What a Mess

... Unfortunately for us, the desperate plea for help made by the terribly tortured young woman, who lay under the spider with her intestines exposed, missing one of her legs and with one of her hands looking like a ball of ground meat, seems, actually, like a curse; making the enormous spider, previously entertained with her intestines, now turn its body to look in the direction where its toy had looked, finding us.

Like a spoiled child, the giant spider quickly discards its previous toy, making a grunt while crushing the desperate young woman's head with a quick movement of one of its legs, transforming her face into a bloody pool of twisted flesh, subsequently cleaning its leg on the ground as if removing something disgusting, while turning to us and, calmly, step after step, walks in our direction.

Each step of the large spider reverberated through the ground, bringing spikes of anxiety that could be felt by Helena's grip on my hand, by Clara's trembling shoulders, fallen on her butt a little ahead, by Dan's heavy breathing, or by the murmurs and curses of the other boys.

"There's no way to run." I say, breaking the panic's silence, bringing Helena's wide-eyed gaze, which was staring at the spider, to me.

I feel my knees failing, but still I continue.

"Dan, Alex; you've been improving your flames, right?" I ask, finally pulling the boys from their frozen states.

"Y-yes..." Dan stutters.

"Joseph, Joh, you've been having sword training, right?" I ask the other duo, knowing that since they started Knight training, they don't go anywhere without their swords.

"Y-yes, we have..." Joseph responds, also stuttering.

"If we don't fight, we'll die..." I say to the boys, obviously leaving Clara out for being a Healer, while Helena...

"Helena, run as fast as possible with Clara and ask for hel—"

"No!" Helena cuts me off.

"Clara, run and ask for help... Now!" Helena shouts, finally unfreezing Clara who, with a clumsy movement, crawls backward, getting up and hesitating, while looking at the group of friends.

"B-but..."

"Now!" Dan shouts, making her swallow hard.

Taking faltering steps while going backward, Clara finally turns, running while apologizing "I-I'm sorry, I-I'll be right back!"

Shit.

Helena was supposed to have gone too, I don't trust Clara being fast enough to fetch help.

Besides, in the days that have passed since the beginning of our training, no magic Helena learned has offensive potential... Fuck!

Seeing Clara distancing herself and the enormous spider approaching, Joh and Alex finally manage to get up, even if still trembling.

"We're fiv—I turn to Helena— six people against this monster. If we don't want to end up like those two —I point to the brutally killed couple— we better swallow our fear." I continue, while walking to Joseph and placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Joseph, Joh, I know this is fucked up, but I need you to stay up front with me, while Dan, Alex and Helena try to inflict damage from a distance..."

"What do you mean? Aren't you a wizard?" Joseph asks.

I swallow hard "I don't know how to cast magic at a distance..."

"Shit, okay. Joh, with me!" Joseph shouts, as if trying to scare away his own fear and, at his side, Joh follows him, drawing their swords while entering combat position.

Seeing this, Dan and Alex, even stuttering, make their best effort to conjure what seems to be some spell while, apparently, praying to Pyreon.

"AHHH!" x2

I don't have time to pay attention to the boys' conjuration seeing Joseph and Joh running to the spider with a war cry.

Should I run? Shit, I don't want to die here.

Looking quickly at Helena, I can't help but murmur "Shit, shit, shit..." Turning to Joh and Joseph who charged with courage.

Look at these kids going all out, I can't just run.

Joh, unexpectedly in the lead against the enormous spider, quickly dodges its first strike, a stomp that instantly transformed the young woman's face, now dead, into a bloody mess, while rolling to the side and, getting up with his own momentum, counterattacks toward one of the spider's legs, making a cut — small, compared to the spider's size — but one already dripping a green substance that seemed to be its blood.

Following his friend, Joseph takes advantage of the spider's distraction that had just been wounded and advances, delivering another attack on its other front leg.

Seeing this, I don't hesitate anymore and also run toward the spider.

We have a chance...

Or so I imagined.

"CHIKKK!"

With a loud and guttural cry of pain from the first blow delivered by Joh, the spider quickly dodges Joseph's attack, while slashing Joh with another leg, which goes through his trunk like a cannonball, quickly jumping away while licking its wounded leg.

"JOH!!" Joseph shouts, running to his friend, who fell with a dull thud.

"Joh! Joh! wake up!" Incredulous, Joseph gets on his knees, shaking his dying friend.

I, still on the way, can only observe the chaotic scene in front of me unfold, having time only to grab the dying Joh's sword and raise it defensively.

Clank!

The sound of iron resonated, while my left arm, holding the tip of the blade for defensive support, bends backward at a grotesque angle while emitting a crunching sound.

"Oliver!" I hear Helena scream behind.

Taking advantage of the numbness and adrenaline, I scream, not having time to complain "Joseph!"

Making him wake from his trance, grabbing his sword again while trying to deliver a desperate blow, making the spider go backward, easily dodging.

"...by Pyreon, I conjure, FIREBALL!" Alex and Dan shout simultaneously.

With Dan's small fireball hitting the ground in front of us, making the spider take another step back, while Alex's hits it directly in the cephalothorax, leaving it disoriented while staggering backward and screaming gutturally.

"CHIIIKKKKKKKK!!"

"G-guys, let's take advantage of this opening and ru!—" Alex shouts, when the spider, agonizing, looks forward with hatred, while trying to find who hit it, locking its gaze with Alex's, making him swallow the rest of his sentence.

As if finding its target, the spider, now with half of its eyes horribly burned and dripping gooey green secretion, in a single jump, advances toward Alex, who only has time to turn his body when the enormous spider almost lands on his back, missing barely thanks to Dan's help, who pushes him.

"Fuck, thanks, Da—" Alex murmurs, turning scared after being thrown to the ground, only to realize that now, the furious spider was on top of his friend who had just saved him.

"AHHHHH!" Dan screams in pain, while the spider, on his back, tramples his body and deeply bites his shoulder amid grunts of hatred, as if not realizing its target had been switched.

"DAN!" Alex shouts, desperate, while getting up and trying to frustratingly punch the spider away from Dan, only to be thrown away with a simple blow from one of its legs after dealing no damage.

The spider, as if angry at the interruption of its revenge, bites one of Dan's arms and, in a quick movement, completely removes it, leaving only pieces of flesh and twisted skin in place.

"Aqu'aryx Zeph'yr Orb'ulus!" Helena, who was in the rear, makes her first move, when she throws a jet of bubbles hitting the still functional half of the large spider's eyes.

"CHIIIKKKKK!"

The spider staggering, dropping Dan's torn arm and falling to the ground, while desperately passing its legs over its eyes, making its agony even worse.

Seeing this, I don't waste time.

I run toward the spider, throwing myself on its back and try, in desperation, to drive my sword in, which can't deepen beyond a few centimeters into its resistant exoskeleton.

Useless!

Holding the sword with my good hand, which now anchored me to the spider that, erratically, moved around, while trying to make, ironically, the insect on its back fall; I quickly searched for a solution from the deep depths of despair, since, with one hand, it was a matter of time before falling off the creature.

Think, think, think!

"Igna..." I murmur.

Feeling the sword's handle heat up, while activating the Ignis rune.

Shit, what's missing? What's missing?

If it continues like this, I'll just make fire come out of my hands!

I need something! I need a lin—

Yes, link!

"Lamn'are!" I shout with all my strength, visualizing the link rune, tearing my throat, while feeling the cold magical particles pass through my heart, contrasting with the heat that descended from the sword's handle to its blade before expanding, transforming the sword into a flame conduit.

"Igna Lamn'are!" I conjure again.

"CHIIIKKKKK!!!!" The spider screams, desperate, while green foam starts coming out of its orifices.

"Igna Lamn'are!" Again.

"CHIIIKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!"

"Igna Lamn'are!" And again.

"CHIIKkk.."

"Igna Lam—"

"Cough— cough— cough!" My voice fails, while a wave of weakness passes through my body, making me lose strength and release the sword's handle, falling from the large spider.

"Oliver!" Helena runs in my direction.

SLASH
When the cutting sound... from Joseph, who desperately delivered blows to the body of the now severely wounded spider is heard.

"Die...—Joseph murmurs— DIE... —increasing his tone progressively— DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" While delivering, proportionally to his curses, blows with his sword, falling to the ground, exhausted and crying, while looking at the part of the spider's body he had just attacked, seeing it had only superficial wounds on its exoskeleton.

"C-chiikk..."

"What a mess..." A feminine voice resonates, along with a small white fireball, which, at an impressive speed, travels to the spider's body, engulfing it in fierce flames that pulverize it in an instant.

"D-dan!" Clara shouts, who had just returned, accompanied by Lady Evelyn and some priests.