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C160 - Spider King (2)

Leonel's expression grew dignified.

He was reluctant to use his Light Elemental Force. It wasn't because he was trying to hide it, but because the consumption was too great. Not only did it drain his spirit, but it also drained his Force at a much faster rate. Though his Spear Force also had the same impact on him, it wasn't nearly as exaggerated. But, this also made sense since his Spear Force wasn't as powerful either.

But, at this point… What choice did he have?

HONG!

The dull color of Leonel's eyes suddenly lit brightly, a blinding glow shooting out from within their depths.

'Come on, you damned bug.'

Leonel flashed forward, leaving a streak of gold in his wake. He looked like a shooting star streaking across the battlefield, catching the eye of several of the youths battling for their lives. Their blood couldn't help but boil watching Leonel face up against this spider king on his own.

Was this his ability? They all seemed to have this thought.

Leonel crossed into the foggy venom domain of the spider king, sending several piercing strikes forward at once.

The spider king's response wasn't slow. Its sharp steel-like legs deflected the first few as its mandibles chopped at Leonel.

When it saw Leonel retreat out of the way, another streak of silk shot from its mouth, heading directly for him.

Shockingly, Leonel didn't dodge this time, facing the strike head on as a pistol appeared in his hand, already loaded with a dart.

BANG!

CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!

"Ugh…"

Leonel was sent flying. It felt as though the spider king's projectile was a javelin crashing into his chest.

His face turned red and bulged, only for a projectile of blood to fly from his mouth.

The enraged and pain filled roars of the spider caught the attention of the other legions of beasts, but they all hesitated to come forward. There was a reason they were still standing out side the large hill-like hive. They were waiting for the right opportunity to charge in and gain benefits for themselves, if they really left now, who knows what could happen?

These beasts were obviously not stupid. Since this place had such a large pull toward them, it obviously had a massive pull toward others. This was why they were standing in this position. But, despite having evolved, their thoughts were still relatively simple and straight forward. It was difficult for them to respond with great flexibility.

Before they could even make a decision, the situation changed again.

The rumbling of beasts that came from out of the forest suddenly sounded much closer. They could only look over to find hundreds of wild beasts charging over the hills, barreling through and crossing into the gravel filled lands.

Compared to the beast legions with their respective kings, it was clear that these beasts had much less intelligence. Their tongues hung out from their mouths, a red tint coloring their eyes as though they had lost their minds. They wanted nothing more than to find the source of all this rich Force.

Another sharp crack rang out in Leonel's ears as he slid across the ground. He was very much familiar with this sound. He knew that his chain necklace had suffered another break.

Sweeping his Internal Sight over it, his expression somewhat paled. The first break had caused its efficacy to drop by 10%. This time around, the treasure only had 70% of its initial strength left.

Leonel didn't even have a mind to care about his current situation. This treasure had saved his life too many times already. If it really broke completely, it would be too great of a loss to swallow.

He grit his teeth, glaring toward the screaming spider who seemed to not even have a mind to organize its own troops.

'I should have pierced its brain with that strike, but maybe I was too optimistic. I don't know anything about the anatomy of a spider… or maybe it didn't pierce that deeply?'

Leonel shook his head hard. "RUN!"

He snapped the youths who were too focused on battle out of it. They needed to take advantage of his beast tide to apply pressure on the other beast legions. If they were to get caught up in it, their last chance would go up in a puff of smoke.

Leonel grit his teeth, ignoring the pain racking his body to stand.

He sent a glance across the battlefield, sighing a faint breath of relief when he saw that everyone had managed to barely keep some forward momentum and, most importantly, stay together.

Under Leonel's lead, they bolted toward the legion of beasts, their trail being followed by a tide of wild beasts. The spider legion didn't seem to know how to react with their leader screaming out and writhing in pain. They were soon swallowed by the beast tide.

Leonel's heart almost beat out his chest with his every stride, once again swearing to himself that he would most definitely get some sort of transportation treasure.

As he ran, Leonel looked down at his chest with a solemn expression. A web spread out, covering half his chest and his shoulder. With every passing moment, it ate into his energy shield, causing the cracks across it to grow.

'Dammit…'

Without a choice, Leonel took off his tight, black compression shirt before it could continue to corrode the energy shield. He coughed violently, unable to mind the state of his body as he ran.

He really couldn't believe it. He thought that by now, facing even an SSS-grade threat wouldn't put him in too sorry of a position. But now he had suddenly found out that there were still S-grade threats that could push him to this state. At a time like this, he couldn't help but lament that his ability was auxiliary and not attack based.

Leonel shook his head as the distance between him and the five legions closed.

He once again heard Roaring Black Lion's roar sound out from his back. He didn't need to look back to know the beast tide had slowed somewhat because he could clearly see that even that beasts up ahead were greatly affected.

Leonel didn't have the mind to care about anything else. All of his being was focused on charging through the gap left by the spider legion. He wouldn't let anything stop him.

His oppressive aura involuntarily shot out from his body, covering the lands before him in a layer of oppression.

To be continued