"I got him!" Gavin said, sounding more hopeful than certain.
Still, Lucas hardly moved from where he stood. He waited for the dust to settle.
Then, from the gaping crater left behind, a monster unlike anything they had seen before emerged.
Its upper body resembled that of a human, with a broad torso and arms that ended in vicious claws. Its face was a horrifying mass of eyes and chitin, covered in a thick carapace.
Below the waist, its body merged seamlessly with the hindquarters of a giant spider, like some twisted centaur. Eight powerful legs carried its enormous frame.
[Defend yourself from the Burrowing Giant Spider]
"W-what the fuck...?" Gavin stammered.
With a casual swing of one clawed arm, the monster sent him flying into a wall.
Lucas watched him hurtle past.
"Run!"
The word had barely left Elena's mouth before she turned and sprinted away at full speed.
Lucas, however, couldn't bring himself to leave.
Gavin was clearly still alive. He couldn't just abandon him.
Without giving it much thought, he ran over to him.
Despite the impact, Gavin was somehow still in one piece. The wall behind him had cracked along with a few bones, but the monster hadn't made another move.
"Come on. Let's go."
Lucas pulled him to his feet.
"Oh my..." Gavin mumbled incoherently as he staggered upright.
Just as Lucas managed to drag him out of the way, the monster launched itself forward.
It slammed into the wall with tremendous force, unable to control its speed or stop in time.
The creature missed them by only a few meters.
A quick glance over his shoulder showed the monster already recovering from the collision.
By then, Gavin had regained enough of his senses to move on his own.
The moment Lucas let go, Gavin took off.
His speed was on a completely different level.
Lucas tried to keep up, but it was impossible, his agility was only at level three.
"Gavin, wait!" he shouted, trying to get his attention.
Gavin didn't even look back.
Lucas was running as fast as he could, yet Gavin continued to pull farther ahead. Elena was already long gone.
At the same time, he could feel the overwhelming presence of the monster behind him.
It was charging down the corridor at a speed that would make any grown man piss himself.
Standing over eight feet tall, its massive body filled most of the hallway.
Lucas could tell there was no hope.
The monster was gaining on him far too quickly.
'Maybe if I hadn't gone back for Gavin, I could've escaped'
'The one time I decided to do something heroic…'
He gritted his teeth.
"Well, I'm not dying like a pussy."
Lucas came to a stop and turned around.
The monster was charging straight at him.
Still, he stood his ground.
Faced with the choice between life and death, he decided this was the only chance he would get to test whether his ability actually worked on monsters.
There was no way to make physical contact.
So he met the creature's dark, empty eyes and stretched out a hand.
"Stop!"
...
Deep within the cavern that served as the spiders' nest, Carol and the others remained locked in battle.
The fighting had become less intense as the spiders' numbers gradually thinned.
"Their numbers are starting to drop," Arnold announced, driving his shield into a spider's head. Green ichor splattered as he ripped it free.
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed from above.
"I think something's happening on the surface," Carol said.
"Are you worried your boy toy's going to get himself killed?" Arnold asked with a chuckle.
Carol didn't respond, only giving him a look of disgust.
She had grown accustomed to his constant banter. There wasn't even any point in arguing anymore.
Instead, she shifted her attention to the floating system screen before her.
"The chat says Gavin and the others are in trouble," she said before dismissing it.
"So?" Arnold asked. "We already have our hands full. You can't just abandon the objective to go save them."
"What?" Carol frowned.
"He's right," Damian joined in. "We still haven't located the final boss. If we leave now, everything we've done down here could be for nothing."
Another Giant Spider lunged at him.
His green hand flashed forward, melting straight through its skull.
Carol clenched her jaw.
The system chat continued to scroll rapidly.
[Madmen: RUN!]
[Salvation_follower2020: THAT'S NOT A GIANT SPIDER!]
[THEY TRIGGERED THE BOSS!]
[Seven: New guy's dead.]
[Beast_tamer: No way he survives that.]
[BadGuy: Gavin so funny]
Her eyes narrowed.
"The boss?" she asked.
"What are they saying?" Arnold frowned.
Carol hesitated.
Before she could answer, a new message appeared on every one of their screens.
[Defend yourself from the Burrowing Giant Spider]
The entire cavern suddenly trembled.
Dust rained from the ceiling as three massive spider men emerged from separate tunnels.
"What the hell are those?" one of the fighters shouted.
Then another tremor hit.
And another.
The walls themselves seemed to shudder.
Even the spiders paused, their head tilting upwards as if they, too, were confused by the commotion.
Damian's expression darkened.
"That didn't come from down here."
"No," Arnold said, his usual grin gone.
For the first time since entering the place, genuine concern crossed his face.
"That came from the surface."
Carol was already turning away, "I'm going up."
"Carol—"
"I don't care about the boss anymore. The others are up there."
Her voice was firm, leaving little room for argument.
Arnold stared at her for a moment before clicking his tongue.
"Damn it.
He drove his spear into an approaching spider, piercing its head against the ground.
"Fine. Go."
He shoved the corpse aside and rolled his shoulders.
"That just means a bigger share for the rest of us when we find the boss"
His grin slowly returned.
Above them, far from the cavern below, Lucas stood frozen in the corridor.
His outstretched hand trembled.
"Stop!"
The words echoed through the hallway.
The Spider man was less than three meters away.
Its monstrous body blurred from sheer speed.
For a brief second nothing happened.
Then—
The creature's front legs slammed into the floor.
Cracks spread across the concrete.
Its body lurched violently forward and came to a halt.