Chapter 151: The Spider Queen

In the Elves' ears, they could only hear Kael and the basilisk communicating in cold, slithery hissing sounds. Then the great serpent, as if having received orders, directly crawled into the spider web passages. "Alright, everyone can open their eyes now!" Kael's voice rang in everyone's ears. Only then did the Elves open their eyes. "What should we do next?" Legolas asked Kael. The others also looked at him expectantly. "Wait!" Kael answered simply. "Herpo has already gone in. It will force the giant spiders out, and then we'll wait here like hunters by a tree stump." Meanwhile, the basilisk Herpo was rapidly moving through the spider passages. "Delicious, I smell delicious food. Where are you? The hunt begins!" it hissed in Parseltongue. The spider passages had sensing webs set by giant spiders. When the basilisk Herpo moved inside, the giant spiders immediately detected it. The giant spiders became excited and quickly pursued in Herpo's direction. "Food has delivered itself to our door!" they chittered in their spider language. For a moment, both sides considered each other food and approached each other simultaneously. The spider passages extended in all directions. The basilisk tracked the giant spiders' scent and reached the deep interior of the spider lair. Above it, equally apex predators, the giant spiders were silently approaching. Just as a giant spider prepared to spray web silk to entangle the great serpent below, the serpent instantly raised its head, revealing a mocking, taunting expression. "Caught you!" The giant spider above, preparing to ambush, had its countless compound eyes instantly meet the serpent's yellow eyes. The giant spider felt light-headed, then was instantly and silently stripped of life, falling powerlessly. Looking at the giant spider that fell before it, basilisk Herpo showed a covetous expression and impatiently opened its mouth to devour it. But just before eating, it stopped and shook its head. "No, Master said to kill all the delicious ones first. I can't eat now!" it reminded itself in Parseltongue. Then it looked longingly at the dead giant spider once more before continuing to track other giant spiders. In the following time, basilisk Herpo fell into a killing spree. Every giant spider it encountered along the way was killed without exception. The giant spiders initially didn't take a ten-meter-long basilisk seriously. After all, they had hunted prey larger than the basilisk before. But they hadn't expected this basilisk to be their natural counter. Its sense of smell was extremely keen. No matter how they hid, they couldn't escape its tracking. It also ignored their venom and illusion attacks. Moreover, its body had powerful defense and was slippery all over. Even spider silk couldn't stick to it. It moved freely through the webs as if in an uninhabited realm. Most terrifying of all, the basilisk's eyes. Anyone who made eye contact with it would die without exception! It even formed a natural biological suppression over them. It was as if this great serpent was born to be their nemesis, to feed on them! The giant spiders felt both terrified and absurd. They were descendants of the evil god Ungoliant. How could they have a natural enemy?! But the basilisk didn't care what they thought. It became the embodiment of death, unstoppable in its path, with its yellow eyes giving the giant spiders meaningful glances and sending them to their doom. The giant spiders fled in terror, not daring to make eye contact with the basilisk. Some giant spiders that were caught up simply destroyed all their eyes that wouldn't close, trying to avoid the basilisk's death gaze. Even without eyes, giant spiders could still move using the numerous sensitive hairs and sensory organs on their legs, so eyes weren't the most important to them. However, the giant spiders' plan obviously didn't work as intended. Even if the basilisk's death gaze couldn't threaten blind giant spiders, the basilisk still had deadly venom. Basilisk venom was the most deadly poison in the world, capable of killing creatures almost instantly. Even the most powerful wizards would find it difficult to survive without immediate special treatment. Basilisk venom even had powerful corrosive and destructive properties. It could destroy even Horcruxes. Except for phoenix tears, almost all powerful antidotes couldn't neutralize basilisk venom. And in this world, there was no phoenix species, so basilisk venom was nearly incurable. Perhaps only Elrond, who possessed Vilya, the Ring of Air, and was Middle-earth's finest healer, might possibly counter the basilisk's toxicity. Anyone else who encountered basilisk venom would surely die. The basilisk quickly caught up with those giant spiders and bit down. Just one drop of venom was enough to make the giant spiders instantly collapse and die on the spot. The basilisk wreaked havoc in the spider nest, unstoppable. Many spiders fled outward in panic, wanting to escape this place with the basilisk, even to relocate from this forest. As a result, just as they emerged from the spider nest, they faced the Elven army that had been waiting, pierced and killed by countless sharp arrows. The basilisk caused chaos inside while the Elves waited like hunters outside. Every moment, giant spiders fled from inside in panic. It seemed the basilisk inside was more terrifying than the Elves outside, so they preferred to face the Elven army rather than the basilisk. As the Elves killed more and more giant spiders, hundreds and thousands of giant spider corpses piled up outside the spider nest. Kael transformed into a busy little bee, constantly collecting venom while the giant spiders weren't completely dead yet, then storing the spiders in his space bag. He seemed not to worry about the basilisk's situation inside at all. But before Kael and the Elves could continue their waiting game, the giant spider leader inside couldn't wait any longer. With a piercing screech from inside the giant spider nest, a massive giant spider burst out of the nest. It was a giant spider larger than a house, with eight legs like eight thick, sharp spears, covered with barbed leg spikes that could easily tear a person apart! This creature, countless times larger than other giant spiders, stood taller than the surrounding trees when it rose up. "It's the Spider Queen Shelob!" Brown Wizard Radagast's expression changed as he shouted a warning. "Prepare for battle!" Thranduil also looked grave as he quickly issued orders. The Spider Queen seemed somewhat frantic, as if chasing something as she came toward Kael and the others. "It's basilisk Herpo returning! Everyone close your eyes!" Kael suddenly sensed something and immediately used a Sonorus Charm to warn. The Elves didn't dare be careless and quickly closed their eyes, but their bows remained accurately aimed at the giant spider. Soon, the basilisk Herpo emerged somewhat disheveled from the spider passages. It quickly crawled to Kael's front, its massive body directly hiding behind Kael, and complained to him in Parseltongue, "Master, the big delicious one chased after me! It's too big. I'm no match for it!" Kael looked up at the pursuing Spider Queen and only then noticed that the Spider Queen's eyes were covered with spider silk. No wonder it wasn't afraid of the basilisk's eye attacks. Moreover, the basilisk was currently still just a young snake, not even as long as one of the Spider Queen's legs. No wonder it was chased back in such a sorry state. The Spider Queen emanated a powerful dark aura, baring fangs and claws. Even with her eyes covered, she still locked onto Kael and the Elves. "Elves, you will all die here today and become food for my children!" The Spider Queen suddenly spoke in a cold voice. "And you, little snake, I will personally tear you apart!" The Spider Queen speaking human language surprised everyone. Moreover, with the Spider Queen's appearance, thousands upon thousands of giant spiders poured out of their nest, surrounding everyone from all directions. Hearing the Spider Queen's hatred toward the basilisk Herpo, Kael couldn't help but curiously ask Herpo in Parseltongue, "What exactly did you do in the nest? How did you make her hate you so much?" Herpo immediately said very proudly, "I found the spider hatchery! There were so many, many spider eggs inside, and I poisoned them all with my venom!" Hearing this, Kael immediately laughed and patted its head. "Well done! From now on, I'll reward you with one giant spider to eat every day!" Herpo immediately became happy, then remembered something and hurriedly said, "Master, when you leave, you must take all the spiders I killed in the spider nest! I killed several hundred of them! And don't forget those spider eggs either! Those are all my delicious snacks!" "Alright, I won't forget!" Kael helplessly promised. Another foodie snake," Kael thought, then gave it a gentle kick. "Enough chatter. Go deal with those giant spiders. And don't harm the Elves, or you'll lose your snacks!" Receiving Kael's orders, basilisk Herpo immediately charged aggressively toward the giant spiders. However, with Kael's warning, Herpo was more careful. It closed its eyes when facing Elves and only opened its deadly eyes when confronting giant spiders. This time there were numerous giant spiders, even more than the Elven army, and there was also a very powerful Spider Queen. It could be said to be a difficult battle. The Spider Queen was not only massive in size but also had amazing defensive magic resistance. Elven arrows couldn't penetrate her defense at all, and even the spells of Legolas and others couldn't cause much damage. Moreover, the Spider Queen could spray poisonous mist that was not only dangerous but also had strong hallucinogenic and dizzying effects. Even though the Elves' heads were covered by Bubble-Head Charms, the poisonous mist could still slowly invade their bodies through skin contact with the air. The Spider Queen even possessed powerful mental illusions, making people fall into dreamlike states and interfering with their perception. Facing such a powerful Spider Queen, Thranduil, Brown Wizard Radagast, and Kael all held nothing back and attacked with full force. Thranduil leaped from his elk, drew his Elven sword, and with agile body movements, quickly climbed up the spider's leg to reach the Spider Queen's body, driving his sword deep into her most vulnerable abdomen. The Spider Queen cried out in pain and violently shook her body, trying to shake Thranduil off. Brown Wizard Radagast, wielding his staff, attacked the Spider Queen's legs. Radagast's staff carried tremendous force. When it struck the Spider Queen's leg, it instantly made her stagger and lose her footing, quickly falling down. Kael gripped his staff tightly, channeled magic power, and released a brilliant spell at the Spider Queen. "Scourgify!" The Scouring Charm released from his staff was powerful, instantly clearing away all the poisonous mist the Spider Queen had sprayed, even cleaning off all the spider silk covering her eyes. "Herpo, look into her eyes!" Kael hissed in Parseltongue. The Spider Queen, seeing that her vision had suddenly been restored, sensed danger. But the next second, her eyes met those of the basilisk that had appeared from nowhere.