Chapter 18: Duo

Chapter 18: Duo

[Five.]

The plan was simple, but I found myself wishing wed been able to prepare more, like getting more points to unlock better ammo.

[Four.]

Unfortunately, Selene had told me there were no other easy patrols to target, the remaining ones containing too many Anathema to safely handle.

[Three.]

Which did nothing to alleviate my anxiety, even with Selene helping me develop my plan further.

[Two.]

Every muscle in my body felt tight, like wires about to snap.

[One.]

I placed my left hand on the door handle, licking my dry lips as my chest constricted around my lungs.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

[Go.]

I threw the door open, immediately using my foot to push the now empty box Id summoned earlier in front of the door as a makeshift doorstop. A wave of cold air hit me as my gun snapped up to point into the interior of the room, but it was utterly motionless. I flicked my eyes over the layout, taking in the details Selene had warned me about.

It was a long, rectangular room, maybe two soccer fields in length and one and a half wide. Pillars lined the length, three on each side. Each one had blue metal tubes running along them from floor to ceiling, a mesh wire cage enclosing them for easy access. The ceiling itself stretched up high, easily the height of three average rooms stacked together. With only a few red emergency lights to illuminate the entire room, shadows veiled the majority of the space.

I tried to keep my eyes on the ceiling, squinting to adjust to the even poorer visibility, but I couldnt help but notice the ground. Splashes and sprays of scarlet, semi-reflective liquid painted the ground in puddles and bootprints. There were copper colored bullet casings littered around, and I spotted a few dark shapes that might have been discarded handguns.

Even having heard Selenes warning, I felt my throat constrict. I forced myself to remain calm, searching the ceiling as I aimed through the doorway. My eyes caught on a few silvery threads crisscrossing across the ceiling and tops of the pillars, and egg shaped masses of the material were stuck in various corners. There were a few splotches of webbing on the floor too, almost like a ball of the material had been thrown and exploded on impact.

My eyes caught on a shape near the farthest right pillar, and I almost took an involuntary step back. It was big, though the shadows and distance made it hard to properly gauge its exact size. I could make out the vague shape of many limbs curled up around a large body, all covered in a slick black, armor-like material.

Moving at a slow, deliberate pace, I took a few steps back, carefully measuring out the distance before I settled into a crouch. Selene sat next to me, already in position just to my left. Slowly, I raised my gun and set my sights on the form. I couldnt make out the specifics of my target in the curled, shadowy mass, so I simply settled for getting my targeting reticle to be as small as possible in its direct center. When my reticle stopped shrinking, I let out my breath in a gentle, controlled exhale.

Then I fired sixteen bullets in half as many seconds.

The noise was deafening. Even with the lesser silencing enchantment, the gunshots echoed and bounced through the narrow hallways like thunder. The muzzle flashes were practically blinding in the dim lighting, forcing me to squint. I tried to let none of it distract me as I focused on keeping my shots on target. The shape of the Anathema twitched as my shots bit into it, some of them drawing sparks as they skipped off chitinous plating.

My Umbras slide clicked back into the empty position before the last shell casing hit the floor. Blinking through the sudden lack of strobing muzzle flashes, I saw the form of the creature writhe, uncurling itself as it dropped to the floor in a somehow graceful movement. As it rose to its full height, I found my eyes widening.

The Arachnomantis was mostly half spider and half mantis, but there were human features mixed in that gave it a twisted edge. The lower half of its body was like a giant spider but covered in dark, chitinous plating. Each of its eight legs tapered off into blades that clicked against the tiled floor with each movement. Where the spiders head should have been was where the mantis portion began, a torso sticking upward in a centaur-like fashion.

The torso itself was more human looking, petite with gentle, feminine curves. It was covered in more black chitin that stuck closely to its figure, accentuating its too-thin, alien form. The arms themselves looked like that of a mantis, double jointed and ending in wicked, serrated scythes of gray metal. Finally, the Anathemas head was human shaped, but had the fanged mouth and eight eyes of a spider. The gleaming black orbs reflected glints of red light, almost like eldritch pupils searching for prey. The Arachnomantis set those eyes on me and let out a screeching, chittering hiss.

I shuddered, suppressing the wave of disgust and fear that rolled through me. Id seen the Arachnomantis before, in Magical Girls Sunset: Rebellion, but that was on a phone screen. In person, the eerie mix of features was nothing less than horrific.

Trying to push through the overwhelming sensation, I held my left hand out to my side, glancing in the same direction. Selene sat there, at the ready, each of her nine tails curled around a magazine. Id bought another nine in preparation for the fight, and the second I beckoned to her, she slapped a fresh magazine into my palm. I released my spent mag, pushed the new one in, hit the slide release, adjusted my aim, and opened fire again.

The Arachnomantis had just finished landing, taking its first step toward me. This time, my aim was off-center as I targeted the side of its body. More specifically, I was targeting its legs, trying to do as much damage to them as possible. Although they werent very big targets, the way they were spaced next to each other gave me a fairly decent chance of hitting at least one as the monster skittered towards me.

My second magazine went as quick as the first, and I barely noticed myself ejecting it as I tried to see what damage I was doing. Between the distance and the lighting, it was almost impossible, but I had the feeling between my rapid fire approach and its chitin plating, I had yet to make a real dent.

Which is why its a good thing I bought a lot of bullets, I thought to myself as I finished slapping in a fresh mag and resumed firing.

The Arachnomantis wasnt sitting idle, charging towards me as it shrieked in protest. The closer it came to me, the bigger a target I had, and I saw one of my bullets spark against its armored leg. It was tempting to switch to targeting the Anathemas torso, especially as its gleaming scythe legs and arms drew closer, but I forced myself not to panic. Another fifteen bullets went by, and this time I saw the legs spasm as some shots seemed to punch through its armor.

Just as I finished reloading my fourth magazine, the Arachnomantis reached the doorway. With its spider lower half and long, arcing legs on either side, it was too wide to fit through. It was also tall enough that if I was standing, I would only come up to where the spider half began turning into a torso. It hunched down to see me through the entrance, chittering in rage as it stretched out one of its overly long arms in a lightning-quick stab.

I almost fell backwards as the scythes tip shot towards my face, but forced myself to remain calm. The blade fell a half meter short, leaving the Arachnomantis awkwardly stretching an arm through the entryway. It clawed at the floor, cutting a furrow through it with ease as it tried to reach me.

Shrill panic and excitement rushed through me as I lifted my gun, aiming at the Arachnomantiss head now that its legs were obstructed by the doorframe. With my slightly shaking hands, my reticle was huge, but at the relatively short distance it hardly mattered.

The first few shots blasted against the plating of its head, at least one penetrating as it screeched in pain. The Arachnomantis skittered backwards, pulling away from the doorway, and I put the rest of my fourth magazines shots into its torso as it bobbed its head in a wild, evasive motion.

As the Arachnomantis continued retreating back into the room, I reloaded and returned to firing at its legs. A sudden crisp, cracking sound snapped out along with a mist of black blood as one of my bullets seemed to find a joint and blow through. The Anathemas second most forward leg to my left went limp, making the creature stumble to the ground. I took the opportunity to target the forward most leg specifically, aiming at another joint as I emptied my fifth magazine.

The Arachnomantis screamed in pain as my shots landed, bullets punching through chitin plates. It pushed itself away, scurrying as fast as it could in the direction of the pillars. Reloading into my sixth mag, I changed targets, aiming for the legs on its other side.

The Anathema reached the first pillar, dipping behind it. With how wide the Arachnomantis was, it could only really hide the center of its body, leaving its legs exposed. I aimed my shots carefully, slowing down my rapid fire to a more methodical cadence as I tried to avoid hitting the pipes lining the pillar. It wasnt hard considering the Aracnomantis had stopped moving other than the occasional twitch as its body bobbed up and down in a weird undulating motion that

My eyes widened in recognition, and I quickly emptied the rest of my mag, grabbing my seventh and slotting it in with a hurried motion.

Get ready, I told Selene, getting up from my crouch as I moved closer to the door. Its-

The Arachnomantis suddenly threw itself out from behind the pillar, lurching in an awkward, off-balance manner as it moved to the center of the room with surprising speed. Then it spun, turning so the back of its spider abdomen faced me as it pushed itself upwards, almost as if tensing its muscles.

I moved, sprinting into the room just as the Archnomatis shot out a stream of webbing at the door. My run turned into a dive, and I managed to just clear the entryway as the webs hit the doorframe. I landed on the ground hard, the magazine holsters around my waist digging into me painfully. Scrambling back to my feet, I turned in time to see the Arachnomantis finish coating the doorway in a thick barrier of silky webbing. Selene had made it through in time, sitting at my side with three more magazines still clutched in her tails. I found myself shivering as the cold air of the room bit into me, but my eyes were fixed on the only entrance and exit the room offered.

We were trapped now, and I felt fear stab through me as the second phase of the plan began. Even if it was all going more or less like Selene and I thought it would, I definitely hadnt appreciated just how terrifying it would be. The idea of being confined with a monster whose arm scythes were as tall as I was hadnt really sunk in until now. My body thrummed with nervous energy, filling me with a painful, electric edge that clawed into my muscles with every beat of my heart.

I snapped my attention back to the Arachnomantis as it spun to face me, letting out a triumphant hiss. It staggered forward, blade legs clicking against the ground as it charged. I choked down a yelp as I stumbled into motion, sprinting in a curved arc that would put pillars between us as I continued firing. My targeting reticle went wild, growing huge as I moved while trying to aim at the Anathemas legs again.

Even with two of its legs out, the Arachnomantis was fast. The only thing that saved me was the pillar I put between us, forcing the Arachnomantis to try and circle around. Now that it was closer and obstructed by the pillar, it offered the perfect target. Shots pinged off its chitinous armor and leg blades alike, but even in the dim red light I saw some bullets putting holes in it.

Unfortunately, the Arachnomantis was still faster than me, and in the time it took me to empty my mag, it managed to catch up. It raised both of its scythed arms above its head, and I recognized the motion. It was the same pose it took in Rebellion right before it used its Falling Scythe attack.

I tried to dodge like I would in the game, pushing my muscles to their limit as I leaped to the side as swiftly as I could manage. Scythe blades fell a moment later, the blades coming within centimeters of hitting me as they smashed into the tile floor. The scythes dug deep into the ground, and I continued running towards the next pillar as the Arachnomantis had to stop and pull its arms free.

Ejecting my empty mag, I held out my left hand. Selene came in a blur of motion, slapping a new one into my palm that I quickly loaded. At least, I tried to, but my frantic sprinting made it hard to get the ammunition properly slotted into the magazine well. By the time I managed to fumble it in, the Arachnomantis was back in range of me. This time it twisted its upper body and pulled back an arm, preparing to execute a cone shaped sweep.

I stuck my foot out, stopping my forward momentum as I juked back towards the monster. The attack was a frontal 120 degree arc, and I sprinted at the Arachnomantis at a slight diagonal, aiming to avoid the strike by escaping on the far edge of the attack.

There was a woosh of air as the blade sliced behind me, stopping just before it would have hit my backpack, and my heart skipped a beat even as I passed into touching distance of the Arachnomantiss legs. I went skidding to a stop, pointing my gun directly at one of its joints and fired from an arms length away. Black blood exploded from the unarmored portion as I emptied half my mag in a roar of thunder.

The Arachnomantis let out an alien, hissing scream, stumbling as its leg went limp. Changing targets, I shot the rest of my bullets into another leg. My Umbra clicked empty, and I ejected the mag even as I resumed my dash away from the Anathema.

It recovered by leaning heavily to one side, pulling in the legs facing me close to its body. I was already running parallel to it, and I hurried in an all out sprint to avoid the coming attack. I cleared the space just as it slashed out with its legs, blades arcing out along the entirety of its flank. I kept moving, a ninth magazine appearing in my hand that I quickly loaded. I heard the Arachnomantis skittering as it turned to continue chasing me, and I looked over my shoulder. It was moving slower now, three of its legs almost completely limp while a fourth trembled with every step.

I clenched my teeth through the pain each step brought, raising my gun as I tried to retarget the Anathema. Selene was hopping around in front of it, even using its stabbing arms and legs to bounce off and flip through the air in wild, flashy maneuvers as her fox tails fanned out behind her like streamers. Huffing for air as pain and exertion clawed into my lungs, I aimed, trying to steady and shrink my targeting reticle while Selene distracted the monster.

The Arachnomantis hissed in an alien roar, a deep, basso tone entering its voice in a familiar sound that made my muscles clench. My eyes widened even as the Anathema pulled its arms back, scythes poised in a distinct pose as it reared up, and its front two legs raised off the floor to bring their blades to bear as well.

Selene get b-

Before I could finish, the Arachnomantis launched its Four-fold Scythe Storm attack.

In Rebellion it was an attack easy to predict and dodge away from due to the distinctive sound cue. The attack was a barrage of strikes that would do massive damage to anyone caught in it, almost guaranteeing death to any player who got caught. Thankfully, it was a fairly easy move to avoid if you knew about it ahead of time.

Selene, however, didnt manage to escape in time.

The Arachnomantis slashed at Selene in a flurry of arcing strikes, each attack surging forward at a speed I could barely follow. Selene hopped from side to side, dodging two low stabs and then taking to the air in a twirling flip as two blades tried to pincer her. Landing in a flourish of her tails, she barely hopped over a low cut, actually landing on top of the blade briefly and using it to jump higher as another slice followed up. The Arachnomantiss arms came arching down at her airborne form in diagonals, and Selene twisted her tails together in a violent twirl that sent her spinning from their path at the cost of her momentum.

For the shortest of moments, she hung in the air as if suspended by invisible wires, her red eyes meeting my own in that frozen second.

Then one of the Arachnomantiss blades shot past and cut her clean in half.

I screamed as her two halves were flung away from each other, purple light glowing from each wounded half and spraying out in fading motes of light. I opened fire, emptying the last of my magazine in a roar of thunder as horror washed over me. Selenes pieces hit the floor and bounced away violently before shattering into violet shards like broken glass. The jagged pieces of light flickered for the briefest moment before winking out of existence.

My heart pounded in my ears, and I felt my breath catch in my throat as I continued shooting the Anathema until I hit empty.

Its fine, shes okay. She cant die, remember? This was even a contingency, Selene distracting the Anathema if I was in trouble. Everythings fine.

I told myself those things as I fumbled a new mag into my gun, but something about the words felt hollow. Seeing her cut clean in half, her body parts bouncing like discarded pieces of garbage before vanishing A tear fell down my cheek, and I screamed as I resumed shooting the Anathema. It raised both scythes to block as it reoriented on me, letting out a triumphant hiss.

[Rude!] Selenes voice came to me, and I gasped. [Its been getting led around by the nose this whole time, and its gloating about such a small victory? Unacceptable. I demand satisfaction. Mai, would you do the honors? Even if you did have the mana to remanifest me, I refuse to dirty my fur further with this insects blood!]

I blinked in stunned surprise, her words freezing me for a half-second. Then, a strained laugh bubbled inside of me, and I hurried to resume my circling maneuver even as I continued shooting the Anathema. The edge of fear in my gut disappeared at Selenes joking words, and I could suddenly breathe again as I returned my focus to the fight. The Arachnomantis and I resumed our dance as it chased me around the pillar, gunshots flashing in the dark room with a thunderous echo.

Even as I resumed running, I realized my ankle wasnt going to hold up. Each step I took sent a barbed trail of agony through my leg, and my limping run began to slow with every movement. As I finished emptying my magazine, one of my shots caused a spray of ichor to erupt from the Arachnomantiss stomach, but even then, it was beginning to gain ground on me.

I forced myself to think, desperately searching for an answer even as I reloaded. I was down to my last three magazines, and between the pain and exertion, I was near my limit. My muscles ached, and I needed to find a way to finish the Arachnomantis, or at least slow it down even further. My breaths had become ragged, gasping things, turning to mist in the cold air of the room

My eyes widened, then flicked to the aqua colored pipes lining the pillars. They had a metal mesh frame boxing them in, and a myriad of symbols covered the pipes, warning me of the same things Selene had while wed been planning.

One of the reasons the mana generator had to have its own custom-designed room was that producing so much mana also generated a lot of heat. In order to keep the generator from overheating, the room was built especially large with pillars that had cooling pipes along their length. An incredibly cold, Zenith-produced gas ran through them, and through heat transfer, the pipes would keep the room cool without directly releasing the gas into the room. The mesh frame around the pillars was there as a safety measure, keeping anybody from accidentally touching the pipes.

Selene had warned me to watch my shots, that hitting one of the pipes would cause the pressurized gas to leak into the room. While the gas wasnt toxic, direct exposure to the gas as it escaped the pipe would almost certainly freeze whatever it touched. If one of my bullets punctured the pipe and I happened to be too close

The Arachnomantis screeched, gaining more ground on me as it raised a scythe for another attack. As I saw the serrated blade raise like a guillotine, I made my decision. I flicked my gun to point at the pipes and fired, praying my plan would work.

The first shot sparked against the mesh and pipe, putting a dent in the metal.

The second and third shots both missed as I stepped on my wounded ankle.

But the fourth shot The fourth shot hit the pipe and punched a hole clean through.

Teal gas sprayed out in an explosive stream directly in the Arachnomantiss path, its forward momentum carrying it straight into the gas. The Anathema let out a chittering shriek as its full body spasmed, and I stumbled away as quickly as I could manage. Continuing to aim at the pipes, I emptied the rest of my magazine as I cleared the immediate danger zone.

More gas streams joined the first, completely engulfing the Anathema. It tried to escape, but only ended up falling to the ground as the legs facing the pipe froze in an instant and cracked. The Arachnomantis used its arm and legs on its opposite side, dragging itself forward, in a slow, awkward scurry away from the blasting streams of gas. Even with its desperate movements, it moved at an agonizingly slow pace.

I slotted in my second to last magazine, gasping for breath as I watched the monster. I could barely see it in the misting cloud, so I took a few more steps away while I waited for it to pull itself out. I could feel the air cooling noticeably while I waited, the sensation almost pleasant against my sweat soaked brow.

After almost a full minute, the Arachnomantis managed to escape the streams of gas. Frost and ice covered the entirety of one side, its legs broken clean off. It shivered uncontrollably, and even its hissing voice seemed raspy. The Anathema looked around, head moving in jerky snaps from side to side until it found me. Then it began dragging itself forward, seemingly undeterred in its pursuit.

With only one side working and half of its remaining legs wounded, it could only move forward with the help of its unfrozen arm. It dragged itself in slow, lurching movements that barely resulted in any progress even as its legs pushed awkwardly on the ground. I slowly raised my gun, not bothering to move from my position as I put my sights on the Arachnomantiss head.

I fired a shot, the bullet smashing into its face. It recoiled slightly from the impact, but pressed on. Taking a second to resteady myself, I adjusted my aim and fired again.

And again.

And again.

Some of my shots missed, either because of the erratic dragging movements the Arachnomantis was using, or just because of my terrible, shaky aim. I didnt let it bother me, simply taking time to adjust before firing again.

On my ninth shot, I hit it right in the eye.

The back of the Arachnomantiss head exploded in a spray of black gore, its entire body flinching as every muscle tensed at the same time. For a moment it remained frozen in that position, but then it slowly slackened, arm and legs going limp as its torso fell backwards onto its own abdomen.

[Defeated (Newborn Arachnomantis - Level 21)]

[Bonus experience awarded for defeating an enemy more than fifteen levels above your own!]

[Reward: 50 Points]

[New Point Total: 133 Points]

[Congratulations! Youve leveled up multiple times! Showing level ups]

[You are now level 5!]

[You are now level 6!]

[You are now level 7!]

[You are now level 8!]

[Stat Points Available: 40]

Relief and exhaustion washed over me, my muscles turning to jelly as I slowly lowered myself to the ground, drinking in deep breaths of air as I tried to catch my breath. Something warm flickered in my stomach, and it took me a moment to realize what it was.

I did it. I won. I beat the Arachnomantis, an Anathema 17 levels higher than me, and now Lily and all the other people in the shelter were going to be safe.

They were safe.

A giddy laugh bubbled from me, and I didnt bother to contain it as relieved, happy tears streamed down my face.