As Jack slew the first out of the four spiderlings that came at him, he looked at the web cocoon. It was not moving. The Grandmother spider was crawling slowly to the cocoon.
Maybe it’s time to make his escape, Jack thought. He was about to disengage from the remaining three spiderlings when the Grandmother spider stabbed one of its forelegs into the cocoon.
Instead of stabbing on a trapped drake, the cocoon deflated, as if it was empty inside. The Grandmother spider was in bafflement as it sent another few stabs into the cocoon.
The ground underneath it suddenly burst apart as the Grim Sand Drake came out right underneath it and bit on one of its hind limbs. The bite was so powerful that it tore away another of its legs. It was now limping with only six legs left.
“Shit! I forgot about its burrowing ability, so that skill was still available to it?” Jack exclaimed after watching the scene.
“That burrowing is not a skill, it was the drake’s other form of travel. Just like how flying is not a skill for winged monsters,” Peniel explained.
Well, either way, the fight between the titans was still ongoing, so he guessed he would stay for a little while longer. He executed more vigorous attacks on the spiderlings and killed the second one.
At the side of the giant monsters’ fight, the Grandmother spider scurried away from the drake, afraid to lose another of its legs. The Grim Sand Drake did not give chase, it shook its head as if it was having a headache. Jack wondered what it was, but then realized it must be the hallucination effect of the spider’s venom taking effect.
The drake’s resistance was high so it was not affected during the spider’s first bite, but the second one enhanced the effect and it finally took effect. Still, the drake’s fortitude allowed it to soon shake the hallucination off. It roared madly at the Grandmother spider, who had taken the chance to spew another torrent of webs.
The Grim Sand Drake disappeared into the ground again before the webs hit. The Grandmother spider whirled around in its place. Looking around with apprehension to predict the drake’s position.
The Grandmother spider felt the ground below it trembled and immediately jumped away, just as the Grim Sand Drake stormed out from the ground at the spot where the Grandmother spider was on a moment ago. The entire scene reminded Jack of a documentary show he watched in the past about a great white shark breaching out of the water as it caught its prey.
There were still some small spiderlings around, but their numbers had decreased significantly. They tried their best to hinder the drake’s movement by sacrificing themselves. Meanwhile, the Grandmother spider did its squatting move again.
Don’t tell me it was going to breed out more spiderlings again, Jack said in his mind. Only one spiderling left that he had to fight. If the Grandmother spider bred more spiderlings, he would need to run even further away. He did not want any stray spiderlings to come his way again.
The Grandmother spider performed a different move next. It arched its body upward into a standing position, with its remaining three hind legs supporting. It then spewed out an unbelievable amount of web fluid. The fluid spread out in all directions and covered a large area of ground.
The area of coverage was so large that it also hit the ground where Jack was at. Jack made a rapid backstep and activated Flash Step. He barely escaped as the web fluid came down and splashed at the ground in front of him. The last spiderling that he was fighting was hit by the fluid and was glued to the ground.
Jack did not proceed forward to finish the incapacitated spiderling. The web on the ground still looked wet, he did not want to have his feet glued to the ground due to hastiness. He looked at the drake who was covered by the web.
The webs that covered the drake’s body, although sticky, were less thick than when it was wrapped in the cocoon. It easily tore through the bindings and rushed at the Grandmother spider. The Grandmother spider jumped around as it evaded the drake’s approach.
Annoyed by its opponent’s unwillingness to face it in direct combat, the Grim Sand Drake stuck its head into the ground, trying to burrow again. However, this time it failed to go into the ground, as the sticky web held the ground together and resisted its attempt.
As the drake wanted to use more force to tear the webs apart, it felt the Grandmother spider jumped onto its side. It felt another bite. It snapped furiously to its side in response and managed to catch the spider just before it jumped away.
After catching the spider, the drake slammed the spider hard on the ground, and used its forelegs to claw at the spider and causing it damage. When the spider managed to reposition back and was about to jump away. The drake spun its body and had its tail bashed at the spider mid-jump. It was sent crashing back to the ground.
The drake swayed for a moment but endured the hallucination effect, it continued to put pressure on the Grandmother spider. The spider saw that the drake was intent on keeping it close, it also forewent all caution and furiously jumped towards the drake.
The Grandmother spider body pounded at the drake’s large body like a giant bullet. The drake was pushed back but it forced itself to lunge forward again. The Grandmother spider was also no longer retreating, it came forward with its limbs stabbed at the drake.
The two titans fought even more violently as their HP continued to decrease.
“Maybe it’s time for you to leave,” Peniel suggested. “It is unlikely they would fall at the same time. Even if the surviving one only had a sliver of life left, it could still kill you easily.”
Jack pondered for a bit before replying, “maybe you are right, I guess I will just have to forfeit whatever items the losing monster dropped. Okay, time to…”
He stopped as movements on his radar caught his attention. He gave the matter some contemplation before saying, “maybe there is still a chance to gain the jackpot.”
“You do know there will be casualties, right?” Peniel asked as she understood Jack’s intention.
“Look at them, they were both at their last legs. It would be a pity to leave. With luck, the drake will kill the spider, then the drake will die from the poison. I might not even need to do anything. With my luck stat, that should be what happens, shouldn’t it?”
“That’s your wishful thinking! The luck stat mainly affects the quality and quantity of items dropped. You are nuts if you want to rely on it to survive!”
At this time, the two titans were both at their critical. The Grandmother spider had managed to score another bite at the drake, causing the poison in its body to worsen. It was now losing more than a hundred HP each second. The Grandmother spider was in a worse condition, It had lost another limb. It was now crawling with only five legs, reducing its mobility greatly.
Jack was reluctant to leave. He received a party message, “holy shit! It is that Grim Sand Drake. Boss, you are fighting against it?”
He looked at his radar again. Lots of green dots were approaching, but they stopped after the drake came in view. He turned to the direction where the green dots were. He could see his friends already. He said in the party chat, “can’t you see it is fighting against another monster?”
“Why are you still there then? It is time to run!”
Jack heard a thump and a roar. He turned back and saw the Grandmother spider fell. The Grim Sand Drake was giving its victory roar.
“It’s too late! We won’t outrun it. Prepare to fight!”
“How the hell are we going to fight that?” He heard Bowler screamed. He was not too far that his scream was still audible.
“Everyone has the Amulet of Rebirth, right?” Jack asked in party chat. “Wear them now!”
All of the ones in the expedition had the amulet, Jack had stressed on it. Even though not all of them wore it, but now everyone took out the amulet and equipped it.
“Friends, when I give the cue, close your eyes. Then run as fast as possible.” He saw John’s message.
Jack, all the while, had instead observed the drake as he took out a magic scroll. The drake only had a sliver of life left.
The Grim Sand Drake’s HP continued to fall as the venom was still in effect. It shook its head as its body swayed. Now that the battle was over, its relaxed state caused the hallucination effect to become stronger. It never considered the few ants nearby to be of any threat. It could swat them to death even with its current condition.
