Livy, who was nearest to the spider's jaws, swiftly changed her sword to a large shield.
Her WaterJet Dual-Wield could transform into any form within a set proportion in exchange for her stamina or Mana, but its defense was not the best, as even her shield did what her sword or whip did—shred everything.
She doubted her shield could stop or shred webs created by a Rank 3, but that was the best she could do in that short instance.
She was also experiencing inexplicable exhaustion or perhaps mental drainage that she couldn't understand, she suspected it was due to her last focused attack on amputating the spider's limb.
She felt she was about to lose consciousness from the sudden mental weakness. For now, she shoved her tiredness aside and did what she could to protect herself.
Lyria, on the other hand, had already thought it through and was well-prepared. The moment she jumped—even before the spider attacked—she had already pulled out two of her largest shields from her ring and, with her hardening, guarded herself from the incoming impact.
Those were far from enough to survive a hit from a Rank 3, but it was the best they could do. Both had already coated themselves with Mana for defense and activated the protective Runes inscribed in their armor, which made their entire armor glow with a soft transparent hue.
The moment the web hit Livy's shield, she 'Mudskipper'-ed to her side midair.
Her shield wasn't able to block the web, but it altered its trajectory slightly away from her and pushed her sideways—causing the web to miss her entirely.
She didn't notice that she had skipped much farther than she previously could.
Lyria's towering shield was hit, flying off from her hand, and she was pushed back by the impact, but otherwise, she was fine.
Seeing both humans survive her attack, the Crimson Tide Spider Queen's rage only grew. She knew the same attack wouldn't work, so she used her left limbs to strike both humans directly.
Lyria anticipated the attack before it came. She used her other shield as a foothold, kicking off to escape the limb's trajectory before it reached her.
Her target was the ground—once she landed, she could use Whirlwind Sprint to evade further attacks.
But Livy was helpless. She was already feeling weak for some reason and didn't have time to do anything other than brace herself with Mana.
She took a direct hit from the spider's opposite limb—of the one she had just severed.
Her Mudskipper activated, displacing her a meter, but she couldn't fully evade the thick limb and collided with its side.
The moment she was struck, she felt her body was about to explode into bloody mist. Thankfully, she had reinforced herself with Mana and activated her armor's inscribed protective Rune.
Yet even then, she felt her bones shatter, muscles tear, and weaker organs rupture. She teetered on the edge of unconsciousness—or death.
"LIV!"
Both Eric and Lyria screamed, their hearts nearly stopping.
By now, Eric could understand just how powerful the spider's strength was. Every strike of it had created tornadoes, uprooted redwood trees without contact, and pulverized whatever it touched.
He could fathom just how devastating an impact Livy had received, and he wasn't certain whether she could even survive.
Before anyone could react, Livy was hurled into the horizon at terrifying speed. Eric and Lyria could only watch helplessly, unsure if she still lived.
The Crimson Tide Spider Queen was internally livid.
Though her attack was weaker than her frontal limbs' strength and further diminished by the awkward angle, it should've obliterated even a Young-stage Rank 2's body!
"Is this human girl's constitution tougher than a Mana Beast's? Absurd!"
She assumed it was some life-saving method of a Mana Wielder—yet the girl should be near death. One final strike would finish her.
She rapidly prepared to fire a Web Bullet.
With her shooting power, the web bullet could catch up with the girl who was flying away, and this single web would completely annihilate her. She was very certain of it.
Eric spotted the motion of the spider from the corner of his eye and knew it was about to spit out some sort of web.
He didn't hesitate, blinked multiple times, and appeared ten or so meters above the spider's mouth.
"Not on my watch!" he roared, using his Telepathic Slap right in front of its mouth—just in time as the spider spat its web.
His Telepathic Slap was forced away and then blew up. However, due to his interference, the trajectory of the web was diverted and missed Livy entirely.
In the blink of an eye, Livy disappeared far into the horizon, unknown to others if she was still alive or could survive after this.
Eric smiled bitterly in his heart. He had used up all the Blinks he had saved from the brief moment of rest he got, and now he was helplessly falling toward the spider's neck or upper abdomen.
He now understood that his Telepathic Slap's durability was as sturdy as his Constitution. In that sense, the web the spider had just spat out was enough to completely vaporize his body if he was struck by it.
'No wonder only Master Ranks can kill a Rank 3 Mana Beast. Its strength, constitution—everything is way off the charts!'
Eric used to think he was now strong and wouldn't die easily with how high his Constitution had become. Now, he was humbled by an oversized dark-reddish spider.
The Crimson Tide Spider Queen was furious beyond belief. She, a Rank 3, had failed to kill even a single human Rank 1 after so long fighting. Instead, she herself was heavily injured, and the most hateful human male had just shown another new ability and blocked her lethal attack!
She didn't waste a moment and used her front right limb at an incredible speed and power to strike the human male who was still midair.
She was certain this would be his end, as she could see the male had no strength to jump—at least for a few more moments, enough for her to completely destroy him with a far stronger attack than the girl had just received.
"Brother Eric!"
Lyria had just landed on the ground. Watching the sight, her face paled with horror.
She originally intended to rush toward Livy to check on her, but she immediately abandoned that, as Eric would be left all alone with a Rank 3 Beast—and he was clearly worn out. He wouldn't survive if she left.
She had just seen how Eric rescued Livy from the web, but soon after, he was receiving another powerful attack from the spider that had sent Livy flying far away—her life or death unknown to them.
She was too far to do anything and could only watch helplessly.
Eric no longer had the liberty to hide his abilities and swiftly used his Space Shield right before the front limb could strike him. He only needed a second of rest to Blink again.
As soon as the limb penetrated the Space Shield, it slowed down countless times.
The worst outcome didn't happen, and his Space Shield didn't blow out like his Telepathic Slap. However, unlike in the past—when Lyria attacked and he felt it would take days or weeks for her attack to arrive—right now, he could clearly sense that the spider's attack would reach him within two to three seconds.
He quickly figured out where he needed to Blink to dodge what was coming next. He was already having goosebumps thinking of the aftereffect of his Space Shield.
A second swiftly passed while the giant spider remained confused.
Eric felt he was now capable of using Blink, so without hesitation, he Blinked toward the spider's right side into an empty area.
As soon as he disappeared from his location, the Space Shield also disappeared along with its effect.
Before the Spider Queen could figure out what had just happened, she was propelled away with an unimaginable power and speed toward her left side, where her right front limb was shooting.
She shrieked painfully and was dragged away while obliterating the trees and whatever was in its path.
The force was so tremendously powerful that she had no way of stopping it. If not for her Constitution being so strong, her right front limb would have snapped away from her main body. She felt as if someone extremely powerful had just grabbed her leg and thrown her far away—and she could only helplessly be dragged along with it.
It was extremely painful for her, as although her front limb didn't get lopped off, it had stretched far too much and had also disjointed from its socket.
More than anger or helplessness, a certain fear had started to arise within her.
She had realized by now that all three Rank 1 humans had multiple horrifying abilities—and that they could use them without any preparation—almost like how she could use her limbs freely. However, she needed a moment to use her webs, as those required preparation—yet the humans had used multiple incomprehensible abilities one after another without taking a moment to prepare.
She also realized that the human male had other terrifying abilities—and one of them was so devastatingly powerful that even though he couldn't jump for a few moments, he could still protect and counterattack her—a newborn stage Rank 3! Even she, a month ago, as an adult-stage Rank 2, couldn't do such a thing to her current self!
The Spider Queen had never known fear or faced anyone or anything that had given rise to her uneasiness and apprehension—yet, for the first time, she was having a strange premonition that she might actually die by the hands of puny little Rank 1 humans.
She quickly pushed such nonsensical thoughts away and started making future plans.
The moment she stopped being dragged, she first needed to check on her injury—and also both humans' condition—and depending on that, she should decide what to do next.
She had a bad feeling that she wouldn't like her current injury and would be forced to rely on her new life-saving ability—which she had awakened after evolving to Rank 3—to both defend and heal herself.