Volume Three: Academy-wide Rampage - Blood-Stained Spider (III)

Blood stained the earth red, and piles of mangled corpses lay in heaps. Beside this horrific scene stood two stunningly beautiful women.

"Phew... another bunch of arrogant fools trying to challenge the organization."

The Sick Spider withdrew its silver threads, which had killed countless enemies, and no longer glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground.

Blood Fiend silently stepped forward, staring at the spilled blood—

"Hey, what are you doing—oh, I see, wasting food is shameful, right?"

"Um."

The reply was very simple, as if saying even one more word would be too much trouble. Looking at this partner, the Sick Spider sighed and rubbed his forehead, while the Blood Fiend on the other side had already sucked all the blood clean.

"Speaking of Kasser, you never lift a finger," the Sick Spider said.

"Because having you is enough, there's no need to do anything more."

"That's true..."

So far, all the enemies have been dealt with by the Sick Spider; the Blood Fiend only drains the blood from the corpses and disposes of them after the battle.

The Sick Spider suddenly thought of a possibility.

"Kasser... could it be that your combat strength is very weak?"

"... I guess so."

"So, the organization absorbed you just to dispose of corpses...?"

"... I guess so."

Seeing Blood Fiend's state, the Sick Spider realized her guess was correct. She excelled at large-scale slaughter but disliked disposing of corpses, while Blood Fiend, though weak in combat, was very skilled at handling corpses; the two were indeed a good combination.

For some reason, thinking about this, the Sick Spider felt a strange emotion, like a faint sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Was it because he was proud that his partner was weaker than him? Or was it something else—

"Careful!"

The moment the Sick Spider looked behind Blood Fiend, it snapped its finger, and the silver thread cleaved the wolf-like monster charging towards Blood Fiend in two.

"Tsk, beast taming ability... a fish that slipped through the net!"

Countless silver threads crashed down like ocean waves, slicing the panicked figures fleeing in the distance into pieces. Seeing the enemy completely annihilated, the Sick Spider breathed a slight sigh of relief, then roared at Blood Fiend:

"It's dangerous, Kasser! If you're not strong enough, be careful of your surroundings!"

"I'm sorry... but I know Lilia will protect me."

As he spoke, Blood Fiend gave a slight smile.

This was the first time the Sick Spider had seen her smile; it was like a bright red flower blooming on the permafrost, a beauty that soothed the soul.

His heart skipped a beat, and the Sick Spider quickly looked away, feeling a burning sensation on his cheeks. It must be his imagination.

"Lilia, your blood is rushing to your face, are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"None of your business!!!"

Ahem! The Sick Spider turned its face away in a huff, paused, and then said in a very soft but far-reaching voice:

"... Anyway, we're partners after all, so of course I'll protect you, Kasser. Just stay behind me..."

Blood Fiend stared at her blankly, and only responded after a long while.

"Um... thank you so much, Lilia."

Hearing the strange noise behind me, I knew the second-floor floor had been shattered, and my little trick had been completely exposed.

But it's alright, I still have a trump card up my sleeve besides the Rakshasa True Word...

My blood was burning fiercely, providing me with energy, and I transformed into a red shadow, rushing straight towards the edge of the building.

It's now confirmed that her threads can function as senses to some extent, detecting signs of life and locating people, like an extension of the five senses. However, the drawback is that she can only detect areas where the threads extend, and in this densely built-up city center, there are countless obstacles, unless she wraps the entire city center in threads or flattens all the buildings—

Wait a minute, she might actually do it.

No, it should be said that it was a piece of cake for her.

I shuddered, then tried to banish the unease from my heart. Facing an opponent whose strength far surpassed mine, a direct confrontation would be too risky. If it weren't for the corpses below that could be used as blood bags, I would have been dead long ago!

A direct confrontation is out of the question, and a defensive war against such a powerful opponent is also unwise. Guerrilla warfare seems the safest option right now. Forcibly activating the power of the Rakshasa True Word is a last resort. First, I don't believe I can control the Serpent's Egg after swallowing it; if it goes berserk again, I'm doomed. Second, since I've used Divine Item, to prevent the existence of the Rakshasa True Word from being revealed, I must completely annihilate the Sick Spider. But can I truly kill it after it goes berserk and loses its reason? I doubt it. Unless—

Countless thoughts raced through his mind; the Blood Blade struck, slicing through the building's wall and leaping outwards.

"... Huh?"

What greets us is a fragmented world, like looking at a pane of glass riddled with cracks.

Then it dawned on me that this wasn't broken glass, but a large silver net dividing my field of vision.

Countless silver threads gathered densely, weaving a giant net that enveloped the entire building. As I leaped outward, it rapidly contracted inward! The gaps between each thread were so small that even an insect couldn't escape. It wanted to crush me along with the entire building!

"Void Greatsword!!!"

It was as if a giant blade composed of countless shards of metal flew out of my body. The moment it appeared, it was reinforced by blood crystals and Blood Flame. The blood in my arm burst into flames. With the sharpest tip of the greatsword, I stabbed fiercely at the silver net!

Clang clang clang clang clang--!!!!

The greatsword clashed fiercely with the silver threads, dazzling sparks of spiritual energy erupting from their point of intersection. Huge shockwaves surged through my hand, nearly knocking the sword from my grasp! The greatsword lived up to my expectations, showing no weakness before the sharp silver threads, but that was all—the silver threads couldn't harm it, and it couldn't break the silver thread net! I gripped the hilt with one hand and pushed against the back of the blade with the other, using all my strength to resist the net's contraction. The booming sounds of Blood Flame bursting from within me continued. I could clearly feel the giant net in front of me slowing its contraction, but this was its limit; my resistance couldn't stop it!

A rumbling sound of cracking rock and steel bars came from above, accompanied by the soft thud of things hitting the ground, like sacks of sand being dumped. A chill ran down my spine—did this mean the upper part of the building had been destroyed, shredded into tiny fragments like grains of sand? Thinking this, I gritted my teeth, desperately trying to draw heat from my Blood Flame, but the giant net's tightening loop continued to shrink—

Boom--Crack--

The building crumbled into countless grains of sand under the crushing force of the giant web. This was child's play for the Sick Spider; if she wanted, she could crush an entire small town in the same way, without breaking a sweat. The first to come into contact with the giant web were naturally the upper floors of the building, and then it moved down floor by floor, precisely and swiftly.

"I can sense some resistance, is it resisting...? It's useless!"

The Sick Spider, still standing on the first floor, gleamed with cold light in her eyes. She clenched her fist, and the speed and force of the giant web's contraction immediately increased. She could feel the resistance suddenly intensify; after a few struggles, it fell silent. Had the pink-haired creature escaped into the building to eke out a living? Or had it simply given up and awaited death? Whatever the reason...

"--Well!?"

The Sick Spider's body suddenly jolted; a flash of lightning streaked through her mind, sending chills down her spine. It was a signal! The silver threads acted as extensions of her senses, transmitting different signals depending on the information detected. The signal that had just flashed through her mind, like lightning, meant—

"... It's broken?"

The wire broke.

The silver thread she had created with her supernatural powers, the one she had always relied on, the one that had been invincible and had slaughtered countless lives, had snapped.

It was cut off by something else.

"How could this be—what is she?"

How did you do that?

The threads used to make this net were only of medium strength and sharpness, but even so, she had never encountered an opponent who could cut it in decades! Not even Stone Strike and Raosen could do it!

"... Tsk, what a nuisance!"

Tens of thousands of silver threads shot out from her body, forming a giant silver-white wave that crashed directly against the building's walls! The wave of threads devoured the building like a monster, twisting all the steel and concrete into dust. In the blink of an eye, the entire building ceased to exist!

With the obstructing buildings no longer blocking her view, she could finally see clearly what was happening with the net.

That pink-haired girl had long since disappeared.

An opening appeared on the net, like a slit cut in an embroidered handkerchief, very eye-catching.

The Sick Spider suppressed its shock and displeasure, approached the opening for a closer look, and saw that dozens of silver threads had been cleanly and efficiently severed.

But if you look closely--

"Scorch marks?"

There were burn marks at the broken point of the silver thread.

"Burned through? How is that possible?"

She had also experienced the pink-haired girl's Blood Flame; they were indeed extremely domineering and powerful flames, but they weren't enough to break through her silver threads. The fact that the previous explosive attacks and the Crimson Furnace had failed to harm her was the best proof of that.

But why this sudden...?

It was only then that the Sick Spider suddenly realized it might have made a fundamental mistake.

From the very beginning of the battle with the pink-haired woman, he had an overwhelming advantage, but was it really an advantage? Now that he thought about it, all of the pink-haired woman's actions at the beginning, including the Crimson Furnace and the sneak attack in the building, although they were all very powerful, they lacked a bit of killing intent and had a bit more of a probing nature. It was as if she had been testing him all along.

In other words, has that girl truly been fighting with all her might so far?

"... Did I underestimate my opponent?"

The moment this thought arose—

"Tsk!"

She whirled around, conjuring threads into a blade and slashing behind her! But a red shadow flashed by, slicing the thread blade to pieces in a single exchange! Sick Spider immediately created new silver threads—this time, unlike any before, they were truly high-grade, exceptionally strong and sharp! The threads clashed with the red shadow again, this time violently colliding in mid-air. The silver and red lights were evenly matched, but after the collision, the red light immediately separated, and only then did the Sick Spider see its true form—

"It's a line too!?"

It was an extremely thin red line, as fine as its own silver line, but with a completely different texture. The silver line was sharp and inorganic, while the red line writhed slightly like a living thing, as if flames were flowing within it.

"No, this is... a blood vessel—a capillary!?"

"It was discovered immediately..."

A pink-haired girl emerged from the shadows, countless red lines—exceptionally long capillaries—extending from her fingers and hovering around her in mid-air. The veins occasionally emitted brilliant light, the Blood Flame flowing within them. But what surprised the Sick Spider even more was the completely different atmosphere surrounding the girl. Dark red gas seeped continuously from her body, emanating an extremely fierce and violent aura, making her entire presence several times more imposing!

It's Killing Intent.

"You bastard..."

"Hoo... Hah..."

As I stared at the Sick Spider from a distance, I felt the turbid and violent power flowing through my body, while waves of ferocious energy assaulted my brain. But this was not enough to make me lose my mind.

It was done. It was really done.

Using the power of the Rakshasa True Word with my own will was something I never dared to imagine before, but after experiencing such a long period of semi-berserk state and consuming the Serpent's Egg to greatly increase my power, I can finally do it to some extent now.

It's said that I'm using its power, but in reality, I can only use a very small portion; any more would result in a severe backlash. This small portion is already astonishing, but based on my previous tests, this level of power is insufficient—far from sufficient—to kill the Sick Spider.

So let's change our approach.

What if we didn't use it against the enemy, but instead used it against ourselves?