Arachne (3)
Even after Elilirone went down, Ellis held on to her leisurely composure. She was a goddess of the Arachne race who had pioneered two planets and one moon.
Compared to the planetary systems owned by her seniors — the ones who had first made the greatness of the Arachne known — hers still fell short. Even so, she possessed four talented minions.
"Mommy's so cool!"
"Cheonsol did amazing! That was a perfect strategy!"
"My warning helped, right?"
"Indeed. Without your warning, this lady might have expended a great deal of internal energy. You have this lady's thanks."
"What about Lan-lan-i's cheering? Didn't that help?"
"Of course! It was thanks to Lan-lan-i's cheering that this lady could win! It gave this lady strength!"
So Ellis refused to get swept up in the premature celebration of Sophia's camp, already carrying on as if they'd won everything. Instead, she brought out another minion specifically to kill the mood.
"Heh heh. Elilirone is the weakest of my minions. Elirinas. Go show them what's what."
"Getting all excited over beating mere Elilirone. Slurp. That male over there is rather to my taste. Once I kill the human female, it's the male's turn, riiight?"
"The Arachne truly are a lawless race. This lady shall teach you another lesson."
An Arachne granted the surname Eliri as a descendant of El, progenitor of the great Arachne. She was not of the Eli blood so thick it could challenge divinity itself — but she was the very next tier, and more than powerful enough.
However, Elirinas failed to display the skill Ellis had expected. Cheonsol, who had built a stage that maximized every racial trait of a Vampir, opened with blood techniques and immediately pressed Elirinas hard.
Having already been countered by flame-realm martial arts, techniques and magic that relied on spider silk became useless. She tried dark magic a few times, but it was overwhelmed and erased by the sheer volume of blood.
"Lucky youuu. But there are still two left, you know?"
She sent out the minion who had won the Eliri tournament — but against Cheonsol, who had already figured out how to fight Arachne, she was no match.
The Eliri trio had all fallen to a single Vampir. Cheonsol had expended a fair amount of stamina and internal energy, but she hadn't taken many wounds.
"Impressive, but this is as far as you go."
Winning against the next minion she was about to send out, however, would be another matter entirely. Figured out how to fight Arachne? Created a favorable environment?
Things like that had happened plenty of times in the battles Ellis had experienced. The minion who had overcome every disadvantage and made Ellis a rare goddess.
Not some Eliri who could never become a god — a minion who had competed for divinity until the very end, then accepted defeat and signed a contract.
"Elise."
She was smaller than Ellis. But her chest — the Arachne's silk pouch and magic pouch — was far larger.
Her outer shell was also thicker and more lustrous than any Eliri's. Having trained not only in magic but in combat techniques as well, her legs were thicker than those of other Arachne.
A monster who might well have claimed the goddess's throne over Ellis if the competition for divinity had been decided by combat skill rather than divine nature — a monster Ellis herself couldn't guarantee victory against even in a direct fight.
A minion who had never lost to anyone except the number-one ranked. Elise smiled.
"It's been a while since I've been deployed."
Cheonsol was confident she could win against any Arachne that came out. Her innate martial talent had already analyzed the Arachne skeleton.
The directions their legs could move. The muscle strength and number of legs needed to support their weight and maintain balance. And so on.
It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say that, limited to combat, she had become an Arachne master. But the minion called Elise was different.
Can this lady defeat that Arachne?
Among all the minions she had ever faced, none had projected such overwhelming pressure. A presence that couldn't be explained by accumulated internal energy or a trained body alone.
It felt like a completely different tier — the kind she felt from Absolu or Sophia. Still short of a god, but a rank she had never expected to sense from a mere minion.
"What a cute little female. Hmmmm. And I can smell a male on you too. You and that human male watching from over there have that kind of relationship, don't youuu?"
"…"
Cheonsol didn't answer, steadying her mind. If fear took hold, you lost even winnable fights. Even against a difficult opponent, as long as your will remained clear, a path to victory would open.
Hadn't her husband Yohan shown her scenes of defeating powerful enemies through sheer iron will? Cheonsol recalled her husband's figure standing against machines.
That will that tanked direct hits from heat-source weapons she thought she herself couldn't have withstood, enduring through Self-Healing. That will that unlocked new skills in disadvantageous situations and still won.
"This lady is ready."
Three consecutive battles had left her with only half her internal energy. Her mental strength and stamina were heavily drained as well. But with a large quantity of blood available, the conditions weren't bad.
"Elise. You know what to do?"
"That Vampir female looks strong, and the human male doesn't look easy either. If I win, can I do whatever I want with that male?"
"If you win."
"How tempting."
Watching Elise lick her lips and radiate seductive energy, Cheonsol felt her competitive spirit surge. No — this wasn't mere competitive spirit.
It was fury at an attitude that assumed victory as a given. And fury at the Arachne race for coveting her husband.
The Vampir heart, colder than those of other races, burned hot.
"Elise, was it?"
"Mm-hmm. That's riiight."
"Every Arachne who has coveted this lady's husband has paid the price."
"I'll be different, though? You're decent enough, but you think you can beat me? Your confidence is overflowing."
Elise unleashed a menacing aura. Cheonsol drew up her internal energy to counter it, and her robes billowed.
"You harlot who covets another's husband. Surrender your life."
Cheonsol's rage transformed into flame. The blood pool Elise stood in boiled up and erupted into a massive blaze.
Even seeing the flames rush toward her, Elise didn't dodge. She gripped her chest and declared:
Fire Skin
Liquid flowed from her nipples and coated Elise's entire body. Once the translucent white protected her skin, the flames that had incinerated three Arachne dared not invade.
"So that's why the kids all went down. The Eliri have weak fire resistance."
"Tch."
Cheonsol clicked her tongue and prepared her next attack. She'd thought that even if this one blow didn't drop her, it would deal meaningful damage.
Since flame from a single pool hadn't worked, she wouldn't get much mileage out of blood-flame.
This lady must abandon the greed of wanting an easy win.
She still had a trump card remaining. A secret technique made usable by the blood extracted from the three Arachne.
Bloodflame Dominion
The clear sky dyed crimson as nine blood pillars erupted. The colosseum that had only kicked up grains of sand became soaked in blood, every footprint leaving a crimson stain.
"Oh my? This might actually be dangerous?"
The air mixed with the scent of blood. As she absorbed it, her internal energy gradually recovered.
What would Yohan have said in this situation?
The deliberation was brief. Cheonsol declared just as her husband would have:
"This lady shall show you her true earnestness."
"Mommy's so cool!"
"…Yohan, can you stay a little farther from Cheonsol from now on? She's picked up your bad habits."
"Aw, why? It's cool."
"It's cool, but the whole 'true earnestness' spiel is really not it."
"For real, Mommy's so cool!"
She was embarrassed, but Lan-lan-i's cheering gave her strength. She had to show her daughter a cool side.
Bloodflame Dominion was a skill where imagination was key. She imagined tools to bind the Arachne's massive body.
"Chains."
Thick chains shot forth from the nine blood-red pillars. Each chain as thick as Cheonsol's torso flew to bind the Arachne.
"Not baaad."
Elise didn't panic even seeing the chains. As always, she smiled and swung a leg.
CLANG!
A leg swung so fast Cheonsol's dynamic vision could barely track it deflected the chains. With a sound hard to believe came from a leg striking metal, she bounced every single one away.
But the chains were sustained constructs. When Cheonsol swung her arm, the chains that had fallen to the ground regained their force.
"Oh dear. I'll just have to cut them clean through."
Milky-white threads shot from Elise's nipples. The lines that retained their power even after piercing the chains flew toward Cheonsol.
Blood Current Wave
Cheonsol's slender sword rippled and generated a wave. With Bloodflame Dominion's assistance, a wave nearly twenty feet across took form.
Not ordinary liquid — a wave of condensed sword energy swallowed the milky-white threads and advanced.
SCRAAAPE
The sword-energy wave scraped Elise's legs but failed to pierce the hard outer shell.
As expected — nothing short of sword aura can pierce it.
Just as Cheonsol wrapped overflowing blood around her sword and prepared for close combat, magic shot out from her blind spot and pierced straight through her side.