BANG!
The Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider Queen used two of her front limbs to attack simultaneously, not only toward Eric's current location but also another location where he could appear within 50 meters.
All the trees were decimated. A tornado rose; the whole space trembled. The nearby redwood trees were uprooted and shattered into pieces.
Eric blinked to another location, dodging the attack, and just as he was going to show his "disapproval" to the spider, his pupils widened as another limb was just in front of him, about to blow him to oblivion.
He cursed and rapidly blinked multiple times in a row through the air to another location.
He had far underestimated the intelligence and perception abilities of a Rank 3. The spider's thought process was so swift and precise that most humans could only blush in shame.
Eric wanted to use his space shield upon receiving the second strike, but he held back, understanding in that split moment that showing off more abilities was like revealing his life-saving cards to the spider. Since he only had a few of them, he had better use them with extreme caution and make every use count—it was one of Bella Noll's teachings as well, especially against powerful or equally strong opponents.
Eric glared at the ugly spider and wanted to speak some nonsense to buy some "breathing time," but it gave him no such opportunity.
The moment Eric appeared, the other limb followed. The Rank 3 spider only attacked with its front two limbs, not with webs or in any other way.
Eric swallowed back his advanced 21st-century profanity and blinked rapidly to dodge all attacks—within less than 15 seconds, he had blinked over 30 times!
Even he was out of breath and started realizing the limit of this ability—or rather, all their abilities—for the first time.
When they concluded that their abilities were like "arms," they truly weren't wrong in describing it. Just as an arm could tire after repetitive actions in quick succession, their abilities also seemed to fatigue. Though he had also felt in the past that he could maintain his Space Shield for a long duration... Perhaps different abilities followed different processes and rules.
No matter what, if Lyria and Livy didn't take action soon, he would truly have to use his Space Shield, as he was nearing peak exhaustion and couldn't blink again without at least a few moments of rest.
After a while of continuous blinking, Eric felt this was it—if he didn't use his Space Shield, he would die for sure.
Just as Eric was about to activate it, Lyria and Livy took action.
After being sent back to the ground, Lyria and Livy didn't stay idle—they charged toward the spider's limbs while remaining extremely cautious of its attacks. But it seemed Eric had successfully drawn the spider's attention toward himself, as the spider didn't even take caution against them and completely ignored them, perhaps due to their lower ranks. Nonetheless, that was one less thing to worry about.
Lyria made swift hand gestures toward Livy.
Livy quickly understood what Lyria meant—to amputate two limbs on the same side of the spider. She would take care of one limb, and the other beside it would be handled by Lyria.
Livy's eyes sparkled, and she quickly nodded back. She would target the second limb on its right side, as it was closest to her at that moment, while the front limb was currently attacking Eric. Lyria would handle the second-to-last limb, as she could reach it faster with her Whirlwind Sprint.
After arriving at their respective positions, they swiftly jumped and began climbing.
Thankfully, Eric was only dodging on the front side, so the spider remained stable and wasn't moving erratically—otherwise, climbing would have been much more difficult.
There was a high risk of exposure, but they couldn't do anything about that. They could only hope the spider would keep ignoring them and remain fixated on attacking Eric for a few more seconds.
The Crimson Tide Spider Queen had noticed the two human females' actions but chose to ignore them—two mere Rank 1s couldn't do a thing to her. More importantly, she had also noticed the male was reaching his limit from constant evasion. Soon, she would be able to smash him into a bloody paste—so her priority was dealing with the annoying male first. The two weak women could wait.
Lyria and Livy wasted no time and rapidly climbed the spider's limbs. They deliberately avoided climbing at full speed to avoid startling the spider. Lyria could have sprinted faster with Whirlwind Sprint, but she restrained herself for this reason.
If the spider realized they were also abnormal compared to their Rank, harming it would become hopeless.
Though they didn't move at maximum speed, they still reached the top within a dozen seconds—arriving at the first joint of its limbs, not far from the spider's main body.
Both Lyria and Livy first tried to locate each other.
After confirming they had reached similar junctions on the spider's limbs, they quickly nodded in acknowledgment.
Livy summoned two Water Jet Dual-Wield swords with both hands—whips were not optimal for this task. She lacked confidence in their Tier 2 weapons, fearing they might snap or fail to penetrate. Water was supposed to be a weakness of Crimson Tide Spiders, but that weakness might have diminished at Rank 3. Regardless, this was the highest firepower she could muster quickly.
Without hesitation, the moment both swords manifested, she poured her full strength into stabbing the joint before her—shifting the blades between long, thin, and broad shapes mid-strike.
Lyria activated her Hardening first. Though primarily defensive, she had noticed after prolonged use that it could enhance offensive strikes significantly.
Then, she pulled back her fists and unleashed Crushing Blows at maximum speed and strength—mirroring Livy's movements by circling the limb's joint while striking repeatedly.
They had targeted the joints because they were more delicate than other segments—injuring them would definitely hinder the spider's mobility.
The Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider Queen was "smiling." She could see that one more hit would finally end the human monkey. But just as she prepared her final strike, she sensed a dire threat.
Before she could identify its source, she screeched in agony, jaws gaping wide.
BANG!
SLASH!
Lyria and Livy didn't stop after a single attack—they kept stabbing and punching while shifting positions, aiming to fully amputate the limbs if possible. As a Rank 3 might heal internal wounds rapidly.
Livy was holding up, but Lyria, after delivering dozens of Crushing Blows in rapid succession, felt as though her arms might just detach. She frowned but didn't dare pause—continuing her assault despite the strain.
The Crimson Tide Spider Queen screamed in pain—of one leg joint being destroyed from within, another slashed apart by sharp blades.
She quickly regained focus and glared hatefully at the two girls. She had underestimated these humans as well!
Snapping her jaws, she launched two precise Web Slinging Mastery strands toward them.
These webs were incredibly tough and elastic—capable of immobilizing multiple targets from a distance.
Her plan was to trap both girls while stabilizing her limbs to prevent detachment.
But it failed. Both girls swiftly repositioned, continuing their relentless assault. Though her webs briefly secured one side of her legs, the humans' attacks would sever them within moments if she didn't act fast!
Resentment and fury boiled within her—how dare these insignificant creatures wound her so severely?!
They all deserved horrific deaths!
She attempted to shake her legs, but unlike the front limbs, their mobility was limited—that also wouldn't be enough to stop the humans.
So, she did the only thing she could—rolled over immediately. This was the fastest way, as she feared that any further delay could truly end her two limbs.
The massive spider flipped upside down with a deafening crash, obliterating surrounding trees—though no one cared at that moment.
The instant the spider started to tilt on one side, both Lyria and Livy knew that this was their final chance.
Livy's eyes flashed sharply. At this moment, her mind strangely became extremely focused to the point that she had never experienced this level of unprecedented focus, even when nearly dying multiple times under Bella Noll's teachings. Due to this, she drew strength far beyond her normal limits.
She felt a very strange sensation, which she couldn't describe in words, though the current situation didn't give her the time to delve deeper into it.
She grabbed a single WaterJet-Sword, which had already embedded into the spider's weakened leg joint, and while gripping the hilt, she spun around the limb in a blur, completely severing the mangled joint.
The limb snapped with the force of the spider's roll and was fully detached from its body.
The Rank 3 Spider Queen shrieked louder than ever—but it was too late.
Lyria, meanwhile, hadn't fully crippled the joint despite her numerous Crushing Blows, so she switched to her backup plan.
Despite her Crushing Blows having failed, they had also weakened the joint's interior. Though she still doubted even her best weapon would be able to completely amputate the thick leg in a short span of time.
So, she pulled every long-shafted High-Grade Tier 2 weapon from her ring—except for two broadswords—and began stabbing them rapidly into the spider's leg.
She lacked time to imbue them with Mana or activate Runes, yet they pierced skin and bone with some resistance. Not fully through, but enough to hinder healing.
This was her last resort to ensure the spider couldn't heal quickly. It pained her greatly, as lots of money would be lost—those weapons were bound to snap. At least it would cripple the limb for the time being.
Once Lyria and Livy were done, they dashed and leaped skyward to avoid getting crushed by the impact or sharing the shockwave that would transfer to them after the spider's roll.
As they soared, the Spider Queen flipped completely upside down with a thunderous boom.
The Spider Queen immediately spotted the two humans midair and was consumed by bloodlust and rage. She rapidly unleashed two successive Web-Slinging Mastery strands at them.