Watching the Acid-Web Arachnid loom closer, Jax felt a cold knot of fear tighten in his stomach.
The oppressive aura of a Tier 3 insectoid was suffocating. The stakes were lethal: if he went down there and the beast detonated, releasing its swarm of spiderlings, he wouldn't stand a chance. But if he stayed put, the monster would breach the defenses and come for him anyway.
Jax grit his teeth, his jaw set in determination. "Damn it! I’ll risk it!"
He turned to his team, shouting over the roar of the rain. "Keep the fires burning! I’m going down to lure it away!"
Without waiting for a response, Jax grabbed the rope and rappelled down the Wall.
His boots hit the mud with a wet slap. After a week of torrential downpour, the ground had turned into a swamp. Puddles had merged into small ponds, and the earth was saturated to its limit.
Splash, splash.
Cold water soaked through his pants instantly. He had no umbrella, no raincoat—just his armor and his grit. The rain was heavy with impurities, acidic and foul, but short-term exposure wouldn't kill him. He ignored the discomfort and sprinted toward the monstrosity.
The Arachnid moved sluggishly, its progress hampered as it constantly paused to weave protective webs against the Howitzer Turret’s bombardment.
Jax closed the distance to about a hundred meters, positioning himself carefully. He needed to be the target, but he couldn't let it charge him in a straight line.
Just as he prepared to flank it, the creature swiveled. A jet of white silk shot from its maw, aiming straight for him.
"Shit! Already?"
Adrenaline spiked. Jax threw himself to the side, rolling through the mud.
Thwip!
The silk struck where he had been standing a split second ago. Cold sweat mingled with the rain on his forehead.
"Too close," he muttered, heart hammering against his ribs. "Way too close."
The white webbing lay across his path, a sticky death trap. He crouched low and scrambled around it. Fortunately, the beast had a cooldown period between sprays; it couldn't fire continuously.
Seizing the window, Jax sprinted behind the creature, putting himself between the monster and the Wall.
"Hey! Over here, you ugly bastard! Come and get me!"
He shouted and waved his arms, hoping the creature understood the taunt.
It seemed to work. The Arachnid sensed movement behind it. Its multiple eyes flashed with a menacing crimson light. It pivoted, legs churning the mud, and charged at Jax.
"Holy—! That fast?" Jax’s eyes widened. "Gareth, you liar! You said it moved like a Sandworm!"
Jax roared in frustration and bolted, putting the second Wall between him and the beast.
The spider’s speed was explosive but short-lived. After the initial burst, it slowed down again. Even through the stone of the Wall, Jax could hear the terrifying skritch-scratch of its sharp claws tearing at the earth.
"That's the second Wall passed," Jax muttered, checking his interface. "I wonder if it can follow me further."
He glanced at the cooldown on his Decoy Clone skill.
"Whew. Good thing I saved it yesterday. I can't afford a single mistake now, or I'm..."
"Boss! Run!"
A frantic scream from the platform above cut him off.
"It’s going to use Self-Destruction!"
Jax froze, his blood running cold. He whipped his head around.
At the corner of the Wall, the Acid-Web Arachnid had stopped moving. Its carapace was glowing and expanding, swelling like a grotesque balloon pushed past its limit by the relentless artillery fire.
"Take cover! The venom spray!"
Jax didn't need to be told twice. He abandoned all thoughts of luring and sprinted toward the innermost Wall, diving behind a massive boulder just as the world turned white.
THUMP.
It wasn't a sharp explosion like the Howitzer shells. It was a dull, wet, visceral sound—like a colossal water balloon bursting under immense pressure.
Then came the rain. Not water, but a deluge of slime, gore, and venom.
Splat. Splat. Hiss.
Debris rained down on the other side of the rock. The stench hit him instantly—a pungent, rotting odor that made his eyes water.
"God, that reeks!" Jax pulled his collar up over his nose. The toxic mist began to diffuse through the air, burning his skin.
[Task Completed. Reward: Tar Pit Trap Blueprint x1]
The system notification flashed, and Jax breathed a sigh of relief. But the danger wasn't over.
Realization hit him a second later: the Self-Destruction wasn't just an explosion; it was a birth.
He triggered his skill immediately: [Decoy Clone].
A duplicate of himself materialized ten meters away—right in the blast zone.
From the crater where the beast had exploded, a chilling sound emerged. Thousands of tiny legs splashing through the mud.
Jax was trapped. Behind him lay the deep valley, teeming with unknown horrors. Ahead lay the swarm of spiderlings released by the explosion.
"Do or die," he whispered.
He decided to gamble on the exit. The Decoy Clone had a high threat generation; if it worked, the swarm would focus on the fake Jax.
He crept toward the corner, peering around the edge.
What he saw made his skin crawl. His Decoy Clone was no longer visible. It was buried under a writhing, shifting mound of pitch-black spiderlings. It was a nightmare of legs and fangs, a scene that would max out anyone's trypophobia.
"Oh, god... nope." Jax scratched his scalp violently, feeling phantom itches all over his body.
BOOM!
A shell from the Howitzer Turret whistled down, striking the center of the mass.
Fire bloomed in the rain. The dense cluster of spiderlings, lacking the armor of their parent, was vaporized in an instant. The explosion turned the writhing black mass into ash and green slime.
"Yes! Haha! Eat that!" Jax cheered quietly. "The Howitzer is a beast against swarms!"
He crept closer to inspect the damage. The ground was slick with glowing green ichor. The puddles were filled with the floating, curled bodies of the spiderlings.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
Emboldened, Jax sprinted toward the next corner, aiming for the safety of the fortress.
But as he rounded the bend, he skidded to a halt.
A group of stragglers—spiderlings that hadn't reached the clone in time—were blocking his path. They were heading for the clone, but now, Jax was standing right in front of them.
"Ah. This is awkward."
The spiderlings chattered their mandibles.
Jax didn't hesitate. He leaped at a nearby support pillar for the Wall, hugging the wet stone.
"Climb, damn it!"
The surface was slick with algae and rain. He scrambled, muscles burning, barely managing to haul himself two meters up. He kept scrabbling higher, fighting gravity as his wet boots slipped.
Below him, the carpet of spiders surged forward. Jax looked down, expecting them to swarm up the pillar and devour him.
Instead, they flowed right past him.
Like a river of black ink, they ignored the living, breathing human clinging to the pillar and charged toward the location of the Decoy Clone.
"Are they... are they blind?" Jax blinked, stunned. The aggro mechanic of the clone was absolute.
He checked the area. Clear.
He slid down the pillar, landing in the mud. He couldn't stay. The clone only lasted one minute. Once it vanished, the surviving spiders would look for a new target.
"Run."
Jax engaged his own internal engine. He tore across the muddy ground, sprinting for the platform ramp.
He collapsed onto the safety of the fortress floor, gasping for air. His team swarmed him.
Barnaby was a mess, tears and snot running down his face as he grabbed Jax’s arm. "Bro! I thought you were a goner! I thought I'd never see you again! Waaaah!"
Jax managed a tired grin. "I'm alive. Barely."
The artillery fire ceased. The rhythmic thwack of the Sentry Towers fell silent.
"They're gone," Kaleb said, peering through the rain. "The spiders... they all scattered."
Jax dragged himself to the edge and looked out. The battlefield was a wasteland of mud and craters, but the insectoids were gone.
"Good," Jax groaned. "I'm exhausted. I just want to sleep for a week."
Supported by his team, the Boss limped back into the safety of the fortress.