Immediately after he was slammed out of the way, another person was killed. It was as if Jack had been the shield protecting everyone, and they all realized this, shouting for the boy to stand up!
'This one seemed even stronger than the others,' Jack thought, feeling a ringing sensation in his mind; even his vision was blurry. He could only see people's mouths moving and could vaguely make out the other Awakened fighting a losing battle against the multiple-legged spider.
Usually, the beasts that roamed this tunnel weren't this strong. In fact, they could even be said to be relatively weak, but all this changed four years ago. The once-weak beasts started to display overwhelming power… as the years went by, it only increased.
Many had stopped using the tunnel because each journey seemed like a gamble.
'But the few of us who can't get in legally only have this tunnel. Our fate might even be worse if we entered legally.' Jack struggled to get back to his feet, holding the odachi for dear life. He then looked at Nox, who was quietly observing everything.
'Was I wrong about you?' Jack thought. 'But I'm certain of my judgment… that speed couldn't be weak, right?'
'Should I ask those Awakened to identify him?' He looked at the fierce battle that was raging on and doubted anyone would answer him.
'I guess it all depends on me now… For the first time, it seems I was wrong,' he sighed, the odachi flashing with lightning.
Sensing its opportunity, the spider turned its attention to the boy wielding the Lightning Odachi.
"Here we go again!" Jack shouted, charging forward to rejoin the fight.
"We… we're all gonna die," the boy beside Nox trembled, tears streaming down his face. Nox wondered how he had not wet himself, but that wasn't important.
What was important was the fight. The spider had broken free from the Awakened circle formation and was now attacking all of them. Bodies were flying through the air, and cries of pain filled the tunnel.
Nox clenched his fists. 'I could just use Phantom Cloak and bypass the spider to continue ahead. Hunting that elemental beast is more important, but… I can't just leave these people.'
At first, Nox thought Jack and the others could handle the spider since it was just an intermediate tier level 9 beast on the cusp of breaking into King Tier. But so far, the fight seemed one-sided with the spider dominating.
'I didn't want to join this fight because of what happened in the demon dimension.' Because he had stood out, Nox was targeted by a level 100-plus demon. If not for the dimensional key, he might've died in that dimension.
After that encounter, during the past years, Nox had used the dimensional key a few more times, and the same thing repeated itself… he stood out and invited trouble. No matter how he tried to reduce his level, he always did, and at this point, he was tired of it.
The giant spider, who had successfully broken out of the formation, screeched and charged forward at the group of non-Awakened, kicking up dust behind it. In a last-ditch effort, Jack appeared before the spider but was slammed away.
Everyone was screaming and running back, even though they knew the gate man wouldn't roll away the boulder. It was better than being eaten alive.
"Sigh, I guess this would be a new drill."
However, a black-haired boy stood out from the group. Instead of running back like the others, he was actually approaching, a dagger in hand.
Jack saw this, and a light flashed across his eyes. Then, before his eyes, he saw something that made him smile.
"Divine Velocity!" Nox shouted, and his body was suddenly covered by golden tendrils of lightning. Then he vanished… reappearing an instant later behind the spider. The only sign of his movement was a fleeting flash of golden light, like a miniature lightning bolt, and a deep crack on his previous standing place.
"Son of a bitch!" One Awakened exclaimed, stunned. "Did he just teleport?"
"Hahahahaha, I knew it, my judgment was never wrong! I knew you were fast, but I didn't think it was this fast!" Jack laughed as he saw a beam of golden light zigzagging between the spider's multiple legs with incredible speed.
The golden beam was fierce and intense, lighting up the entire tunnel. Its speed was also frightening. When the retreating non-Awakened heard the beast screeching, they halted and looked back, a golden beam weaving around a furious spider reflected in their wide eyes.
"What… What is happening?" One man commented with wide eyes.
"Is that golden beam on our side?" Another asked.
Meanwhile, the spider, caught off guard, didn't even have time to react as the golden beam struck, Nox's dagger slicing through its vulnerable underside with ease. The spider let out a deafening screech as it stumbled back and began to thrash about.
The golden beam left a golden trail that lingered in the air, dealing additional damage to the spider, chipping away more of its HP.
"It's getting closer to death, just one fatal attack, and it would be done," Jack said, now standing on his feet. "That dagger seems to be a basic tier super item, he needs something stronger."
Jack stared at his odachi and then had an idea.
"Sully!" He shouted and hauled the odachi towards the spider.
The slim golden beam looked at the odachi and zapped upward. It grabbed the odachi that was flashing with electricity, flipped through the air, and struck with incredible force.
The spider raised a leg to block the attack, but Nox's sword sliced through the leg, severing it with a shower of sparks, and it reeled back. The beam continued its relentless assault for a few more seconds.
With one final attack, the unusually strong intermediate tier beast screeched loudly, its eyes filled with hate as it finally collapsed with a loud bang.
[Ding! You have killed an Intermediate Tier Level 9 Arachnos]
Golden Tickets, Power Stones and Gifts are appriaciated