Due to the sudden appearance of an extremely sharp leg, Zenon lost focus and tripped when he was right on the edge, making him fall toward the violent river.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'
Luckily, he managed to grab a rock with one hand and dangle on what could be his possible death. His eyes widened at the thought of drowning inside that current.
He grasped the rock firmly and used both of his hands and the void to literally launch himself toward the edge. Even though he only "flew" for two meters, it was more than enough to reach it.
While he was climbing the ledge, he looked toward the intersection and his heartbeats increased. Creeps traveled through his spine and felt as if he hadn't eaten for an entire month.
When he managed to stand on top of the narrow edge, he saw how a bloodied spider climbed the ravine.
This was by far the most unfavorable position Zenon has ever gone against.
The little amount of available space left him with no form of maneuver whatsoever. Sidestepping or rolling wasn't even an option, as he could only move with little steps to either left or right.
Not only that, but the ravine was big enough to let most of the spider's body pass and, subsequently, let it use the environment to its advantage.
Even if it was a Mindless and had no train of thought behind its actions, it was still a being driven by instincts. And those instincts may involve using the walls to jump or climb.
However, the Layer Beast was missing three of his eight legs, making its mobility extremely limited. Not only that, but one of its legs was on the verge of falling off.
What happened to it? Zenon didn't care.
As the spider jumped the distance separating the last ravine from the current one, Zenon could finally see its true height. Around three meters tall and four meters wide.
'Why are Layer Beasts so massive?! Can I please grow a little bit as well?!'
The Second-Rank Mindless jumped toward Zenon at a speed he couldn't even comprehend. He tried to run but moving would make him fall, so he opted for a stupid option.
Just as one of the spider's legs was a meter away from piercing him, he augmented his body and crouched, making the leg pierce and get stuck on the wall.
The spider's fangs moved and unsuccessfully tried to get it unstuck. In this, very small time frame, Zenon switched the Void from his body to his fist and punched the leg.
*BANG! CRACK!!*
Not only did the blow completely rip off one of his legs, but Zenon also managed to send it tumbling down to the river... Only for the spider to get a hold of a rock and try to find a balance to climb again.
Zenon, though…
"MHHHHHHGGGGMMMMMMMMMMM!!"
He stared in horror at his right hand bent at a weird angle. Not only that, his fingers were also out of place.
However, the Solis Vines were in perfect condition, almost unfazed by the fact that Zenon just punched a Second-Rank Mindless.
His hand was crying in pain though.
He expected the exoskeleton of the spider to be resistant, but not to this extent. Had he known this earlier, he would've taken a softer approach. But the damage was already done.
While in that state of pain, he was able to keep a bit of rationality on point and thought of a crazy solution to that problem.
With his free hand, he forcefully put his fingers in place, adding even more pain to the already blinding agonizing suffering he was going through. He tried his best to muffle the screams to not alert other Layer Beasts.
This small confrontation has already taken a big mental toll on him.
Suddenly he felt as if his left shoulder was dropped inside an active volcano. He instinctively looked there and saw his elbow almost inside the spider's mouth...
... And the spider's fangs trying to drill through the robust defense of the Solis Vines. Somehow, they were succeeding.
His fangs were so deep inside that Zenon could feel them inside his muscle and it sent a wave of pain all around his body. Once again augmenting his fist with Void, he punched the spider's fang.
*CRACK!*
And completely destroyed it. The spider once again lost balance and began falling through the ravine before yet again pushing his four remaining legs deep inside the wall.
'I need to get out of here...'
Knowing he couldn't go toward the intersection, the only option was to go deeper inside the ravine which itself was a death sentence in this situation. He got up trying not to fall on top of the Second-Rank Mindless.
Trying to brainstorm ways to get out of this situation, his gaze happened to land on the leg stuck in the wall. It was an insane idea but insane situations required it.
He went near the leg and tried to get it off the wall. His Familiar came to his aid and tried to get the leg unstuck off the wall while screeching at Zenon, who slightly lowered his head in embarrassment.
Since his screams were similar to other Layer Beasts, it's more than probable that they'll remain neutral.
After gaining some of his strength back, they managed to get the leg unstuck from the wall just as the spider was done climbing. He used both of his hands and wielded them as a spear.
He eyed the spider that was climbing and tried to position itself in the most favorable spot by staying far from the arachnid. Then it managed to climb back to the edge opposite Zenon.
"If this is a part of you... that means I can kill you with it." He took a deep breath
The spider's fangs moved again and launched itself toward Zenon.
This was the most obvious difference between a Mindless and any other Class. While anything above Mindless would've taken a distance from Zenon, their urge to eat was far greater than rationality.
Zenon grasped the legs firmly and let the spider come to him. The spider used two of his legs to try and pierce Zenon... and once again they got stuck inside the wall.
This time, however, it was so close to him that using the leg became an invalid option.
'Fucking hell!'
With his remaining fang, the spider tried to grab Zenon's face and was centimeters away from doing so.
It even managed to pierce his cheek a little bit, making it bleed and sending the Layer Beast into a frenzy.
In a desperate attempt to gain an opportunity, he kicked the spider in the mouth just as it closed it, stunning it for a moment and sending it backward.
He then augmented the leg with the Void and bashed it as hard as he could toward the spider's mouth.
'Yes!'
It worked, and the leg effortlessly went inside the spider's body and up to its head. It eventually hit the creature's brain which sent an electric shock all over its body.
It began puking, drenching Zenon's face and armor with red blood and an awful smell.
All of the Layer Beast's legs trembled, contracting and relaxing multiple times before finally losing energy.
Zenon released the leg and the spider remained in place, almost floating because of how deep inside the wall his other legs were. His legs gave up and fell to the narrow edge, letting his legs dangling.
Eventually, the spider took its last breath, and white and red arcs came from inside its body and inside Zenon. Then, two sets of Runes appeared in front of him...
[You have slain a Second-Rank Mindless: Venemous Tarantula.]
[You have received a Carapace.]