D101 Chapter 191

Over half an hour had passed since Karwl had sent the message to Varrus, and the army under his and Liadran's joint command were in dire straits. 

Over half the force had been cocooned, and were actively having their vital organs sucked dry by the ravenous horde of spiders. 

Skittering along the tall cavern walls, tens of thousands of spiders circled the beleaguered force, leisurely dropping down, and snatching at a hapless victim as they pleased. 

Worse still, the entire cavern that they had emerged from had been webbed off, and was completely inaccessible. 

“Lady Liadran, where are the reinforcements!?” An Elite Elven mage cried out in worry as he spammed firebolts nonstop. 

A horse-sized spider dropped dead, only to be replaced by another within moments. 

Liadran stepped in between its mandibles, and slammed it to the ground with her shield, ending its miserable life with a meaty crunch. 

“Have faith! This is a test set forth by the Light! Our conviction shall see us through!” Liadran loudly replied, in an effort to boost morale. 

“Yeow!” The same Elite mage cried out as he was mobbed from behind, and yoinked up into the cavern to be sucked dry. 

“Karwl know nothing about tests, but Karwl say believe in master, believe in Vandercross!” Karwl shouted his own warcry, and crunched his enchanted pick into a spider's eyes. A moment later, the tip of his weapon glowed red hot, and exploded the spider into a pile of burning goo. 

“For the Candle in the sky!” The remaining unit of Elite Kobold Paladins formed a small semi circle with Karwl at the center, and took up the vanguard. 

Their act of defiance garnered the attention of the spiders, and they came at them like moths to a flame. 

“Burn them, brothers! Burn them!” Karwl waved the candle on top of his head, and then began to mutter a prayer. 

“O Candle on high, waxiness above, and waxiness below, bestow yee waxiness to thee!” Karwl slammed his pick in the ground, and leaned forward. 

The rest of his brethren chanted along with him, combining their mana for a ritual spell. 

Spiders came rushing at them, headless of the high pitched voices of the Kobolds, yet they were unprepared for what happened next. 

The flames on the wicks of the Kobolds candles took on a brighter, green hue, then a flood of magna-like wax sprayed forth, and gushed onto the charging horde. 

“Hieer!” Many of the spiders screeched, and attempted to retreat, yet their limbs became sticky with wax, and ultimately became submerged under the white hot mess. 

“For the Light!” A group of Rune Pistol wielding Humans cheered, stepped forward, and unleashed a volley into those spiders that were caught on the edges, and had nowhere to go. 

Over a thousand of the arachnids had perished thanks to this one maneuver, and it bought the army precious time to catch their breaths. 

“Hah. Hah. Hah. Please take the vanguard while we recou, recou, recuperate our mana, Lady!” Karwl breathed heavily, and gestured for Liadran and a few other Warriors to step up. 

“Rest well, honored Kobold. The Light has seen fit to gift you great abilities, and I cherish you as a fellow believer. I shall act as your aegis whilst you and your kin recover.” Liadran said, making an oath out of her statement. 

“Karwl glad. Even if Karwl die here, he know it be in defense of friends. Friends give Karwl hope, Karwl want to give friends hope too!” Karwl raised his pickaxe, and saluted Liadran. 

The red headed Elven Paladin smiled graciously at Karwl, then motioned for a few Arcane Warriors, and others Humans to fill the gaps left by Karwl and the Kobolds. 

During this very brief reprieve, a battered and bloody ranger ran up to Liadran, and saluted. 

“Report! Progress has been made on the webbing blocking the entrance! Our mages estimate that a path can be burnt through within 10 minutes!” 

“You hear that, brothers and sisters? We are not abandoned! The hour of our deliverance is upon us! Yield to no one! No beast, monster, or creature of darkness shall bar our holy crusade! Ten minutes, ten minutes is all I ask of you brave sons and daughters of the Light. Let the darkness hear your roar! For the Covenant, for the Light!” Liadran shouted out a resounding speech to rally the troops. 

“For the Covenant, for the Light!” The less than 400 soldiers cried out alongside her. 

Pulling upon their collective, unified bond, Liadran managed to work with the cosmic Light, and cast a powerful Devotion Aura over everyone present. 

Liadran felt uplifted by everyone's spirit, yet thoughts of defeat wormed their way into her psyche, and images of her loss at the hands of the Bronze Dragons once more plagued her mind. 

‘This will help us hold. We have to hold. No. We will hold.’ Liadran gripped the handle to her blade tightly, and licked her lips. 

Scanning the enemy forces, she realized they had stopped rushing at them. In fact, they were just…just standing there motionlessly, attached to the wall, as if they were waiting for something. 

Even when the gunners blasted them, the archers brought them down, or the mages destroyed them, they seemed to pay it no mind. 

A few hundred additional spiders had become casualties, yet they didn't care? 

“Somethings wrong.” A soldier said. 

“I've got a bad feeling about this.” Another replied. 

“Steady. Steady. Three minutes have already gone by. Whatever it is the spiders are planning, we can overcome!” Liadran proclaimed. 

And as if to make a mockery of het optimistic outlook, the universe answered her when the mandibles of a gigantic, Heroic spider pushed through an underground tunnel right beneath them, and latched onto Liadran's right leg. 

In one swift, shocking motion, the Elven Paladin which had been holding up morale by a thread had been grievously crippled. 

Liadran tried stabbing at the beast, but with her mobility taken from her, the Heroic spider easily bobbed and weaved out of the range of her attacks. It then would pounce on her time and time again in an attempt to break through her enchanted armor, and pierce the light bubble she was using to protect herself with. 

The Heroic spider was not alone in this assault, and was accompanied by a batch of 100 Elites, each one killing at least one person during this sudden ambush. 

Just like that, the initial 1,000 Legionaries had been cut down to less than 300. 

Worse still, the majority of those 100 casualties comprised the remainder of the frontline. 

All that were left were ranged fighters, and the Kobold Paladins! 

The line was all but broken, and the Humans/Elves had scattered, retreating back to the still recovering Kobolds. With Karwl being the only other Hero in the army, and the Kobolds filling the role of front line units, they were the army's last hope for survival! 

“Save me!” A man screamed as he was pulled back into the mass of spiders. 

“What do we do, what do we do?” Another panicked. 

All sense of holy devotion, and sacred honor were tossed the wayside at the sight unfolding before the legion's very eyes. 

Lanterns began to extinguish one by one, and the cold creeping darkness smothered their hopes like a hitman's cloth covering his target's mouth. 

Despair spread throughout the ranks, and some fell to their knees, lost. 

“Karwl not give up! Karwl say even though we scared, never give up, never surrender!” Karwl stepped forward, and nibbled on a Mana Stone as if it were cheese. 

Following behind him, his Elites were similarly nibbling on Mana Stones, and were full of energy. 

“It's hopeless, why bother.” A man moped. 

“I hate to agree with the rat, Human, but we must fight to the bitter end, I am afraid. My Mana Sight has picked up some frightful news. The souls of our brethren that pass within this cavern are being fed to that statue in the back. Something is awakening, and our souls will be devoured unless we manage to escape.” An Elven Ranger said as she spammed one Arcane Arrow after another. 

“The tunnel is almost clear, just two more minutes!” The scout from earlier reported. 

“Hey, that giant spider isn't breaking through Lady Liadran's shields anytime soon…maybe she's holding out so long, because she is buying us time to escape?” One voice hidden within the crowd said. 

No one turned to accuse the speaker for voicing their thoughts, and in fact, many people eyed Liadran's downed position at that moment. The greed and desperation for survival entered many hearts then and there. 

Well over 90% of the combatants silently agreed with this assessment. As soon as the webbing broke, they would flee, like rats on a sunken ship. 

“Friends fight for friends, Karwl and us Kobolds fight for the Covenant, for shiny red head girl!” Karwl made his stance clear. 

“A pack of vermin-present company notwithstanding, of course-you chaps should understand, if her soul is gone, then whatever that thing is, will come to life. Then the entire continent may be at risk.” The cultured voice of the Ranger disdained the other Humans and Elves who had been considering fleeing. 

“But lieutenant, Highlord Vandercross is on his way…he slew the Aspect of Time, Nozdormu himself, surely this spider monster will prove no issue.” Another Ranger raised his voice in counterpoint. 

“Karwl not listen anymore, run if want to, you may. Karwl, friends of Karwl, let us rescue Liadran.” Karwl firmly declared, then without any further dialogue, charged into the swarm. 

“He's mad.” The Ranger who spoke of retreat gasped. 

“He's the only hope we have. Cover him with everything you've got.” The lieutenant ordered. 

“But lieutenant, the tunnel will be clear in less than a minute, why don’t we-!”

The Elite Ranger lieutenant didn't bother with her subordinate any further. It disgusted her that she was beginning to find the Kobolds more pleasant company than her own hand troops. 

Knocking an Arcane Arrow on her bow, she downed a spider that was about to jump down on top of Karwl, and continued to provide covering fire. 

‘Go you little rat, go and save our Lady.’ The lieutenant placed all her hopes on Karwl. 

As for Karwl, golden Light shone around him like a film of water. Bathed within the empowering magic, the 4 to 5ft tall Kobold smashed apart, and clobbered anything that came near him. 

Punching through the horde of spiders, the Kobold force had been stretched thin, and their line resembled something like a spear tip, and many Paladins that failed to maintain this shape formed a single file, vulnerable line. 

Already, a dozen Paladins had fallen in Karwl's mad dash forward, yet he had no time to worry about them, as the Heroic spider had shifted its attention away from Liadran, and spat an acidic green globule right at Karwl. 

“Karwl! Leave me, I am useless, please, go!” Liadran yelled at Karwl. 

“Karwl not go! Karwl, no, all Kobolds thank big kind lady for teaching us! You smile when others curse, you heal where others spit! Lady Liadran gives us faith in Elves, faith in Covenant, faith in friendship!” Karwl responded, and redirected the globule of acidic spit to the side. 

With the acid deflected, a pair of Elite spiders that were creeping up on Karwl were caught up in the crossfire. Hissing, and screeching in pain, the Elites stumbled into one another, and crumpled in on themselves as they died painful deaths. 

Karwl followed up this feat with an empowered jump of Leaping Faith. 

The tiny Heroic Kobold launched himself like a cannonball at the giant Heroic Spider. 

Somersaulting his way forward, Karwl lodged his pick deep inside one of the arachnids legs. 

Smoldering fire injected its way inside, and black blood exploded from the tree trunk-like limb. 

Screeching wordlessly in pain, the spider bristled the hair on its leg, making it go stiff like a cactus. Sharp points glistened with a faint purple light, and Void imbued, poisonous hair tips poked at Karwl, sapping away the lightscreen covering him at a rapid rate! 

“Oh no, Karwl, I fear this spider has lured you into a trap! The spider must've known another Hero was in our ranks, and had not used this move against me in the hopes of pinning you down…I am so, so sorry Karwl.” 

“Karwl. Not. Afraid!” Karwl slowly enunciated, and looped his tail around one of the hairy spikes. 

Taking a few cuts from the action, Karwl felt poison enter his bloodstream, but he didn't care. Even as pain began to assault his nerves, he knew what he had to do! 

Working himself like a pendulum, Karwl gathered momentum, and swung back and forth. 

Then, on the third revolution, Karwl released his hold, and flew past the arachnids legs, hop skipped across its gnashing mandibles, and swatted his pickaxe through the spiders eyes like a professional miner digging up the largest payday of his life. 

In short, Karwl went beast mode on the spider until he dug into its brains. 

Tired, exhausted, and poisoned, Karwl held his pick high in triumph whilst the corpse of the Heroic spider seated, and collapsed. 

“Karwl never abandon friends!” Karwl announced. 

Upon the demise of the Heroic spider, many of the common creatures began to spool up, and retreat. 

“Karwl…how can I be brave like you?” Liadran asked. 

“Lady is brave.” Karwl coughed up black slime, and collapsed onto her with a smile. 

“Karwl?...Karwl!!!” Liadran held onto the Kobold, and shed a tear as she did everything in her power to heal him. 

It didn’t do much, but it was enough for Karwl to open his eyes just a peak. 

“Karwl happiest…happy. Liadran…sa-safe.” Karwl said between great gasps, and many vomited globs of black ooze. 

“We must go, my Lady!” The Ranger lieutenant tugged on Liadran's shoulder, and urged in a panic. 

“Karwl…” Liadran stared down at the dying Kobold in sadness. 

“By the Light, another one is coming, another Heroic spider! My Lady, we must move now!” 

“A noble creature such as this sacrificed himself for me. Friends, was it? What an innocent little man.” Liadran smiled, ignoring the Ranger, and stroked his little whiskers. 

Closing her eyes, Liadran accepted her fate, and was preparing to take in as much energy as the Sunwell would allow her to, then detonate herself in one monumental Light filled explosion. 

‘This is my penance for my arrogance.’ Liadran thought to herself, and began to cry tears of joy. 

“I only wish I had more of such friends. Goodbye, Karwl.” Liadran spoke her final words, as her body began to glow a bright yellow so intense, it fried hundreds of spiders’ optic nerves. 

Yet just as she was about to go supernova, she noticed the Ranger lieutenant, Karwl and herself had been invisibly yoinked back towards the entrance to the cavern. 

“Today is not your day, Lady Liadrin. Today belongs to the Covenant.” A confident voice spoke, waking her from her fugued state. 

Stepping forward, and brimming with power was a cloaked man with flowing locks of blonde hair. 

From her position, muddied and bloodied on the ground, she say his robes flowing with an unseen wind, and only caught a glimpse of his shoulders, yet she knew she was safe, that the battle was all but won. 

It was because he was: 

Varrus Vandercross.