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Without the time to dodge… Without the thought of dodging to begin with, honestly, we were caught by its web and completely lost visibility.
Even without the use of detection, I can tell that we’re in a tight cocoon.
Just as with Ciel’s attack, I reflexively expanded my barrier outward, so we’re trapped inside a closed but wide space.

At any rate, it was disgusting. There are roughly two types of spiders, I believe: those that make webs and wait for their prey, and those that move around to hunt. The golden spider looked like a mix of the two.
It had a slim torso with eight thick and long legs.
Its whole body was covered with golden hair; it had red eyes and white fangs.

It had body hair covering up to its legs, each one of them looking like they’re completely different creatures.
It made these creaky noises; just hearing it gave me nausea.
Even recalling it rouses disgust in me, so I’ll stop here.

Calming down, I confirmed our situation, which made me glad I expanded the usually close-fitting barrier outward.
As with the golden wolf’s claws, the golden spider’s webs have divine realm energy weaved into them. As such, they would easily destroy regular barriers. Even if one were to survive its crushing pressure, all that would be waiting is despair.
It’s easy to conclude that I must have subconsciously used the strongest barrier I could currently make to keep the spider away at all costs. That honestly saved us.

Still, our current situation is far from being good.

『Are you alright, Ciel?』
『Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry, Ain. I let the blood go to my head and couldn’t think straight.』
『It was the same for me, so please don’t worry about it.
More importantly, we should think of what to do next. We’re in a slightly dangerous situation, you see.』
『Is that so? I think Ain’s barrier saved us, though.』

Ciel tilted her head in confusion. Though I said we’re in danger, it isn’t by any means an immediate problem, so I should explain it to her.
Perhaps satisfied with capturing us, the golden spider doesn’t seem to be intent on attacking us.
Is it intentionally keeping us alive, or does it think that we’ve died from the crushing pressure?
Either way, we have time.

『Certainly, with my barrier, we’ve eliminated the risk of being squeezed to death by the threads. However, we are thoroughly wrapped in these threads, making this cocoon an airtight space.』
『That seems to be the case.』
『There aren’t any open gaps to function as ventilation either.』
『What’s a ventilation?』
『It hurts when you stop breathing, right?』
『Right.』

So I really do have to start explaining from there.
Is this an issue of Ciel simply lacking in knowledge, or is it due to this world’s level of advancement?
Either way, that doesn’t change the fact that I still need to explain, so I gave a simple explanation of air and oxygen.

Maybe it’s because I started with the example of breathing; Ciel was quick to understand.

In short, the issue here is how long our oxygen will last.
While we have gained what can be considered a near-absolute defense, it still has its weaknesses, and it’s susceptible to unorthodox methods.
The easiest way to kill us might just be to throw us to the bottom of the ocean.

Still, if I remember correctly, sea water has oxygen dissolved in it, right?
In that case, could it be possible to use a barrier to take in oxygen?
Hmm, there’s still the issue of balancing the oxygen concentration, so it would be better if I kept my amateur hands off of that. I should at least experiment first before trying this.

I digress.

『As such, we can’t stay imprisoned here for a long time.』
『I don’t want to stay here for a long time either.
If it’s just getting rid of these threads, I should be able to do it with the help of Ain’s songs.』
『The problem then is how we’ll get rid of it.』

Even if these webs have divine realm energy woven into them, the use of a Job’s abilities—as Jobs can be considered fragments of divine power—should be able to affect them.
Moreover, both Dance Princess and Song Princess can be considered the best in their line of Jobs, so their combined strength should do the trick.
The problem is… The golden spider isn’t the only thing here.

Through detection, I can sense many human-sized cocoons scattered on the ground and hanging from the ceiling.

『So that means there’s a lot of people around?』
『But because they’re encased by the threads, I can’t discern whether they’re alive or not.』
『Still, it won’t be good if we don’t take them into consideration, right?』
『That’s right.』

I think the easiest way to escape these webs is to burn them to ash.
If we use an Elicinary, we should be able to get rid of all the obstructing webs around us.
Additionally, we won’t need to be concerned about the golden spider’s web attacks anymore.

Still, if we do that, the other people encased in spider webs will end up burning as well.
Even if we are to burn only the web encasing us, depending on the situation outside, the fire could still spread out and cause casualties.

We could test out other ways of escaping, but it finally lost interest in us, and I don’t want to risk regaining its attention.
Then, should I just protect them all?
It’ll likely exhaust a lot of my magic power due to their distance from Ciel, but it shouldn’t run me completely dry.
And, after all, it’s my role to set up the stage for Ciel to dance without any worries.

As I was in deep thought, my eyes met with Liessyl’s, even though it should have been pitch black in here.
Actually, since when were you here?
She was staring right at me, as if she had something to say.

Ah, right. Rely on you, is it?
Still, is it really alright for a spirit to lend their power to people so easily?
I’m not some Spirit Invoker; I’m just a Song Princess.

『Liessyl, would you lend us your power?』

I asked. There was nothing to lose in asking, after all.
Liessyl nodded in reply, but for some reason, she then had a pensive expression.
Just as I wondered why, she began making some gestures.
She held her hands to her chest, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly. Is she telling me to sing?

It seems like our spirit friend Liessyl is joining the fray! Really though, since when were you with them? Minor detail, but considering that Liessyl put her hands on her chest for the singing gesture, does that mean Ain sings like that normally? Since Liessyl is probably copying her. That’s nice to know.

Rolling back to the chapter beginning, it seems like they only trapped and not restrained by the web. I’d imagine that would’ve caused mental stress, honestly. We had an impromptu lecture about oxygen today as well, professor Ain is quite busy, lol. And it seems like we’ll be seeing Ciel dance for the latter half of the chapter, exciting~

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!