Yukinoshita Yukino was also momentarily stunned by Kiana's monstrous strength, but she immediately regained her composure to boost morale.
"Don't be afraid! Follow the plan and keep firing. Watch your aim—don't hit Kiana!"
"Understood!" Sakuraba Ema's eyes were filled with determination.
Kushida Kikyo's mouth twitched as she stared at the terrifying giant spiders. It felt like she had stepped into hell; it took every ounce of her "two-faced" acting skills just to maintain a facade of calm.
My legs are so weak... I really need to use the bathroom...
Led by the expert marksman Yukinoshita Yukino, the three girls held their crossbows and fired at the Round-headed Spiders furthest from Kiana to avoid friendly fire.
Natsuyu didn't bother picking up the wooden crossbow Kiana had left behind. Instead, with a single thought, he withdrew his prepared Signature Weapon: Stone Axe.
The reload speed of a wooden crossbow was limited—it took about two seconds to fire a single arrow. It was far less efficient than Natsuyu's flying axes, which he could summon instantly with his mind.
Natsuyu used both hands, sacrificing accuracy and power for raw attack speed, hurling two axes per second.
Although the swarm of Round-headed Spiders was fearless, they still possessed biological instincts. Arrows were too fast for them to react to, resulting in instant death. The flying axes, however, moved much slower. The spiders instinctively dodged them, which significantly dragged down the speed of their charge.
With Kiana disrupting the frontline to stall the swarm, the four long-range units led by Natsuyu followed the principle of "kill the closest targets first." They easily managed to thin the monster count down to just eight.
At the cost of many of their kin's lives, these remaining eight Round-headed Spiders managed to get within three meters, successfully surrounding the group.
Natsuyu began barking orders:
"Kikyo, Ema! It's your turn!"
Sakuraba Ema nervously raised her hand and activated her ability.
An invisible energy was extracted and absorbed from the bodies of the Round-headed Spiders into Ema.
Natsuyu clearly saw the eight spiders stiffen for a moment before they resumed their crawl. They had lost their initial ferocity; instead, they stumbled and wobbled, their legs appearing weak.
In contrast, Ema looked radiant, her spirit revitalized.
Natsuyu was surprised. The effect of absorbing energy is that obvious?
Had he known, he would have had Ema activate her ability while the swarm was still far away to slow them down. With her debuff, they might have wiped out the entire group using only ranged attacks without taking a single hit.
Natsuyu updated his strength rating for Sakuraba Ema:
A top-tier debuffer. Although she lacked a finishing move, she could weaken the stamina of numerous targets, and the cost seemed low.
Rating: Large Cup.
Next time, he would definitely have Ema lead the engagement to apply the "Energy Drain" status effect.
"Look Behind You!"
Kikyo stared at the hideous, disgusting spiders with revulsion. Taking a deep breath, she poured everything into "Sight Shift" and shouted.
Almost simultaneously, the eight spiders halted their charge and spun around to look behind them, exposing their most vulnerable part—their bellies—to the group.
Natsuyu was delighted and turned to look at Kushida Kikyo.
Impressive!
Just when the spiders finally reached the backline, they were hard-crowd-controlled by a support right in front of the archers. Just thinking about it made him feel the spiders' despair.
Kikyo actually had the power to hard-CC eight monsters at once.
Extra Large Cup! Her strength was definitely Extra Large Cup!
"...So tired. Finish them off quickly."
Kikyo's face grew visibly pale and exhausted. Panting heavily, she leaned against her shield and used the last of her strength to hurl her wooden sword. It missed, failing to hit a spider only three meters away.
I missed even that?
Kikyo's mental state nearly crumbled. She barely restrained herself from entering "Fallen Angel Mode" to start swearing; she simply didn't have the energy left to breathe, let alone curse.
Conversely, Sakuraba Ema was full of energy. She loaded a Leaf Wooden Arrow into her crossbow and killed one spider. As she prepared to load a second, an idea struck her. She didn't fire; instead, she looked at Natsuyu.
"Can Kikyo hold on? Let Natsuyu kill the rest."
This was also part of their prior agreement: if the situation was under control, Natsuyu would deliver the killing blows to secure an extra share of drops.
In reality, it was just an excuse Natsuyu used to funnel experience to himself.
"Alright, Kikyo, hold it for two more seconds."
Natsuyu had started "kill-stealing" the moment Kikyo applied the CC, rapidly summoning and throwing stone axes.
Not wanting his clothes splattered by the disgusting ichor that would burst from the spiders' abdomens, Natsuyu specifically aimed for their heads. He quickly finished off the last few spiders and hurried over to finish off the few remaining ones in the field that were still twitching.
"Phew—"
All five of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Kikyo, in particular, collapsed onto the ground the moment her ability ended, gasping for air. The pungent smell of the evaporating spider fluids made her gag.
Hearing her pained retching, Natsuyu immediately abandoned the idea of collecting loot. He and Kiana, the strongest among them, helped carry Kikyo to the other side of the stream to get some fresh air.
"Kikyo, how are you feeling?"
Kikyo looked at Natsuyu and the others who were showing concern. Despite her exhaustion, she felt a secret smugness.
Now you know how powerful I am!
Natsuyu was indeed reflecting on Kikyo's strength.
Her ability was undoubtedly "Extra Large Cup," but the consumption was too high and her physical stats were a bit weak, preventing her from fully utilizing that power for now. Overall, she was "Large Cup" tier.
Sakuraba Ema was the complete opposite.
Natsuyu noticed she was still glowing with health and high spirits. Activating her ability didn't seem to cost her anything; in fact, she seemed to gain from it.
She was a total "mechanics" character, though her raw numbers were a bit low.
"It's so hot."
Kiana quickly stripped off her armor, revealing skin flushed with a healthy pink. She took a deep breath of the cool air and spread her arms with a grin.
"Much better!"
With Kiana leading the way, the others also felt the heat and began shedding their gear.
The girls' fair skin took on a rosy hue, radiating a faint, delicate charm. The air seemed to grow thick with a certain "heated" atmosphere.
Natsuyu glanced at them twice but didn't linger. Now was not the time for such thoughts.
Kikyo panted out a request, "He—help me take off my armor."
She no longer had the strength to undress herself.
Natsuyu stepped forward to help, working with Kiana to unbuckle Kikyo's gear.
Once the armor was off, Kikyo looked like a freshly steamed shrimp. Visible steam rose from her body, and a youthful scent of sweat—a musky, fragrant aroma that wasn't unpleasant—wafted out.
Her skin was a deep pink, like a lotus flower emerging from a warm bath. Her clothes clung to her body, perfectly outlining curves that were far too "full" for her age, exuding an incredibly mature charm.
Natsuyu had previously thought Kikyo was only "wealthy" in terms of her "heart" (chest).
Now, he admitted he had underestimated her.
It wasn't just her chest; her rounded hips were the perfect "childbearing" type, and her thighs were meaty yet firm. Between these two generous points, her waist was slender with beautiful lines.
The ideal figure of a mature woman or a young mother would look just like this.
And she's supposed to be in her teens?!