38 Chapter 38: A rat

Ryan didn't use any spell and made faulty circles on purpose to make them explode.

It was a big wastage of mana.

Arachne screamed in pain as her Queen spider form rushed at Ryan, her fangs spitting poison uncontrollably. She was enraged by Ryan's remark.

Arachne's healing increased to a greater degree as the wounds from the explosion healed even before they could hinder her battle prowess.

She moved as her glowing red eyes analysed everything around her. Her movement speed increased so much that Olivia and Elijah were not able to perceive her.

Elijah was about to join Ryan but he was stopped by Umbra's fierce gaze. Umbra let out a domineering meow to warm them to stay put.

Umbra was calm like an undisturbed pond but it was just the surface, deep inside she was holding herself back from joining the fight.

'Kill her, skewer her, turn her into minced spider meat.' She couldn't help thinking about the woman's death.

Ryan was surrounded by multiple webs which she weaved in just a moment. The webs had poison dropping from them.

This was the strongest type of poison the queen of spiders had. She was not holding back anymore. She hates it when someone calls her a coward.

Ryan was grinning ear to ear. He wanted to provoke her more, so he started laughing and said "You should have the queen of sewer rats."

Ear piercing screech was released from Arachne. The terrain started breaking to pieces, hindering Ryan's movements. He kept his calm and started flying.

"Umbra, cover them." Ryan transmitted to Umbra.

Umbra quickly turned into a bear and covered the duo with her body.

"Ever heard of an uno reverse card?" Ryan said before punching down the already broken floor.

The ground couldn't hold it anymore and started shaking violently and got completely destroyed. The destroyed parts of ground went flying towards Arachne and proceeded to fall down on the giant spider queen.

Arachne saw the incoming projectiles but was confident about her defence so she didn't move and let them fall on her.

As expected, the falling projectiles couldn't even scratch her exoskeleton, let alone damage her spider form.

Ryan was surprised because he used almost all of his physical strength which was currently available for him to use.

He was well aware that his magic power, which was stuck at Ex rank, would do no damage to her who somehow didn't get restricted.

'Truly interesting.' He thought with a slight smile, he was not saddened by his disadvantage and accepted his situation calmly.

Ryan's body started changing as obsidian scales started appearing on his body and covered almost all of his body including his neck and moved further to cover half of his cheeks. His eyes turned completely silver with a thin slit in between. His height increased from 195cm to 214 cm.

The surrounding mana started to react violently, trying to stop him from what he was doing.

Ryan felt his transformation was already losing power significantly until he was left with just a tiny portion of it.

He flew up with the help of his wings which were twice the size now. He was currently devoid of any emotions. Just a rational man with thoughts of killing in his mind.

"Trial of time." He muttered as both of his hands got covered by black flames which seemed to repeat a single pattern of burning.

BOOOOOOOM

The sound barrier shattered like glass as Ryan reached Arachne in a moment and slammed his fist where her brain was located.

Arachne completely washed Ryan with her venom. Ryan felt slight stings all over his body but he pushed forward and made a tiny crack on her exoskeleton.

Ryan with almost all of his current strength could barely crack her exoskeleton and even then it almost healed immediately but it was enough. Ryan climbed on top of Arachne which caused her to go on a rampage as she moved frantically to make him fall down. Ryan almost lost his balance but he immediately poked her eyes with his sturdy fingers.

Unknownst to Arachne who just ignored Ryan's attack with black flames because it practically did nothing but that same attack was subtly spreading throughout her body. These black flames were not hot in nature, instead they felt calm when someone came in contact with them.

Arachne felt the pain in her eyes reduce as the cooling effect of the flame was making her feel blissful. Ryan still tried to break her exoskeleton but to no avail. He was very surprised that not even his bloodline power could do anything to Arachne.

'I feel weak.' Ryan felt really uncomfortable because he could not do anything to Arachne with his magic powers or physical strength.

Arachne had enough of Ryan's disgraceful acts and jumped from the ground and with the help of her legs she immediately flipped over. It was really instantaneous and really unpredictable.

Ryan was caught off guard by this as he never expected a spider to flip over to crush him.

Ryan was slammed on the broken ground by Arachne, he felt his bones cracking like potato chips. If he was not extremely tolerant to pain he would have screamed his vocal cords out.

Arachne then released her Spider queen transformation and appeared with thick balck smoke around her. In her hand was a sword, her eyes glowed red as he pushed the sword inside Ryan's sword.

Nothing was clearly visible as huge dust clouds were blocking their view. Arachne started laughing crazily until she was struck by a jaw breaking punch on her chin.

She flew back like a punching bag and rolled down on the floor for a few seconds. She immediately stood up after that and fixed her dislocated jaw. She rushed forward with a bang as her sword which itself looked inspired by her spider form.

Ryan stood up from the ground and dusted his clothes. He looked at his skin and saw some patches which returned to their normal human form.

'I don't have much time.' He thought as he gazed at the incoming enemy.

Within a moment Arachne was near Ryan with spider-like fangs erupting from her mouth as her sword was only a metre away. At this moment Ryan's body started glitching and the next moment the sound barrier was broken again but this time because of his leg which was broken by the impact itself.

BOOOOOOOM

Arachne's body went flying as her head was smashed by the most deadly kick Ryan knew. Her spine was broken which caused her to die instantly.

You might be wondering why now? When Ryan was struggling to even pierce through her exoskeleton.

Yup you got it. Exoskeleton.

Arachne in the heat of the moment released her spider queen form which made her vulnerable. Ryan took advantage of it and used the most powerful kick he could muster.

By twisting his body towards one side and lowering one of his hands onto the ground for balance, he launched the opposite leg into the air in a semi-circular movement which gave all the momentum required for the heel to generate enough force for him to strike Arachne's head with his heel.

It was powerful, this kick was from Capoeira and was known as Meia lua de compasso. A very deadly kick if performed correctly.

In the hands of a supernatural being this beautiful kick became a strong and unpredictable weapon.

Imagine having a momentum so high that you smash someone's head with just your heel.

Ryan's body returned to normal as the scales disappeared completely. His height returned to normal with his eyes. The transformation was released.

Ryan dropped to the ground and vomited a stream of blood. He started coughing continuously as his spirit consciousness threw the people who were hiding inside his mind space.

Elijah and Olivia rushed towards him and crouched down to his level. Olivia made him drink some water as he was clearly thirsty.

"F#ck, Elijah you got a bottle?" Ryan cursed out loud.

Elijah didn't say anything and took out a bottle of vodka. Ryan started gulping down profusely until the bottle was empty.

'Hits the spot.' He thought while he stood up and walked towards Arachne's dead body. Elijah and others followed him while Umbra just casually went inside his mind space.

Ryan saw the body which was slammed near the huge entrance which opened after Arachne lost her life. Ryan crouched in front of her and said in a respectful tone.

"I enjoyed this fight. You are not a coward as you fought me till your death."

"Peace to your soul, Queen." Ryan stood up and started leaving the boss room. Others followed him with a daze.

Behind them blue flames were burning as the first hurdle was put down by Ryan. They didn't know it now, but this day would remain in their mind for years to come.

Ryan's thought process was simple, you are either a rodent or a warrior. You either run or fight till you die and Arachne clearly fought till her death. Ryan let her go easy because Arachne was not the one responsible for this whole mess. It was someone else. Someone who stepped on a dragon's tail.

The labyrinth was starting to shake violently as the ceiling started to fall down on the ground. Ryan sent the entire group inside his spirit consciousness again because they would not be fast enough to leave on their own.

Floor by floor the Labyrinth started to get destroyed but it was not a problem because the person who was to lead an army out in the world was already gone. A gate is of no use if one one opens it for you.

But an explosive was inevitable.

They quickly got out of the portal which lost its previous orange colour and turned white. As they stepped inside they felt their body going through a very similar feeling they felt many times in their lives after the cataclysm. They cleared a Labyrinth but this time it won't come back to haunt them after two weeks.

OUTSIDE THE PORTAL

"Brother Guss, Guild leader Olivia's squad went inside almost 12 hours ago. Do you think they are fine?" He asked his subordinate who was gawking at the women and girls who were passing through the road near the portal.

This portal was one of the most prioritised ones among the S ranked labyrinths because this place was exactly in the middle of the city which made it more prone to destruction if the monsters from the labyrinths broke out of the portal.

"You paedophile, why are you looking at young girls?" The man was furious and screamed out in disgust.

"Man really? I am looking at their mothers. Married women are really hot." Guss didn't mind his subordinate's behaviour and let go of it easily.

"Oh sorry for misunderstanding you." He was still not convinced but knew it was not worth arguing about.

"No problem man, why don't you tell me your type?" Guss asked with a cheerful smile.

"My type? Let me think." He started pondering and took 5 whole minutes to find an answer.

"I like tall women with big asses." He said with a lecherous grin.

'Heh….. he's worse than me. I guess working for the association made him lose his rationality.' It was good that Guss didn't speak his hypocritical remark because if he did, he would have been kicked in the throat by the man before him.

They kept talking happily until they felt someone coming out of the portal. It was easy to tell because the aura powerful people released was on the next level. They could easily feel goosebumps when they come near a S rank. It was a natural reaction but when today he met the first Ex ranked guardian he felt like he was standing in front of someone really close to him. Like his father for instance.

Ryan came out with his tattered clothes as not a single wound remained on his body. His skin glowing beneath the dust, reflecting the moonlight.

"Everyone take the civilians as far away as possible." Ryan said as the portal behind them started to crack after everyone came outside.

_________Thanks for reading__________

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