In an instant, I dashed as fast as I could toward the foot of the mountain. Although I had already covered half the distance, the vast plain was still too wide. The distance between me and the base of the mountain was about a kilometer. Reaching there would take a considerable amount of time. I wasn't sure if we could get there faster than the spiders could chase us.
I glanced over my shoulder, but there was still nothing. The insects seemed to be waiting below the earth. That was a bad sign. If they were staying put, it meant the giant spiders were confident that they could easily catch us.
We had been running as fast as we could for a while, but the foot of the mountain still seemed far away. Dimas and Shella were lagging behind. The man was holding Shella's hand tightly to prevent her from falling. It seemed like he wasn't about to let go of her hand, as if he'd rather drag her along than leave her behind. Dimas was even carrying her large backpack.
Even so, they were still moving at the same pace. If we kept going like this, we wouldn't make it through this plain safely.
I led the way, cutting through the grass, which was growing taller and taller. It submerged my body up to my chest. Damn it! The grass was slowing me down. I feared that we wouldn't—
*DRRR!!
Suddenly, the rumbling sound reached my ears from behind. I turned around quickly to see what was happening. Sure enough, the worst possible scenario had occurred. The two spiders had emerged from the ground and were running swiftly toward us.
"Run, run!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
Dimas immediately grabbed Shella's hand and ran faster than before. He didn't look back and took off with long strides. I followed suit. Being in the lead, I had to choose a path that my companions could easily follow. I also had to slash at the tall grass with my small dagger, though it wasn't very effective.
The rumbling sound grew closer, faster than I had imagined. My legs were pushed to run faster, but I still couldn't outpace the two spiders.
"Shella!!"
Dimas's shout stopped me in my tracks, and I turned to look behind me. Oh no! Shella had fallen. Her foot had caught on a rib bone of some animal that jutted out from the ground. To make matters worse, she had twisted her ankle and couldn't stand properly, let alone run. Sweat poured down my body. My heart was pounding hard in my chest. My gaze turned back, and not far from us, the two massive insects were coming, full speed, to devour us. Meanwhile, we couldn't move at all. Of course, neither Dimas nor I was going to leave Shella behind.
What should I do?
"Shella! Stay here and crouch down in the grass. Make sure they don't see you," Dimas said as he quickly removed Shella's backpack and placed it on the ground. Then he turned to me. "Anggi! Let's hold off those spider monsters!"
I nodded. Leaving Shella behind, Dimas and I moved toward the monsters. The closer the spiders got, the bigger they seemed. My eyes could clearly make out their eight hairy legs and their ugly faces. Good heavens! That was the ugliest face I'd ever seen.
"I'll take the one on the right, you handle the other," Dimas said.
He stepped forward, drawing his shining sword from its sheath. He took a ready stance and pointed his sword ahead. Meanwhile, I prepared my bow and arrows. I drew my hand back, preparing to stretch the bowstring. I aligned my eyes with the arrow, pointing it at one of the monsters.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a skilled archer. I could only aim at something within tens of meters. So, I waited until the monster was within range of my shot.
A few seconds later, one of the giant spiders got closer. The moment I released my hand, the arrow shot forward. But sadly, it only grazed its body.
"Damn, I missed!" I cursed, frustrated.
I quickly grabbed another arrow and prepared to fire. The massive insect was drawing nearer, and I wasn't going to miss this time. I took a deep breath and released the second arrow. It flew swiftly through the air. With its speed and the short distance, it should have hit the monster. I didn't expect it to kill it, but at least I hoped it would immobilize the creature.
But reality proved me wrong. The arrow that should have pierced the monster's body bounced off and flew away. I stared in disbelief. Nothing should have been able to block the arrow except a shield or armor. A living creature should have been injured when faced with a fast-moving arrow. Yet, the spider simply kept moving forward as if nothing had happened.
Could it be...?
"Dimas, be careful! The spider's exoskeleton is too hard!" I shouted to him.
I saw him nod. After that, I didn't know what happened next. In the next moment, I had to roll to the side to avoid the monster's strike. Then, I sprang back to my feet, and that was when I saw the creature clearly.
This spider was enormous. It stood over two meters tall. I had to look up to meet its eight eyes. Just as I said, it had the ugliest face I'd ever seen in my life. In addition, its legs were long and covered in thick fur. Looking at its features and the way it hid in the ground, it seemed to be a Trap Door Tarantula. Although I was sure the spiders back in my world weren't nearly as large as this one.
The insect charged again with its front legs, but I managed to dodge by rolling or jumping back. I quickly nocked another arrow and aimed it straight at its hideous face. But once again, the arrow had no effect. The spider only flinched slightly before it focused its anger on me.
It used its front legs, which were covered in many joints, to strike me. I dodged again, but not all of them were successful. One of its strikes hit me in the stomach, sending my body flying several meters back. The pain hadn't even faded when the spider lunged at me again. I rolled forward, directly beneath its floating body. Its fangs sank deep into the ground. If I had been a second too late, my body would've had two large holes in it. It seemed its fangs contained some kind of venom or acid, as smoke rose when they struck the earth.
"Damn! My arrows aren't working. I'm going to die at this rate!"
I glanced at Dimas. He was having a hard time, too, struggling to face this monstrous spider. His sword couldn't pierce its legs, not even a scratch. Often, his sword clashed with the spider's hard shell, producing no result. He had to roll several times to get closer to me. We were both backing up, facing the monsters ahead of us.
"What about you? My sword isn't penetrating either," he said from behind me.
"Same here. My arrows are nothing but toys to them."
"Why don't you use Esze?"
"I can only use wind-type Esze. I don't think that's a good idea, considering how hard their shells are."
"Try it!" he ordered.
I was reluctant, but as he said, it was worth a try. My hand reached into my tunic pocket, where I had stored a viglet with an ivory color and dark markings at its base.
I raised the viglet and aimed it at the giant spider in front of me. The large creature stood still, as if waiting for the right moment to strike. I, too, waited. I focused all my concentration on the viglet. Then, in a single breath...
"Vitr Blast!"