Ch.1196Impatient Bastards Always End Up Causing Trouble

As soon as the queen’s command fell, the hesitating swarm of Arachnes threw themselves at the calamity before them as if they had never wavered.

“Charge! Charge forward! By the Queen’s command—!”

The spider horde roared like an angry wave, rushing toward death.

Each time the red downpour fell upon their heads, holes were punched through the black wave, and countless spiders collapsed with death throes.

“Keeeeek!”

“Don’t stop! Forward—!”

Despite melting away and dying in real time, they never stopped, desperately advancing while trampling over the corpses of their kin.

Gloriously and desperately. Endlessly blind in their devotion.

“Long live Queen—!”

Such filial children. Where else could you find such devotion?

Throwing away their lives without hesitation for a mother who treats them as disposable, constantly rechargeable consumables. Honestly, their filial piety was admirable.

Whether this was truly born of loyalty and filial piety, or simply an instinct hardwired into the species to absolutely obey their queen, I couldn’t say for certain.

Well, they’re half insect-like creatures, so it wouldn’t be strange for them to have such instincts, right?

Of course, spiders aren’t actually insects… but their ecology isn’t that different, probably? So their minds must be somewhat similar too.

Anyway, after that, the battle situation intensified, becoming chaotic and tragic to the point of resembling hell.

“Just a bit more forward, just a bit more! Run!”

The Arachnes, who chose a frontal breakthrough at the cost of massive casualties, gradually approached the walls after piling mountains of corpses, and the allied forces’ fierce attacks intensified proportionally.

From the sky, rocks of various sizes rained down like meteor showers without pause, while on the ground, all manner of unheard-of sorcery swept through the spiders.

Raging lightning strikes. Explosions of blood flowing from wounds. Flesh chunks soaring into the air, torn to pieces.

Shadows opened wide to devour their owners, and frenzied spiders indiscriminately attacked their surrounding kin, only to be counterattacked and killed.

“These spider bastards are properly insane! If they want to die so badly, go ahead and die to your heart’s content!”

“Keep attacking! Don’t let them approach the walls!”

It wasn’t just the soldiers who were fighting hard.

Turankai displayed his might by driving meteor-sized rocks into enemy lines, while Hiyalbaer intercepted beams of light aimed at them with a bow and arrows forged from dragon scales.

Yes. Though they may not have attained divinity, beings at the pinnacle of their races should be capable of this much. It was a performance worthy of our alliance’s second and third-in-command.

“Mere monkeys…!”

“I’ll open the path! Follow me!”

But in this hellish Naraka where demigods ran wild, our forces weren’t the only ones with top-tier heroes.

The Arachnes also had warriors of that caliber. Though there were only three of them.

Two led their subordinates while desperately neutralizing the beams of light from the sky and the Naga’s sorcery, while the remaining one broke through that hellscape alone to clash with Turankai.

The poisonous mist spewing from its mouth instantly melted the giant boulder, and then the greatsword wielded by its two arms blocked Turankai’s hammer that had burst through the toxic fog.

– KWAAAAAANG!

With the explosion, the poisonous fog scattered. Turankai, whose cheek was half-melted revealing his teeth, grinned as he locked weapons with the creature.

“Not bad, what are you!”

“Arkhis, the first child of Hubrisia.”

The greatsword and hammer crossed with a sliding motion. The Arachne immediately returned his blade to regain posture, deflecting the continuing hammer strikes as he answered.

“A fine name! I am Turankai, King of the Apes born from stone!”

“Is that so? Just a beast playing leader among a troop of monkeys.”

“…Your sharp tongue rivals that of our commander, eh?”

A sneer bordering on contempt.

At that blatant provocation, Turankai let out a hollow laugh, then stomped the ground with his right foot, raising hundreds of rock fragments into the air as he growled.

“Then let’s see if your skills can back up that tongue!”

“You won’t find your answer. You’ll be dead before you realize it!”

The two monsters revealing their thick killing intent, unleashing their full power.

The black blade split into seven pieces, bound by spider silk dancing through the air, while the deep blue hammer swirled with sprays of water and rocks.

‘I can leave that side alone for now. Though it’s a bit concerning…’

Although the Arachnes were dying in droves, we were still somewhat at a disadvantage in terms of combat power.

It would be fortunate if Turankai could defeat this Arkhis or whatever, but if by chance he lost, things could get quite complicated.

‘…Well, he’ll manage somehow.’

What difference would it make if I worried about that side when I’m not in a position to help? It would only put me in greater danger.

The battle situation flowed contrary to my expectations, and I never experienced nor would I experience the coordinated attack of the three demigods I had initially anticipated…

‘…This is seriously tough. When will they ever get tired?’

That didn’t mean I could relax just because they were holding up reasonably well.

Why? Well, because all three rampaging demigods—though one was actually a Fallen Angel, but anyway—they all came looking specifically for me.

“Damn this monstrosity, how long will you interfere…!”

【 ■tack efficiency decr■, auxiliary■ damaged…■iority elimination of ■structive elements under consideration. 】

“How troublesome. At this rate, there won’t even be ground left to stand on…”

Far from close coordination, they were actually interfering with each other, but still, all attacks were currently concentrated on me.

If I stopped moving even for a moment, I’d be beaten like a dog on a chopping board, possibly becoming an unrecognizable corpse even to my parents.

So what could I do? If I didn’t want to die, I had to focus all my attention here and keep dodging every attack.

Like playing tag in a downpour of hole-punching raindrops?

Except for the fact that there were three “it” players and that stopping meant death, it wasn’t much different from a children’s game.

“Indeed, you are quick. Like an insect fleeing its natural predator.”

As if not pleased with the situation dragging on, the spider woman who had been targeting only me through the downpour muttered in a seemingly disgusted voice.

“…But how long do you think you can keep dodging?”

“Well, until one of you drops dead?”

A response suggesting I was waiting for them to wear each other down in the melee.

It might sound like sarcasm—no, it definitely sounded like sarcasm—but in reality, I was desperately hoping for such an opportunity.

Whether it was Hubrisia or Caljarat, if either one made a mistake and received a fatal wound from the Fallen Angel, nothing would be more welcome to me.

“What a preposterous wish. Save your sleep-talking for your bed.”

“What, are you offering to lie down with me? Is it mating season?”

“…What, what did you say, mating season…?!”

Of course, the spider woman dismissed it as sleep-talk and sneered as if to say don’t expect such luck, but when it came to sneers and mockery, I wasn’t one to back down.

“I’m flattered, but unfortunately, I don’t have a taste for rolling around with spiders. Maybe if you removed all your back legs, I might consider it.”

“You vulgar thing, what nonsense are you spouting now!”

“You need to bear more children, right? Let me help you with that. Though you’ll be the one giving birth.”

“Ha…! Such a deranged…!”

Hubrisia was left speechless by my retort, her mouth gaping in disbelief as she momentarily froze.

– KWADUK!

In that moment, the Fallen Angel’s beam of light grazed the spider woman’s head, tearing off one of the horns protruding from her temple.

“Keuht…!”

Gritting her teeth, she clutched the spot where the horn had been torn off with her left hand, and rapidly moved her spider legs to twist space itself, deflecting the subsequent barrage of light.

“Oh, one handle broke off. Now we can do it lying on our sides, right?”

Even while busy dodging slashes and beams, I looked at her state and smiled provocatively.

“Crazy wench…!”

Hubrisia, out of words, could only curse. Her four eyes, mixed with contempt, anger, and pain, glared fiercely at my smiling face.

Must be quite painful. That’s what happens when you suddenly stop moving. In a situation where bombardment is raining down from above.

Honestly, it was just a minor wound, hardly significant damage, but seeing her like that somewhat relieved my frustration from being forced into a defensive position.

“KREUUUAAAAA—!!”

Meanwhile, one orc who had been accumulating frustration without any chance to vent like me, finally reached the limit of his patience and half lost his sanity.

“Fine, then! If you insist on interfering like that, I’ll split you in half first and bury you in a pile of dirt!”

Raising his head with a roar like an enraged wild boar, Caljarat immediately kicked off the ground and soared into the sky like a shell.

Four greatswords wrapped in undulating, formless energy shattered the beams of light pouring down on him… no, when did one of them break? It’s not even four anymore.

Anyway.

– KWAJIJIJIJK!

The light clusters shattered and scattered. The War Devil’s 3.5 remaining greatswords frantically sliced through the air, breaking and scattering the Fallen Angel’s beams of light.

【 ■gerous entity appr■. Changing response str■. 】

“GET-BURIED—!”

And the next moment. Caljarat, having reached right in front of the creature, raised his heel high and struck down on the Fallen Angel’s halo, which had begun to shine blindingly.

A clash both mythical and barbaric, as well as primitive.

The result was surprisingly…

…I don’t know. It wasn’t my business, so I didn’t watch till the end.

That’s natural, right? Who has time for that now?

“—The interference has stopped?”

In this golden opportunity when both the Fallen Angel and Caljarat were fully focused on each other, with all attacks aimed at me suddenly ceasing.

“Oh no…!”

“Then you should stop too.”

【 Defying Fate 】

The second time-stop I cast. Hubrisia, who was urgently trying to distance herself with a startled expression, froze in that very posture.

– KEUDEUDEUDEUK.

Perhaps due to the spatial distortion field she had deployed earlier, she wasn’t completely stopped and was still twitching her limbs very slowly.

– KARDEUK…!

This is about to break. If it’s spatial distortion, Heaven Slash would be greatly weakened if I tried it, so…

That was about 1 second in my perception.

It took 3 seconds to kick off the ground, charge toward her, and swing Durandal with maximum force.

And 1 second later. Like a glass garden shattering in an earthquake, the world of Defying Fate reached its time limit and collapsed.

– KWAJIK!

From her exposed flank to the opposite shoulder, the spider queen’s upper body fell, split diagonally, spraying blood and entrails.