Chapter 58: Chapter 58- The Infestation (Part 3)
Chapter 58- The Infestation (Part 3)
"That bastard..." Alex looked at Rein as he frowned deeply. "What the hell is he doing?"
Seeing the silhouette of the man as he ran with countless spiders chasing him, he noticed that he wasn’t trying to escape, and he almost looked like he was luring them away. Naturally, Alex knew that it was a very risky plan to do that, considering the huge number of spiders.
However, he didn’t really care as he continued shooting his targets as the initial plan suggested.
’If that bastard wanted to kill himself, it’s none of my business.’ He thought to himself as he aimed again and shot a strong arrow, blasting several spiders in the process.
Meanwhile, Rein, who was being relentlessly chased, kept shooting a look behind him while navigating the ruined city. The monsters were increasing in speed and aggression, and he could feel it. Each step would shake the ground beneath his feet.
His sword didn’t stop slicing and swinging in every direction. Spiders lunged at him from left, right, and even from above.
*BANG*
Rein dodged the sharp legs of a spider as he spun around and threw two arrows that killed the targets before they could get close enough, and then turned around and continued running. His ability to micro-adjust his body was inhuman, and it gave him a huge edge against these monsters.
’A bit farther away... I just need to buy them a bit more time.’ He clenched his teeth as he channeled his essence even more. Blood splurted everywhere around him as his eyes shot left and right at incredible speeds, taking in ridiculous amounts of information that no normal brain could handle.
Even though Rein was completely outnumbered and even though he would be dead the moment they caught up to him, he was completely calm, navigating the waves of spiders with lethal precision.
As he liked that, thinking that his plan was working... something happened. It was instantaneous, out of nowhere, and completely unpredictable. Rein didn’t even feel anything with his senses before it occurred to him.
A flash of bright light appeared in his vision from a distance. It looked like a star in the sky for the brief moment that Rein saw it before...
*Swish*
"Hu... h?" His eyes remained wide open, and his body didn’t even realize what happened for a brief second. He breathed in, and everything became blurry and silent... His eyes slowly looked down. All he could see was blood... Large amounts of it.
A side of his torso has been shot... and it completely vanished as if it was never there in the first place.
"Blurgh..." Rein stopped as he coughed up blood. His body froze in place as he fell to his knees. "Wha..." He tried to speak, but his throat refused to make a coherent noise. Then, he fell to the ground... completely unconscious.
"What?!" Alex, who was still focused on shooting the arrows, noticed that something flashed in his peripheral vision and quickly looked to the side. All he saw at that moment was Rein dropping to the ground and the swarm of spiders rushing toward him.
He didn’t understand what happened. He didn’t even have the time to comprehend it.
"Hey, you bastard!! What are you doing?!" He yelled as he quickly jumped down from his high ground and ran toward him. ’What hit him? It happened so fast, I couldn’t see anything!’ He looked to the side, but there was no trace of anything.
He’s going to die! Fuck, fuck!! Fuck!!’ He cursed as he increased his speed, activating one of his abilities... ’Phantom Star’. That ability granted him invisibility and an increase in movement speed, which was extremely useful for an archer like him.
Shooting through the path like a ghost, he closed the distance with Rein. However, at the same time, the spiders were way closer than he was, and so by the time he reached him, the monsters already swarmed him.
"Fuck!" He immediately aimed his bow and shot several arrows in succession, blasting as many spiders as he could. But the more he blasted, the more would swarm Rein. He tried to shoot them all. But, eventually, the rest of the spiders simply overwhelmed him and pushed him away as he kept shooting relentlessly... knowing fully well that it would be impossible to kill that many spiders.
He felt desperate. His heart racing as he kept retreating.
’I can’t do anything... I can’t do anything!’ He cursed as he watched the spiders swarm Rein. His heart sank in... How was he going to tell Violet? How could he even face her if Rein died? What the hell was he supposed to do?
A lot of questions moved through his mind as he watched the pile on top of him. He closed his eyes for a second, not wanting to see the gruesome sight that was about to happen.
"Hm?"
However, when he opened his eyes, he saw something completely different. Something that he could’ve never even expected. Out of the sea of spiders, Rein slowly emerged at the top, being carried by these spiders over their backs. His body was completely intact, and he didn’t look like he had been eaten or hurt in any way. Then, before he could do anything, his body started being carried away, dragged far from the battlefield.
"What?!" Alex blurted out as he tried to move toward him. However, the rest of the swarm stopped him and attacked aggressively. "Where the hell are they bringing him?! Get out of the way!!"
He cursed angrily as he shot the spiders. But, it was completely useless... Their numbers were incomprehensible. All he could do was to continue retreating and retreating.
’They aren’t eating him immediately... Are they bringing him back to their next? Could that be why?’ He thought to himself. ’There is still a chance... If I can just get to him, I would get him out of here!’
But that was harder said than done. So, Alex decided to do something different. Running in the opposite direction. The spiders chased him for a bit before they suddenly stopped and turned around, moving in the direction the rest of the spiders moved in.
Alex stopped and looked back. The way the entire swarm suddenly stopped was odd... And completely unnatural. They could’ve not simply had the same thought so randomly...
His eyes squinted. There was something extremely off going on. His eyes then moved to Rein, who was being carried in the distance. His teeth clenched, his fists tightened before he suddenly punched a wall next to him.
"Fuck! No... I can’t just give up like this... They didn’t eat him yet." He muttered. "We need to find him. There has to be a nest somewhere."
"Alex... Do you copy?"
Suddenly, he heard a voice speak in his ear. It was weak and distant, but he knew who it was. His entire body flinched as he frowned deeply.
"Where are you guys?" He asked as he put his hand on his ear.
"We have found a working vehicle. We can use it to travel. Where is Rein?" Violet asked.
"..."
