Sagres pointed toward the area where the miasma was thickest and the spiderwebs were densest. There, faintly visible, was the entrance to a massive, raised nest, formed from earth, dead branches, and thick spider silk—like a tumor crouched in the darkness.

A hissing noise, like leather rubbing together, and the drip… drip… of some liquid falling echoed through the air.

Suddenly, less than ten steps to his left, behind a clump of Giant fungi, several pairs of glowing emerald eyes—slowly moving until now—abruptly stopped and turned toward them in unison.

Sagres silently raised his wand.

A sharp Severing Charm shot out without a sound, instantly slicing through a large curtain of spiderwebs blocking their path, along with several small spiders that had just poked their heads out.

Foul-smelling fluids and severed limbs splattered.

Kestrel's heart nearly leapt out of her chest. From the shadows ahead to her right, a car-sized shape suddenly lunged.

She instinctively cast an Obstacle Curse. The spell struck the target, and the giant spider let out a piercing shriek. Its eight legs suddenly turned sluggish and uncoordinated, causing it to crash heavily onto the slick ground.

"Don't chase the ones that flee," Sagres said without looking back. He casually pointed his wand behind him, a red beam striking the head of another lunging spider with pinpoint accuracy. "But if they dare pounce, kill them."

As he spoke, the spider's shriek was abruptly cut off, and its massive body dissolved into a pool of foul-smelling liquid.

"Their numbers are overwhelming, and there are no natural predators in the Forbidden Forest," Sagres said calmly. "They're no different from an invasive species here."

The other two didn't know what an invasive species was, but the overwhelming swarm of spiders before them made them deeply understand the weight of that statement.

The path deeper into the nest became a trail soaked in blood and paved with death.

Nightingale, like the most precise assassin, alternated between silent Severing Charms, Blasting Curses, and powerful Frost Spells—either dismembering the Giant spiders that dared to show themselves or blasting them against the stone walls.

At the same time, she didn't forget to use magic to collect the venom sacs from the massive spiders.

Any threats from the sides or rear—whether poisonous fangs or jets of venom—were intercepted and neutralized by Kestrel, bounced away by an invisible barrier.

To her surprise, her reflexes were much faster than she'd expected, as if her body was reacting before her mind could register the danger.

Sagres, meanwhile, moved like a shadow wielding death itself. Many Acromantulas rushing toward them fell silently before they could even get close. But to avoid damaging the venom sacs, he refrained from using fire-based magic.

The three moved with ruthless precision, without a single wasted motion—like a cold harvest.

Swoosh! Spulch! Squelch! Splash!

The ground quickly became layered with sticky webs, shattered carapaces, splattered green blood, and torn organs.

The sickly-sweet stench of decay was soon overwhelmed by the heavy, choking reek of blood and scorched flesh.

The Acromantulas' cries of fear and rage rose and fell, forming a deathly symphony that sent chills down the spine.

With flawless coordination, the three carved a path through the dense swarm of Giant spiders, advancing steadily into the deepest part of the nest.

When they passed through the final spiderweb barrier, the sight before them made all three raise their eyebrows.

The space was unusually vast, like the hollowed-out belly of a mountain. The cave walls and dome were coated in layers of viscous spider silk, several feet thick, resembling a white, suffocating blanket.

But the most horrifying part wasn't the walls—it was the ground.

Piles of white bones were stacked like mountains.

Human skulls, broken ribs, thick horse leg bones, and various unidentifiable animal skeletons were strewn about as if tossed away like garbage, buried under thick webs and layers of filth.

Some skeletons were still fresh, with fragments of rotting leather clinging to them, giving off a sickening stench.

Kestrel took just one look before her stomach churned. She quickly turned her head, her face pale. Nightingale swept her cold gaze over several skeletons that were unmistakably Centaur remains.

At the center of this bone-strewn cavern lay a massive white cocoon, several times larger than any other, shaped like a small hill.

It pulsed faintly, emanating a suffocating pressure.

Scattered around it were the corpses of several enormous, aged Giant spiders—obviously the guardians that Sagres and Nightingale had killed moments earlier while they attempted to defend the cocoon.

Sagres raised his wand and pointed it at the giant cocoon. A dangerous red glow gathered at its tip.

"Wait! Wizard! Don't… hurt…"

A hoarse, ancient voice emerged from within the cocoon, muffled and filled with indescribable weariness and fear.

This sudden human speech made Kestrel nearly jump out of her skin, and Nightingale instantly raised her wand toward the source, disbelief flashing across her face.

An Acromantula that could speak?! This completely overturned everything known in magical zoology.

Sagres's charged spell paused for a brief moment, but the red glow at his wand tip remained. He stared coldly at the writhing cocoon. "Show your head, or I'll blast you—and your grave—into pieces."

The giant cocoon trembled violently. The thick silk at its surface was painstakingly torn apart, slowly forming an opening.

First to emerge were a pair of massive, grotesque chelicerae, covered in grayish-white fur and riddled with scars. Then came an ancient, bloated spider head—larger than a dilapidated truck—crawling forward.

Its compound eyes no longer gleamed with vitality; instead, they were clouded with a gray-white film, and all eight were dulled and murky. Its carapace was etched with deep marks of time and the scars of countless battles.

This was the king of the nest—Aragog.

Aragog's enormous body slowly crept out of the cocoon, every movement labored and sluggish.

His ancient exoskeleton creaked under its own weight, and his eight long legs quivered as they strained to support his bloated frame.

When he was fully illuminated by the wandlight, the signs of extreme old age became obvious—his shell was cracked and weathered, his fur almost entirely shed, and even his once-lethal venom sacs appeared dull and weakened.

The enormous spider glanced warily at the dangerous red glow on Sagres's wand, then swept his compound eyes over the corpses of his guards and the mountain of bones, before finally fixing his clouded gaze on Sagres.

The fear in those eyes was so palpable that Kestrel felt a twinge of discomfort.

"Powerful wizard…" Aragog's voice rasped like dry leaves scraping together, each word punctuated by labored breaths. "Please… please spare me."

Its abdomen heaved with effort, revealing a swollen venom sac at its rear that glowed with a sickly, eerie sheen. "I know why you've come. The venom… I can… give it to you. I only ask… that you spare me and… my remaining offspring."

Its pleading gaze shifted toward the edge of the cave, where several pairs of trembling emerald-green eyes were faintly visible in the shadows.

"It can ..really speak?" Nightingale's voice wavered for the first time as she tightened her grip on her wand. "That's impossible. XXXXX-class magical creatures can't be tamed, let alone speak human language!"

Aragog let out a wheezing hiss, like a worn-out bellows attempting a bitter laugh. "Yes… yes, young witch. Normally… impossible. But… I am different. My name… is Aragog… I was… raised by… a half-Giant boy… in a warm cupboard… in a castle called… Hogwarts."

"Hagrid?" Kestrel blurted out. The image of the ever-smiling gamekeeper, with his unusual fondness for dangerous creatures, immediately came to mind.

Aragog's massive head trembled slightly, and a faint glimmer passed through his clouded eyes. "Rubeus Hagrid… my friend… He gave me my name, gave me warm food… and taught me your language. He… believed in me, even when I was banished… to this forest."

His voice was filled with desolate nostalgia and the grief of being cast out by the world.

~~~~~~~

o(*≧▽≦)ツ💫 Read up to 12+ chapters in advance on P@treon/DarkDevil1 👉 Get early access & exclusive perks!✨