Chapter 40: The Spider Tide

A rustling sound echoed through the air; the screech of nails against glass set everyone’s nerves on edge.

Robin’s spirit beast, a brown bear, roared toward the sky. Its deafening howl filled the surrounding corrupted entities with palpable dread. Robin, an SSS-rank sentinel, was the guardian assigned to Abelisse by the club.

Soon, the piercing noise faded.

"Fesi, hurry and drive these disgusting things away."

The brown bear obeyed, its powerful limbs pounding against the building. Suddenly, the bear’s roaring ceased. Receiving a signal, Robin raised his hand, gesturing for his team to stand guard. The view around the street corner was obscured, and another team was watching them with equal vigilance.

Pei Xinghe, an S-rank guide, was signaling her team of sentinels to stay silent. The doll-faced girl with short hair was scolding a sentinel beside her.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that bear of Abelisse’s is? What would you do if you got hurt!"

With a face as cute as an oriental doll, she glared with large, round eyes, though she lacked any real intimidation.

"Boo-hoo, don't be angry, Little Ye, I know I was wrong." The sentinel pleaded, acting cute to beg for his guide's forgiveness.

Pei Xinghe wasn't actually that angry. Their team had been surveying the terrain properly when another group had zipped past; she hadn't cared enough to stir up trouble. But they had run into Abelisse’s team at the corner, and the brown bear, mistaking Pei Xinghe’s group—who were hiding in the building—for corrupted entities, had swiped at them aggressively. The hot-blooded sentinels had naturally wanted to fight back.

With a thunderous "bang," nearby architecture was overturned by a massive force. Large chunks of masonry and debris rained down like a storm.

A mutant spider, the size of a high-rise building, emerged. Its eight legs pierced the structures, treating the entire city like a toy to be wantonly destroyed. It was an SS-rank corrupted entity, highly dangerous. Hanging from the black spider’s body were carcasses of all sizes—old men, children, and soldiers in combat gear. These were its stored rations.

The three teams present looked up at the behemoth, lost in thought. Abelisse and her team were face-to-face with the entity. Robin was perplexed; this entity shouldn't have been here, so why had it appeared so suddenly? Meanwhile, Pei Xinghe and her team, trapped inside the skyscraper, were closest to the spider; their primary concern was how to escape safely. After all, a single piercing strike from the spider's legs could crush the building like tofu. Furthermore, the creature seemed unusually agitated, as if searching for something.

***

Not far from the spider, Wen Li was watching them. A sniper set up their weapon, waiting for Wen Li’s command.

Wen Li had been making preparations since the moment Abelisse’s team stepped into this area. While passing through the buildings, Wen Li had observed the environment until spotting a protruding piece of metal shimmering with a cold light. Feigning carelessness, Wen Li brushed against it, slicing their arm and letting sweet blood flow out.

Stab looked at the expressionless Wen Li and lowered his head in silence.

"Guide Wen, is your arm alright?" A medical sentinel pulled out a hemostatic agent to bandage the wound.

Wen Li pretended to be in pain, their white eyes instantly misting over. "I’m so sorry, I didn't see it. Could you cut away the blood-stained fabric? It’s uncomfortable to have it sticking to me."

The sentinel, suspecting nothing, tossed the blood-soaked rag onto the ground. The sweet scent that had momentarily overflowed was dispelled by Stab’s powerful mental energy. The little guide had their own secrets; it was enough to just do one's own job.

As Wen Li’s team moved forward, many surrounding corrupted entities were wiped out. In truth, Wen Li had been weaving between these two teams all along; they wanted to divert the disaster toward others, so Wen Li decided to catch them in a trap. It wasn't until the SS-rank spider appeared that Wen Li’s plan reached a semicolon.

With white eyes fixed on the otter spirit beast at the feet of an opposing sentinel, Wen Li issued a cold command: "Fire."

The moment the trigger was pulled, the massive black spider shuddered. One of its eyes was pierced, and blood gushed out instantly. The spider shrieked in agony, forcing Abelisse’s team—who had been trying to flee—to fight back.

"Guide, they are nearby," Robin noted, pinpointing the location of the shot. That team would be arriving soon.

The sentinel’s spirit beast grew to a massive size, and Abelisse summoned her own. A ragdoll cat with fur as soft and smooth as silk, medium in length, thick and gorgeous, landed in her arms. Its lake-blue eyes watched the sentinels. Mental energy imbued with healing properties radiated from Abelisse as the center.

"I know. They’ve come just in time; it saves me from having to look for them."

Abelisse’s face was stunning, her expression as haughty as the ragdoll cat in her arms. The mental energy of an S-rank guide was enough to support the sentinels in finishing off the corrupted entity before them. It would just take a little more time.

"If you can’t beat it, leave. Don’t make me waste my mental energy." She had to save it for the final few waves.

***

Various spirit beasts tore at the black spider’s gargantuan body. Watching the chaotic scene, Wen Li led their team members downstairs. While the SS-rank entity was formidable, its body was too large, and its agility was poor. Aside from the brown bear holding the front, the other spirit beasts from Abelisse’s team took the opportunity to launch sneak attacks.

The spider’s legs were severed one after another, and it collapsed, losing its center of gravity and smashing a massive crater into the ground. When the dust settled, the onlookers saw the spider lying motionless in the murky visibility.

As an SSS-rank sentinel, Robin had a wealth of combat experience. The warrior’s keen senses prompted him to rush over, scoop up Abelisse, and run.

"Get out of here!"

Amidst the pile of collapsed buildings, the spider’s corpse began to swell, and something seemed to be squirming inside its abdomen. A spiked spider leg burst through the creature's hide. Dense swarms of spiderlings scrambled to tear through the thin membrane. The black spider had actually been nesting eggs beneath its own belly!

Once it died, its offspring lost their shelter and, in the next moment, began devouring the nearest source of nutrition: their mother’s fleshy corpse. The spiderlings, not yet full, turned their gaze toward the living creatures present. They swarmed out to attack, leaving the giant black spider shriveled in an instant.

No one had anticipated this situation. The spider wave surged toward them. The brown bear used all its strength to ram into a nearby building, causing it to collapse and create a brief blockade, buying them time to retreat.

As soon as they left their building, Pei Xinghe and her team saw a swarm of spiders climbing over the structures, ready to attack. The black-haired guide summoned her spirit beast—a chubby guinea pig that huddled in its owner’s arms. Its tiny beady eyes were filled with terror.

"Ye, follow the captain!" Spiders were everywhere. They were surrounded!

The situation was dire. The spiders were endless, and continuing to exhaust their mental energy was just waiting for elimination. Pei Xinghe and her team couldn't break through the swarm. Clutching the guinea pig tightly, she didn't forget to take some hay out of her pack to feed it.

The girl and her rodent waited for their impending elimination.

From the distance came the sound of an explosion, and suddenly, raging flames flared up before them.