"···What is that?"

"This is insane..."

At that moment, the superhumans, who had been complaining about the sudden orders, were faced with a sight that made them want to rub their eyes and look again.

The beasts had appeared.

An overwhelming number of beasts, so many it seemed impossible to count.

"Is that... a Black Tarantula?"

"No way...!"

Beasts also have offspring and continue their lineage.

That’s common knowledge.

It’s not unusual for such small beasts to attack occasionally.

What’s unusual is the quantity.

Look at that wave—no, that flood of spiders. That’s the true nature of the Black Tarantula.

They give birth to an enormous number of tiny offspring.

According to scholars, they produce an astronomical number of babies.

...But until now, we’ve never seen it.

However, based on our experiences, we knew it was true.

And that common knowledge was being overturned right before our eyes.

"There’s no way that number is possible! According to the Black Tarantula’s nature, this is impossible...!"

Humans receive nutrients through an umbilical cord.

Usually one, sometimes two or three babies are provided with nutrients.

But those countless spiders can’t receive nutrients that way. They hatch from eggs.

So, how do they get their nutrients?

How do those countless baby spiders, gathered in an egg sac, survive?

How do they get the nutrients they need after hatching from the sac in a nutrient-deficient environment?

...The answer is simple.

They eat each other as soon as they are born.

They supplement their nutrients by cannibalizing, and when the competition ends, only two or three remain.

That’s what we knew.

That was common knowledge.

Therefore, these baby spiders are an anomaly.

Without cannibalizing, they’d die from lack of nutrients.

How is this possible?

As the superhumans fell into confusion, a sharp command rang out.

"Form ranks! Quickly! There’s no time!"

"...Yes!"

The commander appeared calm and composed, giving orders despite the sudden, abnormal situation.

As if he had known about the black wave in advance.

Of course, he couldn’t have known, but his calm demeanor helped settle the confusion among the heroes, allowing them to start working quickly.

Still, the commander’s mind was equally troubled.

This unprecedented situation was new to him as well.

"..."

The commander remained calm partly because of his extensive experience on the battlefield, but also because he had an inkling of the cause.

"Is it because of that presence...?"

It had to be.

He looked at the children running hurriedly toward them from a distance.

The student named Siwoo, who had warned them of the threat.

He felt sorry for Siwoo and Arte.

One of them wasn’t really a student, but...

They were both younger than him, so he considered them students.

Poor kids.

They had caught the attention of a terrible presence and ended up living such turbulent lives.

"Protect the students at all costs! They are the future!"

"Isn’t that obvious! Move quickly, kids! We don’t have time!"

"Yes, sir!"

Even the criminals who had been mentally absent seemed to realize that fleeing was futile when faced with the sight before them.

It was rare to see them working so passionately.

As the makeshift barricade was being constructed rapidly, Lionel approached, holding the carcass of a spider.

...Though they were babies, they were only small compared to adults.

Each one was about the size of a human.

"What’s your estimate?"

"Rank 3 low... no, I estimate them to be Rank 4 beasts. They’re quite soft. Easy to crush, but..."

"We can be easily crushed too."

"...Yes."

No matter how soft the carapace of a beast is, it’s still harder than human flesh.

Unless you have a body-strengthening ability, dodging or deflecting is the best option.

So, a large, unavoidable swarm like this is a disaster.

A single one is not scary.

Even ten would only be a bit troublesome, and no one here would fear them.

But a hundred?

A thousand?

As the ground disappears beneath your feet, eventually, you’ll be engulfed.

A true tidal wave.

A disaster that should be called a black wave.

"...Sigh."

"Why are you sighing again? You usually smile so peacefully."

"Don’t you feel like sighing? Look at that sight. It’s horrific."

That annoying fellow didn’t answer but smiled.

I felt a sense of trust emanating from him.

A feeling that he trusted me to handle this.

"...You rascal. You shouldn’t overwork the elderly."

"Haha. Elderly? What are you talking about? You’re the strongest here."

"Hmph. Flattery won’t get you any rewards."

"There are rewards, though. Look."

He glanced at his daughter, moving so quickly that she was barely visible to us.

"...My daughter is in danger. It’s reassuring to have you with us, commander."

"Tsk. You should act like this more often."

"Haha."

"Well, that was lucky."

"Yeah, Annie. Really lucky."

A girl, covered in rags, smiled brightly.

They were indeed fortunate.

When they found these spider friends and saw one egg hatching soon after.

Seeing them trying to eat each other was shocking.

Luckily, when I told them to stop, they did, but they complained about being hungry.

Fortunately, there was a spider carcass nearby, so I shared it, and they ate it happily.

It was hard to feed the newly hatched spiders for a while, but...

Seeing this huge number made me feel proud.

"They must be very hungry."

"Yeah, they must be. We couldn’t feed them much in the end."

"There was no helping it. They were growing so fast."

When they were younger, a little food was enough.

I planned to keep them a bit longer, but there were no more beasts to feed them, so I had no choice.

After a day of starvation, they started to cannibalize, so I quickly pointed them to the food, and look at them run.

So cute.

"Haha, look at them. They’re so startled."

"..."

"Now we can achieve our goal, Mir."

Whether they could stop the spiders or not, whether they would all die or not, I didn’t care.

They’d be too busy dealing with the spiders to notice a small girl slipping through the front lines.

I could use this opportunity to achieve the goal we hadn’t been able to with this power.

"Mir, finally. We can create the equal world you dreamed of."

"..."

"Mir? Why aren’t you answering?"

Anxiety crept into my voice as Mir didn’t respond.

Did I make a mistake again?

Back then, when Mir was taken down.

I had vowed never to make such a mistake again.

Did I mess up again?

As I was getting nervous, Mir’s reassuring voice came through.

"It’s not that, Annie."

"Then what?"

"It looks familiar."

She kept mumbling to herself.

As if she were talking to someone next to her.

As if she were having a conversation with someone.

"Looks familiar? What does?"

"That person. I remember seeing them."

"That person?"

"The man heading towards the main unit."

...Ah.

I finally understood the discomfort.

Right, how could I forget?

No.

Maybe I didn’t forget.

Maybe I just didn’t want to remember.

"...Right. How could I forget, Mir? I remember everything."

"..."

"I clearly remember the day you fell. It’s etched in my mind."

"..."

That boy.

I remember him.

The one who hindered Mir.

The one Mir said she’d handle quickly and told me to go ahead.

...The one who ruined everything in the end.

"Why is he here...?"

Wasn’t he a student?

Why is he in a place like this?

...Suddenly, I remembered.

That girl who killed Mir was also in a school uniform.

The thought of quickly escaping had already vanished from my mind.

I was comparing each face among the crowd.

"...She’s not here."

But my guess was wrong; the face of that hateful girl wasn’t there.

Even though her distinctive appearance should make her easy to spot.

"Well, I guess it makes sense she wouldn’t be here. Let’s go, Mir...?"

As I was about to leave, I saw someone running from a distant building.

Someone with hateful black hair and that face.

"..."

The moment I saw that face, all the plans in my head vanished.

Plans, sure. They’re good.

Let’s make a new plan.

A revenge plan on that detestable girl.

I’ll soothe Mir with her blood.

The girl smiled brightly.