Chapter 359: Venom
Alex was almost completely certain that the spiders weren’t communicating through sound. Their cries weren’t loud enough to travel across the entire forest, and more importantly, the noises they produced didn’t seem to follow any particular pattern.
With Neural Overdrive enhancing his perception to an extraordinary degree, Alex could distinguish even the smallest differences between their cries. If the spiders were issuing commands through their voices, he should have noticed some kind of repetition by now.
‘If they aren’t using their voices, then how the hell are they communicating and coordinating their attacks?’ Alex wondered, continuing to observe the monsters surrounding him.
Several orange-patterned spiders suddenly flew toward him, launched by the enormous spiders positioned farther away. Alex immediately fired the Fire Bullets he had prepared, accurately striking the approaching monsters before they could reach him.
Enormous explosions erupted throughout the sky, sending shockwaves through the surrounding forest. Several trees cracked under the pressure, while others snapped completely, but Alex simply absorbed the shockwaves and heat reaching his armor with Kinetic Mana.
The larger spiders apparently realized that throwing suicide bombers wasn’t working anymore, because they suddenly abandoned their positions and began rushing toward him.
Alex still didn’t attempt to escape. He knew that flying toward the hill would make it considerably harder to defend himself against the suicide bombers, especially while the spiders were coordinating their attacks so precisely.
Although he could intercept them accurately while concentrating on a stationary position, moving at high speed would require additional attention and Kinetic Mana manipulation. That would interfere with his aim, potentially allowing another suicide bomber to strike him.
‘I need to figure out how they’re communicating before I try leaving. Otherwise, they’ll just keep launching those monsters at me,’ Alex concluded.
He pushed Neural Overdrive even further, forcing his already enhanced senses to process more information. His headache intensified, but he continued maintaining Life Mana within his brain to compensate for the damage.
Then, he suddenly noticed something.
‘Wait a second… Are they using the webs?’ Alex wondered, concentrating on the nearly invisible strands surrounding him.
Since Mana Vortex wasn’t currently active, the new webs he was entangled in hadn’t been destroyed, and Alex could feel extremely faint vibrations traveling through them. Normally, those movements would have been completely undetectable, but his current state allowed him to distinguish them clearly.
The realization immediately made everything considerably easier to understand.
‘So it’s probably the big ones commanding the others through these webs,’ Alex thought, examining the approaching monsters.
Four house-sized spiders were rushing toward him, their enormous legs crushing vegetation as they moved. There had been a time when encountering even one monster of such enormous size would have frightened him.
However, Alex was no longer the inexperienced Mage he had been when the System first arrived. He had spent hours training, fighting, and developing his Spells, and he trusted the strength he had gained through those efforts.
He took a deep breath before beginning to construct several lightning rods around himself, preparing to activate Mana Railgun Spell.
Unfortunately, the first enormous spider reached him before he could finish. Like the other house-sized spiders, it possessed white cracks running across its armored body, and it immediately thrust one of its sickle-shaped legs toward him.
Alex activated Mana Vortex, attempting to absorb the approaching leg’s Kinetic Energy while simultaneously dodging sideways. However, instead of slowing down, the leg suddenly accelerated as Origin Energy pulsed around it.
‘What the—’ Alex barely managed to raise his arm before the enormous leg struck him.
The impact smashed him into the ground, sending cracks spreading through the surrounding earth. Fortunately, the Kinetic Mana within his armor absorbed most of the force, preventing the attack from seriously injuring him.
Before the spider could lower its enormous pincers to finish him, Alex concentrated the accumulated Kinetic Energy into a narrow upward blast. He attempted to restrict the energy within a tube-shaped area, preventing it from spreading too widely.
Although the force expanded somewhat beyond his intended boundaries, it remained sufficiently concentrated. The resulting blast pierced straight through the spider’s head, killing the enormous creature instantly.
‘Huh, so I can kill them using pure Kinetic Energy too. I don’t necessarily need to accelerate physical projectiles every time,’ Alex realized, rather pleased with the discovery.
However, the remaining spiders weren’t giving him an opportunity to celebrate. Two enormous monsters opened their mouths simultaneously and released thick streams—of what looked to be—green venom toward him.
Alex immediately dodged sideways, accelerating so quickly that the ground beneath him blurred. Unfortunately, the spiders simply turned their heads, spraying venom across the surrounding area to prevent him from escaping.
Everything touched by the substance began melting rapidly, including the ground, nearby trees, and even several large rocks.
Alex dodged with inhuman speed of Superior Body Reinforcement Spell. He finished constructing Mana Railgun Spell and fired directly toward the second spider. The monster attempted to intercept the projectile with its leg, but the accelerated bullet pierced straight through the armored limb before destroying its head.
Without slowing down, Alex created a Mana Shuriken and began accelerating its rotation. He absorbed its Kinetic Energy. Combined with the Kinetic Energy he had accumulated from absorbing his armor’s heat, the Spell allowed him to launch himself toward the third spider at tremendous speed.
He crashed directly into its head, crushing the monster’s brain and killing it almost instantly. At the same time, the Kinetic Mana inside his armor absorbed the force of the collision, leaving him unharmed.
The fourth enormous spider had remained farther away, and Alex finally noticed what it was doing. The creature had raised two of its front legs, holding them almost like arms, while an enormous sphere of green venom gradually formed above its body.
Alex immediately fired the five Fire Bullets he had prepared during the previous exchange. Four struck the spider’s raised legs, producing powerful explosions that damaged its armored limbs without completely destroying them.
However, the fifth bullet struck the enormous venom sphere directly. Alex immediately accelerated backward as the sphere exploded, scattering enormous quantities of corrosive liquid throughout the surrounding area.
A considerable portion splashed onto the spider itself, and its armored body immediately began melting under the effects of its own venom.
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