My feet tore free from the sticky webs just as the heavy sphere dropped through the webs. But I didn’t get very far. The web’s stickiness made moving fast difficult.

  The orb shredded through the web carpet and below it. As it did, the webs rippled, and I lost my footing. Now my whole left side was stuck, and the spider was breaking a hasty escape again.

  I can’t allow that.

  I pulled my gun and aimed towards the door it was heading for. My shot let out a metallic twang and ricocheted upwards. It had the effect I wanted as the malformed spider creature scuttled backwards away from the door. It turned its head and hissed at me again.

  It hopped down onto the web carpet behind the pillar. It wasn’t going to try to attack me directly, not without a big golem to protect it. Instead, it pulled on the sticky carpet. The webs that were connected to its back legs stretched taut. The threads snapped one by one as the creature continued to pull.

  My body was stuck, and I couldn’t get it off fast enough. The threads that held the carpet were snapping and tearing. It was only a matter of time before I fell with it. I caught a glimpse of what was below me—a pit of crude, rusted, jagged metal spikes.

  Yeah. It’s pretty obvious that’ll kill me, or trap me until I die of starvation.

  More threats broke, and I could see the creature was whipping them around the room. One such whip slapped me in the face. The webbing stung, and the impact hurt as it stuck to my face.

  Instinctively, my hand grabbed the web only to get stuck too. As the web pulled back, my head started getting pulled with it. A few hard tugs threatened to rip the skin from my face. It seemed like the creature couldn’t do anything about it, so it then started pulling at the webs my side was stuck to.

  I pulled my face to my other hand, where I managed to reach my dagger. Carefully, I cut the string between my hand and face so that I could move my arm again. I then started spinning my arm in circles, wrapping the web around it, and pulling it tighter.

  The spider hadn’t let go of the web and instead tried to fight back. It was much stronger than me. My body jerked hard towards the creature, and a spike of pain went through my arm. The thread wrapped around my arm held, but I realized that what I did was only make things worse.

  I could feel my arm pop out of its socket as I was stretched. Another whip came and wrapped around my leg, followed by another on my other leg. My side was freed, but that only had me lifted up and slammed into the pillar.

  All four limbs groaned as they popped one by one. But that’s all it ended with. My arms and legs were still bound behind me, but they eased up as the spider creature walked around to stand in front of me.

  I could feel all eight black eyes focusing on me. It tilted its head almost ninety degrees. The mandibles on its mutated face squirmed. I suppressed a gag as it paced sideways as it watched me. Suddenly, it turned around to look at the door I didn’t come in from. It looked at the door, then to me, and back at the door.

  It’s planning something. What?

  As if to answer my question, it shot out two dozen more strings of web to attach at various parts of my body. Before I could ask why, it pulled me off the pillar and back onto the shredded web carpet. The parallels of where the webs were attached to my body compared to where they were on the golem puppets clicked in my mind. My eyes went wide at the realization.

  It’s going to use me to face the demoness. That must mean she’s close, and it doesn’t have any better options.

  It pulled me to another door. Unceremoniously, it dragged me behind it. All my effort was spent in twisting my body so that I wasn’t being dragged face first as my joints were put back in place.

  I was dragged through half a dozen different rooms. In the second room, I was able to twist and run on my own for a few seconds. It didn’t like that. It pulled on the strings attached to my legs and pulled them out from under me. From that point on, I kept to minimize the tumbling and let the spider do what it was going to do.

  But I made sure to keep a tight hold on my dagger and kept it hidden too. My gun sat securely in my pocket too. As long as I didn’t threaten it, I was safe. I needed the spider monster to think it was in control.

  But was I really in control? Not really. I was making everything up as I went. Orange, I need you to keep track of the path to get out of here. If I need to make a run for it, I need to know how to get out.

  We will have a path to guide the host.

  A short answer without questioning me and telling me how dumb of an idea this was? I mean, I know it’s dumb. But we’re doing it now. Maybe you’re learning.

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  The rooms were a blur. Left, straight, left, straight, right, straight, straight. The route it took me seemed excessive, but there had to be a reason for it to do so.

  The spider finally dragged me into the room, its ten legs clacking against the stone floor as we entered. Webs crisscrossed the high-ceiling chamber, connecting the myriad of columns like a twisted chandelier.

  The creature paused, positioning me in the middle of the room, and for a second, it seemed to hesitate. My eyes darted around—there was no clear way out, just a maze of webs and pillars. That probably means there’s only one entrance. I tightened my grip on my hidden dagger, forcing myself to remain still. I couldn’t afford to tip it off now.

  I noted the absence of the black clouds that the abomination typically hid in. Maybe it’s out of mana. That’ll give the assassin the edge. Maybe that might mean the assassin has used up most of her mana too. I can only hope.

  While it dragged me around, I picked up on a few other details. It was slower than me, although it controlled all of its limbs far more agilely. Not once did it set off a trap, even while dragging me along. Obviously, the spider was stronger than me since it moved the hulking golem and could, with a flick of one wrist, disrupt any movement I made.

  The demoness was always falling behind me, suggesting that she, too, was slower than me. But she utilized a frightening level of magic that was much more than Killa’s. And since I never got close—not that I want to—I’ve no estimation of her strength other than she can’t move massive caved in rocks.

  Then I felt it—a cold, unnatural presence creeping in, curling around my senses like an invasive mist. She was coming.

  The demoness entered, her eyes glowing brighter. But those eyes were different now. No longer just cold—they were filled with an unparalleled malice. The cosmic assassin was livid. Its gaze met mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat, an icy dread clutching at my chest. I had escaped it once, but here, in this deathtrap, it had the upper hand.

  “Rina...” Her melodic voice carried with it an unmistakable edge. “It was fun before, but now it has turned sour.”

  Yeah, yeah. You’re upset. At this point, I can’t bring myself to care or worry. And soon you’ll have something else to deal with too.

  I swallowed hard. Keep it together, Rina. Remember the plan. The dagger felt like a flimsy source for hope in my hand. The spider shifted nervously behind me. It wasn’t just trying to trap me; it was using me as a human shield.

  The demoness stepped closer, her movements slow and methodical. Ice formed and swirled around her. Pieces shattered in the columns, each leaving visible marks in them. Then the spider hissed as it pulled on several strings at once.

  The columns groaned, and the upper sections broke apart and swung. The webs snapped taut, and the giant stone chunks moved in arcs, creating a chaotic pendulum effect. I didn’t hesitate—I drove the dagger into the threads binding me, severing them in one swift movement.

  I dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding a column as it whooshed over my head. The spider hissed, scuttling backward as it evaded the swinging traps. The demoness, however, didn’t flinch. Her eyes fixed on me as if the chaos was irrelevant until one of the stone blocks would’ve slammed into her side. A wall of ice was erected in the path of the stone.

  The wall shattered on contact, forcing the demoness to the ground or get hit. I rolled to the side, using the columns as cover, my eyes darting for a way out. There was only one exit, past the assassin. Both the spider and I were looking in the same location.

  The demoness’s voice cut through the chaos in a primal scream. A blade of ice lashed out from her hand to cut the web holding the swinging stone before it reached her. The block sailed over her and into another column. The impact shattered the support structure, sending the stone sections spinning at the top of it into other columns.

  Like dominos, column after column crumbled. And with them, the ceiling started to fall. The spider threw caution to the wind and made a direct line for the door. I darted to behind it. The demoness looked up and grinned.

  The demoness moved, her hand outstretched, fingers curling. I felt a sudden loss of friction below my feet. The spider and I were both standing on a plane of ice. It was far less graceful, as all ten legs went in ten different directions. My hands found the remaining section of a column to catch myself on.

  But then the spider creature did something I didn’t expect. It grabbed a section of web and lunged—not at me, but at the demoness, its hands-for-legs scrabbling across the ground. It slammed into her. A rock almost dropped on them both. The demoness rolled out of the way while the spider continued for the door.

  This is my chance. Without hesitation, I pushed myself forward off the edge of the ice and ran, darting through the debris and dodging the falling stones. My escape was just ahead.

  The demoness screamed behind me, a sound that was not human. It was deeper, more guttural, yet there was a strange hint of something else. Almost a second voice screamed along with it. But that’s where my curiosity ended. There was no time for anything but survival. The spider was already out the door, and it didn’t close it behind itself.

  A pile of rocks fell over the door, leaving a small opening. I dove through it. My metal arms scraped the uneven stone. Behind me, the room continued to erupt in chaos—columns crumbling, webs snapping, ceiling falling, the demoness’s fury echoing through the chamber.

  After I made it out, I landed hard on the other side, rolling to absorb the impact. My dagger was still in my hand, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I was out—for now. But I knew this wasn’t over. The demoness wouldn’t stop, and right in front of me was the spider.

  It was already running to another room. A temptation tugged at me. Maybe she won't survive. I’ll take that outcome.

  The chunks of stone I slid through shot apart as an icy lance obliterated them. The demoness stumbled through the doorway as more debris followed her. Her body was covered in numerous small cuts across her skin. Why did I hope for something else?

  The demoness panted as she struggled to her feet. “You…”

  I took off after the spider. I guess we keep going.

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