A massive firestorm filled the entire passage, racing along the ground toward its depths.
A swarm of Arcane Spiders fled in panic. Those too slow were swallowed by the flames, crackling as they burned. Hu Feng led the way with his staff raised, while Landus, the chief Spellblade, had temporarily taken on the role of chief executioner, finishing off every spider that had survived the flames with his enchanted blade.
The deeper they went, the more it seemed as if they had entered a white world. The walls and floor were covered in dense spiderwebs, with faint traces of purple arcane energy occasionally flowing across them, proving their unusual nature. As the webs burned, they made sounds like popcorn popping. Spider eggs hidden beneath them cracked open one after another, and swarms of tiny spiders futilely tried to escape the pursuing flames.
They reached the circular hall at the very bottom of Suramar City. More than a dozen large round openings, like sewer outlets, lined the walls and led straight out into the sky for drainage. At this moment, however, every opening was sealed tight by thick webs. A huge shadow hung upside down from the ceiling, occasionally making a rustling sound.
Tyrande reached back and took her silver-white longbow in hand. A slender beam of pure moonlight gathered along the bow, then shot out. The entire hall was illuminated, and the shadow was clearly revealed before the four of them.
It was a giant spider matriarch, four meters tall and three meters long. Dense arcane patterns covered her bloated abdomen, glowing purple like fireflies. Unlike ordinary Arcane Spiders, her upper body was humanoid, making her look like a half-human, half-spider creature. Eight eyes gleaming with magical light were symmetrically arranged on her enormous diamond-shaped head. A circular energy ring resembling a runic array floated several inches before her forehead, slowly rotating.
Seeing enemies invade her lair, the spider matriarch immediately dropped to the ground. She raised the two crystal claws on her upper body, shaped like scythes, and twisted about uneasily. Behind her lay a huge pile of spider eggs.
Elisande snorted. "It seems this beast is very nervous. She knows she has no hope of winning, yet she still wants to protect her eggs."
"No matter what kind of creature it is, as long as it is a mother, she will fight to the death to protect her children, won't she?" Tyrande stared at the spider matriarch, who brandished her claws and desperately tried to hide her fear.
Hu Feng stared thoughtfully at the spider matriarch and the vast number of eggs behind her as a plan gradually took shape.
"Landus, stand guard at the entrance. If you see any spiders, kill them. Elisande, Tyrande, keep an eye on this spider matriarch in a moment. Don't let her go berserk and charge around."
"What? What are you going to do?" The two women looked at Hu Feng in confusion.
Hu Feng did not answer. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he concentrated all his mental power into a single point, transforming it into a sharp arrow that plunged directly into the spider matriarch's enormous head. She immediately struggled wildly in agony, her massive body swaying and crashing about. The two women understood at once. Elisande raised her staff, and arcane energy transformed into ropes that tightly bound four of the spider matriarch's legs. Tyrande summoned a seemingly thin pillar of moonlight around her. When the spider matriarch's swaying body slammed into it, she was immediately bounced back.
An entirely different scene unfolded within the spider matriarch's mindscape. Hu Feng was engaged in a fierce battle with a naked woman... Ahem, don't get the wrong idea. It was a very serious kind of battle...
Within that mental realm, Hu Feng continuously inscribed runes while fending off the spider matriarch's frenzied attacks. Her incarnation had a voluptuous figure, but the eight eyes on her head ruined the beauty of that body. She roared as she continuously unleashed webs laced with venom and various magical energies. The surrounding mindscape churned like thick fog, releasing wave after wave of mental attacks at the creature attempting to enslave her.
Hu Feng could only keep replenishing his mental shield's energy. Multitasking was proving somewhat strenuous for him. If he wanted to kill the spider matriarch, he had a hundred ways to do so easily. But if he wanted to enslave her, he had no choice but to invade her mind with his own. A battle of wills consumed consciousness, and this was especially difficult on the enemy's home ground. He had no choice but to give it his full concentration.
More and more runes appeared, and a complete mental shackle rapidly took shape. The spider matriarch felt her desire to attack weakening, which drove her even more frantic. A look of desperate resolve flashed through her eight scarlet eyes. The fog in the mindscape began pouring into **'s body. She intended to settle the outcome with one strike. If she won, the runes would naturally disperse. If she lost, there would be no point in resisting any longer. Once her consciousness was completely depleted, there would be little difference between the enslavement runes completing and her surrendering outright.
** was completely enveloped in scarlet mist, then charged at Hu Feng like a cannonball. Hu Feng immediately halted the construction of the runes, gathering all the will contained within his mortal avatar before him, and charged fiercely toward the spider matriarch as well.
The two wills collided violently. Hu Feng's golden will trembled fiercely and was considerably depleted. However, it quickly regained its footing and began devouring the spider matriarch's scarlet will from the point of impact. The spider matriarch's will had already been almost completely consumed in the collision, and she no longer had the strength to resist. The enslavement runes began multiplying rapidly, countless times faster than before. Before long, the spider matriarch's mindscape was covered in dense enslavement runes.
Hu Feng withdrew his consciousness from the spider matriarch's mind and returned to his own body. The spider matriarch's enormous body had stopped struggling and stood quietly in place.
"It worked? But I'm curious—what is the point of going through all that trouble to control this spider matriarch? Her combat strength isn't that impressive." Elisande looked doubtfully at Hu Feng, who let out a long breath.
Tyrande, however, seemed thoughtful. She looked at the countless spider eggs around them and somewhat understood Hu Feng's intentions.
"The Night Elves have Night Sabers as mounts. They can communicate with each other through their minds and unleash tremendous combat power. The Highborne cannot obtain that mental connection with Night Sabers, so... I thought, why not find the Highborne another suitable magical mount, one that can cooperate with its rider? One plus one can be greater than two."
Elisande was immediately dumbfounded, and a wave of disgust rose within her. "Y-You want us to ride these spiders in the future? Heavens! I would rather keep riding Night Sabers that are of little help to me!"
Hu Feng selectively ignored Elisande's protest. "Don't worry, don't worry. The offspring of the spider matriarch Nalthara have great malleability and potential. Put a saddle on them in the future and decorate them with some arcane armor, and they will definitely make excellent mounts."
"This monster even has a name!?"
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