Ch.4040. Spider Hunt (2)

[I will protect Sione Sianella.]

[A portion of your power is being released in a limited way.]

An ability I gained after saving Sione from those demon worshipper bastards.

Perhaps thanks to my will to protect Sione, I felt my physical abilities and mana capacity increase.

I immediately began squeezing out my mana.

If my timing was even slightly off, Sione’s head would obviously be pierced by the fangs of that house-sized spider.

My actions were more urgent and swift than ever before.

A bug as big as a house wouldn’t just fly away with a little gust of wind.

WHOOSH!!!

I created flames by unleashing 40% of my total mana all at once.

“Get down!”

There was no time to waste on polite speech.

At my loud shout, Sione, who had been walking with an abundance of naivety, turned around to look at me.

“Huh?”

Perhaps because I was making a fierce expression while creating a fireball.

Sione’s face filled with shock.

Regardless.

I threw the fireball before it was too late.

BOOM!!

An explosion sounded above Sione’s head.

“SHAAAA!!”

Fortunately, the Arachne was hit by my magic before it was too late.

The blast pushed the monster back, causing it to fail in its attempt to crush Sione’s head.

Then the Arachne glared at me fiercely with six eyes dripping with madness.

Well, I suppose it makes sense that the spider would resent me.

Its prey was about to enter its mouth when my interference caused its hunt to fail.

The Arachne began to create distance between us using its eight legs, becoming cautious.

Having no immunity to bugs with more than three pairs of legs, I couldn’t help but grimace at the disgusting sight.

While watching the spider’s movements, I asked my master who always seemed to attract trouble:

“Are you alright?”

“…I thought I was going to die of shock.”

“In reality, if I had been even a little later, you would have lost your life.”

Sione nodded while trying to maintain her composure.

She must have seen that cursed spider being knocked back by the explosion above her head.

Sione must have intuitively understood what was happening.

Soon I could see Sione’s gaze following the Arachne with clear focus rather than a dumbfounded expression.

“I can sense Magia from that Arachne.”

“…Indeed, it showed no signs of fear even after being hit by fire. So it’s been contaminated by Magia.”

…The situation has become more troublesome.

In my current state, taking down a normal Arachne would be somewhat challenging.

If it’s contaminated with Magia, it becomes even more difficult.

Despite being a spider, it’s as big as two adult men.

If a spider that already has good endurance is also infused with Magia…

It’s obvious that planting a few arrows wouldn’t make any impact on a creature that can forget pain due to Magia.

“Can’t we run away?”

I immediately shook my head at her words.

“We can’t escape from it in this forest. If we try to run, it will shoot webs to catch our ankles. If we show any weakness, it will immediately thrust those venomous fangs at us.”

“…So we’re trapped in its backyard.”

“Exactly.”

Sione’s expression perfectly described our situation.

This forest is the hunting ground where Arachne go wild.

If we try to flee, the spider will spew threads like spitting phlegm to bind us and drain our blood while hunting us down.

Since we have no choice but to fight…

I immediately shot an arrow and said:

“Be careful of the threads it spits out. Once caught, I can’t guarantee I can free you.”

“SHAAAA!!”

As soon as it saw the arrow being shot, the monster’s four pairs of legs kicked off the ground, launching its body.

Then it climbed up a nearby tree at a terrifying speed.

How such a large body could climb trees so well was beyond me.

I gathered mana to prevent it from escaping further up the tree and out of sight.

A whirlwind erupted, causing leaves to rise.

TWANG!!

The bowstring released with a cry.

The arrow flew straight through the rising leaves at an incredible speed.

“SHIIIIIK!!”

My arrow lodged deeply into the Arachne’s abdomen.

Displeased with the sharp metal fragment deeply embedded in it, the creature cried out with an indescribable sound.

‘The mana efficiency improvement isn’t bad.’

The slightly improved mana efficiency thanks to Siabel was not bad.

I could clearly feel that the amount of mana needed to create a whirlwind had decreased compared to before.

Creating flames hot enough to burn the Arachne still consumed a lot of mana.

But I could use this small wind magic several more times.

Just then.

SWOOSH!!

I heard something cutting through the air beside me.

“As expected, I can’t hit it from this distance.”

Sione had also begun aiming her bow at the Arachne.

Although her arrow didn’t reach the Arachne due to the distance,

it was enough to divert the creature’s attention from me to her.

Becoming aware of Sione again, it hurriedly climbed to the top of the tree.

“…This isn’t good.”

I created another whirlwind and shot an arrow, but couldn’t stop the Arachne’s movement.

Rustle rustle.

The Arachne began moving busily, hiding itself among the dense leaves.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

I should have prevented it from climbing the tree somehow.

In the end, the Arachne secured the high ground.

Now, not only did we have to look up to track its position,

but we also had to avoid or cut the spider webs that could be shot at us at any moment.

Suddenly, the rustling sound of leaves disturbed by the Arachne stopped.

SHIIIK!!

Sticky spider silk shot toward Sione from behind.

“Ah…!”

Sione, who was just drawing her bowstring, couldn’t possibly avoid such a sudden attack.

I immediately created a gentle breeze to quickly grab Sione and pull her into my arms.

In the midst of this,

“SHIIIIIK!!”

For whatever reason,

the Arachne that had climbed all the way up the tree threw itself down toward my head.

“This is really insane.”

Korean words escaped my lips involuntarily.

I briefly met Sione’s eyes.

“…Ray?”

“Don’t call me, just…”

I threw Sione, whom I had been embracing, with all my might.

“Protect your head.”

“What do you mea—KYAAAK!”

Judging by her startled scream, she probably rolled on the ground several times.

Unfortunately, with my own life in danger, I couldn’t worry about Sione anymore.

That eight-legged cursed monster was free-falling right toward my head.

I needed to escape quickly before being crushed under it.

I immediately retreated using a gentle breeze and began confronting the Arachne.

THUD!

The monster’s eight legs touched the ground.

Although I had thrown Sione away and immediately pulled back, the distance between the Arachne and me wasn’t very far.

“SHAAAAK!!”

As a result, it charged forward, brandishing the large venomous fangs responsible for paralyzing venom among the two pairs of fangs attached to its mouth.

SWOOSH!!

It immediately shot multiple spider webs.

Despite trying to dodge using elemental magic,

the distance was frustratingly narrow,

and the speed of its webs was so fast that I couldn’t avoid all of them with just a gentle breeze.

“Damn it.”

Sticky spider silk pressed against my right foot, restricting my movement.

Before, Arachne were monsters I could easily take down with just one pull of the bowstring.

I wonder why my life has become so wretched.

I looked at the spider rushing toward me, now raising its inner pair of small fangs containing deadly poison along with its paralyzing fangs.

If I let myself get caught like this, I’d die a miserable death.

I gathered all my remaining mana.

I can’t accept dying to just one Arachne.

Instead of my usual wind, I drew upon fire elemental magic to its maximum extent that I could handle.

The power of fire-infused elemental energy began to concentrate in my sword.

The sword didn’t turn red from the heat.

Elemental flames have the ability to burn only what the caster wishes to burn.

The problem was that the rapid depletion of mana caused extreme fatigue.

‘I’ll have to sacrifice one arm.’

Since it was obvious that the Magia-infected creature would come to bite me regardless of any ordinary attack,

I was aiming for its brain, right behind those disgusting eyes.

However, it was clear that I would get bitten somewhere while tearing into its brain.

I was prepared to give my left arm to those large fangs.

What makes Arachne dangerous is their inner fangs, not the outer ones.

Their paralyzing venom isn’t strong enough to stop the heart.

Just enough to make you unable to move.

“SHAAAA!!”

It extended its large fangs.

Before my head or shoulder could be bitten, I quickly offered my left arm to it.

“Fuck, really…!!”

CRUNCH.

It really fucking hurts.

Those protruding fangs that deliver paralyzing venom are also used to tear flesh and crush bones of their prey.

The monster’s teeth crushed my left arm while injecting paralyzing venom.

Even if my left arm becomes a rag, as long as I survive, they’ll call a priest to heal me somehow.

With gritted teeth, I unhesitatingly thrust my sword, into which I had poured all my mana.

The sword penetrated between the Arachne’s many eyes and entered its head.

WHOOSH!!

Powerful flames erupted from it.

“SHAAAA!!!”

I felt the strength leaving the fangs that were biting me.

Its brain must be getting scrambled in real-time.

It’s amazing that it’s still holding on and biting.

Since it was still annoyingly biting my arm, I twisted the sword with all the strength I could muster.

“Shaaaa…”

Only then did the life begin to fade from the Arachne’s six eyes.

“Haa…haa…”

I gasped for breath.

There was no benefit to keeping my left arm pierced by fangs any longer, so I hurried to retrieve it.

Finally, extreme fatigue washed over me like a wave.

And now the paralyzing venom had spread, making it difficult to move even a finger.

THUD.

My legs could no longer support my body, and I collapsed backward.

Blood continued to flow from the hole in my arm, which needed to be dealt with somehow.

But not only my legs, even my right arm wouldn’t move easily.

Then my eyes began to close.

Perhaps because I had burned through all of the remaining 50% of my mana at once, the effects of mana exhaustion were greater than expected.

I turned my head one last time to look at the spot where I had thrown Sione.

Kid, at least I have loyalty.

Sione was looking at me with tears streaming down her face as if she were heartbroken.

Soon she approached me and seemed to be saying something, her lips moving.

I looked at her, trying to ask her for healing, but I couldn’t make a sound.

And finally, not long after, my vision faded to black.