My head was spinning rapidly. An unexpected series of coincidences led to the worst possible outcome, and the situation was dire.
Lize was getting pushed back because she couldn’t perform a proper area attack while protecting me, and Claudia had clear limits because her weapon was a greatsword from the start.
Erica, just about to be bled dry by Arachnae, needed no further mention.
‘Is there a way? There has to be.’
I sliced through a spider leaping at my face in one clean motion and focused on finding a solution to this predicament.
First and foremost, saving Erica took priority, followed by ensuring that Lize and Claudia were not overwhelmed by the baby spiders. I needed to achieve both almost simultaneously.
Desperately, I wracked my brain. Solutions came to mind for each situation, but I couldn’t think of a way to handle both at once.
Was there a method to handle two things simultaneously? There must be…
‘There is.’
Suddenly, a ray of light flashed through my mind. If done right, I could tackle both issues at once and break through this situation.
‘…Could it work?’
However, I had no confidence that it would succeed.
If the development didn’t unfold as I wished, or if Arachnae’s behavior differed from my predictions, I’d be dead for sure. This was a gamble I was reluctantly making with the odds.
‘No, either way, I’d die if I stayed like this.’
I steeled my resolve. Right. Staying here meant death anyway.
First off, Erica would die, and then Arachnae, who had recovered her health, would charge at us. Either I’d end up bled dry like Erica or be chewed to death alive, one or the other.
If I was going to die anyway, it made more sense to bet on the option with a higher probability of survival.
“Claudia!”
I shouted for Claudia. The situation was so urgent that I had no time for honorifics. The helmeted head turned in my direction.
“Thunderstorm! Maximum power!”
At my words, both Claudia and Lize recoiled simultaneously. Although my statement was a bit disjointed, the meaning was clear.
“Are you out of your mind, Delta?! You’ll die too!”
“I don’t care! Hurry up! We all die otherwise!”
I shouted, leaving behind all formalities and manners. Claudia hesitated for a moment but seemed to decide to trust me, changing her stance with the greatsword in hand.
As if to buy time to use it at maximum power, I saw Claudia unleashing thunder around us mercilessly, and I turned to Lize while simultaneously blasting two baby spiders.
“Lize! Can you survive on your own?”
“I can, but what about you, Delta?! Two is too much!”
“Throw me over there!”
“What?!”
Lize gasped in horror. The spot I pointed at was where Erica was tangled with Arachnae.
Erica was desperately pushing against Arachnae but clearly had her limits. If left alone, she’d be gone in no more than 30 seconds.
“Are you really out of your mind?!”
“There’s no time! Just do as I say! We need to save Erica!”
Lize shuffled her feet nervously, alternating between the sight of her sister on the verge of death, caught by Arachnae, the swarm of baby spiders closing in, and Claudia, who was prepping the thunderstorm as I instructed.
Then, as if she made up her mind, she summoned a snowstorm, freezing the surroundings entirely.
“Are you sure?!”
“Have I ever doubted it?!”
“Ah, really! Just wait until this is over!”
An ice wall formed beneath my feet, and my body shot up. KWAANG! With a loud bang, I soared into the air, heading straight for Arachnae.
Just as I glanced, I spotted Claudia preparing the thunderstorm. SIZZLE, bolts began to gather around her body. She stood with her knees slightly apart, raising the tip of her greatsword to the sky.
“Die quietly, you little pest!”
Erica bit her lips, glaring at Arachnae, who was baring her fangs, ready to suck blood. Her armor was in tatters.
When she saw me soaring in, her eyes widened in disbelief.
I could see my blood-stained sword. The buff’s duration was still sufficient, and all conditions were met—now it was time to act as my body dictated. I plummeted downward.
With one hand firmly gripping the sword, I grabbed Arachnae by the back of her neck with the other. A significant recoil struck my grabbing arm. I gritted my teeth to withstand my weight.
My body naturally flowed into the next move, just like during a falling attack on a mid-boss in a rune dungeon.
I stomped down on the spider’s carapace with my left leg, pivoting mid-air to face Arachnae, and thrust the blood-stained sword deep into her collarbone.
THWACK!
“AAAAAAAH!”
The spider queen thrashed about, unable to withstand the pain. Consequently, she released Erica, who hit the ground, desperately scrambling for her discarded weapon nearby.
I shouted with the sword still lodged in her collarbone.
“Erica! Flame Barrier! Hurry!”
“Huh? Y-Yes, understood, Mr. Delta!”
Flames erupted from the Japanese sword in Erica’s hand. With this, she should be able to survive the thunderstorm. Lize had likely finished her defensive preparations. Now it was just me left.
Pulling the sword from her collarbone and stepping on her leg, I leapt upwards into the air, trying to achieve a position where I floated right in front of Arachnae.
‘Please, please, please!’
I inwardly prayed as I watched Arachnae writhing in pain. I hoped she’d move just like in the game, without fail.
“This insolent little thing!”
As if answering my plea, Arachnae, with a contorted expression, grabbed me tightly.
‘Got it!’
What I just did was a kind of pattern inducement. Every boss has certain techniques they use when the player meets specific conditions, and there are ways to induce those as well.
In Arachnae’s case, if you jump within reach of her upper body, she will automatically perform a grab attack.
Once caught, there was no normal way to break free, so the developers likely thought that by coding it that way, they could restrict the player’s actions.
But players found a way to use spells with extremely long activation delays and intentionally jump at the right moment to induce the grab pattern, ensuring a sure hit with the spell.
The spells would hit as intended, and due to the stagger from the hit, Arachnae would let go of the player, allowing them to avoid the damage from the grab.
Even though timing was a pain in the neck, once learned, it was a useful technique, and my scheme was similar.
Jumping from the ice Lize created, I soared high, executed the falling attack, and caused Arachnae to miss Erica. I pulled out my sword and jumped again to induce the grab pattern.
‘Thank goodness it worked.’
Honestly, I wasn’t sure about the plan myself.
There was no guarantee Arachnae would let Erica go due to my falling attack. She could’ve just chosen to ignore me and kill Erica.
Moreover, there was no guarantee Arachnae would use a grab pattern on me, given that I hadn’t jumped from the ground, but instead precariously leapt off a spider’s leg.
If either one of those went awry, we’d pay the price with our lives, but since this was the only option that came to mind then, I had no choice.
‘What incredible luck.’
I exhaled a sigh of relief inwardly, staring at Arachnae, who was holding me.
“Looks like we meet again, huh?”
“You’ve come to die! If dying is your wish, then I’ll gladly fulfill it!”
The initial elegant tone and enchanting voice were completely gone, replaced by a jagged, cracked voice and crude speech.
“I will chew you to bits, leaving not a single bone behind!”
SLOSH, the mouth located beneath her abdomen opened wide.
But that didn’t mean she was going to eat me with a human female’s genitalia. Referring to it as a spider’s mouth would be more accurate.
Of course, that depended on how one saw it. It was easy to find people who would think of it as a human organ, given the circumstances.
‘This should be safe, right?’
There were two types of grab patterns: one uses a human mouth to drain blood to death, while the other uses a spider’s mouth to chew players.
However, if you’re grabbed while jumping, there’s a 100% chance of only encountering the chewing pattern through the lower mouth.
The second pattern that would keep me safe from the thunder.
“How many times do I have to say it?”
BOOM!
A loud thunderclap echoed from behind me, causing Arachnae to momentarily freeze in place, sensing something ominous.
It signified that the thunderstorm was ready. I glanced over Arachnae’s shoulder at Claudia.
The dark gray steel greatsword was engulfed in lightning, making it nearly unrecognizable, and Claudia was the same. Massive sparks flew everywhere around her.
The baby spiders couldn’t even approach, trembling in fear as they curled up and died.
“Go ahead, try if you can.”
KABOOM!
Soon, the lightning struck down.
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