Hearing the noise, Gloria saw the spider slowly stand up. It bared its fangs again and lunged forward suddenly. Her feet were tangled by the silk threads, she had no weapon in her hand, and her strength was exhausted. There was nothing she could do now except stare in horror.
She closed her eyes and quietly awaited the arrival of death. "Once it's full, it won't harm others anymore." She thought with a bitter smile, knowing that she could still protect others in this way.
Just when she was in complete despair, she felt something whistling past her ear, making her cheek feel cold. Then, there was a clear shattering sound right in front of her, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
She opened her eyes and saw that the spider had been knocked back three steps. It was lying on its back, its eight limbs twitching as it tried to turn over and stand up.
"I heard your shout. It seems you're okay." Aurelio's cold voice reached the female knight almost at the same time as he did. He still had his usual expressionless face. Even seeing such a huge spider, he didn't seem surprised and just said, "Interesting." He glanced sideways at the female knight's right foot and said, "I'll untie you later. First, I'll deal with it."
"Be careful. Its shell is very thick. It's not easy to handle."
Aurelio looked back again and saw the sword stuck in the spider's head, with only the hilt visible. He thought, "Maybe not." Thinking this, he didn't stop casting spells. He aimed at the spider struggling on the ground and launched four fireballs.
All mages knew this common sense: Fire was the weakness of all insects. No matter how huge their size was, they couldn't escape their fear of fire. If it weren't for the fear of accidentally hitting the female knight just now, he would have bombarded the spider with a "fire barrage" instead of just knocking it down with an ice pick.
The spider kept backing away, trying to avoid the pain of being burned by the fire. It was already seven or eight steps away from the trapped female knight.
However, the damage caused by the fireballs was actually limited. They only burned off dozens of bristles and left a few blackened marks. But compared to the earlier ice picks, this was already quite effective. When the ice picks hit earlier, they were smashed to pieces by the spider's carapace. They could only knock the spider, which had jumped into the air, over by their momentum.
Aurelio speculated in his mind, "Magic resistance?" The shell of a creature was also combustible. If it didn't have magic resistance, it couldn't be this solid. "If fire is useless, other elements are even less likely to be effective." Since there was no other choice, he could only continue casting the "fire barrage". Four more fireballs flew out, forcing the spider to retreat a few more steps.
Seeing the spider retreating step by step, Gloria didn't know Aurelio's concerns. She let out a long sigh of relief and silently praised the reliability of her companion in her heart.
Aurelio was very clear that if he let his guard down even a little, he would immediately face a counterattack. He looked into the spider's eyes and only saw murderous intent in them, but he had no way to cause effective damage. He shook his head and said softly, "Over-modified."
"What?"
"This spell is suitable for killing humans, but it's too weak against such a monster."
"Is the situation bad?"
"Human bodies are fragile. Using powerful spells would only waste magic. Moreover, larger spells take longer to cast, which is completely inefficient. So, someone designed... this spell called 'fire barrage'."
"Is that so?"
"The new spell is good against humans, but against this kind of monster... the killing power is far too weak! And the accuracy is also not good. Humans don't have a specific weakness, nor do they have parts that can resist magic. Hitting anywhere has the same effect. And this spell shoots multiple times at once, so it doesn't need to be too precise. But against it..." Aurelio looked at the four fireballs he had just shot and saw that they each deviated to the left or right to different degrees and then hit different parts of the spider. He couldn't help but shake his head and explained again, "Fortunately, this spell consumes very little magic and can be maintained for a long time."
"But..."
"Yes, magic will eventually run out."
"You know other spells, right?"
"They're even worse than this one."
Gloria's heart sank when she heard this. She raised her voice and said resolutely, "If you can't win, don't worry about me!"
"No. If we can't win, we'll find a way to win." After saying that, Aurelio stopped talking. He let his brain work at high speed. Except for the mental energy required for casting spells, he used all the rest of his energy to think about possible solutions.
"You're not a knight. You don't need to force yourself! You can leave me alone! Hurry up and go!"
"I don't oppose escaping. I only oppose escaping alone." Aurelio replied, "I won't stay behind to hold the enemy back myself, and I won't let others do it either!"
"You..." Gloria felt a pang in her heart.
"Help me think of a way."
"What way... I see! Maybe those older spells will work. Have you learned them?"
"I have. But..." Aurelio quickly remembered that more than ten years ago, his teacher had briefly explained to him the casting method of the original "fireball spell". Aurelio had a good memory and still remembered all the incantations.
He quickly dismissed the idea: "The incantation of the 'fireball spell' has twelve words. It's too long. And I've never cast it before, so I'm not proficient enough. Casting it might take seven or eight seconds. That's too slow. And it's only possible that it will work. I don't have the chance to make mistakes." Thinking this, he cast the spell again, forcing the big spider back to its original position.
He grasped the rhythm. Only when the spider was about to attack did he use magic to force it back. He minimized all losses and tried to buy more thinking time for both of them. He estimated his consumption. If he fired forty fireballs per minute like this, he would run out of magic in about twenty minutes.
As time passed by, Aurelio counted the number of fireballs he had fired. "Four hundred." He thought, "Already more than half consumed." He looked up at the spider again but couldn't see any sign of it being tired.
He knew he couldn't waste any more time, so he raised his voice and asked the female knight, "It must have a certain weakness... Where on earth is it? Tell me, where is the most vulnerable part of a person wearing plate armor?"
"The back of the joints, the back of the large joints, like the knees. In order to be able to move, there must be gaps in those places. Even if there is chain mail protection inside, it's still more vulnerable than other parts. Why do you ask?"
Aurelio said, "I know what to do." He took three steps to the right, thinking, "I know what to do, it's just... Maybe it's not easy to seize the opportunity, and there's also risk. I really don't like taking risks!" While moving, his brain was still casting spells non-stop. He increased the frequency of firing fireballs and launched several rounds at the spider in succession. His 挑衅般的举动 really angered the spider. As expected, it gave up on the female knight and charged at him instead.
He took a deep breath and lowered his center of gravity. He held four fireballs in his palm and stared intently at the spider. He was waiting for the moment when the spider showed its weakness.
The female knight was amazed when she saw his actions. Although she knew he had some kind of plan, she was still worried and thought, "This is too dangerous! And... He moved to the side to avoid involving me?"
Her heart ached again, but she was afraid of distracting her companion, so she could only suppress her emotions, covered her mouth with her hands, and didn't dare to make a sound. Once her eyes fell on Aurelio, she could hardly look away; at the same time, her heart was beating wildly, even ten times more frantically than when she was facing life and death herself.
Aurelio saw the spider getting closer and closer, only two or three steps away from him. At the moment when the spider jumped up, he also raised his hand and launched the fireballs that had been ready in his hand. At the same time, he pushed off with his left foot and jumped to the right with all his might.
The fireballs hit the target just as they were launched. The spider, which was in mid-air, after being hit by four fireballs, fell heavily to the ground and slid ten steps away. Aurelio, taking advantage of the explosion, jumped four steps away. After rolling on the ground for a week, he pushed himself up with his hands. He stood firmly and four more fireballs appeared in his hands - while performing such a complex evasion, his spellcasting was not affected.
"Did it work?" Gloria thought. But seeing the spider struggle a few times and stand up again, her heart tensed up again. "Why? Didn't his plan work?" She shook her head continuously. She gritted her teeth and shouted to Aurelio, "Don't let it get this close again. It's too dangerous! Don't worry about me. Hurry up and go! I... can still hold it back!"
After saying that, she raised her shield. "Even if it's just a little..." She thought this and began to meditate again, trying to channel the remaining energy onto her shield. However, her strength was already exhausted, and her mind was empty.
Aurelio, on the other hand, silently waited for the spider to come forward again. He leaned his staff against himself, freed his right hand to brush off the fallen leaves and dirt on his body. Then he pointed into the distance and said, "Look."
Gloria looked in the direction he pointed. There was a strange conical object lying on the ground. She looked up again at the wriggling spider, counted its legs, and then understood what the object on the ground was. She asked, "Is this... its leg?" She thought for a moment in her head and imagined the situation when her companion was facing the enemy just now. "You were aiming at the joints... at close range?"
Aurelio nodded and didn't respond anymore. He stared at the spider, ready to face the next attack.
The spider struggled for a long time before standing up. When it moved again, its movements became even more sluggish. After losing a leg, its steps were more uncoordinated, and it limped 艰难地 on the ground.
"Just need to repeat it eight times." Aurelio thought, with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. When he raised his left hand, he saw the spider turn around and try to escape. He said softly, "Don't worry. It won't get away. I'll get your sword back." After saying that, he took off running.
"Don't! It's too dangerous! That's not something valuable. You can buy a new one! Don't..." She said this and then remembered that she had sworn an oath on this sword. While she was hesitating, Aurelio had already run ten steps away.
Just then, a gunshot was heard. The spider fell down with the sound and didn't move anymore.