The Mask of Aqune

When a village is disrupted by Invectids digging a tunnel to reach the Oracle's shrine, Hunter and Aqune are separated from their respective groups. While Hunter's friends look for him, Aqune takes care of Hunter until Buguese arrives.

Full Recap
Prince Lumen sends Hunter, Igneous and Corona on an investigation, sinkholes have been appearing in a village and many believe the Invectids are responsible. Hunter gets into a little argument with Igneous, because he thinks it’s more important that they fight the Invectids rather than run the prince's errands. Buguese and Aqune head off on an important mission. In the meantime, the Spider Riders reach the village, the villagers are hoping they’ll fight the Invectid, who attacked them and is now in hiding in the forest. Corona and Igneous find idea of a single Invectid attacking a whole village a bit strange, but go on into the forest anyways. There, Hunter falls into a hole and is attacked by it's creator, a giant centipede-like Invectid called Celpido. They fight him briefly, but have a difficult time since he keeps ducking into holes. Then, Buguese and Aqune appear. Still curious about Aqune, Hunter fights her. He manages to cut her mask off, but get’s worried that he hurt her do to how shocked and frightened she appears. Before getting any answers, the cliff breaks and the pair fall.

Igneous, Shadow and Corona are unable to find  Hunter, which particularly worries Corona. Meanwhile, Hunter wakes up in a cave with Aqune, who’s taking care of him. She throws her spear at Hunter, scaring him. However, she was only protecting him from poisonous insects. Hunter tries to swat the bugs away, but Aqune kindly lets them go. Hunter asks Aqune why he saved her and why she’s with the Invectids, but rather than answering, Aqune pulls her spear from the wall and tells Hunter to get some rest. She also tells him she’s made some food for him that that he should eat it in order to get better. The next morning, Hunter is feeling better and leaves the cave. He questions Aqune again about why she’s now his enemy or ally, but Buguese appears and interrupts them. Aqune shields Hunter to give him time to escape. Buguese is annoyed but does not appear to harm Aqune. Hunter and Shadow are reunited and Corona sends Hunter a message that they’re under attack. Hunter finds Igneous and Corona struggling against Celpido. Hunter is able to trick Celpido and defeat him. Meanwhile, Buguese returns Aqune’s mask to her and asks how she’s feeling. She says that she’s fine and goes with him to help uncover a door with strange symbols around it. Buguese is pleased to have finally found what they have been searching for.

Featured Characters

 * Hunter Steele
 * Corona
 * Igneous
 * Battle Spider Shadow
 * Battle Spider Venus
 * Battle Spider Flame
 * Buguese
 * Aqune
 * Celpido

Trivia

 * Some sources list this episode as "The Enemy Below".
 * In the original Japanese dub, Celpido does not have a name, and is apparently not a true living Inscetor.
 * When Aqune and Hunter fall off the cliff Aqune is the one who saves Hunter and takes care of him until he is better. How Aqune managed to remain unharmed and uninjured is never mentioned.