Chapter 357: Miraculous Wand

Alex’s expression changed as he noticed hundreds of shifting figures hiding within the shadows of the surrounding trees.

He immediately released several powerful pulses of mana, expanding his Mana Spheres as far as possible, but strangely, he couldn’t detect any of the creatures.

However, his eyes could clearly see them. Hundreds of enormous spiders were hiding between the trees, their bodies covered in thick armor-like shells and their eight long legs ending in sharp, pointed tips. Most of them stood taller than an adult human, while some were considerably larger, with their bodies nearly reaching the lower branches of the trees.

‘How are they hiding from my Mana Spheres?’ Alex wondered, immediately beginning to construct dozens of Mana Bullets around himself.

Before he could launch them, however, he sensed an unfamiliar pulse spreading through the surroundings.

He couldn’t identify its source, but the moment it passed through him, thousands of nearly invisible spiderwebs suddenly became visible around his body. The webs stretched between the trees in every direction, forming an enormous network that completely surrounded him.

Even more concerning was the realization that dozens of those webs were already wrapped around his arms, legs, and torso.

‘What the hell is this ability? How did I not sense them until now?’ Alex thought, genuinely shocked.

Before he could investigate, the webs suddenly tightened, and an enormous pulling force dragged him toward the ground. At the same time, the spiders began producing loud skittering noises as they emerged from the shadows and rushed toward him.

Alex smashed into the ground with tremendous force, although he managed to absorb most of the impact using Kinetic Mana. He immediately tried to stand, only to discover that his limbs were still tightly bound by the strange webs.

A massive spider suddenly appeared directly in front of him, opening its mouth and thrusting two enormous fangs toward his face. Alex immediately kicked forward, transferring the Kinetic Energy he had absorbed from his fall into the monster’s abdomen.

The spider’s abdomen expanded unnaturally before exploding, scattering blood and pus across the surrounding ground. However, Alex had no opportunity to examine the result, since dozens of other spiders were already closing in on him.

He immediately activated Mana Vortex Spell at its maximum range, incorporating the Disruption Mana Pattern into its structure. Since the webs appeared to be some kind of energy construct, he suspected that Disruption Mana might be capable of destroying them.

His assumption proved correct. Wherever the Mana Vortex passed, the invisible webs began disappearing rapidly, almost as though they were being consumed by flames.

Alex also incorporated Kinetic Mana into the Spell, attempting to absorb the movement energy of the approaching spiders and slow their advance. However, something unexpected happened when the Mana Vortex came into contact with the monsters.

Only approximately half of the spiders began slowing down, while the others continued advancing almost normally. Although Alex could understand the stronger monsters not being slowed fast enough, several weaker spiders were also completely unaffected.

‘That’s strange. Why can’t I absorb Kinetic Energy from those ones?’ Alex wondered, examining the approaching monsters more carefully. He soon noticed another unusual detail.

Many spiders possessed colored cracks running across their armored bodies, with the patterns appearing in different shades of red, orange, green, purple, and blue. Before Alex could determine what those colors represented, however, he suddenly sensed his Mana Vortex beginning to crumble.

The energy surrounding the green and purple-patterned spiders was somehow disintegrating the mana within his Spell.

‘This isn’t the same as the Disruption Mana Pattern. It’s something completely different,’ Alex realized, frowning.

Although both effects appeared to destroy energy structures, Alex could clearly sense that their underlying mechanisms weren’t identical. Unfortunately, he couldn’t identify the difference while hundreds of spiders were attempting to kill him.

He immediately deactivated Mana Vortex Spell, deciding against maintaining an ability that could be disrupted so easily. He also couldn’t use his own spells while Mana Vortex was activated. Nevertheless, combining it with Kinetic Mana had slowed the ambush long enough for him to consider his next move.

‘I don’t think these spiders will attack the Sunken Vault, since it’s underwater. But Mia’s Netherclaw Prowlers are a different matter. I need to make sure they’re safe,’ Alex thought.

Although Alex disliked monsters, the Netherclaw Prowlers belonged to Mia’s faction, which made protecting them important.

As the nearest spider approached, Alex turned toward it and released all the Kinetic Energy he had accumulated through Mana Vortex Spell. At the same time, he constructed a thin protective layer of Kinetic Mana around himself, absorbing the portion of the shockwave that would otherwise strike his body.

An enormous shockwave erupted outward, throwing dozens of spiders backward and forcing even the strongest monsters to stop advancing. Several nearby trees snapped under the pressure, while cracks spread across the ground as the accumulated energy devastated everything surrounding Alex.

Taking advantage of the opening, Alex immediately constructed another Mana Shuriken and lifted himself into the air. He then accelerated its rotation to an extraordinary speed, continuously accumulating Kinetic Energy before dismantling the Shuriken completely.

The amount of energy he was holding was considerably greater than anything he had previously attempted to control. However, with Gerindas Wand improving his Kinetic Mana attunement, Alex found himself capable of maintaining it without immediately losing control.

He used the accumulated energy to propel himself higher into the sky, rapidly increasing the distance between himself and the spiders below. Simultaneously, he activated Mana Vortex Spell once again, concentrating its Disruption Mana Pattern around his body to destroy any invisible webs that might still be surrounding him.

His goal was the hill base where Mia’s faction monsters were.

As Alex flew above the forest, he noticed several enormous figures emerging from between the trees. These spiders were considerably larger than the ones he had encountered earlier, with some of them approaching the size of an ordinary house.

‘Those ones are definitely dangerous. I shouldn’t waste time fighting them right now,’ Alex thought, immediately releasing the Kinetic Energy he had accumulated to propel himself toward the base of the hill.

His speed increased considerably, allowing him to cover an enormous distance within seconds. However, he could still sense the giant spiders rushing after him, their massive bodies knocking aside smaller trees as they moved through the forest.

Alex also noticed countless other spiders spreading throughout the surrounding area. Some were climbing trees, while others moved along the ground, seemingly attempting to surround him from different directions.

‘There are way too many of them. Even if I kill dozens, fighting all of them would be a waste of time,’ Alex considered, maintaining his speed. His immediate priority was reaching the Netherclaw Prowlers and ensuring their safety.

Although he was confident in his own ability to survive the ambush, even if he needed to run away, Mia’s monsters might not be capable of defending themselves against such an enormous number of enemies.

However, before Alex could finish considering his next move, an extremely loud noise suddenly erupted behind him.

It sounded almost like a cannon being fired, and his instincts immediately warned him that something dangerous was approaching. Alex didn’t hesitate, instantly deactivating Mana Vortex Spell and concentrating on constructing Fire Mana Armor around his entire body.

Previously, maintaining such extensive protection would have been extremely difficult, even if only around his arms and head, but Gerindas Wand had considerably improved his attunement to Fire Mana.

With its assistance, Alex managed to construct a complete suit of armor within the brief moment available to him.

Dark red armor covered his entire body, resembling a combination of medieval knight armor and a sleek, modern combat suit. Its surface was smooth in certain areas, while overlapping armored sections protected his joints and other vulnerable regions.

He filled the insides with kinetic mana to absorb impacts, and used Sustain Breathing Spell to deal with the lack of oxygen.

Alex barely managed to cross his arms in front of his chest before something struck him with tremendous force. His consciousness disappeared for a brief moment, and by the time he recovered, he was lying on the ground several hundred meters away.

The surrounding forest had been devastated. Dozens of trees lay broken along the path he had traveled, clearly showing the direction from which he had been thrown.

Alex attempted to sit up, but a sudden wave of pain spread through his abdomen, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood. The blood struck the inside of his helmet and immediately began sizzling against the intense heat of his Fire Mana Armor.

‘What the hell just hit me?’ Alex wondered, carefully examining his body before noticing something embedded in his abdomen. It was the head of a spider, with its enormous fangs having pierced through his armor and sunk into his flesh.

However, the rest of the creature’s body was completely missing. Alex concentrated on recalling the brief moment before the impact, and although everything had happened extremely quickly, Neural Overdrive had allowed him to register enough information to understand what had occurred.

The spider had struck him at an extraordinary speed before its entire body exploded, releasing an enormous amount of energy directly against his armor.

‘So the orange-patterned ones are suicide bombers,’ Alex realized, slowly forcing himself to stand.

Fortunately, his Fire Mana Armor had absorbed most of the explosion’s destructive force. He hadn’t broken any bones or suffered serious burns, although his internal organs had been violently shaken by the impact.

‘Well, at least I didn’t break any bones this time,’ Alex thought, feeling somewhat relieved despite his injuries. However, there was another problem, since the spider’s fangs had managed to inject poison into his body.

Alex could already sense the foreign substance beginning to spread through his bloodstream. He immediately used his mana sense to identify the contaminated blood and isolate it from the rest of his circulatory system.

After confirming that the poison was primarily spreading through his blood, he began purging the affected portions using Fire Mana. Of course, destroying his own blood wasn’t particularly ideal, especially when he was surrounded by powerful monsters.

Fortunately, Alex already had a method of replenishing it, although the process would require a considerable amount of nutrients. He opened a portion of his helmet and retrieved several pieces of high-Rank monster meat from his inventory.

Without wasting time, he began eating while reinforcing his digestive organs with an overclocked Superior Body Reinforcement Spell. The meat contained an enormous amount of nutrients, and Alex intended to use those nutrients to accelerate his body’s blood production.

Combined with his control over Blood Vitalization, he believed he could compensate for the blood he was destroying. However, eating normally was taking far too long, and Alex could already see several giant spiders approaching in the distance.

‘I need to speed this up. There’s no way I can finish eating all this before those things reach me,’ Alex thought, immediately changing his approach.

He used mana to slice the remaining meat into numerous smaller portions before surrounding each piece with a thin layer of mana. He then compressed the pieces into small, densely packed pills, making them considerably easier to swallow.

Alex quickly swallowed the meat pills, sending them directly into his stomach while maintaining the overclocked Superior Body Reinforcement on his digestive system. His enhanced organs immediately began processing the food, although he knew that converting the nutrients into fresh blood would still require some time.