Chương 34: Arachne

Kayzen once again activated Phantom Shift and focused his attention on analyzing the Archwolf's records. Since it was on the verge of becoming a Ruin class, he expected that the alien would have at least 12 abilities. They were far too many compared to him, Vasser, or the mercenaries. As his roots of perception stretched towards the gigantic spider, he found it more and more difficult to sense its records. After all, his authority as the Warden of Records wasn't absolute.

The ease with which he had dealt with the Fiend classes thus far was due to his records surpassing their own. And now, it was he who was on the losing end when it came to the quantity and quality of records. Kayzen had already expected as such. He swiftly rolled over and barely avoided the spider's leg smashing down. It was thicker than a couple of trees combined, not to mention the sheer sharpness it possessed had created a ten-meter-deep gulf in the ground.

He couldn't help but squint his red eyes at the devastating sight. He had confidence in Phantom Shift; however, he didn't want to find out what would happen if his records failed to work at a critical moment. Fortunately, he wasn't alone.

"In the name of Argia, shatter!" Vasser roared and punched at the leg that was about to resume its attack. An audible crack rang across the forest as the almost metallic leg of the spider cracked under Vasser's fist. This time, she didn't come away unscathed either. The sheer rebound from the attack left her wincing in pain.

"Haha! Now that's more like it!" Vasser chuckled and once again smashed her fist at the Archwolf. Her speed made it so that even the gigantic alien could do nothing but watch as Vasser attacked it again and again. Size wasn't always an advantage after all. The momentary distraction gave Kayzen the chance to breach the Archwolf's records and figure out what ability it had. He didn't care about its physical abilities, cannibalism, and hive mind.

What he was worried about was something that manipulated Ether, like an authority. And sure enough, he found it. Something that was far too dangerous.

"Retreat, Vasser!" Kayzen screamed as soon as he read the Archwolf's records. The alien's shriek echoed alongside his words as it made its next move. A ten-meter-wide web shot out from its mouth and almost teleported towards Vasser. Its speed was so quick that even she would be unable to evade. Fortunately, Kayzen's warning allowed her to roll away by the fraction of a second. Nothing but silence remained where she had been standing just moments ago.

The web passed right through the damp brown soil and left behind an orb-like pattern. The attack had left behind deep gouge-like trenches that stretched who knew how deep. The sheer sharpness of the webs made everyone feel short of breath.

"That should be its second strongest ability. The web can tear apart space itself, so there is no way to defend against it." Kayzen once again shouted aloud so both Vasser and the approaching Zephyr mercenaries could hear him. Everyone's faces became grim after hearing that. The ability was powerful as is, and based on Kayzen's words, it wasn't even its strongest one. At this moment they realized that they might have been a bit too naive in thinking that they were going to hunt down the Archwolf leader.

Nonetheless, they could do nothing but keep fighting. At this moment, a man approached Kayzen from behind the trees. One look at his glowing armor was enough for Kayzen to judge that the latter was the leader of the Zephyr. Everything he wore was either a gear or a rift artifact. His fair complexion and pointed ears were just as good indicators.

"Let's not bother with the pleasantries. Do you have any idea on how to deal with it?" the man asked.

"I do. I can suppress that web-like ability of it, but I wouldn't be of much help after that. Are you confident in dealing with this?"

"We should be able to with the help of your companion. What about its strongest ability?" Kayzen thought for a moment before he shrugged.

"It's something I couldn't get a read on. From what I can tell it should be much stronger than anything it has used so far."

"Very well then," the man nodded and immediately joined the fray. Kayzen too acted upon his words and prepared to use his Hex. The source this time were his own records, the medium the bloodline in his hand, and as for the target, that was all too visible. This was going to be the toughest opponent he had faced thus far, and also one that would help him grow the fastest. He closed his eyes and focused on channeling the flow of Ether towards the Archwolf.

As a Warden of Records, he could suppress anything he desired, even if the opponent was stronger than him. This was the part that made this path powerful. No matter how much stronger his opponent was, there would always be something he could do about them. His records might not be able to stand against the Archwolf on their own, however, what if he used the entirety of his records to imprison just a single of its abilities? That was more than doable.

The sigil on his chest flared alive and sucked in the surrounding Ether like a hurricane. At the same time deep strokes of crimson lines were drawn on the sky above the Archwolf. The alien felt something ominous, but there was no time for it to focus on what it was. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Vasser used one divine law after another and gave it no room for movement. The leader of the Zephyr was just as impressive.

Wielding dual swords he flashed around like the wind itself and attacked every joint of the Archwolf. No matter how the alien struggled, there was no way for it to target him. How could one attack the wind itself? Unlike Vasser whose every move was filled with power, the leader of the Zephyr was different. He was sharp yet graceful and elegant like a butterfly. Finally, a large octagram took shape above the Archwolf and slammed down into its body.

The Archwolf shot its web at the descending Hex, but that was futile. It wasn't a physical attack to begin with. The Hex descended on its body and seeped into every pore of its being. Now, the records for the space-splitting web were sealed, and there was nothing it could do about it unless it killed Kayzen. Knowing that as well, Kayzen made the prompt decision to get as far from the battlefield as possible and focused on dealing with the remaining Fiend and Ravager classes.

The Archwolf still had the cannibalism trait, so the sooner he cleared the horde, the better.

'I'm glad I learned how to use the chain.' Kayzen thought as he took out the gear from his Hemogaster backpack. With most of his focus occupied on imprisoning the leading Archwolf's records, he didn't have enough spiritual power to deal with the Fiend class monsters. Even so, he with his chain was more than enough to deal with the fiend class aliens. He moved from one place to another and used his chain to whip at the Archwolves.

After seeing those from the Zephyr fight he had realized that their weakness was the part that combined their wolf-like torso with the eight legs. Hitting that area stiffened their limbs momentarily which gave ample room for a lethal attack. And even if he missed, the distraction caused by him was enough to give the mercenaries a chance for a counter-attack. He repeated the same process and improved his skill by leaps and bounds.

Infused with his roots of perception, the chain was now like a blood-red viper striking down on the vitals of the Archwolves. The speed at which he dealt with the Fiends couldn't be compared to when he was using Hex or wide-area debuffs. Still, the effects were significant to say the least. In the next five minutes he and the rest of the mercenaries had almost finished all of the Fiend class Archwolves. The casualties on their side weren't few either.

More than half of the mercenaries were either dead or incapacitated. Such a result was still acceptable considering what they were up against. Now, all that was left were a couple of Ravager class and some Fiend class Archwolves who were still scattered around the forest. It was at this moment when the gigantic Archwolf made its move. It ignored the Zephyr mercenaries and Vasser attacking its limbs, and instead jumped right on top of a Ravager class Archwolf.

With a single bite, it tore apart its kin and devoured it. The same scene happened time after time, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not when the Archwolves themselves were delivering their life to their superior. The mercenaries took this chance to retreat with the wounded. Those who were in fighting shape decided to consume some healing potions and the like to prepare for the final battle. Now all that was left was to deal with the strongest Archwolf, who was back to full vitality.

Apart from Kayzen and Vasser, the remaining rest were all members of the Zephyr. What happened next was the repeat of the earlier battle. Vasser and the leader of the Zephyr took the charge and grabbed most of the Archwolf's attention. The rest of the group wove around the forest and dealt as much damage as they could. Instead of joining them, Kayzen chose to keep his Phantom Shift active and hid among the trees.

He knew that he was the only one who could deal with the last ability of the Archwolf, and thus he decided to preserve his energy for that. Nothing on the battlefield was hidden from his range of perception. Every mercenary, every wound on their body, and every attack they had made on the Archwolf were remembered by him. This in and of itself was a valuable experience. The fight got more and more brutal as the Archwolf went into a frenzy after realizing that it could now lose its life.

All of its kin were either consumed by it or were scattered in the forest too far away. Now, it could neither disengage from the fight nor kill off the humans. Both sides were stuck in a stalemate, and naturally, the one with the advantage were humans. Despite their weak individual strength, the sheer variety of their abilities was nothing to laugh at. Healing, buffs, debuffs, and every other type of ability was used to defeat their foe.

Kayzen watched and analyzed before finally, the moment he was waiting for arrived. The Archwolf let out an ear-piercing scream at the sky when two of its legs were crippled. No one thought much about this since the alien was screeching non-stop from the start. However, something was different this time. Dark clouds gathered overhead and blocked the sun shining on the forest. That wasn't all. A colossal rift formed in the sky as if someone had torn apart a sheet of paper.

And from within descended a claw so big that it dwarfed the mountains. This was a power far beyond anyone's comprehension. A power that shouldn't belong even to a Ruin class. Be it Kayzen, Vasser, or the mercenaries… no matter who they were, they could do nothing but watch as the titanic claw descended from the skies. Strategies, tactics, and abilities meant nothing in front of such terror. Even the mere thought of resistance vanished from their minds.

What could they do when the Ether they relied on was controlled by someone else? Before they could get a hold on their emotions, though, something even more strange happened. The target of the claw weren't them, but rather the Archwolf who was on the verge of death. The purple claw disintegrated as it came in contact with the surface of the Archwolf. Rather than expanding, the alien shrunk at a visible rate and soon turned into a much smaller, ivory-red spider. Its form was now much more hideous and sinister.

The Hex Kayzen had placed on it also vanished at this moment. He realized the nature of the ability it had used.

"It's reversing its heritage. Or in simpler terms its borrowing power from one of its ancestors. All of its earlier records are now enhanced, so in a way, it's no different from a Ruin class monster.

"And that means I can no longer imprison its ability, at least not as I had done before. The best I could do is lessen its power." Kayzen revealed himself and stood beside Vasser. There was no point in hiding anymore since with the archwolf-, no, with Arachne's enhanced records, his Phantom Shift was as good as useless. And if he was going to risk his life, then he might as well fight alongside the one he loved. Kayzen took out all of the bloodlines he had collected and prepared to cast one final Hex.

There was a gamble he was willing to take if it meant he could grow stronger and walk further on his path.

"Are you going to do that soul thing again?" Vasser asked with a glare.

"How did you know?"

"Women's intuition. I won't stop you, however…" She pulled his trench coat and whispered in his ear, "I'll never be with someone who's a part spider. So, you'd better be careful with the assimilation." Kayzen was too shocked to muster a reply before Vasser charged headfirst into the fight. This wasn't the prep speech he had expected before a life and death battle, not that he was going to complain. He took a deep breath and focused his attention on preparing his Hex.

All he needed was a right opportunity to seize the Arachne's ability, bloodline, records… and its existence itself.