Chapter 87: Deep in Dilemma-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87: Deep in Dilemma-2
The Human-Faced Spider began to watch Sun-woo’s every move, her eyes filled with unease.
Would he let her live, or would he kill her?
Since it was a matter of life and death, she was suffering from extreme anxiety.
How did things even end up like this?
*
Ever since she was struck directly by that spherical orb, excruciating pain had coiled around her entire body.
It was the first time in her life she had felt such agony—a sensation as if her very flesh were being sliced away.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
Unable to bear the pain, she began to scream. It hurt far too much to simply endure.
How long had she been screaming?
Eventually, unable to withstand the torment any longer, she lost consciousness.
Some time passed.
After being blacked out for a short while, she managed to open her eyes again.
As soon as she did, she saw the man who had hit her with that bizarre orb pointing his sword at her.
She fell into despair.
Though she had lived for hundreds of years, she was still filled with a desperate desire to live. She didn't want to die like this.
She wept, scattering tears as she begged and pleaded for her life, but it was no use.
The man raised his sword, intending to cut her down right then and there.
She squeezed her eyes shut, simply hoping he would kill her without too much pain.
It was then.
"Tsk, tsk. Hold your hand."
She heard the voice of the old man she had seen earlier.
Lifting her head, she saw the hideous-looking old man standing before her.
At the old man's words, the younger man lowered his sword.
It seemed the old man had saved her.
She let out a sigh of relief. It appeared she wasn't going to die just yet.
At least, that was what she thought until she heard his next words.
"I intend to dissect it slowly."
The Human-Faced Spider’s eyes widened in shock.
Dissection? Didn't that mean cutting her entire body into pieces?
Terrified by the Poison Demon’s words, she began to tremble. She would rather die by a single stroke of a blade than perish in such agony.
Her situation felt utterly pathetic—to end up like this while trying to avenge her other half.
I don't want to die... I don't want to die...
Nothing but sorrow welled up within her.
It was then.
Suddenly, the man attacked the old man.
Clang!
With that strike, a battle between the two began.
She rejoiced. This was her chance.
If she could quickly recover her body while those two were fighting, she could flee far away. Of course, if the opportunity arose to kill them both, that would be even better.
She immediately began to draw upon the power of her Inner Core to regenerate her body.
Wait, what?
Perhaps because that strange orb had directly struck her Inner Core, drawing power from it was sluggish and difficult.
In the end, her regeneration was forced to proceed slowly, and her recovery time was naturally dragged out.
She prayed and prayed again.
Please.
Please.
Fight longer, fight more.
She needed time to heal.
If their fight ended before she recovered, her life would be over.
She prayed fervently in her heart while concentrating on her recovery.
However, contrary to her wishes, signs appeared that the fight would soon be over. The man was starting to be pushed back by the old man.
No!
She screamed internally. It couldn't end like this. She hadn't recovered enough yet.
She could move her body, but she would surely collapse from exhaustion before she could get very far.
She fell into despair once more.
Then, she changed her mind. Since things had come to this, she decided to squeeze out her remaining energy and attack them.
When she wrung out what little strength she had recovered, she found she had just enough for one single strike.
Regenerating one of her broken legs and thrusting it out once was the best she could do.
Thus, she fell into a deep dilemma.
She only had one shot.
So, the question was: which of these two incredibly powerful humans should she target?
Regardless of who won, it was a foregone conclusion that she would die.
She pondered. Was there no way to deal with both of them at once?
But as expected, it was impossible. Piercing through both of their torsos was out of the question unless they were locked in a tight embrace.
She could only attack one person.
The question was, who should she help to ensure her own survival?
At that moment, something flashed through her mind.
[Humans don't grant favors without a price.]
It was something the man she had fought had said to her.
Humans don't grant favors without a price, huh?
The Human-Faced Spider began to chew over the man's words once more.
The man had clearly said that favors aren't given for free.
Then, what if she paid the price first?
Wouldn't a favor follow?
What if she granted a favor first?
Wouldn't he pay the price in return?
Countless thoughts swirled through her head, and she finally reached a conclusion.
She would help the man.
Even if she granted a favor, the price might not be paid. Even if she paid a price, a favor might not be granted.
Even so, she felt the man who had tried to kill her with a single stroke was better than the old man who intended to use her for dissection without rhyme or reason.
Secretly, she regenerated a single leg on her back. It was a limb barely formed by squeezing out every last drop of her remaining energy.
Then, she watched them quietly, waiting for an opportunity.
The perfect moment to thrust her weapon.
And before long, that perfect moment arrived.
It was when the man created that spherical orb once again.
That was it.
The very orb that had defeated her.
Seeing the orb sent a shiver of fear through her, but it also gave her confidence. Because she had been on the receiving end of it, she knew better than anyone just how terrifyingly powerful it was.
She made up her mind. She would help that orb hit its mark.
The orb formed on the sword flew toward the old man.
The old man snorted and lunged at him.
Now.
Thwack!
She swung her leg and pierced the Poison Demon’s chest.
The Poison Demon turned back in confusion, and she responded with a smile.
Mouth, mouth.
His bewildered expression was so amusing that she felt a surge of playfulness.
She mouthed the words to the Poison Demon:
‘Look ahead.’
Realizing what she meant, the Poison Demon hurriedly looked forward, but it was already too late. His head was blown apart by the orb that had already reached him.
As soon as the Poison Demon died, she pulled her leg out.
The moment she withdrew it, cracks appeared on the limb, and it slowly began to crumble. It seemed she hadn't been able to ensure its durability because she had made it in such a hurry.
But she felt proud.
Without her, that man wouldn't have been able to defeat that monster of an old man. Surely, this was more than enough to earn a favor in return.
She had saved his life.
It was then.
Drowsiness began to wash over her. It was likely a side effect of completely exhausting her energy.
She tried to force her heavy eyelids open, but it was no use. They felt as if they weighed a thousand catties.
I... have to... recover...
With that final thought of recovery, she fell fast asleep.
If that man had even a shred of a conscience, he wouldn't kill her. Or, even if he did kill her, she prayed and prayed that he would at least do it without pain. Then, she lost consciousness.
.
.
.
.
.
Eventually, she opened her eyes.
She turned her head to check her body. There were no particular external injuries.
Fortunately, it seemed the man knew how to repay a debt and hadn't killed her.
It was then.
"Uuuugh... uuuugh..."
The sound of a man groaning reached her ears.
She lifted her head to look at him. The man was sprawled on the ground, letting out pained groans. It seemed he had collapsed from exhaustion right after killing the old man.
Her eyes widened. She didn't know how much time had passed, but seeing the sun up, she could tell a significant amount of time had gone by.
She had been unconscious for nearly half a day.
And yet, he still hadn't recovered?!
Her eyes gleamed. This was her chance.
She began to spread the energy from her Inner Core throughout her body to regenerate. She had to recover before the man woke up.
But her wish was not granted.
Before she could fully recover, the man stood up, sword in hand.
Tsk.
She clicked her tongue in disappointment. If she had recovered first, she would have killed him without a second thought, but now the tables were turned.
"Are you awake?"
She greeted the man with a bright, beaming smile.
Seeing her smile, the man looked bewildered. He then asked her again why she hadn't killed him.
"I wonder why?"
However, seeing his confusion sparked her mischievous side, and she didn't give him a straight answer.
As a result, the man began to approach her, radiating a thick murderous aura.
Seeing this, she realized something had gone wrong.
This isn't what I expected.
Aside from her playfulness, she had intended to act a bit relaxed to buy time for recovery, but it seemed that wouldn't work on this man.
"Wait... wait! Are you really going to kill me?"
Startled, she asked Sun-woo. Was this man really going to kill his savior?
"You'd better speak up before I put a hole in you. Why didn't you kill me?"
At Sun-woo's question, she began to speak, her eyes welling with tears. She felt resentful toward the man she had saved who was now trying to kill her, and her legs were trembling from his murderous aura.
"I couldn't!"
She confessed the truth to Sun-woo. Everything from how she couldn't target him because her body hadn't recovered, to how she helped him kill the Poison Demon in hopes that he would spare her if she showed him a favor.
If she had been a bit smarter, she wouldn't have mentioned the part about not being able to target him because she hadn't recovered, but as someone who had just molted into a human, she didn't have the intelligence for such deep thinking.
Hearing her words, Sun-woo fell into thought.
Should I let this thing live or not?
To be honest, he wouldn't have been able to defeat the Poison Demon without her help. Not only that, he would have lost Ok-ryeong, Un Ga-ryeo, and Tang Seo-yoon.
In a way, she was his savior.
If anyone else had saved his life like this, he would have bowed a hundred times in gratitude, but his savior just happened to be the Human-Faced Spider. And not just any spider, but the one he had been fighting to the death.
Thus, he was torn.
It was true she had saved his life, but it was also an undeniable fact that she had aimed for his life as well.
Of course, the fact that she had intended to kill him as soon as she woke up was irritating, but Sun-woo had felt the same way, so he couldn't really complain about that.
So, Sun-woo pondered. What should he do with her?
Killing her felt wrong after she had trusted his words and used her final move on the Poison Demon. But sparing her made him crave her Inner Core—he craved it far too much.
If he took her Inner Core, he would be able to absorb an immense amount of internal energy, not to mention her poisonous qi.
This was why Sun-woo was in such a deep dilemma.
"Mmm."
Flinch.
She began to watch Sun-woo’s every move. Her life was in this man's hands. It would be a lie to say she wasn't nervous.
Then, Sun-woo adjusted his grip on his sword.
"Actually, let's just kill you."
He spoke to her calmly.
"Whaaaaaaaay?!"
At Sun-woo's decision, the Human-Faced Spider cried out, asking for a reason.
"You said there's no favor without a price! I paid the price!!"
She shouted in anger. She had trusted those words implicitly and used her final move, only to be betrayed like this. Her eyes reddened with the injustice of it all.
She didn't want to die. She really didn't want to die.
Despite her desperate cry, Sun-woo simply pointed his sword at her.
"It's true you saved my life, but it's also true you were aiming for it, right?"
She was taken aback by his answer. Wasn't that all in the past?
"We were both aiming for each other!"
"That's none of my business. Even if we call that even, I have no reason to let you live."
"Why not!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face.
"You even stole my Inner Core. Where did it go?"
"What?!"
"I'm talking about your husband's Inner Core. If you give that back, I'll let you live."
"I... I ate it..."
At Sun-woo's words, she lowered her eyes and whispered softly.
"You damn bitch! Do you have any idea what I went through to catch that thing?!"
Sun-woo roared at her, radiating a sinister murderous aura.
"Then there's no choice. I'll just have to take your Inner Core instead."
"If I lose my Inner Core, I'll die!"
"So what? Go join your husband in hell already!"
"You son of a...!"
The Human-Faced Spider cursed him, using the very words she had learned from him.
But Sun-woo didn't seem to care. He raised his sword and slowly began to approach her.
Step. Step.
The sound of his footsteps began to feel like the approach of the Grim Reaper.
Despair began to cloud the Human-Faced Spider’s eyes.