The abomination stirred, its eyes twisting unnaturally as it took a slow step forward, approaching Grey.
Grey was cautious. He watched the movements of the twisted spider, doing his best not to blink for even a single second.
Seeing this monster here explained the reason for the skinless corpses, and that fact added even more dread to Grey’s expression.
If this was the aftermath of facing an evolved spider, then what sort of ability did it have? Grey asked himself, knowing that no matter how curious he was, his question could only be answered during the encounter.
And after a while that felt like an eternity, the giant spider finally made the first move.
One of its vile legs flashed towards Grey’s face, aimed directly at his forehead.
He parried with the blunt of his dagger. The impact raised sparks like dying embers as Grey was forced to skid backward once again.
"Argggh!"
But the attack was not over... It was far from over.
Two more sword-like legs sprang out for Grey’s torso and chest.
The first one struck against the floorboards, digging a small hole into them as it missed Grey completely.
He ducked underneath the next and allowed it to soar over his head, passing so close that he could feel the rush of air against his hair.
’Its fast—’ Grey grunted as the third came for him, aimed at piercing deep into his shoulder and tearing his arm apart in one ruthless motion.
Grey reacted as quickly as he could, parrying it with his dagger once again.
This time, he wasn’t as lucky.
The dagger was snapped out of Grey’s grasp by the immense force behind the abomination’s leg.
It dug itself deep into his right shoulder, cutting a deep wound into his flesh as his earlier block had only managed to deflect the leg slightly.
"Damn!"
Grey grunted and then retreated several steps with a leap, desperately trying to escape the spider’s range.
He didn’t get so lucky.
Two flashes tore through the air at Grey as he moved to escape the spider. One he lurched out of the way of, the limb abrasively crashing into the wall behind him as he barely avoided it.
The other cut deeply into Grey’s thigh as he was too slow to react in time.
Grey grunted and jumped away from the wall, rolling across the ground and hearing multiple thuds follow after him as he did so.
"Fuck..." He groaned, climbing back onto his knees.
He prepared himself for the next barrage of attacks, knowing only the worst could come from this battle.
Glancing forward, Grey saw that the Abomination was occupied with Bolt, the two going blow for blow.
The mutated dog dug its fangs and claws into the body of the beast, landing both fatal-looking and deep wounds across its carapace. Some barely grazed its armour, while many others tore through the hardened shell, causing the creature to bleed and screech in pain.
It did not simply stand there and take the punishment, though.
The large spider retaliated, sinking leg after leg into the thick hide of the evolved hound in rapid succession. Each strike dug deeper into him with every desperate second, staining his fur a deep crimson.
His dog wouldn’t last very long in this situation either.
Grey gritted his teeth.
’It’s too fast... Too powerful.’
’What if I just run? I could definitely make it down the hall and out of the building with my current speed.’
’Even if it tries to catch me, Bolt will keep it busy...’ Grey imagined.
Yet, he could not bring himself to leave his dog behind.
"No... I’ll have to kill this bastard, no matter how hard it is." Grey whispered to himself as he rose to his feet.
His stance was crooked, one leg bent and resting slightly against the other. One hand hung almost lifelessly at his side while the other clutched his wounded shoulder.
His entire body hurt, covered in wounds, blood, and splinters.
Yet he persevered.
He opened his hand and summoned his dagger into his grasp, his fingers tightening around its rough hilt as he glared at his target.
He yelled.
"Bastard!"
Then he slammed a foot into the ground, his body hunching forward as he shifted into a sprinting position.
"Don’t touch my fucking dog!"
[Dash activated]
With that, he sprang forward like lightning, the floorboards shattering beneath him like patterns of spiderwebs with every violent step he took.
The air shuddered with an explosion like thunder as he charged toward the Horrid Abomination and Bolt.
The spider reacted to his movements instinctively.
Three of its lethal legs lunged toward Grey.
The first one he sidestepped, letting it miss him completely.
The second struck directly into his side, only grazing his gut as he barely managed to avoid its full force.
The third came straight for him.
Grey raised his dagger and shielded himself against the limb, swatting it away with all his strength and sending it ricocheting into the air with a shower of thin sparks.
Moving at his current speed made it almost impossible to dodge every attack.
But all of that was over now.
SPLOOOSH!
Grey leapt onto the body of the horrid spider, raised his dagger into the air, and drove it deep into one of the creature’s eyes.
The spider shrieked.
Blood exploded from its ruined eye, splattering across Grey’s face and arms.
But Grey was not done yet.
He dislodged the knife and struck at the next eye.
Then the next.
Then another.
Each strike came in rapid succession, the dagger repeatedly plunging into the creature’s grotesque eyes and slowly blinding it one after the other.
The abomination shrieked in agony, thrashing violently as it struggled to throw Grey from its body.
But Bolt knew the mission.
The mutated hound bit down onto the carapace of the spider, its jaws clamping around the hardened shell as its paws dug into the creature and pinned it down as much as its wounded body allowed.
The abomination fought back with everything it had.
It sent as many legs as it could flying toward Grey’s unprotected body.
[Dash activated]
[Dash activated]
[Dash activated]
Blood rained down onto the spider’s body.
Grey’s blood.
Each strike from the spider found its mark.
He was wounded dearly by every attack, deep cuts opening across his body as blood poured from his wounds. None were fatal enough to kill him immediately, however, thanks to the desperate movements he made to avoid the worst of them.
But the pain was becoming unbearable.
His vision blurred.
His breathing grew ragged.
His muscles screamed at him to stop.
Yet Grey refused.
"Bastard! I won’t die before you!"
He raised the dagger once again into the air.
His arms trembled.
His body was exhausted.
His blood continued to drip onto the creature beneath him.
But his eyes remained fixed on the abomination.
With all his strength...
All his determination...
And all his rage...
He struck down.
The dagger tore through the spider’s carapace with a sickening crunch, ripping through the hardened armour before plunging deep into the creature’s brain.
The abomination shuddered.
Its massive body convulsed violently beneath Grey.
Its legs twitched.
Its jaws snapped open and shut several times as a final, distorted shriek escaped its throat.
And then...
It went still.
[You are the third person in this New World to kill a Level 1 Evolved]
[You have gained a skill]
[Your core: 21/100]
A sigh escaped Grey’s lips.
His eyes slowly closed, and his body grew heavy from all the exhaustion.
It was not easy.
Not even close.
But...
He had survived.