360 Chapter 360: I’m a Spider, what about it?

In case you guys didn't get the reference in the chapter title above, just translate it into Japanese. You know what, I'll just do it for you. It's Kumo desu ga, nani ka?

"…oi! Stop muttering to yourself and focus on fighting!"

Redfield's annoyed shout pulled me back to reality and I snapped back as a steel-like thread of web burst out of one of the Arachne's…well, ass. Twisting in midair, I managed to dodge under what would otherwise be a deadly lance.

So they could use their web in such an offensive manner as well. I had to be careful.

"Colonel Feng! If swords and spears don't work, then let me burn them!"

Redfield was driving ahead, leading the vanguard. His spear blazed crimson even as he conjured a storm of fireballs. Swinging his spear, he launched them at the swarm of Arachnes, but once again they wove a wall of web that smoldered and melted under the heat. Despite withering away from the flames, they didn't really combust and turn into a raging inferno like Redfield would expect.

"!!"

While Redfield thrust his spear forward, one of the Arachnes countered with one of its sword-like legs, slashing at him. Twirling his spear, Redfield deflected the leg to one side, but he didn't even manage to leave a burn on the thin appendage. The Arachne bore down on him, executing a flurry of rapid strikes with almost all eight legs at once (I mean, it still needed to stand on a few of its legs or it would fall over) that forced him into the defensive. As skilled as Redfield was, even he found himself overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks.

He couldn't expect assistance, for the rest of us were also assaulted by the other Arachnes. Inhuman shrieks filled the air as the monstrous woman-spider hybrids charged into our positions, almost forcing us to scatter. Brent smashed a fist into the face of one of the Arachnes, even as he struck another wall of web with his staff. Tornadoes spun about him as he charged into their midst, trying to blow them away with his wind magic.

I wouldn't be surprised if he unleashed his, uh, Bankai again.

Feng Hai was living up to his name, blasting the horde of Arachnes with what appeared to be hurricanes. Dozens of blades danced about him, sweeping through the air in deadly slashes and slices at what appeared to be the vital spots of the Arachnes. However, the Arachnes hung on tenaciously, parrying the blades with their many legs, while tethering themselves to the ground through web. The hurricane, though devastating against most other foes, was ineffective against the extensive web that the multiple Arachnes had spun around the forest.

"No wonder they are rank B…" Feng Hai muttered, though I suspected they were classified as such because of their amount of mana rather than any real estimation of strength. They were skilled and deadly, that much was sure, but I hardly understood why they would be ranked the same as Crastrates or a Silver Skeletal Wolf. I guessed they were rank B because of the immense mana compressed into their relatively small forms.

Still, even if they lacked the strength of other rank B monsters, they were certainly tricky buggers. No pun intended.

"!!!"

Dodging under the swipe of an Arachne that chose me as its target, I parried the next strike from its sharp leg with Bai Ri before deflecting a third spike-like appendage with Hei Yue. The Arachne put more force behind its next blow, and even though I crossed both of my swords to block the combined thrust of three legs, I was flung several meters backward.

"Huff…"

Skidding across the ground, I mentally cycled through the possible options in my mind. Fire didn't seem effective, from what I had seen so far from Redfield's failed assault, and if I recalled correctly, spider threads weren't very conductive so lightning spells wouldn't be a good idea as well. Spiderwebs possessed so little conductivity that they were for all intents and purposes considered non-conductors, even though there were currently attempts to turn spider thread into electric wires on the microscopic scale.

In any event, White Tiger or Vermillion Phoenix might not be appropriate in this scenario. I was better off using some other Celestial Guardian. A natural predator of spiders…now what could that be? Scorpio? Uh…but I designed my Scorpio to be a nuke type Constellation spirit, so he didn't really possess any other combat abilities other than the strategic spell Antares.

Obviously I couldn't just nuke the entire place, not when my goal was to rescue Anastasia, who was trapped behind that wall of webs.

Lizards, fish, birds, wasps, even monkeys…but I didn't have any of those except Pisces. And Pisces wouldn't be able to swim around in a web-filled environment like this. Corvus, too, would be too small to pick on these Arachnes. Besides, I could only use one Corvus for today because the rest of them got wiped out by the dumb Veneneum Assassins earlier. So I needed to wait for a bit to regenerate them before I could summon them again.

Aquila…no, eagles did not eat spiders, as far as I know, anyway.

"!!!"

Unfortunately, the Arachnes were not the only enemies we had to deal with. A weird buzz echoed throughout the forest, and a swarm of over thousands of spider-like creatures crawled down the web to join the hideous woman-spider monstrosities in battle. I gaped for a moment when I caught sight of the newcomers. They were a ghastly white, with spider-like legs protruding out of their heads. Their heads, particularly, appeared to be upside-down human skulls, for some reason.

"Trites!" Brent murmured as he spun his staff around to blow them away. They exploded into slightly acidic green blood every time they were struck. These monsters, while numerous, were thankfully fragile. However, I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"We're ripping off Doom 3 now?"

The Arachne I was currently engaging slashed at my neck with one of its blade-like legs, forcing me to duck. While I did so, a bunch of suicidal Trites launched themselves at me, but I easily cleaved through them with a single swing of my Hei Yue.

Then I parried another of the Arachne's legs with Bai Ri. As I did so, several more Trites lunged at me, their jaws – which were strangely above their multiple pairs of eyes – wide open and ringed with slavering teeth. Muttering an incantation, I blasted them away with Hei Yue, only to be almost caught off guard when the Arachne struck me with its leg.

"Kuh!"

Good thing I managed to parry the two sharp legs with Bai Ri, or they would have pierced through my body. However, the blow was still powerful enough to send me hurtling across the clearing, and I landed on the ground in a roll.

While I was trying to rise to my feet, a few more of the Trites jumped at me, trying to take a huge bite out of my face or body. There were so many of them that it wouldn't be hard for them to target different regions of my body. I desperately lashed out with both of my swords, slicing a deadly arc at them that disintegrated their tiny forms into acidic blood.

Distracted by the smaller monsters, I almost didn't guard against the Arachne in time. Its legs lashed out and caught me by the side, even as I just barely managed to deflect the sharp tip away from penetrating through my kidney, and sent me flying across the ground again.

Hitting the ground, I grunted, but managed to finish casting my spell. As the Arachne lumbered over, a sudden gust of mana buffeted it. My spell completed, I stood up slowly, a storm of petals dancing around me. Above my shoulder, a chibi version of Green Dragon materialized.

Since my wood magic was the most advanced out of my elemental spells, I might as well use it. Raising both of my swords, I then unleashed a storm of black petals at the Arachne. The woman-spider hybrid responded in reflex, shooting out web to form a wall, but the black petals absorbed the mana from the web, disintegrating the strands almost instantly. Even as they made contact with the threads, the black petals split apart into even more numerous tinier but deadlier petals, and sliced through the swarm of Trites that had leaped in front of the Arachne to protect it.

…almost like bodyguards sacrificing themselves to guard their queen from danger.

Not having enough time to deal with the Trites, I blitzed past them in a blizzard of pink Sakura petals, cutting them apart while directing the remainder of the deadly storm at the Arachne. Whirling around to avoid the web that the Arachne tossed at me, I then swung both swords down upon the hideous creature.

However, the Arachne was far from helpless despite me having rendered its defensive webbing useless. Raising four of its spike-like legs, it parried my slashes. Unfortunately for it, it was unable to guard against the torrent of Sakura petals that trailed both of my blades, which sliced into its hard but surprisingly brittle chitin and causing ichor to leak out. With a wail, the Arachne arched up on its four hind legs and lashed out with its other four, trying to stab me with a fierce bombardment of strikes, but I answered with a riposte that almost took off one of its legs, thanks to my petals.

Even so, I found myself driven back from the Arachne's ferocious counterattack. At the edge of my peripheral vision, I could see more of those Trites gathering around for another charge. Exhaling in frustration, I directed my pink Sakura petals toward the smaller monsters, cutting them apart and erasing them from existence.

With my pink barrier of petals gone, the Arachne sought to exploit the opening I had just revealed, three of its legs slicing downward to pierce my chest. Two toward my lungs, one straight for my heart. An attack filled completely with murderous intent….okay, I know I was stating the obvious, but I was trying to be poetic here, all right?

Spinning around, I just barely managed to deflect the three legs away with both of my swords. At the same time, Green Dragon twitched on my shoulder – a visible sign that I had just finished casting another spell.

"?!"

The Arachne let out a surprised screech when vines unfurled out of the ground and wrapped around its legs, ensnaring it. It struggled against its bonds, to no avail. Not wasting the chance I just bought for myself, I thrust Hei Yue forward.

"!!!"

The Arachne, to my complete surprise, shoved its face forward instead of trying to evade what would otherwise be my killing blow. It caught my sword with its mandibles, and I could see acidic venom dripping down my black blade. Fortunately, Hei Yue was forged by Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, the most eminent swordsmiths of their time, and it would take more than mere acid to damage the exquisitely crafted weapon.

"Why, you…!"

Swearing under my breath, I thrust Bai Ri forward, but the Arachne managed to catch the white blade with its hands. Unlike its eight legs, its human-like hands lacked the power or deadliness, but I was surprised that it could still grab my sword like that. Even so, the extremely sharp edge of Bai Ri managed to cut the ghoulish flesh, leaving thick rivulets of ichor dripping down.

With a wail, the Arachne hurled me back. I managed to flip in midair and land on the ground, skidding across the broken earth as my momentum threw me backward. Glancing up, I was just in time to see the Arachne spit a stream of acid in my direction.

"Scutum Sobiescianum!"

Conjuring the Constellation shield, I protected myself from the wave of acid. Despite summoning Scutum Sobiescianum in time, I could only watched, horrified as the acid ate through the Constellation shield and reduced it into nothing more than a smoldering husk of corroded metal.

Snarling, the Arachne wrenched itself free of the vines that restrained it. All around me, more of the Trites swarmed my position, trying to throw themselves at me – only to be shredded by the curtain of pink Sakura petals that I had placed between me and them. Rearing up, it hissed at me before raising a hand and using telekinesis to levitate several boulders and broken trunks to hurl them in my direction.

Risking a glance at my comrades, I saw that they were all engaged in their own individual life-and-death battles. I would not be getting any assistance from them, not while they were fiercely struggling against the powerful rank B monsters.

"!!"

A trunk almost struck me, but I managed to knock it away with a hastily conjured wall of wood. Under my direction, several vines snaked out of the ground and caught the boulders that the Arachne was throwing at me via telekinesis. Hissing, the Arachne then strode over, stabbing in my direction with its legs. Despite my best attempts to trap it with my vines, it sliced through those plants near effortlessly before landing right in front of me.

Conjuring a fresh wave of sharp petals, I slashed at it with Hei Yue, only for the monster to parry my strike. It countered with a couple of stabs, which I deftly dodged before answering with a riposte through Bai Ri. The petals cut through its pale flesh, causing more bleeding of ichor and eliciting an enraged shriek from the Arachne, which batted me away with brute force with three of its legs. Fortunately, my crossed swords absorbed most of the impact or I would have been knocked unconscious by that blow.

Once again, I flipped myself upward in midair and landed in a crouch. The Arachne turned to snarl in my direction, but I responded with a smile.

For I had finally finished casting my next spell. Straightening up, I nodded at my chibi Green Dragon, who continued to hover above my shoulder.

"Over to you, Green Dragon."

The chibi Green Dragon crowed cheerfully for a moment before glowing a bright green that suffused the entire area. An exponential surge of mana swept across the entire clearing before Green Dragon's form – now a glowing silhouette – rapidly expanded to tower over even the tallest tree of Aurora Forest.

The stunned Arachne found itself retreating instinctively, quaking before Green Dragon's true form. The gigantic dragon-type Celestial Guardian threw his head back and bellowed ferociously before setting his glower on the unfortunate Fiend. All around him, plants and flowers blossomed amidst the white snow, a false dawn of spring in the perpetual winter of Aurora City.

"Sorry to spring this on you, lady," I remarked with a smile. "But you're going down."