For a few seconds, Samael simply stared at the chimera spider.
Then, he kicked off the ground.
The earth exploded beneath his feet.
His body shot forward like an arrow.
Folly traced a diagonal arc, aimed directly at the creature's female torso.
The spider-woman merely raised one hand.
Almost invisible, dozens of silvery threads appeared before the blade.
The sword sliced through them one after another.
But...
Each thread stole a little of its momentum.
By the time it finally reached its target, the strike had lost almost all of its power.
The chimera caught the blade with her bare hand.
Samael immediately twisted his hips and delivered a kick toward the humanoid torso.
Before it could even connect...
His ankle was caught.
Silvery threads coiled around his leg like serpents.
At the same time, Elisa charged.
The enormous white serpent slammed into the creature's eight legs.
Absolute frost collided with thousands of shimmering threads.
Two opposing forces erupted against one another.
Can I swap with her ability...?
It was the first time he had tried to steal the power of a Nightmare Creature.
The next instant...
His Soul Core seemed to become a bottomless abyss.
His essence vanished like water pouring into an endless sinkhole.
What an absurd amount of essence...!
His distraction lasted only a moment.
It was enough.
The woman's pale hand struck him square in the chest.
BOOM!
Samael was hurled through the air.
Before he could crash into a tree, Elisa abandoned the clash and wrapped her tail around him, cushioning the impact.
When he looked ahead again...
A chill ran down his spine.
The dozens of spiders were merely watching.
They formed a massive circle around the battlefield.
None of them interfered.
As though the battle belonged exclusively to their queen.
That was far more disturbing than a coordinated assault.
Then...
The ground trembled.
A Corrupted Creature burst through the trees, charging toward the battlefield.
It had most likely been drawn by the thunder.
For a brief moment, Samael believed it might help him.
But that hope died in the very next instant.
The spiders swarmed the creature.
The Corrupted beast roared.
Each strike tore several of them apart.
Even so...
Others immediately took the place of the ones that died.
Bites.
Threads.
Legs.
Venom.
The enormous creature was slowly swallowed by the white tide.
Compared to that overwhelming number of spiders...
Even a Corrupted Creature looked helpless.
— Cough...!
Samael spat out blood.
His chest burned.
That single blow felt as though it had crushed part of his ribcage.
Elisa attacked again.
Taking advantage of the opening she created, Samael leaped toward the chimera once more.
He dodged a punch.
Folly descended toward the creature's neck.
Instinctively, the woman tried to control her threads.
But they did not respond.
For a brief instant...
Her own threads restrained her arm.
The bindings snapped immediately.
Even so...
The delay was enough.
The sword carved a shallow cut across her neck.
— HGGRRRAAH!!
Both mouths roared at once.
The human one.
And the arachnid one.
Consumed by fury, the chimera shifted her focus to Elisa.
The massive legs came crashing down like spears.
The serpent slithered gracefully between them.
Not every attack could be avoided.
Wounds began to cover her scales.
Even so...
Elisa kept fighting.
Ice slowly crept over the queen's legs.
Reduced to an Echo...
She still carried the pride of a Fallen Creature.
A former sovereign.
A predator that had once ruled part of the Serpent King's territory.
My essence is almost gone just from using her threads...
Samael breathed heavily.
I won't use the swapped ability.
His strategy changed immediately.
He dodged another punch.
Tried to sever one of the woman's arms.
She evaded.
At the same moment, Samael summoned the Ascended Spear above the creature's head.
The weapon began to fall.
While waiting...
He continued weaving through her attacks.
The woman was clumsy.
She fought like a child.
A child with the strength of three elephants.
Samael leaned aside to avoid another punch.
But...
The fist changed direction halfway through the swing.
She learned...
With no time to escape, he crossed his arms before his face.
The impact rattled his bones.
His body was nearly thrown off the spider's back.
The Ascended Spear finally descended.
The chimera raised a hand to catch it.
The instant her fingers touched the weapon...
It dissolved into particles of essence.
Samael had dismissed the summon.
The woman turned her head.
For the first time...
She looked irritated.
Before he could capitalize on her distraction, the enormous spider violently shook its body.
Samael lost his balance.
He was thrown forward.
At the same time, the four front legs came crashing down toward Elisa.
The serpent narrowly dodged.
Samael took advantage of the momentum.
He slipped past a punch that grazed his cheek.
Pivoted on his supporting foot.
Lowered his center of gravity.
His heel traced a perfect arc.
BANG!
A spinning kick struck the woman's face.
She crossed her arms into an X to block it.
Just like Samael...
She was learning during the fight.
The moment she blocked the kick, she answered with an uppercut.
Samael dodged by mere centimeters.
He countered with a straight punch.
The woman tilted her head exactly as he had done moments earlier.
While the two exchanged blows...
One of the spider's legs pierced straight through Elisa's body.
The serpent was thrown away.
Her scales were drenched in blood.
Even so...
She had not fought in vain.
One of the queen's legs had been completely torn off.
Three others were almost entirely frozen.
Around them, the forest had vanished.
The battlefield was devastated.
Covered in ice and craters.
In the distance, the Corrupted Creature finally collapsed.
The spiders had won.
Of the fifty-six that had surrounded Samael...
Fewer than twenty remained.
The gap between Ranks became monstrous the higher one ascended.
Even so...
They had brought down a creature far stronger than themselves through sheer numbers alone.
Meanwhile, the battle raged on.
Folly continued carving fresh wounds into the chimera's body.
But her attacks also became more refined.
More precise.
The blood of both fighters dripped over Elisa's white scales.
Desperate...
After taking another punch that left his arm completely numb...
Samael did the last thing the creature expected.
He lunged forward.
And bit her face.
His teeth tore away a chunk of the woman's cheek.
The chimera finally retreated.
Panting.
Samael was panting as well.
At that moment...
He felt his Soul Core run dry.
His essence was gone.
His Dormant Ability returned to normal.
— Shiii...
Elisa's weak hiss echoed behind him.
When he turned around...
His heart tightened.
The serpent lay on the ground.
Her body was nearly destroyed.
A massive leg descended to finish her off.
Without hesitation, Samael dismissed her.
The next instant...
The leg slammed into the ground.
The explosion hurled earth, ice, and stone in every direction.
He caught one last glimpse of Elisa's eyes before she disappeared.
They were filled with pain.
But also...
With pride.
The battle had cost the queen dearly.
One of her legs remained torn off somewhere on the battlefield.
Samael breathed with difficulty.
His entire body ached.
The only reason he was still alive was Folly's enchantment.
Every wound he inflicted upon the chimera restored a small portion of his vitality.
Without that sword...
He would have died long ago.