‘That is a level 42 Special Elite, do you think I stand a chance?’
“No, but considering your reckless style. I thought you will try something crazy.”
‘I know my own limit.’
He came out from the cave, the air was refreshing after being in a damp underground cave. It was a pity to fail a quest, but there was nothing he could do.
As he was about to leave, a dot on his radar caught his attention. A wild thought crossed his mind. He stood there pondering.
“You are not thinking what I think you are thinking, right?” Peniel asked.
‘What do you think I am thinking?’ Jack asked back.
“Your attention was on that thing on your radar! Do you think you can use it for your quest?”
‘Haven’t you ever heard the saying, combat poison with poison?’
“That is the dumbest thing I ever heard!”
‘What about, no risk no gain?’
“What kind of bizarre world did you come from? That place must be filled with lunatics to have those kinds of crazy sayings!”
Jack was already back inside the cave and on his way back to the cavern with that overgrown spider.
“I see that you did not heed any of my words. Fine! Go ahead and die. If you die, I can finally go back to the Fairy Village and live a nice comfortable life.”
‘Won’t you miss me?’ Jack said in response to her complaint.
“Nope!”
‘Come on, not even a little? But don’t you worry, you forgot I have that Immortal Soul thing. Even if I died, we will still link, considering if I don’t die again immediately after.’
“Who is worried? Argh… Do what you like. It’s pointless to ask you to see sense anyway.”
When he arrived back at the overhang where he could see the Grandmother spider, it was still lying motionless at the bottom. Jack wondered if it was sleeping.
Jack made a mental calculation on how fast this titanic spider could move. He imagined if it had the same speed as the bewitching spiders, scaled it up with its large span of feet. It would sport roughly ten times the speed of the small spiders.
‘Hopefully, I was not wrong,’ Jack said in his mind as he took out a scroll from his bag.
Peniel made a mocking laugh hearing his thought. Jack ignored her.
The magic scroll he took out was a Haste scroll. It was for use on an individual, different from the Group Haste scroll which applied to the entire party. Although the Haste scroll only affected a single individual, the speed increase was higher. It increased the target’s movement speed by 70% when the Group Haste increased only 40%.
He also set one of his Storm Breaker’s skills to the one that increased his movement speed. All he needed at the first phase of his plan was to run as fast as possible.
Okay, here goes nothing, Jack said in his mind as he applied the Haste Scroll on himself and took his magic staff. He stood up and aimed at the Grandmother Spider below, and cast Mana Bullet. He did not look to see if his spell hit or not, he turned around and ran with all his speed.
The speed boost was rather significant. He swayed a bit to maintain his balance but soon got used to it. ‘I am so fast!’ He exclaimed with glee in his mind. The boost he got from his weapon and the scroll made his running speed almost twice as fast. Combined with his already high dexterity, he felt as if he was flying.
He heard a high-pitched piercing screech, then a loud boom like something big crashing a rock wall. The cave walls shook heavily. Jack heard the sound of something dragging itself while scraping through the hard surfaces of the wall.
He looked back and saw a screen that gave him the fright of his life. A large spider forcing itself forward through a cave that could barely fit its gargantuan body. Its four front limbs stabbing and pulling frantically as it moved with high speed. The scene made Jack felt as if he had gone into the B-horror movies which he used to watch with his friends in high school, with him being the character who was about to be devoured by the monster.
‘F**k! I am too slow!’ Jack cursed as he tried to double his effort in running.
He used Charge to increase his movement speed even further for a short time. Luckily, the cave was not too large, it hindered the Grandmother Spider’s movements. But once they were outside, it was another matter. Jack understood he needed to put as much distance as possible while they were still inside the cave.
Before long, he came out into the open air. He had memorized the direction of his target so he just dashed in that direction once he came out. He looked on his radar and was relieved to see the red dot was still at its previous place.
He used Charge whenever it came off cooldown to add the distance between him and the cave opening as best as it could. He heard an explosive sound from behind. He could not help but peek backward only to see what he had expected.
The large arachnid burst out from the hole. It stopped for a while as it gazed at its surroundings, trying to find the a**hole that had been so audacious to have disturbed it in its lair. After turning around, it finally found its prey. The person was quite a distance away. It stretched its eight limbs for a bit, before stabbing them to the ground and propelled itself forward with a powerful push.
“Holy crap!” Jack exclaimed when he saw the giant spider chased after him. He had expected the spider to be faster when it was free from the cave’s tight space interference, but it was actually faster than he thought.
It’s too late to change the plan already, he could only continue running as best as he could. He made some fast calculations as he was running. It would be very close! He thought.
The red dot on his radar which was the target he was running to, was getting closer with each second. However, the sounds of the giant insect scurrying behind him were also getting worryingly closer.
A few distances more, he said in his mind. He almost arrived at the red dot he was targeting. He took out the Wind Jet magic scroll. He would need to time it correctly, he could be killed with just one hit if there was a mistake.
Suddenly, the scurrying sound from behind him disappeared. Disconcerted by this turn of events, he looked back and saw the Grandmother spider speeding at him in the air like a catapult’s shot.
F**k! I should have expected this jump move! Every f*cking boss has it!! He shouted in his mind.
It was a good thing he looked back, otherwise, the spider would have landed on top of him. He jumped to the side and rolled out of harm’s way as the boss landed.
At this time, he noticed the red dot that he was running to, started moving toward him. It finally noticed! Jack ran towards it again.
The spider was not going to let him go, he lunged at Jack with all four of its front limbs lifted high.
Jack used Flash Step to evade it, but the spider was adamant, it lunged again at him. During such a critical time, Jack activated Dragon’s Eye. The monster’s movement became sluggish. He anticipated where the four limbs would stab and danced around it.
The red dot that Jack was running to finally reached the place. The ground in front of Jack erupted as an enormous crimson yellowish reptilian creature popped out.
Jack’s Dragon’s Eye skill was still active. Hence, he saw all the splendor of the monster’s emergence in great detail. The reptilian creature locked eyes with Jack. It was the Grim Sand Drake that had been following the army all this time. Jack saw its maws opened up as it came at him in slow motion.
‘This is it!’ He exclaimed in his mind as he activated the Wind Jet scroll in his hand and aimed at between the drake’s two massive legs.
His body shot out at high speed and passed the bottom of the drake and came out from between its legs to its rear. He crashed onto the ground and rolled a long while away.
As Jack was shooting through the drake’s crotch, the drake’s maw clamped shut at where Jack was at. It was baffled as it bit on empty air. At the same time, the Grandmother Spider that was lunging at Jack, could not stop its advance. It crashed onto the Grim Sand Drake. Instinctively, it bit down at the new adversary that had suddenly emerged.
The Grim Sand Drake was still confused by Jack’s disappearance. It created an opportunity for the Grandmother spider to land the first strike. Its chelicerae pierced through the drake’s thick scale and delivered its venom into the drake’s body.
