As the saying goes, "Many ants can kill an elephant," and these aren’t ants; they are gigantic spiders larger than humans.
Even with Herag’s thick shield and abundant magic, these spiders could eventually wear him down.
Hearing the rustling noises behind him, Herag felt a chill down his spine and pushed his speed to the limit.
The scenery around him blurred into a backdrop; his footsteps remained steady.
With the aid of Shenlan’s detection, he ensured that each step was firm, avoiding any accidental slips or falls.
However, these spiders were faster than Herag expected, scuttling across the ground at an alarming pace.
Additionally, the number of spiders was overwhelming, forming a vast sea of spiders spreading like a tidal wave.
The swarm of spiders was nearly forming a ring around Herag, threatening to encircle him soon.
"This must be directed by the Spider Queen!" Through Shenlan, Herag gleaned insights about the scene behind him.
The spiders’ tactics, from initially hunting the mammoth, to collectively abandoning it, and then chasing him while forming an encirclement, all indicated someone was directing them.
With so many spiders, only the Spider Queen in their lair could simultaneously issue commands.
"The spider swarm is closing in fast, and in three minutes, the encirclement will be complete!" Shenlan issued a warning.
As he ran, Herag scanned his surroundings: "I must find a place to take cover; blindly running forward spells certain death."
The spiders were too quick; continuing straight would result in him being inevitably surrounded.
Spiders covered the mountains and plains, making Herag’s head spin.
"There’s a cave there!"
Sweeping his gaze around, Herag quickly spotted a cave to his left.
Although entering might not guarantee safety, not entering surely meant death.
With no other options, Herag dashed towards the cave and squeezed inside.
Inside, he glanced at the surrounding earth, noting its extreme hardness.
Initially, Herag intended to collapse the cave entrance to somewhat impede the spiders.
But feeling the rock-hard cave walls, he had to abandon that plan.
The sound of spiders crawling, like a death toll, prompted Herag to venture deeper into the cave, hoping to find an escape route — even an underground river would suffice.
After entering, the spiders swarmed outside overwhelmingly.
Oddly, every spider squatted at the cave entrance, not daring to enter.
Countless spiders crouched there, their eight eerie green eyes fixed intently inside.
Once inside, Herag found total darkness, so he retrieved a lantern from his space ring, activating it to emit light.
The lantern’s light source was a type of mineral, with a small magic array at the base that, when switched on, absorbed a small amount of fire energy particles, causing the mineral to glow.
Upon turning off the switch, the mineral would continue to glow for a moment before gradually dimming.
"Hmm?" Herag also took note of the spiders outside; Shenlan provided real-time updates of the situation.
He pondered: "Why don’t they dare pursue inside? Could there be something more terrifying in here, or is this place forbidden to them?"
He recalled the scenes of the mammoth passing through the fields, where the mammoth, spiders, and those mysterious entities in the town’s residences seemed to obey certain rules.
For instance, not disturbing the magic potion materials in the fields should be one of the rules set by the wizards overseeing this place.
Lighting the lantern, Herag noticed numerous murals on the cave walls.
The mural lines were simplistic, nearly primitive, as if drawn by a child of three.
Yet these murals caused Herag to frown.
"This certainly dates back quite a bit."
Holding the lantern, he proceeded, discovering the murals spanned long sections, conveying a continuous narrative.
After viewing them all, Herag comprehended the story; though crude and blunt, the murals clearly conveyed their meaning.
Essentially, the indigenous people here constantly battled with various beasts, losing many lives daily.
One day, a messenger of the gods descended, bringing them a stone slab.
From the Stone Slab, the indigenous people acquired extraordinary power, effortlessly defeating the wild beasts.
With the ease of acquiring food, the tribe expanded rapidly, and people began living well-fed and warm.
A thought flashed in Herag’s mind as he concluded the murals, suspecting the spiders outside feared intrusion not due to a more formidable presence within, but rather a binding rule preventing their entry.
"I should look for other things." The most update n0vels are published on novel~fire~net
He proceeded onward; the ancient cave might hold hidden treasures.
Yet he considered that, if the spiders were indeed under the wizards’ care, he might only scrape the surface, but drinking a little from the pot would suffice.
"What do so many spiders feed on daily? Even with abundant wildlife nearby, it wouldn’t suffice. Could there be another energy source?"
The thought struck Herag; given the colossal spider numbers, they would likely decimate any local wildlife anywhere.
Keeping such numbers fed would be impossible for any ecosystem to sustain.
But this was a world rife with extraordinary power. Herag speculated that instead of conventional hunting methods, the spiders likely had alternative energy intake methods.
After traversing a ways inside, Herag noted the cave’s expanding width.
On the way, he encountered some statues, which he thoroughly inspected; they were merely ordinary stone carvings, devoid of any special energy.
Within the cave, just one path existed — with no other branching routes.
Following this path deeper, Herag soon reached a vast plaza, approximately the size of a football field.
The plaza, too, featured numerous statues and pyre stone pillars, showing traces of past fires.
It was largely empty, containing little else.
However, one peculiar object in the plaza’s center attracted Herag’s attention.
Standing two meters tall was a stone slab situated in the plaza’s heart.
Approaching, Herag scrutinized the Stone Slab, noting engravings of human figures.
Beyond the engravings, a myriad of complex patterns decorated its surface.
"I mustn’t look anymore."
After observing for a moment, Herag felt dizzy.
Quickly realizing: "My spiritual power isn’t sufficient for prolonged viewing of this Stone Slab!"
In the wizarding world, numerous items imposed demands on spiritual power.
Most commonly found were certain books, whose profound contents overwhelmed those lacking in spiritual force, resulting in dizziness after perusal.
Should one persist in viewing beyond their limits, mental harm, even death, wasn’t improbable.