Chapter 61: Submission
Arthur continued enduring the hellish pain coursing through his body. He looked at the spider woman standing nearby and said with a hint of gratitude, "Thank you for saving me."
Without giving her any more attention, he turned around, and without any hesitation, he bit into the long mushroom stems and tore them away from his body.
Blood flew in every direction, and several deep deformed holes appeared in his flesh, to the extent that a few bones from his rib cage were protruding.
Quickly, he activated the Regeneration skill at its maximum strength, and began healing himself, and also his bloodline displayed strange activity, for a mysterious force emanated from it, helping him suppress the mushroom’s growth somewhat.
But that was not enough. His pain did not ease, and the mushroom barely showed any sign of slowing. His eyes became bloodshot, and with savage features he bit the mushroom stems that had grown again, and tore them from his body a second time, then a third, and so on.
His actions were extreme, very painful, and had not a shred of mercy toward himself, for deep inside he was intensely angry. He did not understand why he always fell into such deadly situations, and why he had to endure more suffering than others.
"Damn, again, and again, when will this torture end, what did I do to deserve all of this." He made no attempt to restrain himself or hide his feelings. Hatred and resentment possessed him and he screamed everything that was going through his mind unconcerned about the spider woman.
Meanwhile, the spider woman did not say or do anything, she settled for watching him in silence as he tore his own body in a desperate attempt to rid himself of the mushroom.
But unfortunately, his crazy measures were useless, and all he managed to do was slow the mushroom’s spread. Every time he cut a mushroom stem, two grew in its place, and little by little it began growing even inside his organs.
This increased his madness, and made him more extreme. In truth, his actions were not only driven by his desire to rid himself of the mushroom. In a way he was punishing himself for his weakness, and at the same time trying to win the spider woman’s sympathy, without saying it directly.
She was the only person he knew in this world, and the only person capable of helping him in some way. She was powerful, and had great knowledge, and if even she did not know how to free him from this torment, well, he was simply done for.
Time passed very slowly, it was actually just a few minutes, but for him it felt like eternity, during which he thought about hundreds of things, and realized he would remain alive even if the mushroom took over his entire body, but in return he would become nothing more than a walking corpse, just like the bear that had attacked him.
"No, I do not want to become a monster." In the end he could no longer bear it, he raised his head, and looked at the spider woman’s cold eyes, he removed all his pride, and resistance, and said in a submissive humble tone. "My lady, please, help me."
The spider woman let out a short sigh indicating her relief, she did not reply to him directly, she stayed silent for a few seconds, then laughed mockingly.
"My lady?! It seems you have finally realized your place, tell me is this your limit? Where is your arrogance? Where is your defiance? At least I thought you would hold out a little longer. Shameful, disappointing."
Her biting words echoed inside his head, his features contorted, and for a moment he regretted what he had said, but he could not lie to himself. What good was dignity if he was going to die? He bowed his head further, and muttered regretfully.
"Forgive me, I am merely a fool who doesn’t know how vast the sky is, you previously saved my life, and despite that, I was impertinent, and ungrateful, I, I, am truly sorry."
The spider woman’s smile widened, and she felt happiness from the depths of her heart, she had hated the provocative way he dealt with her.
Seeing him break like this and submit completely, satisfied every ounce of pride and desire for dominance within her, and made all her anger and resentment disappear, replaced by a complex feeling of achievement, relief, and pride.
She fully enjoyed this new feeling she had never experienced before, and when she realized he had reached his limit and could no longer endure, she regained her seriousness, and said in a meaningful tone.
"You pup, what you are doing is useless, with your current Rank you will not be able to overcome this mushroom, it is infused with extremely powerful Entropis energy, fortunately for you I am here, I can suppress it, but what will you give me in return?"
The moment Arthur knew about her ability to help him, he felt a little relief, and the gleam returned to his exhausted eyes. Given her personality it was clear she would not do it for free, so he was not bothered or upset.
He took a deep breath, then stood upright with his head held high, and said.
"Well, help me, and I will offer you the most precious thing I possess, my will. I will not remain merely a prisoner of yours because of your control over my body, but a true follower, who will serve you with genuine loyalty and respect."
Yes, he hated her greatly, but this did not mean he was unable to coexist with her, for how many noble knights had served mad kings? Even though he was not a knight, nor was she a king, he considered himself a noble man, a human being–someone whose name should not be forgotten.
His sincere words surprised the spider woman, and for some reason her joy diminished, and her feeling of achievement faded. She furrowed her brows in confusion, and felt that things had taken a strange turn. She understood what offering loyalty meant, yet she was bothered by the fact that it was a human concept.
’I am certain he is sincere, yet why do I feel he is deceiving me in some way?’ She wanted to think about the matter more, but his critical condition did not allow her to waste more time.
Treating him was not a simple matter, so she made some concessions on her part. She consumed a large portion of the Vitality and Mana she had recovered and created an extremely effective medicinal poison.
She walked toward him, and drove her hand into the area where the mushroom was growing densely, then pumped the poison into his body, at that moment, the mushroom spores began dying at a rapid pace, and the hideous red mushroom growing on him dried up, and fell to the ground.
An overwhelming feeling of relief washed over him, and he let out a sigh of relief.