Kumodesu

With the help of my Parallel Will, I was able to continuously dodge its attacks—even surprise strikes or sneak attacks were completely evaded, and I kept landing blow after blow on its body.

Its speed had slowed, and it no longer fired that strange black beam as frequently, proving that the mysterious energy inside it was starting to run dry.

"Attack from the left."

"Dodge right."

"Step back two paces."

A series of commands from my will made my movements smooth and untroubled…

"What should I do next, Will?" I asked.

"Wait… give me a second."

Hmm?

Something seemed off—my will sounded flustered.

"What's wrong, Will?"

"It's nothing serious... It's just that we've run out of the energy supply for the virtual world..."

"We're in the middle of a battle—what's that got to do with anything?"

I could already smell trouble.

"Well… you see, the reason I could predict its every move so accurately was because I created a virtual replica of it in the virtual world, and kept using [Manifest] and [Insight] to analyze everything about it. I combined that with the [Prediction] skill to anticipate its next move. But… this process drained way more energy than I expected."

Oh, so that's how it was.

That made sense. But now, a new problem had surfaced.

"You came up with that on your own? I didn't think I was that smart."

This method was incredibly overpowered—being able to predict the enemy's actions gave me a massive advantage. I didn't expect that I could come up with something like this so quickly.

"Hehe, actually… someone reminded me, and that's how I knew to do it."

"What?!"

I was shocked—not because I doubted my own intelligence, but because someone had managed to infiltrate my mind and speak with my will without me knowing.

I had been using [Sensing] the whole time to be on guard. There was no sign of any other creature at all.

"Where did they come from? What did their voice sound like? Are they still here? Did they appear physically?"

"At first, I was surprised too, but because the battle was urgent, I didn't ask much. As for the other details… I'm not sure. They didn't manifest, and their voice was monotone—I couldn't tell if it was male or female."

Not even a single clue?

"I only went along with it because it was working so well. Why, does that bother you, Will?"

Of course it bothers me!

Someone with such a mysterious origin and abilities couldn't be normal. And they were paying attention to a spider like me?

Do I have something valuable on me?

Is it my outstanding talent?

Or perhaps… my stunning beauty?

"A beautiful spider…? Pfft!"

My will burst out laughing.

So what if I'm a spider?! I'm still a girl in my growth phase! If you count both lives, I'm still not even eighteen!

"Alright, alright, focus on the battle. I can't assist you anymore, but I'll try to find a useful skill."

Agreed!

Honestly, I could manage fine without my will's help, especially with [Prediction], and the monster was clearly weakened. Unless it had some final trump card, I wasn't in any life-threatening danger.

Almost like a response to my thoughts, the monster began making a strange motion—or rather, its body transformed again. All its eyes merged into one, and a large mouth full of teeth appeared below it.

Then the monster opened its mouth wide and began to inhale everything around.

The suction force was immense. Trees, rocks, even leftover debris from buildings were pulled into its mouth. The more it devoured, the larger its body became.

What the heck is it trying to do now???

Aren't you afraid of bursting your stomach eating that much?

Oh wait, if it bursts, I'll get caught in the aftermath too.

Stop eating, you damn monster!!!

I tried to interfere, but it no longer paid attention to me—it just kept sucking everything in. The suction kept getting stronger, and I nearly got pulled in several times, but I anchored myself using web threads.

All I could do now was erect an [Invincible Shield] in front of me to prepare for whatever massive attack was coming. From the looks of it, this was going to be a big one.

The monster kept devouring until it grew to almost half the size of this entire space. Then it finally stopped. Afterward, it opened its mouth again—but this time, a massive sphere began forming in front of it, while its body began shrinking again.

So that's the plan.

Looking at that absurdly huge sphere it created…

Why does my future suddenly seem so bleak…

I didn't just sit around either—I quickly spun hundreds of layers of [Spider Silk] in front of me as an extra protective barrier, and then I activated [Adamantine Body] just to be sure.

<>

I've done everything I could. All that's left is to pray for my life.

After several minutes of "charging up," the monster finally looked straight at me. Its gaze turned vicious, and it grinned a smug, punchable smile—then, without warning, it launched the massive sphere right at me.

Oh god please save me!

Oh god please save me!

Oh god please save me!

All the layers of web were pierced through, though they did slow the sphere down somewhat, and then—it collided directly with my shield.

A massive explosion followed, and the shockwave was overwhelming. Even with two layers of defense, I still got injured. The aftershock lasted so long that I couldn't even see what was happening.

If the monster had attacked me then, I wouldn't have been able to defend myself… but thankfully, nothing happened during that entire time.

<>

Once the explosion ended, smoke and dust filled the area—but that didn't block my vision. I quickly scanned the surroundings and spotted a creature far off, collapsed atop some rubble.

Its body was now only half-intact… but it wasn't dead yet.

I had to take deep breaths—not out of shock, but because after that one move, even though I wasn't seriously hurt, my SP had been completely drained. I was struggling to stay standing.

I realized that this skill didn't consume a fixed amount of SP each time—it probably scaled with the strength of the opponent's attack. And this had been the strongest one yet, draining over 150 SP in one go.

Even when I blocked the snake's attack before, I didn't run this low. Fortunately, I had some Auto SP Recovery skills, so my SP was already partially replenished.

I had expected the monster to be nearly dead after using such a huge move—it must've taken massive damage from the reflected hit. Turns out the gifted skill really was overpowered.

With it, I didn't have to fear any super attacks from enemies anymore. Still, just to be safe, I carefully approached the monster—it wasn't fully dead yet.

Step by step, I moved closer. But it didn't react at all.

Looks like it really had been drained dry.

Seeing it lying there with only half a body reminded me of myself. I had ended up like that more than once before, but always managed to escape with my life. This time, it wouldn't be so lucky.

Come to think of it… I still hadn't used [Appraisal] on it, had I?

So I activated it now.

<>

HP: 15/500

MP: 24/700

SP: 7/600

Whoa! Its level was even higher than that mutated lizard I killed before. Its stats were two to three times higher too. No wonder this fight was so damn tough.

I thought it was just a fusion of elementals—so still an elemental. But its name was completely unfamiliar to me.

Its appearance didn't resemble any creature I knew either. Unlike the others I'd met in this world, which still had traits of animals from my old world, this thing didn't resemble anything I could recognize.

"It's a creature from the 'Black Continent,'" my will suddenly spoke up.

"You know?"

"I just learned after using [Insight]."

Hmm…

If I remembered correctly, the "Black Continent" was part of a "Special Forbidden Zone" mentioned in one of the books I read. But why the heck would a creature from there show up here???

"Forget that—look at the experience points! Finish it off quickly before it pulls a comeback with some secret move."

Yeah… good point.

So I moved in and finished the monster off quickly.

Phew.

It was finally over.

"That was a rough one, huh… This few-month journey here hasn't been easy," said my will.

It really had been a long journey. Only a few months passed, yet it felt like years.

Still, what mattered most was that it ended with a glorious victory for me.

With that thought, I collapsed on the spot, basking in my well-earned triumph.