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Chapter 288 part 2

Countless fine cuts appeared simultaneously on the body of the Jaram that was protecting and engulfing Selina, with dark purple poison overflowing from the wounds and rapidly vaporizing and blending into the air.

Even indirect contact with the vaporized poison, either through skin or inhalation, would result in effects equivalent to the liquid poison. A truly nefarious double threat.

Facing this troublesome poison, Quince wrapped her carapace in her own magic for protection. The consumption of magic power was too significant even for someone like Quince to ignore.

She had faced battlefields engulfed in flames, lava, ice, snow, and thunderclouds in the past, and this poisonous battlefield was no less severe.

Meanwhile, Selina was inwardly impressed with Quince’s impenetrable fortress, which she could not break through with her attack. Quince had skillfully manipulated dozens, even hundreds, of invisible spider threads, effectively blocking all her attacks and seemingly unaffected by the vaporized poison.

The Jaram armor, previously thought of as a clever idea by Selina, was now marred with innumerable cuts, and she had to constantly pour mana into it so that it would not be released from its materialized state.

While Selina remained unscathed for now, continuing to endure these attacks might necessitate a change in her fighting style.

Of course, this was under the premise that she would not resort to her ultimate move, The Dragonification of Draglamiatization.

Activating the Ancient-Celestial Dragon gene would temporarily elevate one’s existence to an extraordinary level that came with a sense of omnipotence and overflowing power. Selina and Diadora had refrained from relying on this overwhelming power because they were afraid that they would be tripped up at some point if they depended on it too much.

However, as the situation where she felt as if her scales were being slowly rasped away, the need for Draglamiatization gradually grew within Selina.

「This person, um, Ms. Spider, is not only inherently strong but also adept in combat!」

Selina had thought that Quince’s spider threads would be coated with poison the moment they were stretched into the air and that the poison could then enter Quinse’s body. However, Quince preemptively cut off the spider thread herself before the poison could take effect.

She praised Quince’s skill after observing his subsequent actions. She incorporated the motion of cutting into her manipulation of spider threads, allowing her to continue the fight.

If the spider thread had been connected, that would be one thing. Nevertheless, the true terror of this demonic spider was his ability to manipulate the threads, adjusting their trajectory even after cutting them.

She was now wrapping spider threads around the shells that were still raining down and manipulating their trajectory so that they would hit Selina instead.

「O elements of earth, water, and wind, Acid Tornado!」

Around the Jaram engulfing Selina, a powerful Acid Tornado arose. It reached up to the sky, engulfing the raining magic cannonballs and spider thread, dissolving everything without a trace.

The rocks and shell fragments that were caught up in the tornado also disappeared without a sound as soon as they touched the red tornado.

Just as Selina contemplated expanding the range of the Acid Tornado to engulf Quince, she noticed a white, fluttering object circling her, riding the current of the tornado.

「Is that a thread on the tornado!?」

The object was undoubtedly Quince’s spider thread. What shocked Selina more were three things: first, Quince’s skill in deliberately placing the thread on the tornado; second, the thread’s resistance to dissolution in the acid; and lastly, unlike before, the thread was now『clearly visible.』

Why could the spider thread be seen? The answer to this question was immediately given. The tip of the thread bent and began to dissolve as it left the tornado’s flow, swiftly approaching Selina.

Quince had been using slashing attacks up until now, but this time, she had switched to『thrusting.』

The spider thread, which had been dissolved by the remnants of the acid, pierced through the epidermis of the Jaram and rapidly approached Selina. The uncertainty in her eyes reflects the 『unraveling』 of spider silk as she struggles to make a decision.

Indeed, the thread was unraveling. Quincy was twisting and manipulating it so thickly that it was visible to the eye in order to withstand the dissolving effects of the acid and serpent venom.

Quince’s plan succeeded brilliantly. As Selina tried to quickly twist her body to dodge, the last strands of spider thread, having withstood Jaram’s venom, struck Selina’s right shoulder. The magic defense cast on her uniform barely repelled it.

Even so, the shock that could not be completely offset caused Selina to arch her body back and bite back a groan of pain at the impact that had come through her uniform. The flesh was not pierced, but she probably had a bruise or some internal bleeding.

「I knew it, this spider is strong!」

Her magically fortified body already healed the pain and scars, but the tension etched on Selina’s face did not ease. That was because countless spider threads had attacked her, piercing through the Acid Tornado.

The number of threads was possibly close to a hundred. Fearing that the snake venom would spread, Quince had cut the thread into tiny segments and fired them like bullets.

Although Selina had deflected the earlier thrusting attack, even her military uniform’s protection would be compromised if such a multitude hit consecutively.

「—-!!!」

After the bullet-like spider silk released by Quince pierced through the acid tornado, she observed the tornado’s disappearance. She momentarily paused, not on the melted rocks, but on the spider threads laying out.

The area was saturated with the immense magical energy of both Selina and the shattered magic cannon balls fired by Megyn Orr, creating a challenging environment for detecting magic or life forces, even for Quince.

Even if Quince dug up her memory, such troublesome snake-like demons or heavenly-born Magical Beasts were rare. If it were a mutation of a Lamia, it would be one thing, but if someone had artificially achieved such power, the threat would be immeasurable…

…Ah, As if to prove that Quince’s fears were correct, right before her eyes, a tremendous magical power, potent enough to shake the very heaven and earth, started to sweep over.

「O dragon whose life is a living death, heed my call……」

Selina’s figure, enveloped in a fierce light of white and blue magic power, was reflected in Quince’s many eyes.

Quince observed the brilliant glow emanating from the crystal atop the Staff of the Dragon Serpent held by Selina, realizing that its protective mechanism had seemingly thwarted her threads.

She also astutely observed someone else’s presence within the swirling magical power around Selina.

「Is this, a dragon? Magic from a contract with Dragonkin, but if it’s a true Dragonkin contract, wouldn’t it be far more challenging than a contract with the gods!?」

「…Let the exhalation of the nether realm come forth, DRAG…」

Behind Selina, the massive jaws of a shadowy dragon opened, and the concentration of the dual-colored light’s power was so immense that Quince knew evasion was her only option.

「Damn, will I make it in time?」

「VENDES!」

Selina invoked DragVendes, a concocted magic devised by Dran to counter Merle’s planet-piercing bombarding magic. Ostensibly, it summoned the power of a mighty dragon slumbering in the underworld, but in reality, it was a subterfuge for Dran to wield his Ancient-Celestial Dragon power.

However, anticipating future confrontations with formidable enemies, Dran formalized this spell, teaching it to Selina and others. If Draglamiatization was the ultimate trump card, DragVendes remained merely one aspect of their offensive arsenal.

Similar to magic that draws upon the power of gods and spirits through contracts, DragVendes emerged as a magic that harnesses the power of a long-deceased dragon. It unleashed its unmatched destructive power in the form of its breath, launching at Quince, the demon spider of the divine era.

*

While the battle between transcendently powerful 『individuals』- Diadora, Selina, and the Six Demon Generals continued, about 20,000 Vengittas and the Bern army were engaged in a fierce battle near Fort Nerodim.

One male commander, a former itinerant knight, was astonished by the Vengittas’ non-warlike appearance as doctors, carpenters, and hunters as he repeated the straightforward order.

「Fire, keep firing, they’re closing in fast!」

Following his order, the soldiers under him peeked from hastily dug trenches and were continuously firing off magical bullets.

The barrage of green magical bullets fired from the mass-acquired, quantity-prioritized collection of outdated and second-hand magic guns did manage to strike the fearlessly advancing Vengittas. However, due to the sheer difference in numbers and the possibility for Vengittas to dodge after seeing the bullets, the number defeated was far fewer than the number of shots fired.

Despite being outnumbered by two digits, the Bern camp managed to maintain their frontline because more than half of the Vengittas were diverting their course towards Diadora and the 『service』set up by Dran and the mages of Bern, which hindered the Vengittas from fighting as effectively as they would like.