Chapter 69: Apocalypse 7
As their eyes met, the spider moved first.
A blast of green liquid shot out from its maw.
Nicholas moved instantly.
The stream of acid struck the ground where he’d been standing a fraction of a second earlier.
SSSSSSSS—
The asphalt melted like butter beneath a furnace, black smoke rising from the bubbling crater.
Nicholas frowned.
’It’s not a normal spider.’
{Indeed!}
The X-Glasses chimed.
{Spider Species Identified: Bebilith Arachnarok}
{Demonic spiders from the abyss. Possess chitin harder than iron, webs stronger than steel rope, and highly corrosive venom.}
Reading the description, Nicholas gritted his teeth.
’How do authors think up such ridiculous beasts?’
The thought barely crossed his mind before a thick strand of webbing shot toward him.
Nicholas twisted sideways.
The web missed him by inches and slammed into the wall behind him.
BOOM!
The concrete wall cracked under the impact.
His eyes widened slightly.
That wasn’t normal webbing.
That thing had enough force behind it to shatter concrete.
The Bebilith wasn’t done.
Another web shot out.
Then another.
Then another.
Nicholas dashed through the street, his figure becoming a blur as strands of web crossed through the air behind him.
The spider wasn’t particularly fast.
Not compared to him.
Yet all eight crimson eyes tracked his movement perfectly.
The realization made him uneasy.
Its body wasn’t keeping up.
Its eyes were.
Its attacks were becoming more accurate.
The acid followed shortly after.
Green streams rained across the road.
Buildings.
Storefronts.
Parked vehicles.
Anything touched by the liquid immediately began melting.
Glass dissolved.
Metal hissed.
Concrete turned into bubbling sludge.
"AHHHHH!"
Julie shrieked from somewhere behind him.
"I HATE THIS THING!"
"Then stop yelling!"
"I’m helping morale!"
"You’re doing the opposite!"
Nicholas planted his foot against a wall and launched himself upward.
The force cracked the bricks beneath him.
He flew toward a nearby building and landed briefly against its side before pushing off again.
Then another.
And another.
The city became his battlefield.
Walls.
Roofs.
Street signs.
Everything became a stepping stone.
Yet despite all his movement, something felt wrong.
The Bebilith continued firing webs.
Not directly at him.
Not anymore.
Several webs attached themselves to walls.
Others stretched between buildings.
Some anchored themselves to abandoned vehicles.
Nicholas narrowly avoided another strand.
His eyes flickered.
Then widened.
’Wait...’
The Bebilith wasn’t attacking randomly.
Nicholas only realized it after narrowly avoiding another strand that shot past his shoulder. Unlike the previous attacks, the web didn’t continue toward him.
Instead, it attached itself between two buildings, joining dozens of others already stretching across the district. His eyes swept through the battlefield and a chill ran down his spine.
Every direction he’d moved, every dodge he’d made, every route he’d taken through the streets had been accounted for. The spider wasn’t trying to catch him. It wasn’t even trying to hit him anymore.
It was building a cage.
Another web shot overhead and anchored itself to a streetlight. Then another attached itself to a nearby storefront. Thick white strands slowly crisscrossed the entire area until the roads, buildings, and alleyways became part of a giant nest.
The Bebilith stood at the center of it all, its crimson eyes fixed on him as though watching a fly desperately struggle inside a trap that had already been completed.
[CMF: Wait.]
[Ragnar_Knot: Hold up.]
[Readable: Is it just me?]
[AuraNova: Nah.]
[Masatoshi_K: IT’S TRAPPING HIM.]
Nicholas felt his stomach sink as his eyes swept across the battlefield. The city block had slowly transformed into a giant web cage without him even realizing it. Thick strands stretched between buildings, wrapped around streetlights, crossed alleyways, and sealed entire roads. The Bebilith stood at the center of it all, letting out a low clicking sound that almost resembled laughter. The realization hit him immediately. The spider had never been trying to catch him from the start. It had been building a hunting ground.
"Tsk."
Nicholas changed direction instantly. A thick strand snapped toward him from the side and he ducked beneath it. Before he could regain his footing another shot down from above, forcing him into a roll. Then a third came from his blind spot. Nicholas twisted his body mid-motion, narrowly avoiding the sticky web as it shot past his shoulder and anchored itself to a nearby building.
Even as he escaped, he could feel the problem worsening. Every missed attack wasn’t actually missing. The web simply attached itself somewhere else, sealing another route and shrinking the battlefield further.
[Neorion: Nah.]
[Soulgeneral: THAT THING IS SMART.]
[Eat_Em_Up: Somebody tell me spiders don’t think like this.]
[Readable: That thing is playing chess.]
Nicholas landed atop a rooftop and finally allowed himself half a second to stop. His eyes moved across the surroundings, carefully analyzing every possible escape route. Above him. Below him. To his left. To his right. Everywhere he looked he saw webs.
Entire streets had become inaccessible. Buildings were connected by massive strands thicker than ropes. A giant labyrinth stretched throughout the district and standing at the heart of it all was the Bebilith, waiting patiently with its crimson eyes locked onto him.
The realization settled heavily in his chest.
He’d already entered the trap.
"That’s not good."
Julie nodded so aggressively her camera almost slipped from her hands.
"That’s definitely not good."
The spider moved.
This time there was no web.
No acid.
No preparation.
The massive body surged forward with shocking speed, smashing through everything in its path. Concrete exploded beneath its legs. Walls burst apart as the giant creature charged through abandoned buildings like they didn’t exist. Nicholas immediately pulled his baton free.
CLANG!
The weapon expanded instantly. Almost at the same time one of the spider’s enormous legs descended toward him like a falling pillar. Nicholas swung with all his strength, the rod cutting through the air before colliding directly against the limb.
CRACK!
The result nearly made him curse.
The baton visibly bent under the impact while the spider’s chitin barely showed a mark. It didn’t even slow down. The gigantic creature continued forward as though nothing had happened.
"Seriously?!"
Another leg stabbed toward him.
Nicholas leapt backward just before impact. The rooftop exploded beneath the strike, concrete fragments scattering in every direction as the building itself groaned under the force. Before the debris could even settle another attack came. Then another. Then another.
The Bebilith launched into a relentless assault, each strike carrying enough force to tear through sections of nearby buildings. Nicholas darted between the attacks, jumping, sliding, weaving through the destruction as chunks of concrete rained from above. Yet no matter how many times he evaded, he couldn’t find a proper opening.
Its armor was ridiculous.
The baton couldn’t damage it.
His dagger would be even worse.
The webs restricted movement.
The acid controlled space.
The armor nullified direct attacks.
For the first time since entering the veil, Nicholas felt genuinely cornered.
[Unknown56: This thing is cheating.]
[CMF: How do you even fight that?]
[Ragnar_Knot: I’m not seeing a win condition.]
[AuraNova: We might actually be cooked.]
The Bebilith lunged again. Nicholas sprinted forward. One massive leg stabbed downward and he slipped beneath it. Another followed immediately. Then another.
The attacks became a blur. The world around him shook continuously as roads cracked apart, buildings collapsed, and abandoned vehicles were reduced to scrap beneath the spider’s rampage.
Nicholas moved through the chaos, barely avoiding each strike by fractions of a second. Even with his enhanced agility, however, he could feel the pressure mounting.
One mistake.
That was all it would take. The webs now covered nearly every available surface. There was less room to maneuver with every passing second.
’It should have a weak point’ his eyes moved, tracing the body.
Nicholas’s gaze lingered briefly on one of the spider’s joints. It wasn’t much. Barely noticeable. A tiny gap where two sections of chitin connected. But it was there.
The Bebilith’s armor wasn’t seamless.
There were weak points, ’I’ll get to it’ Nicholas eyes narrowed as he locked on the target.
The Bebilith suddenly paused.
Almost as though it sensed something.
Its crimson eyes narrowed.
Then acid erupted from its maw.
Nicholas immediately sprinted.
The corrosive stream chased him through the streets, dissolving everything in its path. Buildings melted apart behind him. Steel warped and collapsed. Concrete liquefied beneath the acid’s touch.
The spider lunged immediately afterward, determined to finish him before he could escape. Nicholas didn’t move back, he sprinted forward, heading straight for the beast.
The Bebilith raised two massive legs and brought them down simultaneously. Nicholas leapt. The first strike missed him completely. The second passed beneath him by inches. Then, in a movement that made Julie’s eyes widen, he pushed off the descending limb itself.
BOOM!
The force launched him higher.
Straight toward the spider’s body.
The audience exploded.
[AuraNova: THERE.]
[CMF: HIT IT.]
[Readable: KILL IT.]
[Masatoshi_K: LET’S GO.]
The Bebilith realized its mistake too late.
Nicholas crossed the remaining distance almost instantly. Every muscle in his body tightened. Every ounce of strength gathered into a single point.
The same strength that shattered the Kamacura. The same strength that pulverized orcs and lizardmen alike. The same strength that turned flesh and bone into nothing more than broken meat. His arm drew back, veins bulging beneath his skin as all that power condensed into one devastating strike.
"Die."
The punch exploded forward.
CLANG!
The metallic sound echoed across the entire district.
Everything became silent.
Nicholas’s eyes widened.
Instead of resistance giving way beneath overwhelming force—
It felt like punching a mountain forged entirely from steel.
Shockwaves erupted outward. Windows shattered throughout the street. Nearby walls cracked apart. The air itself seemed to ripple from the impact.
Yet the Bebilith remained perfectly still.
It wasn’t pushed back, not even an inch.
The spider’s crimson eyes slowly shifted downward.
Meeting Nicholas’s.
