Hell Difficulty Tutorial Chapter 817 - Boys vs a weird spider

An object darts past, crashing heavily onto the earth before rebounding and soaring ahead. A faint orange luminescence surrounds the item, which I recognize as Savant.

Even before I turn my head, I sense the approach of a new presence. Summoning a colossal surge of mana before me, I erect a barrier as thick as a fortress wall, against which a fist impacts with a resounding, gong-like thud.

The barrier disintegrates, and I absorb the kinetic force of the incoming fist, decelerating it. Morwag then channels his power to anchor it to the ground, triggering an explosion that I utilize to propel myself backward.

The monstrous entity looms over myself and Morwag, its spider-like legs plunging into the terrain like deadly daggers. Its physique, comparable in scale to a six-armed velnar male, is grotesquely distorted, with some limbs disproportionately larger than others. In place of a face, a dense cluster of vacant, black eyes stares out. The creature possesses no discernible mouth.

[Skreth - lvl ????]

It plunges a limb into its own chest, extracting a rib that rapidly expands and lengthens into a bone projectile, which it then hurls. I manage to duck beneath the newly formed projectile, but it detonates behind me. The resulting debris rains down upon the ground just as I teleport away, observing Skreth reaching into the sky, yanking at the ethereal lines I've meticulously woven across the battlefield, and tearing them asunder with its bare appendages.

In the ensuing moment, Morwag collides with the creature, and obsidian chains, forged from Morwag’s resonant, pristine armament, streak skyward. All six of the monster’s arms become active; some engage Morwag in combat, while others relentlessly tug at the lines I’ve established or the arrays I’m attempting to deploy. Yet another limb persistently launches bone projectiles, their potency escalating with each volley. The monster navigates with startling agility on its eight legs, frequently lunging forward to impale Morwag.

My 'Wraith Dance' technique brings me into closer proximity, but simultaneously, the Skreth flings Morwag aside. Through an uncanny precognition, it appears to anticipate the kinetic vibrations of my movements, pivoting to confront the very space where I materialize.

My attempt to teleport to safety is violently torn apart by two of its grasping limbs, while two others conjure a bone spear and scimitar with which to assault me.

The weapon in my grasp transmutes into a pair of short swords, which I briskly cross before me. My mana roars through my being, fortifying my defense.

Morwag slams into the behemoth once more. In unison, all six of the monster’s arms contort and pull inward towards its torso as if bound by unseen ropes. Seizing this fleeting opportunity, I plunge my blades towards it.

I nearly forfeit my footing as my strike passes through vacant air. My gaze frantically scans the vicinity, finally locating the monster positioned high above. It ruptures the binding enchantment and extends its arms wide. All of its multitude of eyes blink erratically, out of sync, and within their depths, a sinister crimson light begins to ascend.

A colossal reservoir of mana coalesces around the creature, neutralizing some of the less potent assaults I launch its way. It subtly redirects the more formidable attacks I manage to weave, causing them to pierce its form but halt upon encountering unyielding bone, refusing further penetration. Any flesh wounded rapidly regenerates, as do the searing burns from explosive impacts.

Morwag’s stone protrusions lash out, aiming to press the assault, but the creature is already prepared. It readies an attack as I lean precariously, nearly toppling, then erupt forward in a blinding burst of speed. Around me and across the entire battlefield, a barrage of bone projectiles begins to rain down. Each one grows in magnitude as it embeds itself in the ground, unleashing a proliferation of bone spikes that erect a structure resembling a thorny, labyrinthine web, forcing me into evasive maneuvers.

I halt my movement, and another bone projectile, monumental as a telephone pole, lands directly in my path. I absorb its full kinetic force, along with the burgeoning momentum of the emerging spikes, bringing them to a standstill. A wave of raw mana erupts outward from me in an omnidirectional blast, vaporizing all nearby matter and propelling everything else aside, including the stubborn bone spikes.

More blood trickles from my palm, coalescing and expanding into a mana-infused spear, its core a brilliant gold and white. I launch this empowered weapon, boosting its trajectory towards the Skreth. Behind the creature, a pair of immense bone wings unfurl, followed by a concussive wave that surges forward towards my lance. The wave shatters against the bone, but my spear pierces through, continuing its onward path, even managing to rend a gaping hole through the monster's chest.

That wound rapidly seals as bone plates regenerate around the cavity. For a brief instant, the monster falters, appearing on the verge of collapse. Savant seizes this opportune moment, materializing in the air behind the colossal foe. In one hand, he wields the Sword of Aeons, and from his back, emerging from a shoulder blade, a single wing covered in pristine white feathers unfurls, evoking an angelic image. Like the final embers of a fading day, an ethereal orange light now envelops his form.

Still, the monstrous entity retaliates, its limbs rising to intercept the blow before unleashing a torrent of mana to propel him backward. My eyes widen in observation, fixing upon that wave of mana and absorbing every scrap of information, the spectacles clutched in my palm. The mana dissipated, fractured, and weakened beneath my intense stare, creating an opening. With that, the Sword of Aeons carved a diagonal path through the creature, embedding deeply into its torso. An orange luminescence flared, seeping into the blade and initiating a surge of mana radiation that seared the monster, consuming half of its ocular organs.

A ghastly shriek reverberated through the expanse, and the entirety of the thorny bone filigree, spanning several miles, began to convivid and proliferate at an alarming rate, compelling me to evade and shatter the tendrils that now reached in my direction. The majority of the bone shards thrust towards the heavens, ascending like colossal lances in a race to reach Savant.

An increased quantity of mana emanated from the monster, and Savant attempted to withdraw his sword, only to find himself unable to do so as it became ensnared by the encroaching bone structure. His wing swept inward, and he retreated, leaving his weapon behind.

With a resounding crack, another of my lances impaled the monster. It shuddered and swiveled its attention towards me, compelling a greater number of bone spikes to target me, thereby forming a dense lattice through which my movement was severely restricted. When the monster refocused on Savant, he had vanished, reabsorbed into obscurity.

The Skreth emitted another piercing cry, its skeletal wings unfurling wide as the labyrinthine expanse of thorny spikes broadened, now engulfing an area equivalent to a city inhabited by half a million souls, and its growth showed no signs of cessation.

Employing Wraith Dance in conjunction with Pulser Stance, I weaved through the obstructing elements, occasionally decelerating to a walk and obliterating the spikes with concentrated bursts of thermal energy that illuminated the nocturnal landscape.

And quite suddenly, an undeniable realization dawned: this ordeal was beginning to feel… exhilarating.

My physique felt invigorated, that characteristic tension surreptitiously creeping in. My skin grew cold, my hands teetered on the precipice of trembling. My senses, honed to their absolute apex, encompassed my surroundings with unparalleled acuity. Mana surged through my being as I drew upon it with increasing intensity, holding it just below the surface of my skin, poised for deployment against the creature.

I was not isolated, and no one seemed particularly inclined to hasten the conclusion of this engagement. All parties involved perceived the monster as a formidable yet ultimately manageable or escapable adversary, and the beast itself was progressively augmenting its power output.

Additional thermal energy coalesced into an orb above my head, approximately the size of a baseball. It rotated, and from its core, a slender, laser-like stream erupted, emitting a roar akin to a nascent jet engine as it swept outward in a comprehensive 360-degree arc. This concentrated beam sliced through the bone structures, leaving behind molten lines of severance in its wake.

Forcing my passage through the impediment, I utilized teleportation to reach one of the markers I had strategically placed throughout the confrontation; the very location I had occupied moments before was consequently struck by a bone projectile the size of a bus.

Resuming a walking pace, I directed my gaze upward towards the Skreth, now encircled by bone projectiles comparable in scale to buildings, extending the length of two or three coupled train carriages.

Another projectile launched towards me with considerable velocity, prompting another teleportation, this time over a significantly greater distance. From my new vantage point, I discharged a subsequent lance, its propulsion so amplified that it decisively surpassed the sound barrier and vaporized the bone spikes in my immediate vicinity. The projectile tore through the monster's abdomen and continued its trajectory, embedding itself within the distant ceiling.

The wound etched across my chest remained incompletely mended, resulting in a minor leakage of my blood. All of this liberated vitality, existing outside my corporeal form, I meticulously collected and manipulated, utilizing the immense reserve of mana within me, causing it to hover beside me as a diminutive sphere.

A blinding flash of orange light enveloped the sector, and subsequently, the building-sized bone projectile poised to descend upon its center vanished. In the ensuing moment, it reappeared and was launched from that precise spot, hurtling towards the Skreth instead. The subsequent projectile disintegrated into a cascade of bone dust, and gradually, accompanied by cracking sounds and pulses of mana, all the other spikes followed suit. Resembling a sandstorm composed of minute bone fragments, it swirled across an area the size of a sprawling city, gouging the terrain and accelerating in momentum.

A void enveloped Savant as his presumably absorbed heart commenced beating, projecting waves of void energy outward. His inherent orange luminescence intensified, forming a distinct outline around his form, as he collided with the Skreth amidst the roaring, city-sized bone tempest that raged around them.

I observed as he grasped the hilt of the bone-encrusted Sword of Aeons, still lodged within the monster, and exerted force against the bone, accompanied by a cracking sound. An immense surge of mana was unleashed from the sword as he wrenched the blade free amidst a torrent of sickly red ichor. In an instant, he propelled himself backward and executed a sweeping horizontal swing with his weapon.

A stark, mile-wide gash slices through the bone storm, like a devastating scar, leaving the Skreth unrecognizable. Its entire form is now shrouded in bone armor, its spider-like legs have expanded significantly, and its six arms, elongated, terminate in razor-sharp bone bladed claws. Savant's assault merely gouges a deep fissure across its chest, failing to penetrate further.

My lance thrusts forward once more, but my accelerated thoughts reveal the monster now intercepts my attack. Its head whips around with speed that impresses even my heightened perception. Then, the creature vanished, phasing out of existence.

I track its trajectory, pivoting to confront it just as the Skreth materializes from a colossal bone shard nearby. It has swelled to nearly double my stature—a multi-limbed abomination encased entirely in bone plating. Visible eyes are nonexistent, replaced by a rugged, distorted helmet adorned with haphazard protrusions.

Returning to the ground proved to be a miscalculation.

I reach for the teleportation ability. The Skreth fiercely contests my claim, an animalistic struggle, yet I push through its resistance.

Suddenly, instead of allowing my escape, another individual materializes between myself and the monstrosity. The immense clawed appendages strike Morwag's chest, shattering upon impact as the demon allows me to teleport him via the mark I established on him.

A smile graces his features, and his heart pulses steadily. Not a single injury mars his form as he exerts his binding energy to its absolute limit. To bolster his endurance, to preserve his physical integrity—skin, bone, and all. Simultaneously, he overclocks his very being, channeling every ounce of mana into a daring body reinforcement technique, causing his power output to surge dramatically.

With the obsidian spine chain abandoned somewhere in the vastness, clad only in his attire, without any artifacts, and relying purely on his physical prowess, Morwag confronts this fiend. He grasps a clawed arm, yanking it down with force, compelling the monster to submit to his will, and then slams his head into the Skreth's skull. The resulting concussion generates a shockwave that forces me to stagger backward.