Spider Queen

"Old Li!"

Several hunters' eyes reddened as they tried to rush over, only to be held back tightly by those beside them.

Charging in would only mean death.

Even if a second-tier beast stood still and let martial apprentices hack at it, they would still struggle to break through its defenses.

Black Brother's gaze sharpened. He knew the real trouble had arrived.

As the strongest fighter present, he was naturally pinned down by several peak first-tier elite Shadow Spiders.

The four Shadow Spiders stood at the corners, their web-spinning, ambushes, and restraints working in flawless coordination. Spider silk shot in from all directions, constantly shrinking his room to move.

Black Brother swung his broad-backed saber in an impenetrable blur, severing every strand of silk with flashing blade light, but his heart grew heavier by the moment.

He knew perfectly well that the true threat was not these minor pests, but the Shadow Spider King standing atop the pile of corpses and watching coldly.

A second-tier beast was no less intelligent than a human. It wanted its subordinates to keep him tied down while it wiped out everyone else.

If it was allowed to continue, the dozens of people at the outpost would sooner or later be slaughtered to the last.

Just then, a figure suddenly burst forward under the cover of insect corpses, his fist smashing into the side abdomen of the Shadow Spider on the far right with a howling gust of wind.

With a muffled bang, the peak first-tier Shadow Spider staggered back several steps, and a gap was instantly torn open in the encirclement.

Lin Yun withdrew his fist and stood firm, his body straight and tall, several flecks of dark green insect fluid staining his face.

"Black Brother, only you can deal with that Spider King. Leave these guys to me."

Black Brother caught sight of Lin Yun from the corner of his eye. Though he was astonished that Lin Yun had charged through layer after layer of spiders, his hands did not hesitate in the slightest.

He knew this was no time for pleasantries. Every second wasted meant greater danger for the other hunters.

"Alright! Hold on!"

Before his words had even faded, he stomped the ground hard. Using the recoil to launch himself into the air, he raised his broad-backed saber high and cleaved straight toward the gap in the encirclement with the force of a mountain-splitting strike.

The two Shadow Spiders blocking his path had barely raised their forelegs before the blade light swept across them, shattering their carapaces and sending them flying with shrill cries.

Black Brother did not pause for even a step, charging straight toward the Shadow Spider King.

Seeing this, the remaining five peak first-tier Shadow Spiders immediately gave up on continuing their siege of Black Brother. They turned and surrounded Lin Yun instead.

They clearly acted under unified command. The moment they closed in, they attacked together. Two streams of webbing blocked the front, long legs swept in from both sides, and another circled behind him for a sneak attack. Their coordination was seamless.

Lin Yun's eyes narrowed as he pushed Wind-Treading Step to its limit. His Gale Battle Boots tapped lightly against the ground, and his body slipped through the gaps in the webbing like a wisp of green smoke.

He twisted aside to evade a sweeping spider leg, then gathered power in his right fist and slammed it into the joint of the Shadow Spider's leg beside him. With a crisp crack, the long leg snapped off.

But before he could turn around, a sharp rush of wind rose behind him. Another Shadow Spider's pointed leg had already stabbed toward the center of his back.

Lin Yun violently twisted his waist and shifted sideways. The pointed leg grazed past his ribs, tearing open a wound so deep that bone was visible, and blood instantly soaked through his shirt.

A peak martial apprentice could win steadily in a one-on-one fight against a peak first-tier beast, but against five elite beasts working in perfect sync, the pressure multiplied severalfold in an instant.

His movement technique was fast, but the enemy had superior numbers. Their webs restricted his movement while their long legs closed in for close combat. One mistake meant serious injury.

In just two or three minutes, several wounds had appeared on Lin Yun's arms and waist, and his breathing gradually became labored.

Fortunately, the speed boost from the Gale Battle Boots was enough. Though the five Shadow Spiders attacked with all their strength, they were still unable to inflict a fatal wound on him.

For a time, both sides fell into a stalemate.

Elsewhere, Black Brother had already begun fighting the Shadow Spider King.

The blood and vitality of an early-stage martial master erupted without reserve. The bloody glow on his broad-backed saber was nearly solid, and every slash tore through the air with a piercing howl.

With a deafening clang, the blade collided head-on with the Spider King's foreleg, sending sparks flying everywhere.

A clear notch had actually been carved into the sharp leg blade the Shadow Spider King took such pride in.

It let out a piercing shriek, and its massive body trembled.

Black Brother pressed his advantage without mercy. His footwork shifted as he circled to the Spider King's side, his saber strikes flowing without end—horizontal slashes, vertical chops, diagonal cuts—each move faster than the last, every blade aimed at the gaps in its carapace.

The Shadow Spider King retreated step by step, its eight long legs constantly backing away. Several deep gashes soon appeared across its hard carapace, dark green fluid trickling down from the wounds.

The hunters struggling to hold on nearby caught sight of this and were greatly invigorated.

"Black Brother is awesome!"

Someone shouted, and the force behind his attacks increased by several degrees.

The defense line that had been on the verge of collapse instantly stabilized considerably. Everyone gritted their teeth and counterattacked, actually forcing the surging Shadow Spiders back a stretch.

Lin Yun also caught sight of Black Brother's battle from the corner of his eye, and the tension in his heart eased.

As long as Black Brother could take down the Spider King, the spider swarm would become a disorganized mess without its commander. They would eventually break out.

The urgent task was to quickly deal with the five elite Shadow Spiders before him and free up his hands to help.

With that thought, Lin Yun stopped hesitating and summoned the system panel with a thought.

His eyes swept over the shop list before settling on the Combat Stimulant, priced at three hundred thousand Dragon Nation dollars.

This medicine had been developed by Heaven's Inquiry Group, Dragon Nation's top military technology corporation. It was a special drug issued exclusively to frontline Vanguard Army units. After a martial apprentice consumed it, their strength, speed, and neural reaction speed would all double for half an hour. It was a weapon capable of turning the tide in desperate situations.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Yun chose to exchange for it.

Three hundred thousand Dragon Nation dollars were deducted instantly, and a silver-gray vial appeared in his palm.

Taking advantage of a gap while dodging, Lin Yun raised the vial and poured it into his mouth.

The liquid was spicy as it entered his mouth. The moment it slid down his throat, a searing heat exploded from his abdomen and surged through his meridians to every corner of his body.

The muscles all over his body instantly tightened, his veins bulged slightly, and his arms, which had begun to weaken, filled with explosive strength once more. Even the scene around him seemed to slow down.

The spider legs that had previously moved so fast he could only see afterimages now had trajectories he could clearly follow.

The medicine had taken effect.

Lin Yun pressed his lips together. Instead of retreating, he advanced, charging directly at the five Shadow Spiders.

He was fully twice as fast as before. An afterimage remained where he stood, and in the next instant, he appeared before the Shadow Spider on the far left.

Before the Shadow Spider could react, Lin Yun's fist had already slammed into the junction between its head and thorax.

Bang!

The force of the Vajra Fist erupted without restraint. Its hard carapace caved in instantly, and before the Shadow Spider could even shriek, its massive body crashed heavily to the ground, dead on the spot.

The remaining four Shadow Spiders had yet to recover from his sudden burst of speed when Lin Yun had already darted behind the second one. His dagger stabbed viciously into a gap in its carapace, and a twist of his wrist ended its life.

In less than two minutes, four of the five Shadow Spiders had fallen. Only the last one remained, frantically trying to burrow back into the swarm.

Just as Lin Yun leaped into the air, ready to kill the final elite Shadow Spider with one slash, a bone-chilling cold suddenly shot up his spine.

Without a second thought, Lin Yun forcefully twisted his waist in midair and changed direction. Wind-Treading Step was pushed to its limit as his body fell diagonally away.

Almost the instant he left his original position, a mass of viscous webbing the size of a water tank descended from above and smashed into the ground with a slap.

The concrete floor instantly corroded, producing sizzling white smoke, and the webbing sank a full half foot into the ground.

After landing, Lin Yun staggered back several steps before steadying himself. He looked up overhead.

On the highest load-bearing beam in the hall hung an upside-down Shadow Spider even larger than the Shadow Spider King.

Its eight legs were comparatively short and thick, but its abdomen was swollen like an enormous sac. Strange dark purple patterns covered its surface, contracting and writhing. The terrifying webbing from earlier had been sprayed from its abdomen.

"Shadow Spider Queen!"

Lin Yun's expression changed drastically as he cried out.

Those words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over everyone's heads, and the hall fell deathly silent for an instant.

The hunters locked in battle all changed expression, their hands and feet turning cold.

The outpost had been attacked by not one second-tier Shadow Spider tonight, but two—a king and a queen!