With a mighty leap, dust swirled around as its sixteen eyes blinked through the haze. Seeming sluggish at first glance, it fixed a fierce gaze upon the three unfamiliar human figures.
The creature was enormous, stretching its hairy legs to dominate two-thirds of the valley floor.
As the giant spider landed, its arachnid kin retreated behind it. A tense silence fell before it unleashed a piercing scream at Germain, Bisky, and Shizuku!
The sound was jarring, causing Germain and the others to instinctively cover their ears.
"Pressure +8," remarked Germain, noting the intensity.
Unfazed, the giant spider spun its abdomen and spat a large ball of sticky silk resembling a falling stone pillar.
"Watch out," Germain warned.
The trio swiftly dodged in different directions, narrowly avoiding the spear-like impact of the silk ball piercing the ground and pulling up a large rock.
The giant spider then swung the rock like a meteor hammer towards Germain.
"Bang!"
Germain evaded once more, witnessing the rock attached to the silk tear a large gap in the stone wall behind him.
From the crevice poured countless squeaking mice, scattering wildly across the valley floor, throwing the area into chaos.
To evade, they collaborated to dig several elliptical black holes at the valley's bottom and hurriedly scrambled inside, while others dashed around in confusion.
"Mind the black holes," Germain cautioned. "They force teleportation if stepped on, but will shrink and vanish in seconds."
Bisky and Shizuku nodded in understanding.
Meanwhile, the massive rock attached to the spider's web continued to swing, crashing into the valley's stone walls and ground, sending leaves and dust into the air.
"We need to close in," Germain decided. "I'll handle the silk; you two take care of its fangs and legs."
Bisky and Shizuku exchanged glances, then darted out from Germain's sides, circling around the giant spider.
Germain positioned himself on the stone wall, timing his jump onto the swinging rock. For a moment, he felt like he was riding a colossal pendulum in an amusement park.
He suppressed his nausea and steadied his body. Raising the flamethrower, he sprayed a stream of fire onto the sticky spider silk, quickly setting it ablaze.
In the next moment, the spider silk snapped and the rock ledge where Germain stood was hurled into the air!
Before the rock could crash against the stone wall and shatter, Germain leaped down from above, rolling as he landed firmly on the ground.
"Bang!"
As expected, both the rock ledge and the stone wall were destroyed together.
Germain took a deep breath and charged towards the giant spider once more.
Confused and without its meteor hammer, the giant spider halted its movements.
Then Bisky and Shizuku closed in, systematically breaking two of its legs. The pain elicited another agonized scream.
"Pressure +8"
Flames still licked at the spider silk, now adhered to the giant spider's abdomen, resembling a colossal bomb primed to detonate.
Sensing the threat of the flames, the giant spider used its scimitar-like legs to push back Bisky and Shizuku, then slashed at the spider silk with its sharp claws menacingly.
At that moment, the remaining seven spiders of the arachnid family surged forward once more.
Germain swiftly used his hidden blade to pierce the head of one spider, while with his musket, he scattered bullets, shattering most of the sixteen eyeballs of another spider.
At last, he managed to approach the giant spider.
Bisky had just freed herself from the spider entangling her. Nodding to Germain, she suddenly lunged forward, her muscles bulging as she snapped off one of the giant spider's legs. The giant spider, now with only five legs, roared and tried to bite Bisky with its chelicerae.
Dodging at the crucial moment, Bisky delivered a powerful uppercut to the giant spider's jaw.
The giant spider shuddered and seemed momentarily dazed by her blow.
While Bisky engaged the giant spider, Germain circled around to its abdomen, brandishing the Cleaver and driving it into the hole from which it had spewed spider silk.
"Swish--"
Germain gripped the Cleaver tightly with both hands, dragging it from the giant spider's abdomen towards its head. The sharp teeth sliced through its belly relentlessly!
The giant spider sensed the threat beneath it but couldn't inflate its abdomen to escape. Instead, it crawled away in pain, screaming.
"Pressure +8"
In that moment, the accumulated resentment from hunting spider families and the giant spider's scream overlapped, pushing Germain's pressure to a new peak.
Pressure: 100, trigger...
"Torture: Paranoia!"
Germain's ears rang, his thoughts scattered. He couldn't help but freeze in place, gasping for breath.
Everything around him fell silent, as if nothing else mattered. He felt utterly alone in his struggle.
But amidst the silence, someone called his name. At first faint, the voice grew louder until it was clear.
"Germain? Germain? Germain!"
Momentarily dazed, Germain saw Shizuku standing on a severed spider leg, shouting and pointing in another direction.
Turning, he spotted the giant spider, wounded and missing five legs, still dragging itself towards Bisky.
The giant spider seemed to know its end was near, so it fought even harder, determined to take Bisky down with it.
Bisky stayed calm. She knew the spider was doomed and just a matter of time. She kept baiting it with her body, making it thrash violently and lose more blood.
"I have to finish this," German muttered, unsure if he said it aloud or to himself.
Ignoring everything, he darted towards the spider like a shadow, dodging its slicing legs and hacking off another leg with a Cleaver!
With only two legs left, the giant spider couldn't support its massive body. It crashed down with a loud thud, sliding into a deep pit.
Not waiting for it to bleed out, German leaped onto its back, pushed through tough hair, and stabbed deep into its head with a knife, channeling spirit energy.
"Trigger Beast Hunter, critical hit!"
"Pressure + 10"
The giant spider tried to scream but the Cleaver silenced it, draining its life. Black blood oozed from its mouth, and it lay motionless.
********
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