The moment the spider monster and the Defense-type Awakened collided, a tremendous shockwave swept through the surroundings.
It was the joint defense formation of the Defense-type Awakened, which had been used here not long ago, activating once again. C-Rank Awakened like Instructor Seo and Eunseo gritted their teeth and held their ground, but the D-Rank Awakened were pushed back, and some were flung away.
‘Where’s the monster?’
Grace lowered her shield and looked ahead.
As the dust settled, the monster came into view. The spider monster had been pushed back considerably by the impact.
However, there were no visible wounds anywhere on the monster’s body.
But Grace was satisfied enough. This attack had been intended to stop the monster’s charge.
“Advance! Strike-types, hold your positions for now!”
Following her command, the Defense-types advanced, blocking the front with their shields. The D-Rank Defense-types who had been pushed back quickly returned to the formation.
The spider monster was irritated by the humans blocking its way.
Moreover, the walls on either side that restricted its movement made it even angrier.
The spider monster began channeling Dimensional Power into its fur. Its hairs stood upright and began to glow brightly once more.
“It’s coming!”
Instructor Seo shouted as he observed the monster.
Grace blocked the front with her shield and shouted to the Awakened.
“Prepare according to the plan! We have to block it completely!”
The Defense-types crouched down and braced the front with their shields. The shields began to glow brightly.
The Strike-types waiting behind the Defense-types crouched and stuck close behind them.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
Countless glowing spikes shot out from the spider monster’s body, sweeping through the surroundings.
The spider monster’s attack was overwhelming.
Part of the trench wall collapsed, causing some Awakened waiting above to fall, and among the Strike-types hiding behind the shields, a few were harmed by the spike attack.
“Raise your Dimensional Power to the maximum! If it’s weak, you’ll get poisoned!”
Grace shouted once again. However, the areas around the wounds of the attacked Awakened were already turning green.
The Awakened fell to their knees in agony.
But it was only a portion of them. At least the defense had succeeded to the expected extent.
“Strike-types, attack!”
Grace drew her sword and ran forward, shouting to the Awakened.
Now was the chance to attack, with much of the monster’s fur, its main defense, gone. They had to inflict as much damage as possible before the fur regrew.
The Strike-types slipped through the Defense-types. Holding glowing spears, they charged at the monster.
One of the Awakened watching the battle from above the trench stood up. As the short-haired man rose, the others who had been lying down also stood and grabbed their spears.
Cha Injun, a C-Rank Awakened affiliated with the government, looked around at his teammates and the other general Awakened.
It was finally time for them to showcase their abilities. Until now, they had been pushed aside by other Awakened and couldn’t show their skills, but now the opportunity had come.
“Rear assault team, move out!”
At Cha Injun’s command, about a dozen Strike-types jumped down into the trench. Although the trench walls were over 10 meters high, they scraped down with their spears to slow their descent.
All of them landed safely on the ground.
Next, it was the turn of Cha Injun and the other high-level Awakened.
He stared at the spider monster’s back.
The monster’s back, now devoid of fur, was grotesque, covered in lumps and wriggling movements. But with its fur defense gone, attacking the back now would surely be unstoppable.
The D-Rank and higher Awakened, including Cha Injun, gripped their spears and hurled themselves toward the monster’s back.
The assassin-types, including Sunhee, who remained behind, prayed for their success.
The attacks of the Strike-types had a significant effect on the spider monster, whose protective fur was now gone.
Now surrounding the monster from both front and rear, the Awakened clung to it, stabbing their spears into its legs, belly, and jaws.
Fortunately, since it was a spider-type monster, its body was close to the ground. They could easily reach it by thrusting upward with their spears.
The Awakened attacking from the monster’s rear had it even easier. The spider monster couldn’t turn its body because of the walls, allowing the Awakened to stab its belly and rear end without resistance.
Grace created a long wound on the spider monster’s front leg and looked around. The Awakened were pressing the monster hard.
Among the Strike-types currently attacking, the only C-Rank Awakened were the government-affiliated Awakened attacking the monster’s back, a member of Team Crazy, and herself.
However, even D-Rank Awakened’s attacks were somewhat effective against the monster’s fur-less skin. Moreover, attacks from C-Rank Awakened like herself could inflict significant damage.
If the monster’s regenerative abilities weren’t so fast, they could have already deployed the assassin-types.
The spider monster swung its legs and slammed its head down, but the space was too narrow for it to move properly.
Now, if the Awakened who had leaped onto its back performed well, they could deal a fatal blow to the monster.
Grace was filled with hope that if the battle continued like this, they could defeat the monster.
But her hope was shattered when a C-Rank Awakened who had climbed onto the monster’s back fell off.
The Awakened who fell from the monster’s back crashed straight into the ground. Fortunately, he was still alive.
Lying on the ground, he coughed up blood and struggled, while the startled Awakened rushed over and dragged him back.
Grace checked on him in shock. His body was covered in green-stained wounds.
‘What happened on the monster’s back?’
The moment Grace turned her gaze toward the monster’s back, she heard Sunhee’s shout from atop the trench.
“Everyone, get back! Baby spiders are pouring down!”
At her words, spiders about one meter long began pouring down from the giant spider’s back.
What Cha Injun had seen wriggling wasn’t the monster’s back-it was the baby spiders riding on the spider monster’s back.
The baby spiders leapt down onto the Awakened’s heads, forcing them into a frantic battle.
Yonghoon had not yet been able to join the battle.
He was leaning on his sword, catching his breath, separated from the others. Having lured the monster over a long distance, he hadn’t yet recovered his stamina.
But now it was time to move.
Until just a moment ago, the Awakened were fighting well enough to allow him some breathing room, but with the appearance of the small spiders, the tide had instantly turned.
Fortunately, thanks to his recently strengthened stamina, he recovered quickly. Now, he felt he could force himself to move.
Yonghoon’s expression as he looked at the spider monster was grim.
His grim expression wasn’t just because their side was being pushed back-it was because the wound between the monster’s eyes had almost completely healed. High-level monsters had terrifying regenerative abilities.
At this rate, even if they blasted a hole in its forehead again with a Dimensional Power explosion, it would be hard to attack the monster’s Dimensional Core before it healed.
But he couldn’t just stay back. Yonghoon took a deep breath and dashed forward.
Grace was overwhelmed by the sudden change in the battle.
Everything she had prepared had collapsed.
The Awakened around her were being surrounded by baby spiders, poisoned by their venom, and those who had been attacking the spider monster’s rear were entangled by webs shot from the monster’s anus and fell.
Furthermore, except for Cha Injun who had fallen, there was no sign of life from the Awakened who had climbed onto the monster’s back.
She swung her sword frantically at the approaching baby spiders.
Slap!
“Get a grip!”
Grace snapped back to her senses at the pain stinging her cheek. Standing before her was Instructor Seo.
He knocked away the attacking spiders with his shield and asked Grace,
“Can you still command? Answer quickly!”
Grace looked at Instructor Seo and lowered her head. Tears streamed down her face.
“I’ll transfer command to you.”
As soon as her words left her mouth, Instructor Seo shouted to the surroundings.
“From now on, I’m in command! All Strike-types, retreat immediately! Defense-types, cover the Strike-types from behind!”
The Awakened, who had been scattered fighting the baby spiders, began retreating at his command.
However, it wasn’t easy for those entangled by the baby spiders’ attacks to retreat. Many had already collapsed on the ground, groaning.
The fallen Awakened were being skewered through the stomachs by the spider monster’s legs.
“Damn it! Are we already too late? At this rate, we won’t even save half! Is there any spare A-Rank around?”
Instructor Seo looked around and grimaced. But there was no way a high-level Awakened like in the other world would appear here.
Even he had no more options in this situation.
He began retreating while defending against the spider monster’s legs alongside Eunseo.
At that moment, a man brushed past them.
Yonghoon grinned bitterly as he jumped into the field of baby spiders. He had overheard Instructor Seo’s muttered words while passing by.
Instead of the A-Rank Awakened Instructor Seo wanted, a perpetual C-Rank Awakened had arrived. Whether he would be helpful was uncertain, but saving even a few more would be enough.
Yonghoon could clearly feel his physical abilities had improved. The moment he used his unique footwork, his movements became even sharper. He raised his sword and slashed at a baby spider about knee-height.
The baby spiders, perhaps due to their small size, were incredibly agile. Moreover, these baby spiders were at least E-Rank, with some appearing to be D-Rank. Fighting small monsters with high stats was extremely tricky.
‘But they’re easier to handle than I expected?’
Yonghoon tilted his head as he spun and cleaved apart the baby spiders leaping at him from both sides.
A brightly colored baby spider leaped toward Yonghoon.
The spider’s legs glowed green, seemingly preparing for a Dimensional Power attack using poison. Yonghoon’s face tensed up.
‘D-rank!’
Even though he was C-rank, it wasn’t easy to face a D-rank monster alone.
But this was a chaotic battlefield. He couldn’t afford to waste time on a single one. Yonghoon trusted his battle-hardened body and the sword in his hand.
He thrust his sword at the spider monster charging at him. His sword was sharp.
Puaak!
Yonghoon’s sword pierced through the colorful baby spider’s mouth and burst out through the back of its head. The baby spider swung its legs in a final attempt to bring him down, but Yonghoon’s sword was faster.
Yonghoon paused for a moment, his sword still skewering the monster, as baby spiders swarmed toward him.
“Yonghoon!”
Sunhee, who had been watching from above the trench, shouted in alarm. The baby spiders surrounded Yonghoon.
Slicing sound!
With a sharp noise, the baby spiders encircling Yonghoon were split into dozens of pieces. Even the D-rank spider monster was among them.
Amidst the falling pieces of baby spiders scattered through the air, Yonghoon’s smiling face appeared.
“So that’s what it was.”
Yonghoon checked his smart watch.
Level B
Dimensional Power 0/5000
As expected, it was B-rank.
Yonghoon could clearly feel the explosion of Dimensional Power surging through his body the moment he killed the D-rank monster. It was the phenomenon felt when leveling up.
‘When I struck the Dimensional Core in the leg, the limit level wall had already crumbled. I just couldn’t level up because my attacks were too weak.’
He had been persistently attacking monsters all this time, knocking on the door to leveling up. That was why his physical abilities had been steadily increasing.
And just now, by killing the D-rank monster, he had finally reached Level B.
Yonghoon infused Dimensional Power into the sword in his hand. The sword, which had been faintly glowing sky blue, began to blaze with a deep blue light.
Yonghoon couldn’t help but smile.
He charged toward the monsters ahead.