Chapter 40. Their Battle.
From Adil's perspective.
My battle was only just beginning. Before launching my attack, I stole a furtive glance at Temir, whom Adel was currently tending to. As I carried him, it seemed like most of his bones were broken under the weight of this spider. Heavy thoughts roamed in my mind, mainly revolving around my "foolishness," displayed by not heeding his warnings. If only I had arrived a few seconds earlier, I might have spared him from this fate. Arman's words immediately came to mind.
"Keep an eye on him. He's a bit clumsy, but... he can definitely help," Arman had said before we parted ways. He entrusted me with Temir, believing in my abilities. Now, I felt like a betrayer, having let down his trust.
Perhaps, Arman's words led me to be skeptical of Temir's strength, but that still didn't justify my actions. The only thing I could do now to somehow redeem my guilt was to defeat this spider and protect the group until Arman could overcome Arachna.
So, the battle began. The seven-legged spider leaped toward me at great speed, using the same attack it employed on Temir. Seeing its attack, I leaped to the other side, waiting for the spider to land. Striking the ground with force, the spider released a liquid web that quickly spread across the ground in the form of a 3-4 meter-wide puddle. While the spider recovered from its jump, I decided to attack it using one of my abilities.
"Firecutter," I uttered with an angry voice, as if trying to infuse my anger into the sword. After my words, a fiery trail appeared on the blade of my sword, literally enveloping it. Moving quickly, I reached the spider and, using all my strength, struck its leg right in front of me. The blade smoothly began cutting through, almost severing the spider's leg. However, the sword, as if losing all its strength, got stuck in the spider's flesh, and I had to resort to my next skill.
"Windcutter," I muttered through gritted teeth. My anger grew under the weight of guilt. The more time passed, the more I lamented, with Arman's words and Temir's mangled body haunting my mind.
Driven by my emotions, I invested mana into the ability. The ability created wind, which, with its pressure, intensified the fire on the sword's blade, allowing me to easily finish what I had started. As soon as the sword's blade left the spider's flesh, its leg fell to the ground with a heavy sound. Without giving the spider any time, I decided to attack it again, but this time, the spider used its pincers to defend itself. It placed its right pincer under the attack, absorbing the impact, and then directed its left pincer toward me. The left pincer, aimed at me, flew with great speed, and fearing its impact, I had to roll to the side. Yet, another attack awaited me there.
The spider quickly moved toward me, delivering attacks with its pincers. I instinctively dodged them, but after one of my rolls, I heard the sounds of arrows flying by. Immediately, I thought of the person who could help me—Sasha had finally arrived. She sent more than ten arrows into the spider's leg, hitting it precisely. Unfortunately, her arrows got stuck in the spider's skin, or, more accurately, its armor. However, the time gained was enough for me to approach the spider. With Sasha's assistance, I managed to leave the spider without two legs. Continuing to attack together, we could defeat it. Thus, with renewed determination, I declared:
"This is my last ability. Hope you like it, little spider. 'Magnetic Resonance,'" I shouted through my teeth, and immediately after my words, the ability established a connection between the spider's leg and my sword.
Not everyone may understand my ability. Hearing the word "magnetic," most would think of iron. However, my ability worked a bit differently. It could create an attraction between any object and my sword. After using this ability, my sword seemed to come alive, guiding my strike along the desired trajectory. It was a pity that the ability consumed one-fifth of my total mana, but it was worth it. The following scene proved its appeal. My sword, enhanced by various improvements, severed the spider's leg as if slicing through unprotected flesh, not the monster's armored hide.
The spider, now missing half of its legs, collapsed. Filled with confidence, I prepared for the next strike, as the burden of responsibility still weighed heavily on me. However, in the next moment, the defeated spider, acknowledging its defeat, unexpectedly used its pincers. It latched onto the trunks of trees and, with powerful movements, swiftly uprooted them from the ground. Immediately after, the improvised island, as if losing its stability, slowly began to sink into the swampy mire.
Losing its stable surface, I had to adjust to the pace at which the ground was descending lower. Suddenly, behind me, I heard Adel's voice calling for Sasha's help. Ensuring that the spider wasn't taking any immediate action, I turned towards Sasha. She looked at me, awaiting some form of approval, and with little time to spare, I nodded towards Adel. Following that, Sasha ran to assist. Within a few seconds, they were both swiftly dragging Temir away from this sinking island, while I remained with the spider.
The spider stared at me with the gaze of a cornered rat, as if hiding its last trump card. It clearly expected something, but what? Perhaps it was anticipating assistance from the Dungeon Boss? For me, the appearance of the boss would be the worst outcome. For the lives of the wounded, especially Temir, injured because of me, I was ready to sacrifice my own life. Although I could only hope for the best, anticipating a grueling battle in the swamp. In the swamp, I wouldn't be able to evade the spider's attacks as easily, even though it couldn't move swiftly through the swamp without half of its legs.
Time flowed slowly, as if preparing to come to a halt. Engulfed in thoughts, I didn't take my eyes off the spider, awaiting its next attack. The whole situation grated on my nerves, and the pressure on me kept growing incessantly. It wasn't just the atmosphere created by the spider; it was the thoughts, mixed with emotions of anger and regret. As I lingered in my own world, my intuition screamed danger at me, creating a sense that something lurked, waiting for the right moment to strike. Everyone encounters such fear; many experience it in childhood, fearing monsters hiding in the dark corners of their rooms, perhaps behind the closet door or in the darkness beneath the bed. Now, after traversing so many dungeons, this fear, mingling with my instincts, made me fear an unexpected attack from the depths of the swamp.
Standing with the spider for over ten seconds, the tension only increased, making me afraid to initiate the first attack due to concerns about the spider's new and unknown attacks or another monster. How could it defend itself? Did it have an attack like poison that it would spray on me, or was another monster hiding somewhere in the swamp? It had demolished this little island for a reason. Sweat slowly trickled down my forehead; fully focused on my surroundings, I anticipated an attack. Suddenly, the atmosphere surrounding me was disrupted by the unexpected appearance of Temir.
"What the..." was the only word that managed to escape my lips. Various emotions overwhelmed me, ranging from relief to nervousness. The entire spectrum of emotions filled my cracking head. It seemed like my head would explode from the growing questions within.
Most importantly, I hadn't expected him to show up, as pulling him from under the spider made me think he wouldn't be able to stand on his own two feet, his bones being severely damaged. For me, thinking of such an outcome, fighting the spider together with him, was simply impossible. I couldn't contemplate it, as he couldn't recover from such injuries. And suddenly, an image of Adel appeared in my mind.
I immediately dismissed the idea of her helping him. She couldn't heal him so quickly, let alone heal him to such an extent. It was simply impossible to think of such an outcome, as she couldn't restore someone with broken bones all over their body. And then, a voice interrupted my chain of thoughts.
"Adil, step back, I'll cover you," Temir said, attacking the spider with a bullet.
A bullet?! He surprised me again. I had never seen such abilities, even among awakened individuals at the national level. Right in front of him, something resembling a bullet formed, saturated with a red color and enveloped in wind. Upon his command, it rushed towards the spider, specifically at the leg it raised to attack me. After the strike, a huge hole formed in the spider's leg; now it held on by only two chunks of flesh, barely keeping it attached to the spider's body.
Somewhat taken aback by the alternating scenes, I lost a bit of time but still managed to strike the bloodied leg of the spider, separating it from its flesh. After the strike, as I tried to quickly step back, not giving the spider time to attack me with its pincers, a blob of white liquid hit me. The liquid web engulfed my face, completely covering it, making it impossible for me to inhale or exhale. Trying to remove the liquid web from my face with my hands in surprise, I fell into the swampy mud.
While I struggled to breathe and slowly sank into the swamp, I suddenly felt a pull upward. I felt how the space around me changed rapidly, as if covering a great distance in a snap. In panic, my hands quickly moved around, trying to understand where I was, but suddenly, a gentle hand grasped one of my hands, and incomprehensible sounds began to fill my mind. Calming down a bit, it seemed to me that Adel was addressing me, and after a few moments, I was able to take a deep breath of air. Then, after some time, my face, not entirely but partially, cleared of the liquid web, and that's when I noticed him.
He stood on the spider's corpse, his axe protruding from it. A huge hole glowed in the spider, apparently created by a barrage of bullets he conjured. The atmosphere around him made my pupils dilate. My body was literally covered in goosebumps from head to toe, causing me to startle and fill with emotions of admiration. Glancing at him, you could notice torn pieces of clothing and broken parts of armor, as well as traces of the liquid web. However, despite all this, he stood proudly, towering over the spider, while several birds summoned by him floated around, and a bullet glowing red hovered beside him.