Nari looked at the motionless little spider, hesitating for a moment before waving a hand in front of her face. “Lily?” she asked, her tone audibly worried. “Is everything okay?”

  No answer, no reaction at all, as if she suddenly turned into a statue.

  “L-lily? The spider has a name?” Otto’s jaw dropped for a moment. “I’m starting to understand finally,” he added, crossing his arms as he spoke.

  The golden-haired girl exchanged a quick look with her friend before nodding back in agreement. “Yeah, I think we thought the same thing,” she replied, turning back toward Lily.

  “What are you two talking about?” Claus exclaimed, huffing and puffing at his friends. “Care to include—”

  “I’d also like an explanation,” Lily suddenly spoke up, startling the mage, mainly because of the little hisses that accompanied her voice. “You said something about monsters at my rank not usually having names…”

  “Uh, yeah, that’s true,” Nari replied. “But to be honest, I don’t really have an answer for why it’s like that,” she said. “I only know that usually only the very high-ranked monsters have names, so it’s pretty uncommon to be able to say you’ve seen and survived a named monster,” she added.

  “Yeah, even the fact that you’re able to talk with us is quite rare, if not unheard of at your rank,” Otto joined the conversation. “Just like having names, it’s usually the high-ranked monsters that can communicate with humans,” he added, “unless we’re talking about demons.”

  Lily’s eyes grew impossibly wide. “DEMONS?!” she shrieked, fidgeting with her forelimbs.

  “Yeah, demons,” Nari giggled. “I forgot you’re pretty young, so it makes sense you’ve never heard of or seen one, especially since they usually tend to stay out of The Unending Labyrinth.”

  “Can you tell me more about demons? What are they like?” Lily asked, worried yet also quite curious.

  “It’s a long story, but to try to make it short, they’re courageous, impulsive, and powerful beings, especially compared to normal humans,” the golden-haired girl replied, closing her eyes as she spoke. “We’ve been at war with them for a… long time,” she added, crossing her arms, almost as if to hug herself.

  “Hey, it’s okay,” Otto whispered, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You’re fine.”

  She doesn’t seem fine, Lily thought, curious, but also not wanting to ask more about it because it was clearly a sore subject for her. “And what about Dunkel?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

  “What are you, a newborn?” Claus sighed, raising an eyebrow.

  Lily just gave him a strange look. “Tell me something I don’t know,” she mumbled under her breath, rolling her multitude of eyes.

  “What was that?” Claus retorted, his voice briefly rising in pitch and his cheeks reddening. “You should respect your elders, you damn spider!” he exclaimed, and Lily could almost swear she saw smoke coming out of his ears, prompting her to giggle. “Come and fight m—”

  One serious look from Lily was all it took for Claus to shut up.

  “That’s what I thought,” Lily whispered.

  Otto let out a loud laugh, drawing everyone’s attention. “You’re a pretty funny spider,” he said, giving her a thumbs-up. “Anyway, Dunkel is the first underground city built in The Unending Labyrinth,” he added. “Built many centuries ago, to this day it’s still one of the best mining and monster-farming hubs in the world.”

  “It benefits many new adventurers like us,” Nari continued, trying to lighten her mood. “You should come visit! It’s an amazing place.”

  “Mhm… not to be the one to crash the party, but do you really think they’re gonna let an untamed spider into the city?” Claus retorted. “She’ll be a target the moment the guards notice her,” he added, chuckling.

  “Shit, you’re right,” Otto replied, his face looking almost flabbergasted.

  “Why do you sound so surprised?!” the mage sounded livid.

  [Warning.]

  Huh? A warning? What for? Lily wondered, scanning the surroundings as the two brothers argued.

  “I got it!” Nari suddenly yelled, jumping to her feet with a big smile plastered across her face. “We could just tell them you’re our pet or something like that. I bet they would—”

  In the blink of an eye, Lily jumped in front of the golden-haired girl and pushed her away, her forelimbs poised to strike. Before anyone could react, something collided with her midair, sending out a powerful shockwave that pushed the humans back a few meters.

  “S-shit, what just—” Claus froze mid-sentence, the image of an enormous mosquito sending shivers down his spine, its forelegs looking like sharp, deadly weapons.

  In fact, the monster was unlike anything they had encountered in real life and had only read about in books; plate-like armor and bright markings covered its body, and its wings were not only twice as large as usual but also stronger, sending ripples of air with every movement.

  To make matters worse, its aura alone was enough to shake them to the core.

  “Kyaaa!” Nari shrieked, knowing damn well that if Lily hadn’t pushed her away, she would have probably been dead in a single hit.

  “Is that… oh fuck…” Otto mumbled, recognizing the threat.

  [Elite Mosquito engaged.]

  I had a feeling this thing was much stronger than the others, Lily thought to herself, struggling not to be pushed back by the sheer pressure her foe was exerting. “Get out of here, run—” She looked away only for a moment, and that was all it took for the monster to catch her by surprise.

  “Lily!!!” Nari cried out, watching as the little spider got slammed into the ground. She tried to rush toward her, but Otto promptly grabbed and pulled her back.

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  “We’re in over our heads if we stay here,” he said. “We’d better listen to the spider.”

  “No, we can’t leave her here to fight that thing on her own; she just saved me!” she retorted, her eyes almost welling with tears.

  “I’m not sure we can do shit against that monster,” Claus said, catching them both by surprise. It was pretty unusual for him to admit he was out of his depth, especially in front of others.

  “We have to leave,” Otto whispered to Nari, hoping she would listen. “Claus, let’s—” His brother was already running toward them.

  “I’m waaay ahead of you!” Claus yelled, running past them as fast as his legs could carry him. Unfortunately for him, with Lily out of the way, the flying monster had already picked his next target. “Let’s g—”

  A piercing hit suddenly cut him off.

  “C-claus…” The sight of his brother spewing blood froze him in place. “No, this can’t be…” He fell to his knees, overcome by despair.

  Claus could only cough as he extended his arm forward, trying to reach his friends, but he could only take a couple of steps before his legs gave up.

  Just as the enemy was about to strike the mage again, something grabbed its wings out of nowhere and pulled it away, smashing it into a massive rock.

  “What just happened?” Otto mumbled under his breath, finally snapping out of it and regaining his senses. “Claus!” he yelled, rushing toward his unconscious brother, followed closely by Nari, whose fingertips were already beginning to glow green.

  She lunged toward the bleeding mage, her hands aimed directly at his deep wound. “Renewal,” the golden-haired girl chanted, and just like magic, his wound began to close, albeit slowly.

  “Webs?!” Otto exclaimed as he took a good look at the impact area and spotted the little spider on the ceiling, attempting to trap the mighty monster. “Thank you,” he whispered, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

  The more Nari focused, the brighter her hands glowed. “Hang in there, you’re gonna be fine,” she shouted, hoping her friend could hear her. “Grab a healing potion from your inventory and slowly pour it over the wound,” she commanded as she focused on the healing spell, nudging the warrior to help.

  Worried he might do more harm than good, Otto hesitated for a second before complying. “L-like this?” he asked, visibly shaken by the situation, his hand trembling as he tried to follow the instructions.

  “Yeah, that’s perfect.” Nari nodded, gritting her teeth.

  After a moment of panic, the mage’s wound closed completely, and his breathing steadied, but they knew they couldn’t afford a moment to relax; the danger was all but over. “We gotta help the spider somehow,” Otto said, picking up his sword and shield.

  “Seems like she’s got it under control for now,” Nari replied, her eyes filled with hope as she looked toward Lily, who had managed to trap the giant mosquito in her webs.

  Back to the fight, the little spider was proud of herself, but her confidence crumbled on the spot when she saw how easily the beast slashed through some of her webs, the same ones that had grown stronger through evolution.

  Crap, that’s really bad, Lily thought. “Water Bolt, Acid Blast,” she echoed, combining her two skills into a single powerful attack and launching it before the monster could entirely free itself. “Eat this!”

  The impact of her attack caused a small explosion, raising a thick cloud of dust around the area. Thinking she had landed a solid hit, Lily cheered inwardly, only to notice the monster had deflected her attack, its forelegs glowing brightly.

  “Did she get it? I can’t see anything—” The monster’s powerful scream cut off the golden-haired girl’s voice and was powerful enough to disperse the cloud of dust, revealing the area once again.

  “I think that’s a no,” Otto retorted, increasingly aware of how far out of their depth they were. “Let’s be real here,” he sighed. “If that attack wasn’t enough to damage it, what could we do against it?” He turned toward Nari, who looked just as worried as he was.

  “I don’t—”

  Claus suddenly sat up. “I might have an idea,” he said, furrowing his brows. “I have enough mana for one, maybe two…”

  “Don’t tell me you want to try that combo,” Nari replied, her eyes darting between him and the fight. “We haven’t practiced it enough yet,” she added.

  “I know, but I’m sure we can pull it off,” the mage retorted, giving the golden-haired an encouraging thumbs-up. “Don’t forget you’re talking with the most talented mage you’ve ever met.” His confidence met a slightly worried look from both his friends, but they understood that it was the only way they could contribute.

  “You guys work it out. I’ll inform the spider,” Otto suggested, rushing toward Lily without hesitation, trying not to be blasted away by one of the shockwaves released every time she clashed with the flying creature.

  Its forelegs are like swords, and they grow sharper when they glow, Lily mused, trying to figure out how to proceed, knowing that one well-placed slash could put an end to her story. I’m just glad that my limbs are pretty sturdy as well, or else the fight would have been over already.

  The little spider was deep in her thoughts until she heard the warrior’s screams growing closer. “Heeey!” he yelled.

  “Go away! I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” Lily yelled back, her voice cracking for the first time since reincarnating. “Silk Web!” she exclaimed, startling the unaware warrior.

  And just as the flying beast was about to slash him in two, she managed to pull him out of harm’s way. “Holy shit,” Otto blurted out, his breathing growing heavier.

  “You have to leave, I can’t keep saving you guys and also fight at the same time,” Lily yelled.

  “Listen, just for a second. If you can stall it a bit longer, my brother and Nari might have something that could work,” Otto told her, pointing at the other two humans running toward the fight zone.

  Lily paused briefly, but she knew there was no other option at that moment, so she nodded. “Whatever they want to do, they'd better do it quickly,” she said, gently helping him back to the ground before lunging toward the flying enemy again. “I’m your enemy!” she exclaimed, trying to catch its attention.

  “It’s now or never,” Nari mumbled under her breath, putting her hands close to the mage’s back.

  “Yeah,” Claus agreed, chugging down a strange-looking potion, “I’m ready."

  Nari’s hands suddenly glowed pink. “Magical Boost,” she chanted, enveloping the guy in the same pink light.

  “I can feel it coursing through my veins, but even like this, it’s still gonna take me a bit to cast it at full power,” Claus stated, his smile growing wider by the second. “Fire—” Unlike the time he tried it against Lily, the circle began forming much faster, but this sudden increase in power also caught both monsters’ attention as they clashed.

  The mosquito was just half a second faster to refocus on the fight, but that was all it needed to catch Lily by surprise and slam her into the wall.

  Even the ceiling above shook from the impact, causing small cracks in many of the stalactites.

  “Claus…” Nari muttered under her breath as the enemy turned toward the humans, its forelegs glowing brighter than ever, ready to strike.

  “Taunt!” Otto yelled, slamming his sword against the shield as hard as he could, a move that unexpectedly worked, catching their foe’s attention as intended. “Oh shit,” he blurted out, hastily taking cover behind his slightly bent shield.

  Luckily for him, Lily’s webs caught the monster from behind just in time, pulling it back by surprise and pinning it to the same wall it had slammed her against. “Got you,” she giggled, shooting more webs.

  “Claus, now! I don’t know how much longer we've got!!!” Nari yelled, her voice shaking.