The atmosphere around Eric, Lyria, and Livy suddenly grew extremely thick with a sense of dread that seemed to emanate from every leaf, branch, and trunk of the trees around them. The pressure was so palpable that to this day they had never even come close to experiencing or imagining anything close to this.
Their hearts started pounding heavily inside their chests.
Though there was nothing in front of their eyes, the atmosphere around the forest had changed so drastically that they knew they were in the presence of something beyond what their existence could handle at this moment.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy slowly turned to look above them as their senses screamed to look above.
As they gazed above, their eyes couldn't help but widen with unprecedented horror.
Suspended far above them, even taller than the 100-meter-tall trees around them, was a creature of nightmarish proportions looming in the gloom, its huge silhouette already blocking out the sunlight.
The spider was colossal, its body easily the size of a small castle or a hill, with legs that stretched out perhaps nearly half a mile or a kilometer in length.
Each leg was thicker than the trunks of the trees they had been passing.
The creature's abdomen, a monstrous bulb of malevolence, bore a pair of dark eyes gleaming with uncontrollable murderous intent as it gazed down upon the three humans below it.
The pressure of its presence bore down upon Eric, Lyria, and Livy, making it hard for them to even breathe or move, almost as if the very air had thickened countless times.
Unlike Mana Wielders, a Mana Beast couldn't impose Spiritual Pressure upon others but could impose Psychological Pressure. Though it was only psychological in nature, the current proportion was so unfathomably deep that it had even affected reality.
Eric, Lyria, and Livy instinctively knew, without a doubt, just what they were facing.
"A Newborn stage Rank 3..." Lyria growled with her raspy voice.
While they remained frozen in place, they could only watch helplessly with trembling eyes as the colossal spider began to slowly lower itself toward them.
Its descent was heralded by the ominous creaking of its webbing. The world around them grew darker, swallowed by the shadow of their imminent doom.
Just as the Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider was about to bring its sharp, long jaw near them, Eric quickly reached out both his hands, grabbed Lyria and Livy's shoulders, covered them with his Mana, and Blinked rapidly a couple of times, arriving at the top of a tall redwood tree two to three hundred meters away from the Newborn stage Rank 3.
Lyria and Livy started gasping for breath.
They came to their senses, and their previous frozen state dissolved.
The Rank 3's psychological pressure was still there, but it could no longer affect them as much—a large reason for this was how sudden its appearance had been.
Since the graveyard incident back in Ringwood Town, Eric, Lyria, and Livy could somewhat understand that they had developed some sort of mental immunity and were no longer pressured down psychologically or influenced as easily.
And from today, they also now knew that even a Mystical-type Newborn stage Rank 3 couldn't strongly affect them with its pressure.
Next time, against such a similar gargantuan beast, they wouldn't be frozen as they were moments ago—though that was only if they could survive their current predicament.
"B-brother Eric... W-what should we do...?" Livy asked while panting.
Eric stayed silent for a moment, thinking of their chances of escape.
The only one who could possibly escape was Lyria, though it was still uncertain. He also couldn't guarantee that he himself could escape, but Livy was certainly in the most dangerous situation, as she didn't have any distance-traveling ability. Though, at this moment, he was 90% certain none of them could escape this incomprehensibly huge creature, as they couldn't estimate its limits.
Eric still couldn't believe the difference between a Rank 2 and a Rank 3 was this massive. Though he hadn't personally seen any Adult or Elder stage Rank 2, he had their descriptions in his head, and perhaps none of them could even come close to half the length of the Rank 3 in front of them.
He could finally understand why it was said that taking down a Rank 3 Mana Beast required multiple Master Ranks. Just its strong shell and natural defense seemed impenetrable. And not to mention, they were still unaware of its real capabilities as a Rank 3.
Eric also had a serious weakness when it came to 'Blink'—it could only be used if the area was clear. He could blink in air and even in water, but he couldn't blink freely when surrounded by trees and obstacles, making escape difficult. There was also a chance the spider had ways to detect his 'Disappearance' state, so he didn't want to expose it easily unless they were truly escaping.
Lyria, who had calmed down significantly, turned to Eric. "Brother Eric, if we want to escape, there's a high chance one of us—or more—will be sacrificed..."
Livy gulped; she was also feeling the same. She asked with a trembling tone, "T-Then what should we do...?"
Eric and Lyria turned toward Livy and grinned, answering at the same time: "Then, we kill it!"
Livy was startled, then tittered softly. "I also thought so."
Eric turned back to the spider, which was slowly rising while glaring at them with eyes filled with fury and malice, but it didn't continue attacking for the time being.
He quickly spoke, "First, I'm not sure if it has poison or not, or whether we can block it. If you feel poisoned, don't hesitate to drink Tier 2 Anti-Venom potions at once and warn the others."
Anti-Venom potions weren't omnipotent, as each poison didn't work the same way on living being—some target nerves, some respiratory systems, and so on. However, an Anti-Venom potion could buy them extra minutes, which was the best they could do. And if the spider was too much of an expert in poisoning, they would need to escape without hesitation. As it was a Rank 3, its poison wouldn't be something their constitutions could handle, nor could their Tier 2 potions block it for long.
Eric continued murmuring in a low voice, but his words sped up as he knew that once the spider gave up on understanding how they had escaped earlier, it would start attacking—and much more violently.
"Ly, Liv, target the joints on its limbs. Right now, it isn't aware of our abilities, so make the best use of that before it starts guarding against us. Don't gather in one place, and don't stay in one location for long either. And finally, make sure not to get hit by it—no matter what! Dodge! And if it seems hopeless, don't rely solely on your Constitution—cover yourself with Mana, both internally and outwardly, and use the protection Rune on your armor. Don't hesitate to drink refilling potions, even if your Mana or Stamina is only slightly depleted."
Refilling Potions, such as Stamina or Mana Potions, didn't work immediately—they took time to regenerate. Drinking them back-to-back could grant greater regeneration, but it would also give them extreme headaches and a debuff to natural regeneration for some time. Currently, they couldn't afford to think of the future—one mistake now could cost them their lives.
Just as Lyria and Livy were about to nod, the spider attacked. It swiped its front limbs at them like a whip. The thickness of its limbs was enough to cover all three of them and more.
Noticing the speed of the incoming attack, Eric wanted to curse. The speed was nothing they could dodge—even glimpsing it was impressive. Luckily, he was prepared and had already covered Lyria and Livy with his Mana, so he swiftly blinked back to the ground far from their location.
As soon as they landed, they heard loud, continuous snapping noises followed by catastrophic booms, as if multiple thick trees had been completely shattered and uprooted from the ground by the spider's single attack.
"Go!" Eric quickly let go of Lyria and Livy and blinked back onto a 'surviving' tree right in front of the spider's face.
He appeared with a calm demeanor, arms crossed in front of his chest.
The Newborn stage Rank 3 Crimson Tide Spider Queen was furious and wanted to chew apart the three weaklings who had killed all her children and subordinates that she had cultivated over such a long time. But it seemed one of the humans could rapidly move from one location to another—though the distance between jumps wasn't too far, as he needed to appear and disappear multiple times to move a greater distance.
None of that had escaped her penetrative gaze, and she now perfectly understood the limitations of the human male's ability.
As she pulled back her front limb—the one that had destroyed countless trees—she had already calculated the length of his jumps.
For almost an entire month, she had been in her safe cocoon, undergoing metamorphosis. A Rank 3 evolution took a lot of time. Just as she was about to finish, she heard multiple desperate cries from her children—pleas for help from within the human village they had massacred a month or so ago. She wanted to rush back immediately, but she couldn't—she was at the crucial final stage of her evolution. She could only hope they could survive a few more minutes.
She had already planned to leave these plains after evolving to Rank 3. She was smart enough to understand that humans from neighboring large cities wouldn't tolerate her existence. She needed to leave, but there were still humans to devour for her children's growth in the village, so she decided she would leave after a few days or week—once she had adjusted to her new Rank 3 body.
Just when she appeared near the village, all she could sense was that all her children and subordinates had perished!
How could she not boil with wrath and hate?
And when she 'smelled' the location of the killers, all she found were three extremely low-rank Mana Wielders. For a moment, she thought she had mistaken—but regardless, she would kill them first.
As the three humans teleported multiple times, she observed closely and realized that perhaps the 'male' among them was the reason for her children's untimely deaths—thus, all her hatred was focused on the sole 'male' human.
For now, she decided to ignore the two human females—they couldn't escape anywhere, as she had already grasped their scents and marked them upon arrival.
None shall escape her!
Seeing the male's contemptuous look, her anger reached a new peak. She could understand if they wanted to escape—yet the human male dared to appear in front of her in such a showy manner. Did he think she couldn't kill him just because of his jumping ability?
Then, let's see how long you can jump!