Arthur opened his mouth in shock as he watched the fireballs heading toward them like shells. Memories of his first night in this world fshed through his mind.
He remembered that deafening roar that made him feel unbelievable terror. Even though his new life had been full of scary moments in general, he had never forgotten that exact moment.
It was like a bell announcing the start of everything—the start of his misery and his endless struggle to survive.
What made it even more ridiculous back then was that the very next morning after that night, he ran into the spider woman’s nest and experienced a different kind of terror, one that still haunts him to this day.
Woooosh!
The fireballs flew past them without hitting. At that moment, warmth spread through the sky, and the bright orange light reflected in his eyes.
His shock disappeared, repced by a resigned expression. He took a deep breath, followed by a long sigh full of disappointment and frustration.
'Seriously… what are the odds?’ Just when I thought I’d be free, this thing appears. I don’t even know exactly what it is.
One thing’s for sure—it’s very strong. If it weren’t, this arrogant bug wouldn’t be panicking and running like this.’
He stole a quick gnce at the spider woman’s head. Despite his narrow view, he noticed the tension and seriousness in her expression.
'That bastard destroyed everything I worked hard for.'
His emotions were mixed as he activated the "Evaluation" skill, scanning the huge monster that continued its desperate chase, its eyes bzing with killing intent and extreme hatred.
[ Race: Obsididrake
Rank: B
Primary Evolution Path: Crawling Mountain (B)
Secondary Evolution Path: Fme Dragon (C+)
Potential Main Csses: Defender / Warrior (B)
Potential Subcsses: Pyromancer (C+) ]
When he saw his high Attributes, the fears he had been dreading were confirmed, and he let out another frustrated sigh.
'What am I supposed to do now? If I get stuck between their fight, I’m dead for sure. One random attack from either of them is enough to turn me into minced meat.'
He worked his mind with all his strength, trying to come up with a useful idea. While he was thinking, the spider woman nded lightly on the ground, making his body shake slightly, then she jumped again and flew far away.
About half a mile behind her, the Obsididrake attacked once more, unching another volley of fireballs, even bigger and hotter than the previous ones.
Boom!
As soon as the fireballs reached them, they exploded with destructive force, sending out a scorching wave of fire that burned everything in its vicinity.
"Damn it."
Arthur was caught off guard. At top speed, he activated "Immortal Body" to protect himself. But his fears were unnecessary—the spider woman had already surrounded them both with a thick barrier of interwoven silk threads.
Woooosh!
The fmes engulfed them, and the yers of the barrier began to burn one by one. Thick bck smoke shot up, and a shockwave pushed them aside with force, changing their trajectory.
Inside, Arthur felt intense heat. Although he wasn’t injured, "Immortal Body" consumed 60 HP from the total damage it could withstand.
Crack!
After about two seconds, the fmes faded and the air cooled. The barrier cracked and crumbled, revealing the blue sky streaked with smoke. He rexed slightly, and without hiding his concern, he asked.
"My dy, who is this monster and why is it hunting you as if it has a personal vendetta against you?"
The spider woman was already in a turbulent state of mind, and hearing his question annoyed her intensely. She snapped back irritably,
"Shut up! Stay put and remain silent until I command you otherwise."
In truth, Arthur didn't realize—or more accurately, didn't give the matter much thought due to the gravity of their situation—but the fact that he was riding her this way made her boil with internal rage.
It felt like an insult that was difficult for her to accept.
Previously, given her haste to escape and the knowledge that he would be killed if she left him behind—something she simply would not allow—she had been forced to crush her pride and ego, and carried him on her back.
She gritted her teeth, directing all her spite and anger toward the Obsididrake, as it was the root cause of all this.
She nded on the ground, making the earth shake violently, then activated the "Burst Steps”" skill and leaped away for the third time.
While hurtling through the air, she attacked first this time, unleashing a dense barrage of spears toward the ground behind her.
The white spears flew at an insane speed, making them barely visible. As they reached the Obsididrake, it opened its wide maw and breathed a pilr of fire, burning and melting most of the spears.
As for the few that managed to reach it, they had become too weak and bounced off its tough skin without leaving even a small scratch.
Seeing one of her strongest attacks fail so easily, the spider woman’s tension increased, and fear began to take hold of her.
'Why now? Why? I still haven’t fully regained my strength. I can’t face him… damn it. Obviously, he knows that and will do everything he can to stop me from escaping. This is a massive problem.'
The spider woman didn’t know what to do. In terms of raw power, she was originally stronger than the Obsididrake because of her superior bloodline.
But since she hadn’t fully recovered from her fight with the humans, her current strength barely exceeded C Rank monsters and didn’t reach B Rank.
To make matters worse, their speeds were almost equal, making it far from easy to escape.
Panicked, she unched another set of spears, followed by several sticky web balls, hoping to slow him down even a little.
Her thoughts raced. Although she admittedly possessed a few hidden cards, they were reserved as a st resort given the danger of using them and the violent backsh she might suffer.
While she was drowned in her hesitation, the air went still for a moment.
The Obsididrake stopped running, gathered all the mana he could in his throat, and unleashed his most powerful long-range attack: a beam of highly concentrated fire that looked like a line of light.
The spider woman felt an imminent danger, and even Arthur’s senses screamed in terror. Involuntarily, he dug his cws deeper into her back, gripping tightly, and shouted,
"My dy, do something...!"
Before he could even finish his sentence, in the blink of an eye, the fire beam reached them.
At her maximum speed, the spider woman built several web barriers behind her and surrounded them both in a solid white spherical yer of interlocking webs as a second defense.
But it was useless. The beam pierced through the web barriers with ease. As for the spherical yer, it slightly lessened the intensity of the attack before shattering, allowing the beam to hit them directly.
Boom!
In that moment, time slowed down in Arthur’s eyes. He saw the beam strike the left side of the spider woman’s body and explode, spreading a wave of searing fmes.
To save himself, he pushed off her back; nonetheless, the wave of fire swallowed him, and the shockwave of the explosion unched him away. The barrier of his "immortal body" skill shattered, and he fell toward the ground, burning like a meteor.
