Chapter 18: The Fall of the Mecha Arachne

Rachel stood facing the towering mecha arachne, trying to form a plan with ZeroOne, but after a moment she let out a breath and abandoned the thought.

“I think I’ll just test it out first. Just tell me if you notice anything, ZeroOne.”

She charged forward with sword in hand and slashed at one of its legs, but the strike bounced harmlessly off.

The arachne whipped around and swiped with its razor claws; Rachel barely twisted aside, her thoughts racing—It’s so damn big, how is it that fast too?

Rachel asked quickly, “ZeroOne, how many shots do I actually have left?”

“Nine,” came the calm reply. “If this fight drags on, maybe ten. Use them wisely.”

“Alright then, hacking at the legs won’t work. I’ll go for the joints instead.” She sprinted in circles, searching for an opening while the mecha arachne lashed at her and continuously spewed strands of thin web.

The web only managed to slow her a little, irritating more than stopping her. Rachel leveled her eyes on the mecha arachne and snapped her wrist, firing the energy hook—but the mecha arachne shifted aside effortlessly, the hook embedding deep into the wall.

With a sharp tug she rocketed upward, deactivating mid‑air to drop directly above the arachne.

Her cursed blade was raised high, trigger squeezed tight, aimed squarely at a leg joint.

She slashed down with all her strength. A beam of cursed energy erupted first, searing into the joint, and an instant later the blade itself connected.

The combined force shattered the joint, sending the limb crashing down as sparking wires spilled where metal had once held firm.

The moment Rachel landed, the mecha arachne was already swinging at her again. Rachel activated her energy hook, pulling herself to the wall she then kicked off and readied a swing, but the mecha arachne was still quick even with a leg missing.

Her swing connected with the arachne’s clawed hands, then Rachel was pushed back, slamming hard into the wall and hitting the ground. As she spat up blood, she wanted to catch her breath but couldn’t as the mecha arachne’s claws were already descending onto her.

She quickly shot out her energy hook which dragged her across the ground as the mecha arachne’s claws slammed into the wall, causing the walls and ground to shake as it created a dust cloud in the area.

The arachne stood tall and turned to Rachel, its height overtaking the dust cloud as it readied another attack.

Then ZeroOne chimed in with grim news. “Rachel, we’ve got a problem. Those webs the mecha arachne keeps spewing aren’t harmless. They’re interfering with the flow of energy in our armor, forcing us to burn more power just to push through it. The more of those strands that cling to us, the faster our reserves will drain whenever we activate abilities.”

BOOM!

A deafening blast ripped through the cavern as the mecha broodmother Liz and Eldon battled erupted in flames. The shockwave shook the walls and ceiling, dislodging heavy stones that rained down in a deadly cascade.

Rachel sprang to her feet and sprinted at full speed with the mecha arachne close behind. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Liz in danger—mecha spiders ready to lunge at any moment.

Without hesitation she sliced the air with two vicious slashes, each releasing a cursed beam of energy that ripped through the machines. Circuits and shards of metal sprayed as they collapsed into sparking heaps.

“Dodge right!” ZeroOne’s voice echoed in her ear.

Rachel dove to the right as a clawed hand barely missed her. Then there was another explosion that shook the room, and Rachel noticed a giant boulder on the roof that was loose but hadn’t broken free. She thought she could use it, but the mecha arachne was still too fast.

She thought to herself, I have to remove a few more legs.

So she sprang up and rushed at the mecha arachne again, going under its legs and swinging her sword, releasing two cursed energy blades at the bottom of the back leg, damaging it.

Now it was just dangling instead of completely torn off like the front leg, causing it to slow down as it had to drag the limb behind.

Rachel then continued to run around to its other back leg, and before it could turn, she sent two more cursed energy blades at it, damaging it as well. Rachel continued to run.

“Evade now!” ZeroOne shouted.

But it was too late. Something slammed into Rachel’s back, sending her sprawling across the floor.

The mecha arachne had torn off its dangling leg and hurled it at her—something she had never expected.

Without pause it ripped away its other back leg and gripped it in both hands, advancing like a predator ready to skewer her through the chest. It loomed over Rachel, poised to strike when

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Three shots were fired hitting the mecha arachne in the head one bullet burst into the mecha arachne’s eye, staggering the arachne.

Rachel’s lips curled into a grin as she snapped her energy hook toward the loose rock in the ceiling.

The pull yanked her upward, as she passed right in front of the mecha arachne’s face as she gave the mecha arachne a big smirk as she moved up toward the roof.

Her cursed blade was clenched in her other hand, trigger held tight. At the peak she drove the blade deep into the rock, cursed energy flaring.

The combined impact wrenched the stone loose, sending it crashing down and pinned the mecha arachne beneath its weight. One of its arms was crushed under the massive slab as it writhed, trying to free itself.

Rachel disengaged the hook and dropped with gravity’s pull, channeling her last charge into a final strike.

She carved through the mecha arachne from head to waist, splitting its human torso in two. Wires sprayed sparks and the halves convulsed before finally going still, collapsing in a ruined heap.

Rachel, on the other hand, hit the ground hard and tumbled until she finally lost momentum. She lay there motionless for a moment, then turned her head toward Liz and Eldon with a big smile, giving them a thumbs‑up before letting her head rest back down, her body weary and spent.

After catching their breath, they slowly got to their feet, their bones and muscles aching. Eldon and Liz retrieved their bags, and one at a time Rachel used her energy hook to bring them back to the surface.

Now they stood atop a hill, looking out over the other half of the city as their stomachs grumbled.

Eldon spoke, “Now that the hard part is over, let’s look for some food before we starve to death.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Rachel replied as her stomach rumbled.

Then the three set off toward the city below, its skyline marked by crumbling towers and shattered buildings that loomed like broken teeth against the horizon.