘Manageable.’
Dermo had absorbed the souls of seven hatchlings before leaving the village.
He hadn’t gained any new skills, but he did gain seven stat points — all of which he poured into Strength.
[Strength 13 → Strength 20]
To avoid burning his eyepatch again, Dermo removed it and stored it in his inventory.
[Skill: Agile Movement activated.]
[Skill: Stone Skin activated.]
Dermo accelerated, closing the distance — the Tarantula was distracted, watching the others fight.
He lunged, aiming his blade at the gap between its abdomen and legs.
CLANG!
The Tarantula spun just in time, blocking with a steel-like foreleg.
‘What the hell— it’s fast!’
Dermo frowned.
The gap between one-star and two-star demons on Destruction Difficulty was enormous.
“You killed… my children.”
The Tarantula’s guttural voice echoed — it had gained enough intelligence from the Soul Stone to speak, however crudely.
“My children… dead. You… die too…”
It raised a foreleg and slammed it down.
Dermo dodged backward — but the Tarantula charged.
THUD THUD THUD!
He raised his left arm just in time — the foreleg came crashing down like a spear.
Stone Skin met the hardened limb.
CRACK!
A fracture spread across his arm.
‘This is bad…’
Despite all his Strength investment, Dermo was being forced down, knees buckling under the Tarantula’s weight.
He swung at its softer hind leg —
CLANG!
Blocked again.
‘Tch. Feels like hitting a damn steel column.’
In raw stats, the Tarantula had him beat.
“Get off me already, you freak!”
[Skill: Flaming Breath activated.]
He exhaled a torrent of fire, forcing the Tarantula back.
The demon shrieked — but refused to retreat.
It knew that one step back would give Dermo an opening.
Instead, it thrust another leg toward his side.
WHOOSH!
Dermo glanced sideways — a spear-like limb came stabbing in.
He couldn’t take that hit.
[Skill: Distorted Joints activated.]
CRACKLE!
His left shoulder twisted unnaturally, his arm rotating in an almost inhuman motion.
He slipped aside, letting the attack glance off, and tugged the arm — pulling the Tarantula’s foreleg off balance and into the mud.
SPLOOSH!
Mud splattered everywhere.
Dermo pressed his attack, lunging past the foreleg toward the softer hind leg —
But something caught his wrist.
“…”
Webs.
Sticky threads wrapped around his wrist, yanking hard.
He couldn’t resist the sudden pull.
WHOOSH! THUD!
The Tarantula swung him high into the air — then down toward the ground.
FLARE!
As he plummeted, fire burst from Dermo’s mouth, wrapping around his bound wrist.
The burning heat snapped the web.
He continued falling —
[Skill: Reinforced Web activated.]
SHLK!
This time, threads shot from his fingertips, latching onto the Tarantula’s head.
The momentum redirected his fall — straight toward the demon.
“You shouldn’t turn your back on me.”
With all his weight and speed combined, his sword came down.
CRUNCH!
The blade pierced through the hardened carapace.
“SKREEEE!”
The Tarantula thrashed in pain, the sword half-buried in its skull.
Dermo clicked his tongue — he’d missed the vital point by a fraction.
Still, he couldn’t stop now.
The momentum was his.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
He hammered the sword’s pommel with his palm, driving it deeper each time.
The Tarantula tried to ensnare him with webs, but each thread burned away in his fiery breath.
“Gahhh! Need it! Soul Stone… need Soul Stone!!”
THUD THUD THUD!
With Dermo still clinging to its back, the Tarantula suddenly bolted — rushing in the direction of the others.
“SOUL STONE!”
Drool and ichor dripped from its gaping jaws.
Ahead of it — seven glowing Soul Stones.
