Eric sighed. If he had more strength or if he could have released the swords a minute or two later, there was a high chance that he might have been able to penetrate deep inside the spider's eyes and brain and kill it.
Sadly, it was not possible to wait that long, as the white thing had mostly covered its huge body, and currently its head was also covered.
If he had stayed any longer, his ability might not only have failed, but he himself would probably be in deep trouble. He had a feeling that whatever the white thing was, its defense wouldn't be a joke.
Lyria, meanwhile, after failing to make the spider lose its balance and fall, used her Whirlwind Sprint to run along its injured front limb.
After reaching the same joint as before, she started throwing her Crushing Blows nonstop to "soften" its insides first.
She had been feeling very weird for the last few minutes—almost like she had broken through or something. During her recent dash with Whirlwind Sprint, she felt she had run much faster than before, and now her Crushing Blows also felt somewhat more powerful. For now, she avoided thinking and just focused on what she had decided to do before the spider covered itself.
She had initially planned to climb the spider's top and punch its hill-sized body, but it was already covered with a white, solid, bone-like structure. So she gave up and focused on its limb.
She only got a second to abuse the limb joint before the white matter rushed toward her location. So, she did what she had already planned.
She pulled out two of her remaining High-Grade Tier 2 broadswords from her ring. These two were her masterpieces—she didn't want them to be destroyed, but she couldn't be greedy at this moment. Either way, she had created a few more, so she didn't need to feel too bad.
She swiftly activated both swords' Thunder Runes and stabbed the joint.
She expected it to fail, as she hadn't had enough time to bully the spider's limb like last time. But remarkably, both swords went in smoothly.
She was amazed. Before she could form any further thoughts, the white liquid—which also seemed like bone—arrived at her location, so she dropped off the limb.
After landing on the ground, she ran toward Eric, who was standing far away from the spider, on the destroyed path the giant spider had taken while arriving.
While sprinting, she noticed that although the spider's eyes were covered with the same white bone-like thing, its front side—before its eyes—was completely bloodied. She quickly figured out what must have happened.
After arriving beside Eric, she spoke in awe, "Brother Eric, you even managed to destroy both its eyes?"
Eric nodded, still staring at the transforming giant spider. He smiled, "You're also amazing, Ly. With this, two of its limbs on the same side are almost crippled, along with one already amputated."
Lyria sighed and said with pity, "My capability falls behind Liv's. If only I had completely removed its limbs, the spider would only be a sitting duck."
"No, this is enough." Eric shook his head. "I'm certain that even with its new exoskeleton, it still wouldn't be able to move its right side any better—all its new armor is doing is giving everything external support. What you just did was completely cripple its one major fighting leg, as well as a moving and standing limb." He paused, and his tone grew heavy. "However, we also shouldn't rely on this information. Who knows how well it could still use them after this? So don't lower your guard."
Lyria nodded solemnly.
Eric and Lyria calmly stood watching the spider.
Within the next few seconds, the spider completed its transformation.
Both Eric and Lyria felt utterly speechless looking at the spider's majestic appearance. Unlike its previous dastardly look—dark reddish in color—its current image was the opposite of anything malicious.
It looked too beautiful and holy!
Completely white, with beautiful flower-like patterns over its joints and corners. It looked like a Holy Queen of Spiders.
Was this spider female all along?
If spiders were Eric's preferred "gender," he would have immediately whistled and tried to use his advanced 21st-century pickup lines, given how beautiful the spider currently looked—except for its horrifying size, which kind of ruined it. Or perhaps not—maybe it only increased its overall attractive points.
Riya mocked through Mind Space: "...No one has such a fetish—perhaps only you do..." She had also been using Mind Space to see, as she could no longer open her eyes.
Eric snorted mentally: "How would you know? Advanced 21st-century humans are the most screwed in the head. Can you deny how beautiful it looks?"
Riya rolled her decayed eyes—at least she imagined she did—and stayed silent. Indeed, the spider looked far too beautiful, almost straight out of a painting.
Eric spoke aloud with bewilderment: "Why has it covered itself completely? Even its damaged eyes and mouth are completely sealed. How is it going to breathe? Won't it suffocate itself? And how is it going to throw webs out? Or perhaps..."
Lyria turned to Eric with bright eyes: "Or perhaps it can't shoot out its webs for the time being?"
Eric nodded, then frowned. He had a feeling that the spider was in complete defensive mode.
Could it still fight? Hopefully, it wasn't planning on healing itself...
He glanced at the "new" white limb covering its previously amputated limb. He wasn't certain, but hopefully, it was still empty, as it looked thinner than the other limbs.
"Brother Eric, what's the plan?" Lyria asked grimly, staring at the immobile spider standing motionless.
Eric pondered deeply.
He wanted to send Lyria to find Livy, but he soon gave up on that. They weren't certain how far Livy had flown—perhaps not too far—but finding her while she was still unconscious, or dead, would take too long. Also, they couldn't leave. The spider might be healing, and once it was done, they would all be in grave danger, as it now knew their abilities.
The main reason the Newborn Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider was in its current injured condition was that it had been completely unaware of their abilities. But now that it knew, there was no hope of winning against it—so they needed to kill it first, then search for Livy.
"We have to attack," Eric replied gravely. "Before that—do you think you can break that white bone structure?"
"That's impossible," Lyria shook her head without hesitation. "Even my strongest Crushing Blows can't destroy its original limb, even after dozens of hits. And now its bony structure looks far denser and sturdier. I even feel it could be used to make high- or peak-grade Tier 3 weapons and armor."
Eric's eyes lit up—though now wasn't the time to daydream about it. He nodded: "I also feel it's too tough. But since it's just standing quietly—too confident to counter any attack—I have a plan. Which part do you think is its weakest?"
Lyria scanned the holy spider thoroughly from where they stood. After a while, she shook her head: "I'm not sure—everything looks too sturdy. I'd suggest the limb joints, but they're guarded by 'shoulder guards' that look like flowers. So perhaps... its eyes? Though they're still guarded."
"That's right—its eyes," Eric nodded with a smile. "If my guess is correct, its eyes weren't supposed to be guarded with this armor—so it could see. But now they're completely sealed. That means the armor was forcefully added after I destroyed its eyes. These new eye guards also look much thinner than other parts—and they're the only place we can attack if we want to kill it."
Lyria agreed. She was certain the spider could still move—it wasn't just a statue. The only reason it remained still was to heal and because it could no longer see.
"Then how should we proceed? I'm guessing the spider is trying to heal itself, but it'll probably take some time. If we attack, it might retaliate. I believe it can still move—those 'shoulder guards' probably aren't just decoration."
"Yes, it can still move—I'm certain. Though probably not as swiftly as before. Either way, it's still far too deadly for us to take any of its strikes." Eric nodded to himself. "Let me try something. It'll take some time, and if it works, it'll probably get very pissed. Now let's see how it goes..."
He felt pity. If only they had some extremely powerful, focused attack, they could have killed it smoothly after breaking its shell. Though first, they needed to break the shell.
Eric then disappeared.
Lyria was startled, then smiled. While waiting, she decided to focus on recovering her Stamina and Mana.
Eric used his ability, Disappearance, for the first time since the battle started. He blinked near its eyes, then stood on its jaw.
He could use Blink while in the Disappearance state, but other abilities would cancel it.
Currently, he was gambling on something—he felt it should work, especially since the spider's white armor wasn't part of its original body.
He landed softly on its white armor, took a deep breath, and put up his Space Shield in front of him—thus canceling his Disappearance ability.
He waited for a moment, then rejoiced internally—the spider wasn't attacking him. His guess was correct so far. As long as he didn't make any large movements, the spider would remain unaware.
He took another deep breath, pulled out his pocket watch, and started throwing Tier 2 weapons at the Space Shield, targeting both spider eyes. After a moment, he was startled looking at the weapons list.
He found a familiar-sounding hammer name—Best Blacksmithing Hammer.
When putting items inside the pocket watch, it automatically selected an appropriate name—but users could also edit it.
There were quite a few blacksmithing hammers left behind by Lysandra, and the "best" was Lyria's edited title.
If his guess was correct, it was probably "that" guy's hammer. He wasn't sure which Tier it belonged to, but Lyria had mentioned before that it was definitely above peak-grade Tier 2—so it could only be Tier 3 or above.
He started feeling regretful. If only he had noticed it earlier, he wouldn't have had to sacrifice a dozen Tier 2 weapons—after all, he couldn't pull back the weapons he'd already thrown into the Space Shield.
He was certain those weapons would be destroyed after striking the white eye armor—which was why he threw so many. Otherwise, two weapons would have done the job.
In fact, there was another point he was both glad and regretful about. If he hadn't destroyed the spider's eyes, perhaps it wouldn't have guarded them with armor—but then again, if he hadn't, the spider definitely wouldn't have given him the time to stand on its face now. Either way, its current lack of eyes was tremendously helpful.
Eric silently played "Eeny, meeny, miny, mo"—and in the end, the spider's left eye "won." So he launched the hammer toward its left eye and waited.
He didn't throw anymore—it probably wouldn't have much impact.
He then quietly stood still and let his Space Shield do its job peacefully.