At first, Noble had assumed that the spider was some elaborate illusionist with unpredictable powers.
But the truth was much simpler. The appearance in one place when really being in another, the mouth cutting a spot where it had not been, her foot being chewed where no mouth should have been…
The answer had been staring her in the face the whole time.
The creature was a liar.
The eye hanging from the spider's head was the final proof she needed. The abomination had barely reacted to the loss. What kind of creature would ignore the partial loss of sight?
The answer was easy: one that hadn't needed the red appendage to begin with.
'So sneaky!'
Just like every other lie, knowing the truth had dispelled any doubt. Now that she had seen it, there was no ignoring it.
Sensing the change, the spider leapt at the flying Master before her beloved echo could manifest again.
Noble dodged enough to avoid the clicking jaws, but its gigantic body still overcame her flight, pushing her to the ground with it.
'No!' She refused to be impaled on the humans' spike-filled wall. Noble shifted her landing to avoid the sudden death, only to realize she had chosen an equally unfriendly spot—right in the middle of the Others.
'Double no!'
Noble crashed into the mass of otherworldly monsters, landing in a heap with her enemies.
The devil's upper body pressed against the puny human with its girth. Instead of earth pushing against Noble's armor, it was a mess of bodies and weapons.
Noble heard sounds she never wanted to as the pressure became too much for those below her.
'Yeah, this is worse than the pain of the ground.'
Her own foot was screaming, and she worked to get control of her sword from the wriggling flesh around her. The spider dug its legs into the rubble like tent stakes, making it impossible to dislodge with her levitation.
There was only one thing left to do.
"Push!"
Her cry was meant to be a rally for herself, but surprisingly, the Others heeded her call as well. Having been acknowledged, they pressed in unison against the arachnid along with the woman they had previously tried to kill.
Noble was not delusional. They still hated her. However, they hated the idea of being erased from existence more.
The inhuman united effort strained against their monstrous captor. For a moment, it did not seem like it would be enough. The killing intent of the spider was more than the will of its victims.
"Push!" Noble screamed again.
A slight shift caused the darkness to lessen. Noble wrapped her fingers around the grip of the Zenith, filling it with venom. Strength from the sword rushed through her, and she shoved it into the hairy body of the demon.
A snarl and teeth accompanied the strike as the spider recoiled from the jab. Helios clawed his way under the spider and gently grabbed Noble's shoulder with his mouth. He pulled her from the bodies and rubble. She slashed at anything that tried to stop them, but the Others were obviously distracted.
Coming into the night air, Noble breathed deeply. Her task was clear.
She parted ways with her Symncus, narrowly avoiding the clacking jaws of the spider as she took to the air.
The jaws snapped right at her, but caused her no harm. Instead, they took out an Other below and to her left, slicing him in two.
Half disappeared into the air as it was consumed, while the other half dissolved into wisps of black smoke.
Noble was just glad it wasn't her.
The spider pulled its legs from the ground and slashed through the Others, piercing some and maiming even more.
It had little interest in the soulless copies, treating them like they were nothing at all.
'I mean, it isn't wrong.'
Still, Noble wished a little that it had cared a little about the human reflections that were stabbing it. That would have been a nice distraction.
Instead, she would have to create one of her own.
'Go!' Noble ordered her echo. While she flew along one side, Helios raced along the other.
Evading the waving limbs, Noble hacked and sliced at the furry appendages. The poison was unlikely to do much, but every bit of fear and disorientation would help her cause.
The legs barely seemed to register the cuts, looking like they were healing instantly.
Noble knew it was yet another lie. While she couldn't cut cleanly through the armored limbs, she had done damage. Her next target was the spinnerettes. The fang-like needles were the second most deadly part of the spider.
Noble suspected they were more than just lances. Sure enough, as she came around the rear of the spider, something black flew past her head.
It was thread. It made sense. That's what spinnerettes were for after all. However, Noble knew that the thread that came from the monstrosity would be anything but mundane.
More of it came her way. Noble tried to cut through it, but the delicate thread wrapped around the Zenith, growing to cover it and eat away at its existence.
Noble dismissed her sword for the second time since engaging the monster.
'If that stuff gets on me, it will try to erase me from existence too. Talk about a terrible fate!'
Noble summoned the Zenith to her side and also a bow, an arrow, and a familiar coil. Tying the rope to the arrow, the floating Master narrowly avoided another barrage of black silk.
'I look better in purple and gold, personally.' Noble aimed the arrow. 'Now!'
From below, Helios clawed his way halfway up the back left leg and took a flying leap. Landing on the spider's back, the violet demon taunted his grey counterpart.
The spinnerets came down like two javelins. Helios stared at them unblinkingly. They looked like they would go around him, but Noble could see their real trajectory.
'Jump!'
Helios heeded her command and moved at the last possible moment. Releasing the arrow, Noble watched the rope trail after it like an impossibly long tail. The arrow glanced off the right spinnerette, releasing the rope as it passed.
Noble's eyes swirled as the rope came to life. Now that she knew the real location, tying up the two needles was easy. With her levitation, Noble knotted the two lances from afar and then ordered her echo to grab the rope's end and jump. The force of the plunge tightened the knot, causing the two needles to cross. The thread forming between the spinnerettes collapsed in on itself and disappeared.
Then the rope disappeared too, and the spider looked like it had returned to normal.
Noble clicked her tongue. 'Nice try. If that were true, I would have gotten a notification that the Memory was destroyed.'
Under his Master's orders, Helios released the long rope to be tangled in the devil's legs while he regained his flight to attack the spider's head. He made quick work finishing off the first eye and began his full effort on the second.
Noble flew high, obscuring her movements in the light of the broken moon as it climbed towards its peak. She paused, then plummeted.
Down she came like a falling star. The Zenith slid silently from the sheath as Noble dove at the devil. It did not see her coming until the last possible moment.
By then, it was too late.
Noble landed on the devil and brought down her sword with the weight of a train.
The tip stabbed the spider in its left eye.
Its real left eye...
The one hiding on its back in the black socket of the maniacal mask.