It felt so good to be close to the witch!

The spider spears, reflecting a chilling, sharp light, pierced the air, carrying a shrill edge, and aimed at the foreheads of Fuma, Andrew, and Doug.

Just as the spider spear was less than ten centimeters away from the three people's foreheads.

At the critical moment, the spider-man monster seemed to be attacked by something, its body suddenly stiffened, and the spider spear it had thrust out stopped in mid-air.

In the invisible spiritual world, purple lightning streaked across, striking the spider-man monster's soul with pinpoint accuracy, causing arcs of electricity to ripple across its surface.

"Qiang——!"

A clear, sharp cry resounded in all directions, and a streak of crimson-gold light pierced through the air, instantly passing the spider spear that had pierced the abdomens of Fuma and the other two from the spider monster's body.

"Rip! Rip! Rip!"

Three faint sounds of a blade slicing through a body rang out in succession.

The pain and threat caused the spider monster to break free from its "soul-stiffened" state. Its spear, which had been halfway through its stab and had lost its tip, continued to stab, but it only managed to pierce empty air and instead sank deep into the ground.

"Zizi..."

The soil pierced by the spider spears began to turn gray and black rapidly, spreading outwards until it reached a radius of about ten meters before slowly stopping.

"Bah!!!"

A sharp hiss came from the spider-like monster's mouth, and its upper body suddenly turned to a certain direction, its three pairs of compound eyes shining brightly with a scarlet light.

Two hundred meters away, the crimson-gold light dissipated, and Roy's figure emerged, accompanied by Fuma, Andrew, and Doug.

The three men knelt on the ground, with broken, black spider spears remaining on their abdomens and purplish-black patterns spreading to their necks, making them look particularly horrifying.

"poison……"

As the one with the strongest fighting spirit among the three, Fuma was in slightly better condition than Andrew and Doug, but she could only manage to speak with difficulty.

After gritting her teeth and forcing out those words, she ignored the purplish-black blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, sat cross-legged, and focused all her energy on circulating her fighting spirit to fight against the deadly poison.

Andrew and Doug did the same thing.

The spider venom of the spider monster—no, to be more precise, it should be called the venom of the [Extremely Evil Spider]—is extremely terrifying. It is a mixed toxin that acts simultaneously on the body, mind, and soul. If they do not resist with all their might, the toxin will likely invade their souls in an instant, and then it will truly be too late to save them.

Although they knew this place was not a suitable location for treatment, the three had no other choice but to place their hopes on Roy and the others.

A figure emerged from the ripples in the air; it was Shanika, wearing a hooded gray robe and a mask.

She split her pale blue magic into three beams, which simultaneously entered the bodies of Fuma, Andrew, and Doug, suppressing the toxins and healing their wounds.

With Shanika's "healing," the three of them looked much better, and the spider venom that had been spreading gradually subsided.

However, the spider venom originated from a legendary monster, and Shanika's rank was only "Grand Witch." Although her "healing" ability was strong and her hidden rank was quite high, the speed of dispelling and healing across such a large stage was inevitably slowed down, making it difficult to remove the spider venom in a short time.

"call……"

Roy exhaled deeply, looked up at the Evil Spider, and met its six crimson compound eyes.

In his insect-like, scarlet compound eyes, there was a fierce, cruel, and bloodthirsty rage.

"The extremely evil spider, you are the true overlord of this place..."

As Roy spoke, his eyes turned cold.

The word "poison" that Fuma had just managed to utter was a warning to him about the terror of the venom of the extremely evil spider. When fighting such a being, he could not afford to suffer any injury, otherwise, he would ultimately be defeated and killed by the effects of the venom.

The extremely evil spider raised and lowered its eight jet-black spider spears on the ground, appearing somewhat agitated. It sensed a strong threat from the "little man" that appeared later in the distance, and the eerie thing that had just made its "soul freeze" also filled it with apprehension.

If it were an intelligent being, it would most likely choose to retreat out of fear. But clearly, the extremely evil spider was no ordinary intelligent being. The violent and bloodthirsty impulses deep in its soul quickly overwhelmed its fear of the enemy.

"Bah!"

A sharp hissing sound, like fingers scratching glass, rang out. The three spider spears of the Evil Spider, whose front ends had broken off, began to ooze out wriggling black mud from their broken cross sections. In less than 0.1 seconds, new spider spears were formed, looking exactly the same as the originals!

This ridiculously exaggerated recovery ability made Roy's eyes narrow.

Wisps of crimson-gold flames ignited from his body, covering the Moonlit Armor he wore, turning its original dark silver color into a silver-red hue under the firelight.

"Burning Heart" Secret Technique, activated!

"Wow..."

The crimson-gold flames surged up, like a giant torch rising from the ground.

The utterly irrational spider, its body sinking slightly as its remaining rationality was completely overwhelmed, made a charging motion with its eight jet-black spider spears. In the next instant, its body blurred and vanished from the spot.

Countless black phantoms formed a straight line, and in less than a second, it leaped rapidly in front of Roy, its two sharp, jet-black spider spears raised high and then piercing down fiercely.

At the very tip of the spider spear, purplish-black energy constantly swirled and flickered; it was some kind of magic of unknown attributes, and most likely carried a deadly poison.

The Extremely Evil Spider is incredibly fast. What's even stranger is that its supersonic movement doesn't create a sonic boom. It seems to have some special talent that smooths out air resistance, allowing it to move even faster with the same kinetic energy.

Faced with the terrifying twin spears that pierced through him, Roy's expression remained calm, but deep within his eyes, crimson flames burned fiercely.

It was anger, but also excitement.

He was furious at the shameless sneak attack by the extremely wicked spider, but excited because after so long of training, he finally had the confidence to stand fearlessly in front of a legend.

Through constant practice and continuous progress, isn't this what he's striving for? To have sufficient self-defense capabilities in the face of threats.

"Qiang——!"

The longsword, which had been sheathed, was drawn again, like a roaring crimson-gold dragon, and in the nick of time, it parried the two black spears that were thrusting at it.

"clang!"

A crisp buzzing sound, accompanied by exploding sparks.

Roy lowered his legs slightly, dissipating the immense force from the longsword, and fine cracks spread across the ground beneath his feet.

Even though the twin spears pierced through him with lightning speed, which seemed like lightning to a legendary one-star knight, he could precisely capture every detail.

What he relied on was: a physique far surpassing the peak of the Gold Saint realm + the secret technique "Burning Heart" + the low-level feat "Lightning Reflexes" + the high-level feat "Meteor Charge" (passive), and...

Basic Specialty: Parry and Counterattack!

A surge of power welled up from within him, and Roy roared as he swung the pitch-black twin spears of the Evil Spider, the blade flashing like a bolt of lightning, aimed straight at the opponent's face.

No matter how you look at it, the head on the upper body of the Evil Spider is too conspicuous and vulnerable. Even if it is not a fatal flaw, it is still a weakness.

Attack here, you can't go wrong!

"Clang, clang, clang, clang!"

In the critical moment, the extremely evil spider reacted with astonishing speed. In addition to the two spider spears used to support its weight, the other four spider spears quickly rose and crossed in front of its body, forming a "spider spear shield" to block Roy's attack.

"clang!"

The immense force propelled the extremely evil spider backward at high speed. The two spider spears supporting its body carved a trench dozens of meters long in the ground. When its body came to a stop, the four jet-black spider spears that had formed the "spider spear shield" in front of it were shattered in large areas, and tiny reddish-gold flames were burning on them.

The damage to the spider spears was insignificant to the Evil Spider, but the burning of the crimson flames caused it to let out a painful, sharp hiss. Dark purple magic surged from its body, extinguishing the few remaining crimson flames.

The face of the Evil Spider's upper body was facing Roy's direction, and a strong, eerie purple light emanated from the center of its six scarlet compound eyes.

As soon as the dark purple appeared, it rapidly encroached on the crimson territory. In an instant, all six of the monster's compound eyes turned dark purple. At the same time, the patterns on its chest also turned dark purple, making its face, formed by the patterns, appear even more ferocious.

Even more significant was the change in its spider spears. The two spears at the very front grew longer and larger, reaching a terrifying five meters in length. They transformed from cylindrical shapes into slender triangular pyramids, each edge gleaming with a chilling light, appearing extremely sharp, like the double blades of a mantis, highly aggressive.

Its other six spider spears also grew thicker and stronger, with a thick chitinous exoskeleton appearing on their surface, spreading upwards and enveloping its "fragile" upper body.

"Roar!"

The voice of the extremely evil spider became deep and heavy. Its six thick, armed spider legs moved rapidly, even faster than before, like a high-speed train roaring in with immense force.

Although it sounds like a long story, the transformation of the Evil Spider was actually completed in less than 0.5 seconds.

Roy's expression turned slightly serious.

After transforming, the Evil Spider not only has a higher level of magical fluctuation and stronger aggression, but its body surface is also covered with a thick carapace, greatly increasing its defensive power. Roy is not naive enough to think that these carapaces are just for show.

"I wonder if the blade of the Starfire Blade can break through the defenses of the Evil Spider in this form..."

The thought flashed through Roy's mind.

He raised his hand, his index and middle fingers together, and touched the end of the Starfire Blade.

Advanced Specialization - Meteor - Accumulation, Active Effect, Activated!

"Wow..."

Roy's fingers brushed from the end of the blade to the tip, creating a vibrant, pale silver starlight effect.

The starlight marks engraved on the blade are illuminated at this moment.

The total amount of starlight suddenly dropped from 100 points to 0/100.

The cost of 100 Starlight points grants the Starfire Blade a Starlight Enchantment and a 100% sharpness bonus.

Around the edge of the Starfire Blade, fine black lines appeared, which were the vacuum formed after the unstable air was cut apart by the extreme sharpness.

Roy gripped the hilt of the Starfire Blade with one hand forward and the other backward, assuming a charging stance.

Roy has had the "Basic Sword Technique" for some time now. Although he has spent most of his time practicing his battle aura and adjusting his specializations, he has also taken the time to study the Basic Sword Technique.

Because of limited time, he focused on practicing only one move, which he named the Sword Drawing Technique.

Roy knew very well that being a jack of all trades, master of none, was better than focusing on one thing and reaching the pinnacle. (Of course, this was under the condition of limited time; if there were enough time, he would naturally hone each of the basic moves to their limit.)

The art of drawing the sword sounds simple—just charging up and then slashing—but in reality, it's easy to learn but difficult to master.

It is said that a true master of swordsmanship appears completely ordinary before drawing his sword, so that no one can detect anything amiss. But once he draws his sword, he puts all his strength into that one strike, causing the enemy to be decapitated before he can even react.

Roy exhaled long breaths from his mouth and nose, and his eyes, which seemed to burn with crimson flames, reflected the rapidly approaching evil spider.

50 meters, 30 meters...

10 meters, 5 meters...

Just as the two were only 3 meters apart, in a world invisible to the naked eye, a purple lightning bolt of the mind suddenly descended, striking the head of the extremely evil spider and forcing it into a state of "soul paralysis".

The terrifying kinetic energy propelled the wrathful spider's body, which had lost control of its own, forward. Roy simply dodged the impact and arrived behind the wrathful spider.

Without hesitation or delay, Roy slashed out with his longsword, the dazzling blade light like a silver river falling from the sky, landing on the back of the extremely evil spider.

An unprecedented life-or-death crisis forced the Evil Spider to quickly break free from its "soul rigidity." However, the blade was too fast and too swift. The Evil Spider, which had just recovered from its "soul rigidity," had no time to react before the blade tore through its thick chitinous shell and swept across its neck below its head.

"Thorn-"

The purplish-black blood splattered, and while still in mid-air, it turned into ice shards under the power of starlight.

The head of the extremely evil spider flew high into the air, but it did not die despite losing its human head. Its chest, which had hideous black and purple human face patterns, split open, becoming transparent from front to back, and a purplish-black spherical bead was exposed on its lower abdomen.

The exposure of its "weakness" terrified the extremely evil spider. It raised its two spider blades at the front, intending to swing them wildly to drive back the enemy. However, just as it was about to raise its spider blades, the witches who had been waiting in the dark made their move.