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An uncomfortable sensation crawled across his skin. There was no pain signal, and Woodback seemed almost indifferent to the sensation of having his flesh be eaten away. He simply moved forward.

With slow, sluggish steps, drawing rivers of blood after himself, the giant swarmed by small spiders continued to walk. To close the gate and protect his family, this intense will was what impelled the dying Woodback to do what he could to help.

“UWAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Woodback swung his axe like a madman. He kicked off his feet and shook loose the small spiders that were gathering all over his body. He calmed his shaking brain and trembling fingertips and threw the two vials of Potion he had swiped from Imitia straight into his mouth.

As he crunched the glass vials and swallowed the potions down, a pale light illuminated his body. His body began to regenerate, and the sensation of his messed up brain and hazy vision returned.

“It can’t help.”

The amount of recovery from the Potions could not keep up with the damage done by the small spiders that attacked him. His recovered energy and body would only become food for the small spiders once again, …but it would buy him some time.

Woodback only had one thing on his mind. Sealing the gate. If he could close that huge stone gate, even if this meant his death and decay, he would be happy.

Woodback wielded his slightly revived body and wisdom. He howled high and loud to inspire himself, spilling dripping blood and sore flesh, and took a powerful step forward, and then…

The giant spider appeared before him. The bridge seemed to flex slightly as the huge body landed on it. Woodback’s throat unexpectedly dried up, and he grunted bitterly at the same time.

The huge black body, larger than the giant’s, rose.

“Damn it!!!”

His spirit was worn out all at once, and a bubbling hot thing surged up from his stomach. A dog’s death… despair… such images shackled his limbs. There was nothing more that he could do… And that didn’t include just him. The soldiers behind him, even Imitia, had frozen in place due to the unreasonable reality.

Woodback staggered and sprained his leg, as he watched, the giant spider rubbed its legs together in a sneering manner, making a sharp, grinding sound. The unpleasant sound and the sound of his own heartbeat were the only sounds that Woodback could hear.

His own death and then the fear of being breached here… his own inadequacies… ran through his brain in circles, and he couldn’t process them.

“Ha…. Haa….!” he gasped.

The giant spider raised its front leg. The thin, pointed tip had the power to pierce all things. The giant spider swung it down without mercy. It loomed before Woodback’s eyes at a frightening speed.

“Woodback!” Imitia, who had been watching from afar, screamed unbearably.

He could no longer be saved. Just when everyone realized that Woodback was about to die… a red flash fell from the sky and interrupted the two gigantic beings.

A horrible echoing sound that cleared one’s ears and pricked the brain. A sword flashed twice, leaving a sharp afterglow behind it. The two slashes cut through the giant spider’s front two legs like butter.

Everyone wondered what had occurred, however, the development did not wait for them to understand and simply continued along. Losing its balance, the giant spider’s huge body slumped backward and tipped over, raising a cloud of dust and sand.

Everyone doubted the scene. Unexpectedly, a beat of silence fell on the battlefield.

Woodback opened his eyes and saw the red flash – or more accurately the man behind it.

The man laughed. His canine teeth were bared, the pupils of his amber colored eye diluted, and his smile was like that of a beast. His red hair rustled slightly, and the pair of kukri knives in his hands whipped nimbly in the wind.

Lichter couldn’t stop his heart from racing. Confrontation with the powerful, with demons, was something that made him feel irresistibly elated.

The despicable boredom that he constantly felt was now suppressed, seemingly not even there. While in its place, his wildness began to show.

“Let’s get this party started!”

Licking his lips with his long tongue, Lichter took a low posture like a black panther taking aim. The best position for hunting.