Chapter 287: Neila X Isaac

While lots of Regulars entertained themselves watching fights in the pit, conversations concerning Isaac and how it would have been better if they rid themselves of a puppet remained in the background.

In fact, most of them were here to ensure tonight would be his last. With all of them prepared, even if he somehow escaped, it would be impossible to kill them all.

On the other hand, they would end him in the most brutal way possible.

Meanwhile, the metal door leading to the underground corridor creaked open. Arden descended and shut the door behind her.

She first gazed at Oliver who sat close to the door, then at Isaac lying on the floor inside the cell. He faced the wall.

"I brought something for him to eat. How has he been?" Arden asked while gesturing at the items in a semi-transparent plastic bag.

Oliver looked at Isaac. "He’s been crying." He sighed. "I think he might make it through the night."

Arden smiled warmly. She went toward the cell and gently hit it twice. "Isaac, it’s me, Arden." She spoke with a gentle tone.

"Isaac."

"Isaac!"

"Isaac?!"

Arden’s voice echoed faintly in Isaac’s soul space as he found himself staring at a terrifying black spider, several times the size of his Goliath-sized spider summon.

His summon shriveled, tucking its legs in as if dead while he gazed at this massive creature with a pale face.

Neila’s eight crimson eyes bore down on him, like a god gazing down on a mere mortal. He had never felt so small.

There was no trace of this thing being a summon, it didn’t have a trace of his soul. It was the opposite, his own soul space was being subjected to the black spider’s own soul.

Isaac floated toward it despite his effort to distance himself.

"Isaac!" Arden sprang to her feet when he didn’t respond after all this while. She quickly opened the door, hurrying toward him but paused sharply when black, appendages, eight of them burst out Isaac’s back, lifting him off the ground.

Her eyes widened as Isaac’s hair became longer, silky strands of gleaming black hair that caressed his shoulders.

His eyes, darker than a starless night sky, gazed at her.

Arden took one step backward, the plastic bag falling from her hand as she tried unleashing her summon but a web string caught her mouth, pulling her toward him.

Isaac slapped her body with the back of his hand. Arden couldn’t believe her eyes, that was so fast.

Bones cracked as she was launched into the metal bars. The impact forced blood out of her mouth as she fell back first, collapsing with a dull thud.

Soft clinks of metal against stone rang as the suppressors hit the ground at the same time Arden fell.

Isaac cracked his neck. "Finally." His massive black spider legs reduced, clinging to his body like they were never there but Oliver saw it all.

"You have interesting memories," Isaac said to him.

Looking at what had become of Arden, Oliver clenched his teeth. "She trusted you more than all of us, Isaac!"

"True but I am not Isaac..." Neila spoke through Isaac’s mouth as her spider legs extended and grew bigger. "I am a god. I was once known as the Memory Thief."

Oliver appeared in eight different lenses, as if four eyes were in each of his eyes. "I will be humanity’s worst nightmare."

A dark diagram flared up before him and Oliver’s summon burst out, slashing at Isaac’s neck but one of his spider legs lashed out at lightning speed, clashing with the sword.

Then the other seven pushed Isaac forward.

His palm, opened wide, made contact with the skeleton’s face and he slammed it into the ground. The concrete floor shattered with web-like cracks spreading out, even to the walls.

It seemed as if this floor would collapse as debris fell from above.

Isaac appeared before Oliver, his fingers clamped tight around his neck as he lifted him up, the skeleton was pinned down by webs.

"Isaac..." Arden’s weak voice rang as she looked at them, barely able to move any other part of her body.

"That look, that pain you feel was what my kind felt when a madman descended with nothing but death. We’ve all had our fair share of selfish acts to further our growth but blatant annihilation sows a seed more bitter than hatred."

Isaac spoke and opened his mouth slightly. White mist came out of Oliver. As he stole Oliver’s memories, Isaac’s aura surged, rapidly climbing towards the peak of Paragon Tier.

Both Oliver and Arden’s summon appeared at the same time. Isaac speared two sharp spider legs through Oliver’s summon, slamming it against the wall in the process.

On the other hand, Arden’s harpy wasn’t far from her summoner. Since it has wind capabilities, attacking from a distance was much better.

She blew a fierce gale with her wings but it brushed past Isaac who pinned himself to the ground with his spider legs, then unleashed a barrage of webs that glued the Harpy to the wall, snapping its wings which were bent in an unnatural position.

Just then, the metal door opened, revealing a Regular. The noise had drawn him. He swiftly pulled out a pistol at the sight of Oliver and Arden’s state.

A pistol was his only option here since his summon wasn’t stronger than theirs and this pistol had Throne Tier bullets.

The moment he began unleashing the bullets, Isaac shot a web string. The threads of the web grabbed the bullets but were flung back by the velocity of the bullets.

Isaac caught it. The web had formed a pouch with bullets inside.

The Regular was about to escape but small spiders gathered him from nowhere. He fought but, crushing and killing them but they were able to push him into the corridor.

Unfortunately for him, the attack never stopped. They couldn’t kill him, neither could they deal any reasonable damage but they were able to suppress him.

Just then the Harpy which Arden retrieved and resummoned came with her talons. Isaac spun, grabbed her head and tore a hole through the wall with it.

After absorbing the man’s memories, Isaac loomed over Arden.

Neila was a thief, she grew stronger by stealing memories the same way a thief grew richer by stealing the wealth of others.

The same way a thief who was caught would be stripped of his wealth, those who were victims to Neila could gain back their memories when and if she died.

But who could defeat a Titled god in a world yet to mature.

Although her Titled God Tier had not been restored yet, it wouldn’t take long. After all she had no need for the memories of strong individuals, any memory could do it.

This was the reason for her feared status in the Arachnid World. While others needed more potent cores or items, all she needed were enough people. Memories just had no end as long as life existed.

A few thousand or more and she might ascend once more to her esteemed title as the Memory Thief of a Hundred Caves which would give her the ability to manifest her predatory domain that had given her so much prey in the past.

"Now then..."

***

Thalia staggered a bit as she approached the den where all the members of the cohort were gathered. She held a glass cup half filled with alcohol. Her cheeks were flushed while Dax followed behind with slow steps like an elder brother watching over his reckless younger sister.

"Haven’t you had enough?" He asked.

"Don’t be such a killjoy! It’s like every boy I like ends up in a bad state. Am I cursed?" She turned to him with puffy eyes.

"You liked Isaac? When?" Dax lifted up an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know. It just happened." She replied with an intoxicated tone.

"And you like Oliver and me too."

"Not as much. You’re old, both of you."

Thalia’s response made Dax chuckle. "You’ve lost it."

’She’s older than all of us!’ He scoffed inwardly. His eyes suddenly sharpened when they got close to the door.

It was... too quiet. Hundreds of people were in there, how could it be this quiet.

"Thalia, wait—!"

He couldn’t finish as Thalia pushed the door open. The cup in her hand fell to the ground, shattering into countless pieces. Her eyes bore witness to the huge den, a fun place for the cohort now filled with webs and spiders of different sizes.

There were bodies littered around, some covered in webs.

There were two heaps of Regulars, taller than a man and someone stood between them, with his back toward them.

Thalia’s eyes widened to the limit, her heartbeat roaring in her ears.

Isaac tilted a part of his face toward them. "Welcome. I did not expect more guests." As he spoke, spiders crawled out, some were as small as a palm, some were big enough to reach a grown man’s waist. Though small, none was below Throne Tier.

"Do not be frightened. I have not killed any of them, I just took their memories and their bodies collapsed. Thieves don’t kill... reasonable ones at least but our actions... sometimes lead to death."

"We won’t win this fight but..." flames burst out of Dax as he summoned his partner, Jin. It held the mighty magma hammer, its wild crimson hair gleaming softly.

"Thalia, leave this place."

"No." A voice rang and someone appeared before them. A tall blue-skinned Oni. With a wave of its katana, dozens of spiders were cleanly sliced open.

They barely reached the Oni’s waist.

"Both of you should run. Make sure you alert the Elders." Arian separated from his summon, spoke to them and fused with it once more.

Brandishing both katana and wakizashi, the Oni Ronin met the wave of spiders head-on.