Maggie’s face became somewhat heavy, her eyes slightly red, as she took a deep breath and nodded.
"It’s Uncle Martin."
She identified him through the scattered clothing fragments and personal belongings around.
Gauss nodded.
He felt the chances of others surviving were slim.
Although it’s a bit impolite to think so, from what Gauss had judged along the way, Maggie surviving until now had some element of luck, perhaps because the others were eaten, reducing the monsters’ hunger.
And it’s widely known that the majority of spiders only eat living creatures, which is why the Eit Monster keeps Eit slaves at its side — to always have something to eat nearby.
Females, being smaller compared to males, are naturally preferred by monsters to eat larger adult males first.
Maggie was just marked in advance, monitored by a slave spider to ensure she didn’t leave the swamp area, so they could find her whenever hungry.
This guess is cruel, but might be very close to the truth.
Despite thinking this, Gauss said nothing, and silently continued leading the team forward.
As the team proceeded.
More scattered personal items were found on the ground.
Gauss glanced at Maggie, who was sitting on Ulfen’s back, her face like ashes, as if she had accepted something.
He sighed, the clay creatures in front had sent back intelligence in advance.
It was because of repeatedly witnessing similar scenes around him that he realized the importance of strength more deeply.
"Maggie, you..." He was pondering how to speak when Maggie lowered her head.
"I understand... your meaning."
"The enemy is right ahead. Prepare for battle."
He was never good at comforting others and turned to look at his companions.
According to the clay creatures’ observation, the slightly higher ground ahead of the swamp was the Eit Monster’s nest.
There were two Eit Monsters in there.
The one Gauss killed earlier should have been out hunting.
Others received the intelligence and also began their pre-battle preparations.
Although the recent battle showed this group of spider monsters didn’t exceed Gauss’s team’s capability range, it’s better safe than sorry.
"Albena, are you really alright?" Gauss looked at Albena with concern. "If not, you can stay here and rest a bit, those monsters aren’t too troublesome as enemies."
"Don’t worry, Lord Gauss." Albena, although her heart was racing, still shook her head.
She’s the type who gets scared but actually hits harder when the fight starts.
She would scream and smash the target into a pulp.
"Then be careful yourself."
Gauss silently cast protections on all individuals present.
"Next, action!"
A command was given.
Gauss led the team towards the Eit Monster’s nest.
"Bang!!"
Albena cleaved through the thick web.
Inside the Eit Monster’s nest, gray-white webs were everywhere, above, below, webs surrounded everything visible.
Gauss watched indifferently at the two Eit Monsters on the distant webs.
Unlike Albena, he actually quite liked this monster race.
The reason being, as long as these two leaders were locked down, the Eit slaves raised by them wouldn’t flee; they’d fight to their last breath.
Gauss liked this tough characteristic.
He wished all monsters he encountered had such guts.
"Leave those two Eit Monsters to you."
"Control them, don’t kill."
"I’ll come to assist after I kill all the Eit slaves."
Gauss reiterated the action plan.
The plan was to constrain and control the Eit Monsters before he and the clay creatures wiped out the small spiders.
Decapitation strategy wasn’t a good plan at this moment.
He needed to keep the Eit Monsters to "control" the Eit slaves.
With a strong warrior like Albena, dealing with Eit Monsters wasn’t difficult.
"No worries."
Albena nodded after a deep breath.
A strong warrior can rely on instinct to defeat enemies even when the brain stops thinking.
Meanwhile, Maggie on the wolf’s back looked at the scattered heads and bones nearby, her lips trembling violently but unable to make a sound.
Her gaze was locked on a wreck chewed to an unrecognizable state, but the familiar outline was identifiable.
Beside the wreck, a bow that she was all too familiar with had fallen — it was her father’s bow.
Gauss glimpsed this scene, summoned a few clay goblins, sighed, and silently left a goblin by her side.
However, the concern for her safety might not be excessive; Ulfen’s moving speed was fast.
"Kill!"
The distant Eit Monsters had noticed the group intruding into their territory.
The entire nest instantly boiled.
"Cloud of Daggers!"
Gauss spat out sharp magic power, which rapidly expanded after leaving his mouth, transforming into clouds of sharp daggers wildly piercing towards the distance.
His throat, modified by "Primary Dragon Speech," made breath spellcasting seemingly easier.
Cloud of Daggers roared as it swept through, with tough webs flipping and breaking.
Eit slaves hiding within were instantly shredded, like being thrown into a meat grinder, with dark green liquid splattering everywhere.
Just one area attack instantly cleared a vacuum space.
Cloud of Daggers was more effective in the special terrain than many third-circle spells.
Gauss didn’t stop his spellcasting rhythm.
His spell bombardment rapidly decimated many Eit slaves.
The Eit Monsters, shocked and enraged, however, were entangled by others, unable to be distracted.
"Shoo!"
Gauss hovered in the center of the battlefield like having a god’s perspective to overview the situation.
He saw Maggie on the wolf’s back pick up the bow and quiver on the ground, her eyes red with deep hatred, joining the battle, continuously drawing the bow and shooting at the surrounding Eit slaves.
Though from the result, she was "competing" for monsters with Gauss, he didn’t mind at all.
He knew he was witnessing the birth of a pure adventurer.
After this battle ends, he would teach her an archery skill.
Slaughter, like an inescapable cycle.
Perhaps she would become the next spider killer.