"Mo Chuan! Wh–what is that thing?!"
Wanshuang trembled all over, clinging tightly to Chen Mo's arm, her voice shaking as she nearly hid entirely behind him.
Chen Mo shielded Wanshuang behind him, holding his sword horizontally. His expression was unusually grave.
The giant monster stepping out from behind the boulder was dark red all over, with three ferocious heads. Its eight legs were like sharp long blades, its body covered in hard armor, and it exuded an aura several times more savage than the Giant Crab of the Deep Pool.
This was the Three-Headed Demon Spider, the exclusive guard of the Space Rift—Level 18.
Chen Mo was only Level 9. The gap was nearly double.
The absolute level suppression weighed on Chen Mo even before he attacked. A heavy pressure covered his whole body, and the circulation of his Sword Profound Heart even slowed slightly.
"Wanshuang, retreat to the watchtower right now! No matter what happens out here, don't come out!" Chen Mo shouted in a low voice, not turning around, his gaze locked on the spider.
He knew full well: Level 9 against Level 18. A head-on fight was hopeless. He could only rely on positioning, attrition, and hitting weak points to wear it down little by little.
"But you–" Wanshuang's eyes reddened, ready to argue.
"Obey me!" Chen Mo's tone hardened. "If you stay here, I can't fight freely!"
Wanshuang bit her lip. She knew she would only hold him back. She nodded sharply. "Okay! I'll wait in the tower. Please be careful! I'll throw potions anytime you need!"
She turned at once and ran back to the abandoned watchtower, slammed the door shut, and pressed herself to the window, staring out in tense silence.
ROAR!!!
The Three-Headed Demon Spider let out a sharp shriek. All three heads opened their mouths at once, shooting three strands of thick, dark-green silk toward Chen Mo. They moved like lightning, sealing every direction he could dodge.
"So fast!"
Chen Mo's heart jolted. He dared not take it head-on. He pushed off the ground with all his strength, unleashing his full movement skill. His body darted sideways like a ghost, narrowly avoiding the silk.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The silk slammed into the ground and boulders, instantly corroding three deep black holes. A sharp, toxic smell filled the air. The corrosion was terrifying.
Cold sweat broke out all over Chen Mo's back.
If that silk had touched him, he would have been trapped completely—at the spider's mercy!
"I can't let it attack from a distance!"
Chen Mo's eyes turned sharp. He stopped defending passively and charged straight at the Three-Headed Demon Sword. His ordinary iron sword stabbed straight for the middle head—the most common weak point on monsters.
CLANG!
The sword struck the spider's head, ringing like metal on metal. It left only a faint white mark; it couldn't even pierce the skin.
The defense of a Level 18 monster was monstrous!
Chen Mo's heart sank. He immediately pulled his sword back and dodged the spider's counterattacking leg.
Missing only enraged the Three-Headed Demon Spider further.
It shrieked endlessly. Its eight legs whipped wildly, sweeping and slashing at Chen Mo like a storm, compressing his room to dodge more and more.
Chen Mo focused completely. Relying on superhuman reflexes and the basic dodge skills he'd trained in the game, he weaved through the gaps in the assault. Every brush with death made Wanshuang's heart race in the tower.
"Mo Chuan! Look out to your left!"
"Behind you! Dodge quick!"
Wanshuang called out nonstop, placing healing and antidote potions on the windowsill, ready to throw them the second Chen Mo showed fatigue.
The battle dragged on for more than ten minutes.
Chen Mo only defended, not attacking, wearing down the spider's stamina little by little while learning its attack pattern.
He knew at Level 9, he couldn't break its defense head-on. He had to wait for an opening after its attacks, then strike weak spots like the underbelly and joints.
Finally, after a full-force sweep, the Three-Headed Demon Spider's movements slowed slightly. Its stamina clearly dropped, and its left head hung low, exposing a soft gap in its neck.
NOW!
Chen Mo's eyes flashed. He seized the fleeting opening, burst forward at full speed, and slid across the ground to the spider's side. He poured all his warm energy into his sword and stabbed fiercely into the neck gap!
PFFT!
This time, the sword pierced smoothly, sinking deep.
SSS—!!!
The Three-Headed Demon Spider let out an ear-splitting shriek. Its huge body thrashed and twisted wildly. Its legs slammed the ground randomly, shaking the entire beach.
Chen Mo gripped the sword tight, gritting his teeth and refusing to let go. Using the spider's convulsions, he twisted the blade again and again, destroying its insides.
His stamina drained rapidly. His vision blurred. Chen Mo could barely hold on.
"Mo Chuan! Drink this!"
Wanshuang seized the chance and threw a high-grade healing potion precisely to his side.
Chen Mo caught it behind his back and drank it in one gulp. The cool healing power spread at once, easing his exhaustion and pain, restoring his stamina quickly.
With the potion's support, Chen Mo gritted his teeth and held on.
Second by second passed.
The Three-Headed Demon Spider's struggles weakened. Its shrieks faded. All three heads drooped. Its massive body trembled once, then crashed heavily to the ground, twitched a few times, and went still.
Pant… pant…
Chen Mo collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. He was soaked through with sweat. His arms burned so badly they almost lost feeling. Several wounds from the spider's silk burned fiercely on his body.
Level 9… defeating a Level 18 monster…
He had done it.
"Mo Chuan!"
Wanshuang rushed out of the watchtower at once, knelt beside him, and carefully checked his wounds, her eyes wet with worry. "How are you? Does it hurt badly? It's all my fault. If I hadn't come with you, you wouldn't be in this danger…"
"It's not your fault," Chen Mo forced a smile and shook his head. "I chose to come. And… we won."
Wanshuang looked at his pale face and quickly took out her best healing ointment, dabbing it gently on his cuts. "You're seriously hurt and still acting fine. Don't ever risk yourself like this again."
The girl's gentle touch and worried tone warmed Chen Mo's heart. He nodded lightly. "Okay."
After resting a while, his stamina returned enough to stand. Chen Mo pushed himself up, walked to the Three-Headed Demon Spider's corpse, and began dissecting it by the game's rules.
As the guard of the Space Rift, its drops were extremely valuable:
Hard dark-red spider armorSharp spider legsDemon core with pure energyIntact silk pouch
All were rare materials that sold for sky-high prices in Qingxi Town—and they were key to closing the Rift and setting up the Demon Suppression Formation.
Wanshuang helped gather the materials beside him, her admiration and reliance for Chen Mo deeper than ever.
[You defeated the Three-Headed Demon Spider with Player Wanshuang. Bond +60]
[Current Bond: 150]
The brief system notification sounded. Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. Bond had jumped sharply again.
"Mo Chuan! Our bond went up so much!" Wanshuang pointed at the panel happily. "Something really amazing must unlock later!"
"Maybe," Chen Mo smiled faintly and stuffed the materials into his backpack.
Among the drops were exactly the spider core and silk pouch Lao Wang had said were needed for the formation.
"We have all the materials. We can start closing the Rift," Chen Mo said, looking at the slightly warping Space Rift nearby with a calm voice.
This Rift was actually a hidden high-difficulty cleanup mission listed on Qingxi Town's notice board—but it was so dangerous no player ever dared take it, and no one knew how to trigger it.
They had stumbled into this top-tier quest by accident.
Wanshuang nodded, hope lighting up her face. "Great! Once we close the Rift, Qingxi Town will be safe!"
Chen Mo wasted no time. He took out the Demon Suppression Talismans, Clear Mind Dew, and materials from the spider, and began setting up the Demon Suppression Formation around the Rift as the map instructed.
He stuck the talismans around the Rift, placed the spider core at the formation eye, dripped in the Clear Mind Dew, and secured it all with the silk pouch.
Everything was ready.
Chen Mo gripped his sword, poured warm energy into the formation eye, and shouted in a low voice: "Formation activate… seal the Rift!"
As his voice fell, the Demon Suppression Formation blazed with faint golden light, wrapping around the Space Rift.
The Rift twisted and shook violently, letting out ear-splitting spatial cracks. Dark shadows flickered deep inside, as if monsters were trying to burst out—only to be blocked and crushed by the golden light, shrinking steadily.
Just as the Rift was about to close completely, an incomparably cold, savage aura exploded from the very depths of the crack. A bloodthirsty roar pierced through the Rift, echoing across the entire beach:
"Mortal… you dare destroy this king's passage. You shall die!"
Chen Mo's face changed drastically. He spun toward the Rift—and saw deep within it, a pair of enormous, blood-red eyes locking onto him!
Wanshuang trembled violently, clutching Chen Mo's arm, and screamed in a shaking voice:
"Mo Chuan! Inside the Rift… there's something else in there!"