The Soul Keeper

It landed on the ground, creating a large dust cloud. I held my breath as the cloud of dust settled and revealed the creature's body.

With it's eight green eyes, massive body and eight long legs, it was a spider. Its entire body was covered with a black chitinous carapace, it probably served as armour. A loud clang echoed as I spotted Erik. The creature's long legs had pinned him to the ground.

"Erik!" Vincent shouted; he had rolled away from the massive monster just in time to avoid getting caught. As his voice echoed in the room, Erik screamed. It was then I realised, the creature's legs had pierced his armour. Pinned to the ground by his left shoulder and right leg, Erik desperately tried to unsheathe his sword.

"Rina," I shouted as I ran towards the creature. Fear grasped my throat as my heart raced – if I wasted too much time, no amount of healing could save Erik.

"Now!" Rina shouted as I felt her winds around me. They lifted me up and carried me to the creature's upper body. With a shout to draw its attention, I swung my scythe with all my strength. With the corner of my eye, I spotted Alina casting a spell while Samantha hooked an arrow.

Prepared for the blood that would surely spill, I narrowed my eyes as my scythe reached the creature's carapace. With a loud clang and an ear-piercing scratching sound, the pale blade of my scythe only left a faint mark on the surface of its armour-like carapace. I lost my grip on the shaft of the scythe as Rina's spell faded. I fell on the creature's back and immediately shivered.

"Kai!" Vincent shouted as Rina cast another spell. Lightning crackled in the air and hit one of the creature's leg. I clenched my teeth as my body also went numb for a moment. "Rina, you'll kill Kai too." Alina shouted. I felt the warmth of her healing spell slowly lift the numbness.

The creature stumbled. As it did, its legs holding Erik down finally released him. Vincent rushed forward and pulled the wounded paladin away from the stumbling and screeching creature.

"I can't pierce its armour." I shouted. As the words left my mouth, the creature seemed to remember I was on its back and shook its entire body. I barely held on my grabbing the pointy sections of its carapace.

The coldness in my chest grew as I noticed something. Its carapace wasn't entirely black. It was semi-transparent. Enough so to let me see through it. And what I saw sent shivers down my spine. Before I could let anyone else know, a low tapping sounded.

The sound was echoed from what I assumed to be the entrance. Were Alex and Joshua also fighting? As the creature's body shook, I reminded myself that I did not have the luxury of thinking about others right now. I had to focus on the here and now.

I saw Samantha release her hooked arrow and hit the creature's leg. The arrow bounded off, but it seemed to cause at least a little pain as the spider screeched and reared on its four hind legs. It raised its front legs and shot a white substance towards Samantha.

A shield appearing right before the archer protected her. She glanced at Rina and smiled as thanks, the hooked another arrow. I clenched my teeth, I had to do something from up here. I summoned my interface and used Dark Bolt.

Not a moment later, a volley of bolts left my fingertips and leapt towards the creature's legs. As the bolts hit it, a dark glow appeared on its body, completely negating my attack. My body pressing against its carapace felt colder than ever. I held my breath as it screeched again and leapt towards Samantha.

As its sharp legs struck the ground, Vincent pulled Samantha away. They ran to the side as the creature turned its giant body to follow them. Lightning once again crackled in the air; Rina was preparing another attack. I closed my eyes, but the flash of light still momentarily blinded me.

"What?" Alina's shout struck fear into my heart. I opened my eyes to see that same dark glow on the creature's carapace. "It's a shield! Rina, don't waste your mana." Vincent shouted in response, then leapt towards the creature's hind legs. His sword hit its leftmost leg with a loud clang. I saw him try to control the rebound.

"It cracked." He shouted as the creature stumbled. A smile appeared on my face. "Rina, do whatever you can to enhance Vincent's strength." I also summoned my sword, not because I was fool enough to think I was as physically strong as him, but because I might be able to distract the damn thing. With a wordless shout, I used Death's Scythe and swung the sword towards its head.

As usual, my strike bounced off of its carapace. But a smile still flashed across my face as it stopped to try and shake me off its back. I barely held on to the bumps on its carapace as another loud clang echoed. The creature stumbled again as another crack appeared on its leg.

"Almost done! Hang on a little longer." Alina shouted. I caught a glimpse of her, as she knelt beside Erik. His wounds had stopped bleeding and his pained expression had almost disappeared. I couldn't watch them any longer, as the creature once again reared on its hind legs and shot a web at Vincent. A shield appeared around him as well, allowing him to keep circling around the creature.

"This isn't working," I suddenly said as another one of Samantha's arrows bounced off. "Something isn't right." The dark glow on the creature's body only seemed to get stronger as its carapace seemed to grow colder. I clenched my teeth and tried to focus on the flames, just like I had done against the sea serpent. I knew that a large explosion wasn't what we needed, but if I could at least get rid of that glow, then maybe we could start dealing some damage to it.

I heard the sound of metal hitting metal and opened my eyes to see Erik back on his feet. "Now you've done it." He said with a dark expression. He unsheathed his longsword and grabbed his shield before rushing towards the spider with a battle cry.

"Alina, buff them." Samantha shouted. The other girl nodded and started casting her spell. As she stood there, her eyes closed, the spider seemed to notice how defenceless she was. With a screech, it shot a net towards her. Rina's shield once again appeared just in time to protect her. Just a moment late and she'd been hit.

I glanced at Rina to see her panting. Those shields had started to take a toll on her. Before I could see anything more, the creature turned around with an unnatural speed and struck Erik's shield. The paladin grumbled under the strength of the attack. I couldn't believe how fast this spider was. It should have been impossible for it to move its entire body so quickly.

An idea flashed across my mind as I glanced at its eight long legs. I summoned the chain from my inventory and put my sword back.

"Rina, help me out!" I shouted as I threw one edge of the chain in the air. I felt her magic guide the chain around the creature's legs immediately. As soon as it was within my reach again, I grabbed it and pulled both ends of the chain with all my might, even using Fallen Grace.

It screeched as the chain wrapped around its legs suddenly forced them together. Unfortunately, the chain was only wrapped around its two front legs, but at least this way, it couldn't shoot any more nets. I kept pulling as Vincent and Erik continued their assault on its hind legs.

"Good thinking, Kai." Samantha's shout sounded. The spider finally fell to the ground as the carapace on its legs almost completely shattered, leaving only a thin, defenceless shell behind. A grin appeared on my face.

"Finish it off." Rina shouted at Vincent, but before he could do anything, the creature let out an ear-piercing screech. Darkness exploded from its body as it pulled the chain. The chain cut my palms as I lost my grip on both ends. I felt my body go numb again as its darkness spread out, towards the others.

"Stay behind my shield!" Rina screamed as a much larger shield enveloped the entire group. I desperately tried to hang on to the bumps on the spider's carapace. If I fell now, I wouldn't be able to get away from it in time.

"What's that sound?" Samantha suddenly asked as the darkness spreading from the creature disappeared. I regained my senses as that tapping sound from before returned, this time much louder and closer. Had Joshua and Alex lost? Fear gripped my heart.

"Oh no, above us!" Vincent shouted.

I looked up to see hundreds, if not thousands of glowing green eyes staring at us.

"Shit."