Another wave of attacks!
Every time the snake and the dragon clash, this cave deforms a little more. Rocks constantly fall, and the one suffering from all that—of course—is me!
To them, those falling stones are nothing more than a scratch. But for me? I have to desperately dodge every single rock or risk being crushed to death.
Ughhh daaaaaa.
It hurts like hell.
I feel like all my strength has been drained away.
Waaaaa.
The snake just lazily swung its tail, and I ended up in this pathetic state.
Once again, it's the same issue—I don't have tough skin, so my body is easily damaged by attacks that are only slightly strong.
I looked at my position again, and I'd been flung near the dragon.
Talk about bad luck.
You two sure know how to pick your angles, huh?
But fortunately, the dragon didn't pay attention to me and remained fully focused on the snake.
<
I suddenly felt a slight recovery in my stamina. The effect of [Endurance] was kicking in again.
No time to celebrate—I immediately activated [Stealth] to try to get away. But just then, the snake lunged forward, forming a circle around the dragon... with me trapped inside it.
I had no choice but to stop and hide behind a rock.
I knew that it'd be difficult to escape for now. I needed to observe their battle and wait for the right opportunity. Who knows, maybe I could even profit from this...??
Hehehe, they say if you want to get rich, you have to take risks.
Getting rich from danger—what a wonderful concept!!
I shook off unnecessary thoughts and switched into full observation mode.
The snake, which had been circling around earlier, suddenly charged straight at the dragon and shot a massive object from its mouth. The dragon immediately countered by summoning a stone wall.
What a cool skill!
I had to move quickly too—right after raising the wall, the dragon darted away at high speed. If I had stayed in place, I'd be dead already.
Sure enough, the place where I'd just hidden was destroyed by the impact of the snake's attack against the wall.
Opportunity!
I managed to reach a corner of the battlefield and found a small exit.
I held back my excitement and prepared to escape—but suddenly, a massive stone wall slammed down in front of me. I tried changing direction only to realize that the entire area had been sealed off by stone.
This... is the dragon's skill?
Damn it!
You two are fighting, and I can't even run away?!
The dragon jumped into the air. Then I saw it stepping on something invisible and flying through the air, rapidly closing the distance with the snake.
The snake shot purple poison blobs from its mouth, but the dragon dodged them all, then gathered breath in its mouth and fired back.
The serpent Lorsmot quickly activated some skill, turning its outer skin silver and spiky.
I also quickly activated [Drill Leg] to burrow underground and avoid the upcoming explosion.
But my digging speed was still too slow, and the explosion ended up exposing me.
So strong!
That was probably just a basic attack, not even some overpowered skill.
Wait—here they come again!
Before I could even finish thinking, both the dragon and the snake began gathering energy in their mouths again. It looked like they were preparing a full-power attack.
Whatever you're doing, can't you wait until I dig my hiding spot—?
Aaaaghhh!
Before I could finish shouting, a series of explosions erupted. I had to dodge left and right. Even though I didn't take a direct hit, wounds were piling up all over my body.
Another explosion.
And another one.
Stop it already!
I beg you.
I don't even know how many times I've been flung around. I feel like a toy ball being tossed around for fun.
<
Nai wa~
Did I just acquire a skill...?
Adamantine Body...??
Isn't that just another way of saying "tough skin and hard bones"?
If so, then that's exactly what I needed right now!
I immediately activated the skill, and my entire body turned green—like I'd caught some horrible disease—but it really was the perfect skill for the moment.
This system sure is attentive. It always gives me the exact skill I need at just the right time.
I was celebrating when another attack from the dragon came, blowing everything away again. I got caught in it too, but thanks to [Adamantine Body], the damage was less than before.
If only I could level this skill up quickly. At level one, it won't do much for a fight this dangerous.
Aghh!
Another explosion!
And another!
Dodge! Evade!
What's with this dragon and its obsession with blowing things up?
It has completely devastated the area...
You're destroying the ecosystem, you know!
I struggled to dodge every explosion, but still took damage either from the shockwaves or delayed reactions.
The dragon kept darting through the air, attacking relentlessly. The snake, in contrast, could only defend—it clearly wasn't built for aerial combat. Even when it counterattacked, the dragon just dodged.
At this rate, this fight's gonna end soon. I can finally rest.
But... seems like fate isn't done messing with me.
Suddenly, the snake launched another attack. As usual, the dragon dodged it, but the attack didn't vanish—it curved back and struck the dragon in the back, knocking it down.
Oh, a homing shot?
That's kinda cool.
If I survive this, I'm gonna look for that skill in the store.
And it didn't stop there—the snake launched three more shots. The dragon could only raise stone walls to block, which led to yet another explosion.
I hate explosions!!
Amidst my scream, I was sent flying again by the blast.
<
Uhh... If there's anything good happening right now, it's that my skills are leveling up. The price, though, is my life if I lose focus.
I staggered to my feet, trying to assess the situation.
After that attack, the snake's silver skin disappeared. It wasn't wounded but looked exhausted. The dragon, on the other hand, had sustained dozens of new wounds.
That last move must've drained a lot of energy.
The dragon was clearly fatigued, but the snake didn't let up—it launched another attack. Unlike before, this one didn't vanish when dodged; instead, it duplicated into countless beams and continued chasing the dragon.
The dragon kept dodging, and the beams kept multiplying.
As I was watching, one of those beams suddenly turned and headed toward me.
Nai wa!!
I panicked and dodged—but just like with the dragon, the beam duplicated and kept chasing me.
Why???
What did I do?
Damn snake! Damn dragon!
Aaaaaahhhhh!
Again?!
I focused all my energy on dodging, but the more I avoided them, the more they multiplied. There were dozens now. Even with eight eyes, I couldn't track them all.
Calm down.
Focus.
This is a life-or-death moment.
I've got to use everything I have.
Focus, focus, focus!
I kept telling myself. My eyes darted around rapidly as I twisted my body to avoid the beams.
<
I dodged.
And dodged again.
And kept dodging!
While I was struggling to survive, the dragon was too—already exhausted, and now forced to keep dodging endlessly. The snake didn't stay idle either, occasionally darting in to attack, making things worse for the dragon.
Compared to it, I'm just a bug—something to be swatted away for convenience.
Phew.
I suddenly felt lucky to still be alive.
<
With the skill upgrade, my focus increased—but there's no way I could keep dodging forever.
The effect of [Endurance] seemed to be wearing off, and I was getting tired again.
What's worse, with more beams showing up, I couldn't just dodge—I had to predict their movement too, which wore down my mental strength.
<
I needed a way out.
If I can't dodge them, I'll have to block them...
No. I can't.
First, I don't know if these beams have hidden effects. Blocking without knowing is too risky. Second, there are too many—I doubt I can block them all.
Should've just taken the hit at the start and gotten it over with.
I silently cursed my earlier decision.
Now, blocking was my only option. If I kept dodging, the number of beams would multiply beyond what I could handle.
I tried shooting spider silk to stop them—and luckily, it worked. But not for long—my silk was still too weak. Still, it was something.
With that in mind, I stopped moving and activated [Adamantine Body], then started wrapping myself in spider silk.
The silk layers kept getting destroyed but regenerated again and again. This way, I could gradually whittle down the number of beams around me.
<
Nice!
I was still holding out. Compared to what I feared, these beams weren't as damaging—maybe their power lessened the more they duplicated?
Hmm... I wanted to test it.
So I stopped generating silk and blocked directly using [Adamantine Body].
Just as I thought!
They pierced my defense, but the damage was way less than expected.
Muhahaha, I was right.
Still, it did sting a bit, and I wasn't sure I could take them all... I did a rough count—nearly a hundred beams were chasing me.
If I let them keep multiplying, would their damage continue to drop..?
No, no!
I can't gamble on unknowns like that. In the end, I decided to just tank them all.
It's fine.
I can take it.
Plus, this will help me level up my skill. Just endure the pain a bit longer.
Right now, I'm relying heavily on [Adamantine Body] to tank the aftershocks of the two beasts' battle.
<
Sweet.
Things are looking up for me.
I turned back to check on the fight.
Oh, while I wasn't paying attention, the dragon had found its own way out. It did something similar to me—created a shield to reflect the beams.
The snake was caught off guard and had to dodge several rebounds. Eventually, all the beams were taken care of. Both sides were still just whittling away at each other.
I focused intently on what they'd do next.
Watching their fight, I finally realized: the snake specializes in ranged attacks and defense, while the dragon is all about speed and raw power.
Perfectly balanced opponents.
They really were born to be enemies.
I mumbled to myself and focused again.
After a short standoff, the snake acted first. This time, it curled its body, raised its head, and flared its hood wide.
What now?
Some move-up for a special attack?
The dragon seemed to realize what the snake was doing and charged in recklessly—as if it knew it wouldn't be able to harm the snake in time. It was like there was an invisible barrier between them.
The dragon's action confused me for a moment, but I didn't have time to wonder long. The snake unleashed its move.
I didn't see what it did, but suddenly the dragon staggered back and started thrashing—clearly in pain. I didn't get what was happening, until a wave of agony hit me too, and I collapsed to the ground, writhing.
It hurts!
It hurts so much!
I activated every skill I had, but the pain didn't stop.
Eventually, I realized it wasn't physical pain... It was something else...? Beyond my body—my soul! It was pain from the soul.
That damn snake actually has a soul attack?! How is anyone supposed to deal with that—
Damn it... it hurts so bad!
So, so, SO MUCH!
I writhed and crawled, trying to get farther from the snake, hoping distance would lessen the pain. And it actually worked, but the agony made it hard to move far.
My whole body felt like it was about to shatter.
It hurts!
It really hurts!
Damn snake!
Most of the trouble I've had today came from its skills!
<
Oh, was that a system message? The pain seems to have eased a bit—was it because of that?
<
Still hurts like hell.
But thanks to that skill, I had a little more energy, enough to move farther away. Yet now I was thinking of keeping the distance just right to keep leveling up this skill. I knew this one was crucial right now, so I had to seize the chance.
Haaa.
Humans really are greedy... Wait, I'm a spider now.
So, spiders really are greedy.
<
Thanks to the level-up, I had a bit of brainpower to consider something—why was the dragon writhing in pain like that? From its actions, it clearly knew what the snake was doing, so it must have encountered this before.
And I only suffered for a bit and already got the resistance skill. There's no way the dragon didn't have one by now.
But all I could do was wonder—because right now, the dragon was still writhing in pain.
Looks like it's almost over, huh?
A...ahhh, it hurts!!!
Suddenly, the snake amped up its attack power, and the pain slammed back in like I never had the skill at all. I dropped to the ground again, writhing.
<
Damn snake!!
I practically screamed.