Just as the mercenaries battled fiercely against the fist-sized spiders, a massive black shadow rushed toward them from deep within the dense forest.
Ethan's eyes widened. He shouted immediately:
"Eddie—fire! Everyone else—retreat across the river!"
By now the firewood Yuen and Eddie had prepared had already been bundled into several large piles and shoved beneath the trees along the riverbank at the forest's edge.
Hearing Ethan's command Eddie nocked fire arrows in rapid succession and loosed them into the stacks.
The dry wood caught quickly. Flames roared upward igniting the underbrush and small trees along the bank spreading steadily into the forest.
But the fire spread too slowly to stop the approaching shadow.
Ethan had barely taken two steps backward when the black shape burst through the flames lunging straight for his head with enormous dripping mandibles.
Instinct took over. Ethan snapped his shield up just in time—only then realizing the monster was a gigantic spider standing as tall as a man.
Conrad—who had been thrusting his spear from behind Ethan—gasped in shock:
"My gods… how can something like that even exist?"
Faced with such an impossible creature the most rational choice might have been to turn and flee.
But if they ran they would simply be picked off one by one and left to rot in the wilderness—just like the missing villagers before them.
Could they even escape this battlefield let alone the forest?
Ethan discarded his short sword reached back and drew his longsword. Shield in one hand blade in the other he charged forward shouting:
"I'll hold it! Everyone else—look for openings to strike! If we don't kill this thing none of us are getting out alive!"
He hacked at the joints of the spider's long legs trying to cripple its mobility—but with a casual lift of one limb the creature brushed the blow aside.
"Sea Serpent Strike" rang against the giant spider's carapace with a dull metallic clang yet failed to penetrate.
Its shell was every bit as tough as Ethan's source-material armor.
Could Ethan lose?
Of course not.
The fight had finally entered the boss-phase Ethan knew best. He was an expert here.
"This thing is too big to fly. As long as we block its attacks we can wear it down!"
Even while issuing commands Ethan kept circling to stay directly in front of the monster using his shield to intercept every strike aimed at the group.
"Conrad—bring your shield up here with me! Cover any attacks I miss!"
Conrad didn't hesitate. He stepped forward immediately taking position at Ethan's side.
"Yuen—Ander! You two stay behind with spears—keep stabbing! Don't let it break through to the rear!"
"Eddie—find weak points! Eyes throat joints—anything soft! Kevin—watch yourself!"
Real combat was nothing like a dungeon where bosses followed predictable patterns and you could simply spam cooldowns.
Though unnaturally huge this spider still behaved like a natural predator—cautious patient waiting for the perfect opening before delivering a killing strike.
Anyone who has watched wildlife documentaries knows: in the brutal natural world when predator meets prey it's rarely an instant chase.
Most often it's a long tense standoff followed by one sudden lethal lunge.
The giant spider followed exactly the same pattern.
It studied the six prey before it searching calmly for weakness.
When it found one it bent its eight long legs and lunged—chelicerae thrusting forward like twin spears.
Ethan countered the way he would a spearman: parry with shield then close instantly and hack at vulnerable spots.
Each clash produced a resounding metallic clang.
After every impact Ethan shouted "Hold! Hold!" to keep morale up.
Under Ethan's protection the group remained largely unharmed.
Any attacks that slipped past were caught by Conrad's shield.
But the spider's carapace was too hard and Yuen and Ander stood too far back.
Almost all meaningful damage came from Ethan's longsword alone.
Ethan's shield was source-material—capable of withstanding blows from ancient gods.
Conrad's wooden shield was not.
The spider's chelicerae pierced Conrad's shield with terrifying ease.
If they didn't finish this quickly Conrad would die.
Once the shield wall collapsed the monster would bypass Ethan and slaughter the others.
Even if they eventually killed it the team would suffer catastrophic losses.
Realizing this Ethan gripped his sword tighter determined to end the fight while everyone still had strength.
The giant spider—perhaps injured by Ethan's relentless heavy blows—suddenly shifted its weight and lunged toward Eddie who had been staying behind the line firing arrows.
Eddie had no shield; his leather armor had been given to Conrad earlier.
One clean hit would be fatal.
He could only throw himself sideways to the ground.
Kevin—who stood near the spider's line of advance—saw the movement instantly.
Gripping his longsword two-handed he twisted at the waist and delivered a powerful horizontal cut striking the joints of the spider's two left forelegs—severing one completely and deeply wounding the other.
A piercing screech erupted from the monster's chelicerae.
As its body tilted left its head snapped toward Kevin driving both chelicerae straight into his right hip.
"Kevin!"
Ethan hurled his shield aside gripped his longsword two-handed and leapt.
Planting one foot on the spider's back he drove the blade horizontally between its thorax and abdomen—then used his full body weight to drag the sword downward ripping through the creature's entire chest cavity.
The giant spider collapsed legs twitching feebly before going still.
"Kevin—Kevin!"
The moment the monster stopped moving Ethan scrambled to his apprentice's side cradling Kevin's head.
"Kevin—how are you? You can't die!"
Kevin coughed wetly blood on his lips mumbling:
"Teacher… is this… death?"
He gasped weakly:
"I think… I see heaven… it's so dark…"
"You are *not* dying!"
Ethan frantically rummaged through the small pouch at his waist—garlic plantain cogongrass—anything—but Kevin's abdominal wound was massive.
These field herbs were nowhere near enough to stop the bleeding.
"Holy Light—damn it—Healing Touch—I can't use any of it!"
Ethan desperately tried to summon the Light within himself but felt only emptiness.
*Why?*
*If you're not going to give me anything then what was the point of bringing me to this world?*
Resentment flared hot in his chest.
Save the continent? Save Westeros?
He couldn't even save the people beside him—who else could he save?
Just as despair threatened to swallow him a faint almost imperceptible pull tugged at his senses—emanating from the giant spider's torn-open chest.
Ethan turned.
Instinct told him something inside that corpse could save Kevin.
"Kevin—hold on. Don't die!"
Drawing his dagger he knelt beside the dead spider sliced through tangled foul-smelling tissue reached deep into the chest cavity and rummaged until his fingers closed around a white rounded mass of flesh.
Ethan stared at the tumor-like organ feeling familiar magical vibrations radiating from it.
His gut screamed: *eat this and you can touch the power of the sun again.*
But… could he really eat this thing raw?
He looked at the boy lying pale and fading on the ground gritted his teeth and shoved the entire lump into his mouth.
A nauseating stench exploded across his senses—for a moment Ethan genuinely thought he had died and gone to some hellish afterlife.
But he forced it down chewing twice then swallowing hard.
Instantly something shifted inside him.
A new energy—different from physical strength—flooded his body like icy water soaking every nerve.
He recognized it instantly: magic.
And he could control it at will.
Coughing violently Ethan shouted:
"Strip his armor! Wash the wound with strong liquor—now!"
Washing wounds with spirits was standard practice in Westeros.
Everyone carried some for emergencies.
Hearing the command Conrad and Ander (closest) immediately used daggers to pry open Kevin's abdominal armor sliced through clothing and poured liquor over the gashes.
Once blood was cleared they saw two deep punctures each nearly an inch long.
By then Ethan had regained control.
He rushed back to Kevin's side saw the pale face shallow breathing confirmed a thread of life still remained then pressed both palms gently over one wound.
Looking skyward he prayed in Chinese:
"Whoever you are—since you sent me here you owe me!
This is my student my partner the bridge between me and this world!
Now that I have magic—let me use Holy Light to heal him!
Otherwise I will *never* forgive you!
May the Light protect him!"
Ethan bowed his head gathered the new energy in his palms as memory guided.
The moment the prayer ended the strange power transformed into radiant warmth surging through his hands.
At the same instant both palms blazed with golden light—as bright as sunrise.
Before everyone's stunned eyes Kevin's terrible abdominal wounds visibly closed.
By the time the glow faded only faint smears of blood remained on his waist.
The sun had already sunk behind the western mountains.
Night wind blew from the north driving the fire deeper into the forest.
The spiders—now cut off from the battlefield by wildfire—immediately turned on each other after their leader's death tearing into one another in savage confusion.
The more intelligent ones used the chaos to flee.
That left only one unconscious boy and four dumbfounded men illuminated by blazing firelight on the riverbank.
Yes—even Ethan himself was stunned.
For thirty-two chapters he had believed his extraordinary physical strength was his golden finger.
He never imagined the *real* cheat had been severed and dropped here waiting.
"Ethan… Captain… sir…" Eddie's hoarse voice broke the silence. "What… what was that just now?"
Ethan turned staring at Eddie with unfocused eyes.
"What was what?"
"It was—it was—" Ander gestured wildly "—a flash—so bright!"
"Oh… that…" Ethan swallowed hard then said slowly:
"The blessing… of the sun god An'she…"
The sun god An'she—a deity completely unknown to the people of Westeros.
But no one questioned it.
They all knew Ethan came from the distant East—a land of wildly diverse and chaotic faiths where every kind of god existed.
Moreover a god capable of working miracles was not something mere mortals could casually judge.
Silence fell over the group.
Then Conrad suddenly seized Ethan's arm.
"Captain—Juan—my brother—can you help him?"
"Juan?" Ethan frowned. "Isn't he already dead?"
A resurrection spell… would it even work…?
"No—he's not dead!
I checked just now—his heart is still beating very slowly!
If you don't do something he *will* die!"
Right.
Ethan remembered how some Earth spiders inject paralytic neurotoxins into prey storing them alive and fresh for later consumption.
Before that the toxin induces a death-like suspended animation.
Ethan felt the mana inside him.
Though the emergency healing on Kevin had consumed most of the power he had just gained some remained.
He wasn't sure whether it would be enough to bring back another person.
"I'll try… but it might not work."
He hurried to Juan's "body" cradled the back of his neck and cast Purification followed by Flash of Light.
Golden radiance flickered briefly then faded.
Ethan gently laid Juan's head back on the ground and said in a heavy voice:
"I'm sorry.
The power I took from the giant spider is completely exhausted.
I did everything I could."
Conrad's eyes dimmed.
He forced a weak smile.
"It's all right Captain… this is Juan's fate…"
At that instant Juan's faint voice suddenly spoke:
"Conrad… you died too?"
Conrad's heart lurched.
He looked down—and saw his brother-in-law staring up at him eyes open.
"Captain—you said the power was used up?"
Ethan replied with regret:
"Yes.
That's why the wound on the back of his neck didn't heal completely.
It will take time to fully recover."
Conrad looked from Ethan to Juan and back again—speechless.
Because Eddie's fire had spread deep into the forest cutting off any path back the investigation team could only huddle fully clothed against the cliff face for the night.
Though Kevin's wounds had been closed by Ethan's Holy Light the massive blood loss could not be restored.
He remained in a deep unconscious sleep.
His teacher never left his side.
The warriors—who had personally witnessed that miraculous scene—now regarded Ethan with open awe.
None dared approach to speak.
They could only whisper among themselves debating what exactly the so-called "blessing of the sun god An'she" had been—and how those horrific abdominal wounds had healed so quickly without even leaving scars.
But no matter how quietly these rough men spoke in a night filled only with the crackle of wildfire their voices carried like thunder.
When Conrad proposed his seventh theory—that Ethan might actually be a witch in disguise—and the others nodded seriously Ethan could bear it no longer.
He coughed loudly:
"All right everyone—rest now.
One man on watch.
The rest sleep.
We still have work tomorrow."
A ragged chorus answered:
"Yes Captain!"
Then they immediately fell silent.
Tonight's battle had fully demonstrated Ethan's strength to them.
In the military—especially in an age of cold steel—exceptional individual combat power was a virtue that commanded instant respect.
If their earlier obedience to Ethan's orders had been merely because he organized the mission now it came from genuine admiration and reverence.
The reason was simple: he was the strongest—and he could save lives at the critical moment.
But even with no one talking Ethan himself could not sleep.
He kept replaying the sensation of channeling the holy spell.
Was this the power of the sun god An'she?
Was this truly Holy Light?
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