Kumodesu

At this point, I had fully switched to a defensive stance, surrounded by multiple layers of spider silk, but just one magic attack was enough to obliterate everything—turning it all into dust.

They were still getting stronger by the second.

Staying here any longer wouldn't be wise. After all, I had fulfilled my promise to Mr. Loyral, so it was best to retreat for now. As for shelter… I'm a spider that builds her home out of silk, so I can live just about anywhere.

With that thought, I dashed toward the path leading to the sixth floor. Thanks to [Flash], I easily dodged the attacks coming from behind.

Just a little farther...

I was almost at the exit when I jumped, trying to use momentum to escape the fifth floor—but as I approached the exit, I suddenly slammed into something and fell back to the ground.

Aaaaaaah!

Ow—my poor nose!

Rubbing my nose, I was stunned by what I'd just crashed into. There was clearly nothing visible in front of me, but I was still blocked—like some invisible wall was there.

Nai wa!

I'm screwed!

They've trapped me in here.

Before I could even regain my composure, another magic attack shot toward me, forcing me to dodge immediately. Why do I keep ending up in these kinds of situations...? I help someone and end up screwing myself over.

Right now, all I could do was run around like crazy. Wherever I went, spells followed—fireballs, lightning bolts, whirlwinds, earthquakes... all wide-area spells, making dodging a nightmare.

Everything around me had already been nearly destroyed by these guys. The ruined village from earlier now barely had any houses left—just a wasteland of rubble.

Suddenly, a spirit appeared before me—no idea when it got there—and launched an incredibly powerful spell.

Knowing I couldn't dodge it in time, I poured everything I had into defense.

[Invincible Shield] activated and took the full brunt of the attack. At the same time, the spirit in front of me was hit with reflected damage. With a scream of agony, it vanished into thin air.

That was powerful...

I mean, its attack was so strong it got itself killed by its own reflection!

Defeating one of them gave me a little morale boost, but the cost was a big chunk of my SP—it consumed even more than when I spammed skills nonstop earlier.

I checked my stats and saw I still had enough SP to use [Invincible Shield] three more times, but after that, I'd be completely dry.

No good.

Unless it's a finishing blow like that one, I shouldn't waste it.

What followed was a series of mad dashes and dodges. I just kept using [Flash] over and over, so it wasn't too difficult.

Occasionally, when some tried to get close, I used [Gluttony] to grab and drain a bit of energy from them to replenish myself.

I still had tons of SP left, so I could use [Flash] a hundred more times no problem. Let's see who runs out of juice first—me or them.

<>

Oh, a pleasant surprise drop!

Nice.

The magic attacks had slowed down, meaning even they were getting drained. That took off some of the pressure. Still, seeing this place completely wrecked did make me a bit sad.

After more chasing, I discovered that [Paralyzing Evil Eye] actually worked on them. Can't believe I didn't notice until now.

To avoid missing any more chances like that, I started testing all my skills one by one to see which ones had any effect. In the end, only [Paralyzing Evil Eye] and [Soul Chain] worked.

I immediately used [Soul Chain] to bind one of them, followed it with [Paralyzing Evil Eye] to stop it from resisting, then pulled it toward me and used [Gluttony] to suck away some of its energy.

This method helped me maintain combat capability for a long time without any negative effects. I could drain their power freely without consequences.

It's basically a cheat-tier skill.

Just when I thought things would be fine from here on out… another twist hit.

Seeing they couldn't defeat me, the spirits began merging together. Their bodies stuck and fused until they became one single entity—a large, round mass covered in writhing arms and, at its center, a massive eye.

Its entire body turned jet-black, oozing some sort of vile black liquid that looked disgusting.

Is this... a fusion form?

Still in shock, I saw the creature fire a beam of black magic straight from its eye at me. I dodged just in time, but the beam bored a deep hole where I had just been—and everything in its path was completely erased.

This...

Don't tell me my mouth jinxed it again?

Every time I say things are going smoothly, something terrible happens!

After that failed attack, another eye appeared on its body. Both eyes then fired at me.

I didn't want to find out what would happen if I got hit, so I dodged immediately. Every time it missed, it would grow another eye and continue firing.

Before long, its body was covered with over a dozen eyes, all of them blasting those black beams at me. Dodging more than ten of those at once was terrifying—I nearly got hit several times.

At this point, it wasn't just "destruction"—it was full-on annihilation!

Nai wa!!

You disgusting freak!!

Shooting nonstop like that!

If you're so tough, come fight me in melee combat!

After dodging another barrage, I turned and shot some web at it—and found that the silk could finally stick to it.

Ha!

You gave up your original advantages to become this ugly monstrosity—you're done for!

Now that I could physically touch it, I wasn't as afraid anymore.

I began spamming all sorts of skills to try to restrain it. While it kept nullifying everything with those beams, I didn't let it get to me—hit-and-run tactics were my specialty, after all.

A combo of [Heaven's Net] and [Paralyzing Evil Eye] successfully restrained it for a moment, and during that window, I stood at a distance and lashed it repeatedly with [Soul Chain].

This was a trick I'd just figured out—those lashes didn't deal external damage, but they hit straight into the soul, making them way more effective.

I also used [Poison Mist] to obscure its vision, though that didn't seem very effective.

Unable to approach me, the monster just kept firing its black beams—but they weren't that fast, so I could dodge easily.

<>

This is what I was waiting for!

The monster, having been pelted relentlessly, let out a roar—even though I still couldn't see a mouth. Then, as if it had activated some cheat, it suddenly charged right toward me.

But instead of a wild strike, its dozens of eyes just stared at me—and suddenly I could feel my soul vibrating intensely.

I began remembering the old days—when life was just going to school, eating, sleeping, and playing with friends.

The days when I didn't have to fight like a madwoman or train relentlessly.

Yeah… I never needed to do this…

I could've just enjoyed my life...

I still have a family...

Mom nags a lot but still loves me, Dad is quiet but always gives me what I need… and I've got a cute little sister too…

Dad, Mom, little sis… I'm coming back to you…

"Hey! Hey!! Snap out of it!"

"I! Said! Snap! Out! Of! It!!"

Suddenly, a shock surged from within me, snapping me back to my senses.

What the hell?

Why was I suddenly thinking about my family in the middle of a battle...?

"Dodge now!"

I hadn't even processed it all when the voice of my Parallel Will rang out, prompting me to dodge the incoming danger.

"What's going on, me?" I asked.

"You were hit by a soul effect just now. Another second and you would've been toast."

I shuddered.

Even with such high resistance, I couldn't move for that moment—it showed just how powerful that soul-affecting ability was.

"You weren't affected?" I asked.

"No time for talk—it's coming! Dodge left!"

I didn't understand, but I trusted them, so I dodged—and barely avoided a tail strike that had just sprouted from the monster's body.

Its form had changed again?! It used to be just a ball with eyes and arms, but now it had two tails too.

"Leap back and use [Heaven's Net] on the top left eye—seal it shut."

I did exactly as the Will said, and it let me avoid another one of the monster's attacks. From that eye, something had almost fired—something extremely fast I couldn't even see. But since I sealed it in time, it was slowed just enough.

"How'd you know?" I asked, amazed by the Will's map-reading ability.

"Explanations later. I've figured out how to beat it, so just follow my instructions."

"Got it!"

I turned toward the monster with cold eyes.

This thing tried to pull that trick on me earlier.

Don't blame me for what's about to happen next.

Our fight isn't over, you disgusting, ugly, black, many-eyed freak that deserves to be obliterated!