Thirty meters away, the Spider Warrior landed heavily, causing the earth to shudder.
Natsuyu and the others felt the raw pressure of its massive physique firsthand—it felt as if a freight truck were barreling toward them, triggering an instinctive surge of fear.
The Spider Warrior, bristling with sharp barbs, was a chitinous biological weapon built for slaughter. Its crimson compound eyes glared cruelly at the group. It coiled its eight sharp limbs—each a staggering seven to eight meters long—and leaped high into the air, descending with the crushing force of a falling mountain!
"Ah!" Sakuraba Ema let out a short shriek.
As the shadow loomed over them, Natsuyu didn't even stop to look. He raised his hand and fired a Stone-tipped Wooden Arrow. Without pausing to check the damage, he lunged toward Ema, grabbed her by her armor tunic, and sprinted away at full tilt.
On the other side, Yukinoshita Yukino also fired a calm, precise shot before nimbly moving behind Kushida Kikyo to haul her away.
The Spider Warrior jumped incredibly high; there was a momentary pause at the apex of its arc before it began its descent. The four of them used this window to cover twenty or thirty meters, successfully clearing the impact zone.
Natsuyu shouted a warning:
"Watch for the shockwave! Crouch down or grab a tree! Hold your ground—don't fall!"
If they were knocked down by the aftershock of the landing, they wouldn't be able to dodge the next attack.
Wait, why didn't Kiana run with us?
Natsuyu gripped Ema's soft little hand while his other arm hugged a tree trunk to stabilize himself. Sensing someone was missing, he whipped his head around.
Within the shadow cast by the monster, Kiana's tall figure stood defiant. Instead of dodging, she bent her knees and suddenly sprang upward.
The ground groaned as Kiana launched like a cannonball, rising directly beneath the Spider Warrior.
"Get the hell away from us!"
Coming from below, Kiana swung a Stone Shield with terrifying force, smashing it squarely into the creature's cephalothorax—the junction between its head and abdomen!
BANG—!
The Stone Shield instantly shattered into countless shards, whistling through the air like shrapnel.
CRACK—
Spiderwebs of fractures appeared on the Spider Warrior's hard, brown chitinous shell, oozing green blood. It let out a deafening, shrill wail as its massive body was actually knocked back up another three or four meters before gravity reclaimed it, slamming it into the earth.
THUD!
The ground shook; dirt and stones sprayed everywhere.
The Spider Warrior flipped onto its back, let out a mournful cry, and thrashed its eight limbs wildly as it struggled to right itself.
Kiana performed a mid-air half-flip and landed lightly. Feeling a warmth on her cheek, she wiped it away to find she had been grazed and was bleeding.
She didn't care about the minor injury. Instead, she flashed a bright smile and waved toward Natsuyu.
"Give me another shield!"
Kiana, you are my goddess!
Without a word, Natsuyu willed a Stone Shield from his inventory and tossed it to Kiana. At the same time, he pulled out his wooden crossbow and loaded a fresh Stone-tipped Wooden Arrow, calling out:
"Ema, your turn!"
Sakuraba Ema's expression turned solemn. She raised her small hand and made a gentle clutching motion toward the Spider Warrior.
"Hiss?"
The monster's struggling movements stiffened slightly. The thrashing of its limbs slowed down significantly, allowing it to finally roll over and fix a wary gaze on Kiana.
Kiana stood before Natsuyu and the others, shield braced.
One woman holds the pass, ten thousand cannot force it!
Having taken a brutal hit and with its stamina drained, the Spider Warrior did not move recklessly.
This gave Natsuyu time to assess the situation.
The arrows he and Yukinoshita had fired earlier had both struck the bottom of the spider's massive abdomen. The stone-tipped arrows had successfully pierced its defenses and remained embedded in its body, but only the tips had gone in; the wooden shafts had snapped off, leaving only the arrowheads behind.
Compared to the Spider Warrior's massive bulk, this damage was merely a surface wound. The regular wooden arrows had done nothing but leave white scuffs on the hard chitinous armor before bouncing off into nowhere.
Natsuyu took out his last five Stone-tipped Wooden Arrows and handed them to Yukinoshita, who had the best marksmanship.
Receiving the arrows, Yukinoshita's expression was grim. "These arrows are practically useless."
"They should still be of some use."
Natsuyu thought for a moment and shouted, "Kikyo, coordinate with Yukinoshita! Help her find an opening to shoot into the existing wounds!"
"Kiana, we need to find a way to tear open a larger wound!"
Kushida Kikyo took a nervous breath. "Right!"
Kiana responded loudly, "On it!"
Natsuyu watched the Spider Warrior. It seemed the fall from the sky had caused it some genuine damage; it wasn't rushing to attack, but stood its ground, its body swaying.
How do we create a wound?
The Spider Warrior wasn't going to wait for Natsuyu to come up with a strategy. It suddenly wrenched its hideous mouthparts open.
Natsuyu's eyes sharpened, and he immediately pulled Sakuraba Ema behind him.
"It's going to spit silk! Everyone, get behind the trees!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
The Spider Warrior sprayed out ropes of silk as thick as a man's arm, jetting forward like a high-pressure water cannon.
Fortunately, Natsuyu, Yukinoshita, and Kiana were all agile. They either pulled their charges along or ducked behind the massive oak trees themselves.
Natsuyu's position was the primary target. He watched as the oak tree in front of him groaned and buckled under the impact of the silk. He quickly scooped up Ema and ducked as the tree began to topple.
In the next second, the snapped oak was snared by more silk. With a violent tug, the Spider Warrior uprooted the entire tree, swung it in a wide arc, and hurled it toward them!
Natsuyu marveled at the monster's strength as he carried Ema and dodged once more.
CRASH!
The oak tree slammed down heavily, making the ground quiver.
The Spider Warrior suddenly lowered its head and panted, showing signs of fatigue.
Ema's power was taking effect!
Kiana didn't miss the opportunity. She lunged forward, swinging her Stone Shield, aiming to bash the creature's head.
The Spider Warrior merely raised four of its forelegs; their razor-sharp tips blocked Kiana's charge.
Kiana was forced back, sounding frustrated:
"It's no good! It has too many legs, I can't break through. Natsuyu, think of something!"
Natsuyu had a headache. The Spider Warrior's defense was too high for arrows to penetrate, and since Kiana couldn't get close, the plan to wound it was dead in the water. The only damage it had taken so far was Kiana's initial shield bash and the fall.
Neither seemed severe.
"...I have an idea."
Natsuyu thought of a crude plan, but it seemed like it might actually work. He shouted, "Kiana, come back and protect Ema! Buy me some time!"
Kiana: "Got it! I knew you'd have a plan. Let's kill this big spider together!"
Hearing there was a way to take the monster down, the morale of Ema and the other two girls surged: they had to buy enough time for Natsuyu!
Natsuyu handed the backpack containing the Stone Shields and other weapons to Ema, then turned and sprinted to create distance.
Ema gripped the backpack. For a fleeting second, the anxiety of being abandoned by Natsuyu flickered in her heart, but her gaze quickly hardened.
She trusted Natsuyu's character.
Natsuyu would never leave them behind to run away alone!