Shadow Slave

As they ventured deeper into the southern reaches of the crimson Labyrinth, the situation slowly turned worse and worse.

The iron spiders that had been not too threatening to the cohort of powerful, experienced Dark City hunters at the start of it all were growing more and more deadly with each step of the way. Their numbers grew exponentially, becoming a real danger pretty soon. More and more often bigger and stronger monsters appeared at the head of the attacking beasts, bringing with them all sorts of problems.

What's worse, the spiderweb they used to trap their prey was changing, too. The metal wires from which it was weaved became so thin that it was at times almost impossible to notice it, and sharp enough to cut through armor and bone — while maintaining the resilience of superb steel.

The whole Labyrinth was covered in it, turning from crimson to dull grey.

The cohort bled much more because of the invisible webs than they did because of the spiders themselves. Of course, the iron spiders were cunning creatures, too. More often than not, they only attacked once one of the humans was caught in their nets, leading to a few really harrowing experiences for the members of Changing Star's party.

And there was a wide variety of other terrifying creatures waiting to ambush them in the twisting pathways of the crimson coral, too. What made them so dangerous was that the cohort didn't know anything about their anatomy and abilities. Every fight was a gamble, often resulting in one or several of them sustaining serious wounds.

There were three things that made the situation somewhat bearable.

The first one was Nephis and her healing flames. Although using the Aspect Ability took a toll on their leader, it was often worth it, especially if one of the members of the cohort received wounds that limited their mobility.

One thing was far more dangerous than any Nightmare Creature that lived in the Labyrinth, and it was not reaching safety before the torrent of black water flooded the Forgotten Shore, bringing inconceivable horrors with it. Thanks to Neph, they didn't have to worry about anyone slowing the cohort down.

in the cutting embrace of the wire spiderwebs. Finding

deadly surprises had been avoided due

the Blood Arrow. In the hands of an experienced archer, it was almost as deadly as it would have been in the hands of an inexperienced one… the difference being that the latter would mostly be a danger to themselves, quickly

were facing a large group of iron spiders led

completely. Even Caster's enchanted sword had trouble cutting through their defenses. What's worse, due to the speed

behind his back, he didn't miss the moment when the cunning awakened monster suddenly disengaged from Nephis

to dodge, Sunny tensed

his shoulder, a menacing black arrow suddenly streaked through the air. Its shaft was made out of dark polished wood, with black feathers for fletching and a vicious white arrowhead

easily pierced the thick iron plate protecting the spider and tore deep into his body. Even though Kai messed up his shot a bit and hit the monster in its abdomen

monster suddenly slowed down and staggered. Then, it tried to lunge forward once again, but ended up losing its

the spider's body grew taut and shriveled, like that of a mummy.

and couldn't help but

Weave, he might have ended up as a shriveled

cutting off his arm and survived, most likely. But if he had

not to

the Blood Arrow was on their side

Kai suddenly made a strange gasping sound. Sunny didn't know what it felt like to have your blood magically drained