It's so hard being a hero!

Sophia stopped and released her magical perception once more.

This time she focused on a specific direction.

There is a wider passage on the left side of the stone chamber, with more and denser spider silk, and a darker color.

She walked over quickly, and just as she stepped into the passage, she suddenly stepped on something.

Looking down, I saw a broken pickaxe.

The wooden handle still bore traces of dried blood, which had turned black.

Sofia put down the pickaxe, stood up, and looked ahead along the passage.

This passage was wider than any of the ones she had just walked through, and the rocks on all four sides had been quarried by humans, leaving traces of tools being used to chisel them.

It must have been dug out by miners.

Her magical senses told her that following this passage would lead her to the outer area of ​​the Spider Kingdom.

Without hesitation, she lifted her foot and continued deeper.

The further you go in, the denser the spider webs become.

Sophia frowned, and a wisp of fire appeared in her hand.

Scorching Ray, a fire-attribute magic spell.

A thin line of fire shot out from the fingertip, leaving a scorching trail in the air.

The spider silk ignited upon contact with fire, emitting a pungent, acrid smell, clearing a narrow passage in front of her.

We walked and stopped for about ten more minutes.

Sophia's magical senses suddenly detected signs of life ahead.

It wasn't the cold, icy aura of a spider demon; it was human.

She immediately quickened her pace.

The passage turns again ahead, and after turning the corner, the view suddenly opens up.

This is a cave of about fifty square meters, twice the size of the previous stone chamber.

The most conspicuous part is the center of the cave.

There were three huge spider cocoons hanging there, about half a meter off the ground, like three insects waiting to emerge from their cocoons.

The surface of the spider cocoon reveals a faint outline of a human figure encased within.

Sophia's pupils contracted slightly.

She walked quickly over, using her magical senses to probe the life signs inside the cocoon.

All three are alive.

Several spider monsters were also lying in the corner of the cave.

The largest one has a body diameter of about one meter, and its eight legs are more than two meters wide when spread out. Its grayish-brown carapace is covered with sparse, stiff hairs, and its eight black compound eyes gleam in the dim light.

This is a cave spider, a high-level monster.

There were four smaller ones nearby, only the size of a washbasin, with lighter-colored shells; they were ordinary mid-level monsters.

The advanced cave spider spotted Sophia the moment she stepped into the cave.

All eight compound eyes turned around and locked onto the short human figure.

He did not hesitate.

With all eight legs exerting force simultaneously, his entire body shot towards Sofia like a cannonball.

Sofia stood still, not even taking her hand out of her pocket.

A pale purple light shone in her eyes.

Mental magic hypnosis.

An invisible and intangible spiritual fluctuation spread from her pupils, rippling across the entire cave.

The advanced cave spider's body froze in mid-air.

With all eight legs losing their strength at the same time, it fell from mid-air like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

Its shell was on the ground, its eight legs were pointing upwards, and it remained motionless.

Four small spider monsters followed closely behind, collapsing to the ground at the same moment, their eight compound eyes closing simultaneously, as if someone had pressed the power button.

The cave fell silent.

Sophia lowered her hand, looked away, walked over to the advanced cave spider, squatted down, and poked its carapace.

Only after confirming that it was merely in a deep coma and not in any life-threatening danger did she stand up and walk towards the three spider silk cocoons.

She didn't kill the spiders directly.

The reason is simple: humans were the first to intrude into their territory.

Miners were digging when they stumbled upon the vicinity of a spider's lair. The spider monsters captured the intruders for food; it was their instinct, unrelated to good or evil.

Sophia's principle has always been: she will not kill monsters unless they attack humans first.

It was true in my past life, and it is true in this life too.

She drew the slender magic sword from her waist; the blade glowed with a pale blue light, and a thin layer of battle aura clung to its edge.

He swung his sword down.

The spider cocoon was neatly cut in the middle without harming the person inside.

The grayish-white spider silk slid down to both sides like torn cloth, revealing the three people wrapped inside.

Two men and one woman.

They were all dressed in coarse miner's clothes, their skin covered in gray spider silk debris, and their faces were frighteningly pale.

The youngest miner looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with his chapped lips slightly parted and a faint sound coming from his throat.

Another middle-aged miner was in worse condition; his right trouser leg was ripped open, revealing a clear bite mark on his calf, with the surrounding skin turning black and purple, signs of poisoning.

The female miner was in the best condition of the three; her spider silk cocoon was relatively loose, and her breathing was noticeably more stable after she was rescued.

Sophia checked the injuries of the three of them.

Everything is fine.

Sophia raised her right hand, and a warm white light shone from her palm.

Light Magic Blessing of Life.

Three beams of white light landed on the three people, and the gentle power of light seeped into their bodies, stabilizing their injuries and replenishing their strength.

The wounds on the middle-aged miner's legs began to heal slowly. The black toxins were gradually expelled by the power of light, and his skin color slowly returned to normal from dark purple.

The young miners' and female miners' breathing became noticeably more stable, and a trace of color returned to their pale faces.

Sophia withdrew her hand, squatted down in front of the three people, and snapped her fingers.

A crisp sound echoed through the cave.

The three people opened their eyes at the same time, their pupils filled with terror, like drowning people suddenly surfacing and gasping for breath.

The young miner was the first to react.

He saw a silver-haired girl squatting in front of him, her blue eyes calmly looking at him. He froze for two seconds, then suddenly shrank back, his back hitting the cave wall with a dull thud.

"No, don't come any closer."

His voice was as hoarse as sandpaper.

"Don't be afraid."

Sophia quickly reassured them, "I'm here to rescue you. I've already subdued the spider, you're safe now."

The young miner's eyes widened further, his gaze passing over Sophia to the sprawled spider monsters on the ground. His lips trembled several times before he managed to squeeze out a single sentence.

"Who...who are you?"

"Adventurer".

Sofia didn't explain much and went straight to asking the question that concerned her most.

"Have you seen the militia? About thirty people, from Kyle City, they went into the mountains yesterday."

The three people looked at each other, then shook their heads.

The three of them were arrested when the militia arrived.

Sophia frowned slightly and glanced around the cave.

This is just a small outcrop, not the main nest of the spider kingdom.

With so many militia members, it's impossible to keep them all locked up in such a small place.

So she had no choice but to keep going.

Chapter 34 Spider Queen

Sofia planned to continue forward.

"Huh? Wait a minute."

But suddenly someone called out Sophia's name.

"Um, you... you're just leaving like that? And all those spiders?"

Sophia paused slightly, then replied, "Don't worry, she won't wake up."

"You won't wake up today, so you should take advantage of this time to leave. Follow this passage straight ahead, turn right at any fork in the road, and the cave entrance will be at the end."

After saying that, she quickened her pace, and her figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the passage.

The three of them looked at each other in bewilderment and could only help each other leave.

Sophia's magical perception unfolded once again.

The spider kingdom was larger than she had imagined.