Just when he was thinking about what to do if Celestine failed, he suddenly had an idea and went back to her to stop her before it was too late.
"ey! even though you're my number one servant, I won't let you go so easily if you keep interrupting me!"
"Wait! I have a plan now."
"Huh!? What plan?"
"It's true that I can't reach her... but you can!"
"What are you talking about? Why are you grabbing me? Who gave you permission to—hey!! What are you doing!?"
Without another word, Cassian set his plan in motion and carried her with one hand, then spun around like a pro to gather momentum and...
"Here we go!"
Swoosh
He threw the bewildered Celestine, who didn't understand the plan until she started to gain height.
"AaaahhhHHH!!! You'll pay for this!!"
Kieaakhh!
Only when she was about to crash into the spider did Celestine have to face the situation. Consciously or not, she clasped her hands in front of her.
Swoach!
The spider, which wasn't expecting that attack, was taken by surprise. it tried to put up a makeshift web barrier, but Celestine's claws were very sharp. And with the position she was in, they were basically the tip of a spear.
Slocks!
It pierced through her easily and through the spider as well. In fact, it was so easy that she didn't lose momentum and continued flying upward until...
Bang!!
She crashed into the ceiling.
"...It has great penetrating power... but is she okay? Well, she seems tough... but it sounded loud... maybe it wasn't a good idea after all?"
Cassian, from below, looked at the result and questioned his decision. In fact, the spider did die and now fell like a lifeless corpse, so the plan worked.
But Cassian wondered if he had overreacted. He knew Celestine was strong; when he squeezed her head, she resisted until she gave up. That's why it seemed like a viable and efficient idea that he could execute in the moment, although now that he saw the result... he had doubts.
"...."
Luckily, the dust from the ceiling cleared and Celestine could be seen, with clear signs of life.
Sure, her upper half was embedded in the ceiling, but her legs were moving, so she was alive.
"Phew! I'm glad she's okay! Next time I'll throw her with less force... Oh, she's falling!"
Cassian, who for some reason believed that this would not be the last time he would throw Celestine like this, made a mental note. When she managed to dig herself out and began to fall, he wanted to at least catch her.
But in the middle of her fall, Cassian saw dragon wings suddenly sprout from Celestine's back, and she began to descend gently
..
"Hey! If you had wings, why didn't you use them before!?"
That was the first thing Cassian asked when Celestine landed next to him.
"Shut up! I don't have to explain anything to you. Rather, if you're going to do something like that, warn me! How dare you touch this sacred body without any consideration and use it that way?"
"Hm... that sounded worse than it was. But it's your fault for not flying and wanting to let out your roar."
"Muscle-brained idiot! You buried me in the ceiling! Who do you think you are to question my methods? I'll just tell you that if you do something like that again, you'll pay dearly!"
Celestine approached seriously, very angry, and with her piercing golden eyes she looked at Cassian with an aura of authority and menace.
Normally, that would intimidate anyone, but Cassian thought that finally her appearance and behavior were aligning a bit.
Not to mention, he also wondered why she would try to breathe fire instead of just flying if she could sprout wings. Then he looked at her wings and realized something.
"Hey! Weren't you an Eastern dragon? Besides, aren't they very small? They look like succubus wings... oh! Is that why? It's not that you didn't want to use them, you just can't fly!"
"Now you've really made me angry! This lady will teach you your place, you damn freak!"
"Hey, wait! What's going on—?!"
Celestine lost her patience with Cassian. She jumped on him and began scratching him with her claws, but all she managed to do was leave red marks on his tough skin.
"Damn tough skin! Even my claws can't...! Fine, I'll get serious."
She didn't give up and resorted to using her sharp teeth. She began to bite him mercilessly. She wanted to tear off a piece of flesh, but the actual damage was minimal... although she did hurt Cassian.
But she felt pain in her jaw. She wasn't getting anywhere, and that made her even angrier. She bit harder, tensing her whole face, and started using her nails as well. She really wanted to teach him a lesson.
"Wait! We still have to...! ngh! The situation around us! Aaaah, it hurts...!"
"Grrr..."
Cassian knew it wasn't the time for that. And since she seemed more clingy than Ellys when she hung on his arm, he simply gave up.
Enduring the pain, he looked around and noticed that Valeriane had already finished off her spider. Now she was helping Yefeng and Naelune exterminate the little ones.
So, even though his shoulder hurt where she was biting him, he ignored her and went to help. There were still several dozen small spiders scattered around the room.
...
"Huua~ that was easier than I thought. Eating that fruit was like drinking the best elixir... They say it's everywhere, although I didn't feel anything different when we split one of the three remaining ones."
Finally, they finished off all the small spiders. There were none left alive in the room, which reduced the tension again. The first to speak, as always, was Naelune:
"It's like Plouthys said: you only need to eat one, but he said there were more that work... although it was delicious just as it was."
"Yeah, you're right.... But, Cazzy, doesn't that hurt?"
Naelune asked, pointing to the beastly Celestine, who was still biting Cassian's shoulder. It seemed that her persistence had paid off, and there was a little blood coming out of the bite mark.
"Yes, it hurts. But you know what? She managed to pierce me and hurt me with her teeth. It's the first time I've seen my blood... at least now I know it's red, so I think of it as a new experience."
Technically, before—when he was poisoned—he saw it when he spat it out and when he checked the snake bite, but at that moment it was a greenish-black color, which left Cassian a little doubtful. But, in fact, it was red after all.
"Hey, Cazzy, don't tell me you're a masochist!"
"Oh, do you have that concept in your world, huh? And I'm not. In fact, it's not pleasant at all, and it's not an experience I want to repeat. Her teeth are sharp, and now that she's managed to hurt me a little, she just keeps insisting on it. I want to pull her off, but I think it would hurt even more to tear her away. I really don't know why she's acting like this."
"Well, I'd be angry too if you threw me like that."
"Oh, so you saw? Hmmm, in your case, I'd throw you with less force, so don't worry."
"What?! Why do you look like you're considering throwing me?"
"Hmmm, considering you managed to withstand a third of what Celes can… but also factoring in the distance—and your, uh, frontal lack—you're naturally more aerodyna—"
"Stop! Why not someone like the little angel? She looks easy to throw and aerodynamic, doesn't she?"
"Eh!, m-me."
"Hmm, although she has more... but she's smaller, and it's true that she looks like it, even though she only has one wing. Hmm."
Cassian seriously considered this matter; after all, it was already an effective and proven method. It could expand his range of maneuver in the future.
"C-Cass..."
"Hmm, but she has no attack power, so throwing her at the enemy would be useless. So I won't do it."
"Huff~."
"Hey! Why me? Besides, little knight and Yefi are here too."
"Hmmm." 'That's true.' (￣ー￣)
"Stop it, don't let your guard down. It seems like it's not over yet; no exit has opened or anything. omething seems to be missing. Sir Yefeng, do you feel anything?"
"No, I don't feel anything!"
Valeriane intervened at that moment, sensing that the situation was not over. Usually, the path would visibly open up as they advanced; if nothing had opened, it meant it wasn't over. So she ordered them not to let their guard down.
"Even so, no door has opened. We need to examine the surroundings and-."
"You know, it's very wrong to rely entirely on your skills when you're only white rank... Haah! Why do I have to examine, rookies? Haahh~ Where was I? Well, let's do this: yes!!, the next test is me! Haah~... no, I just can't find the motivation. Why do I have to be in this damn body? Haah~... just get this over with quickly!"
"Everyone, prepare for combat! An enemy has appeared."
Just as Valeriane was about to order a search of the surroundings, a voice came from above, taking them all by surprise.
It came from a beautiful woman with red eyes and purple hair, but she was definitely not human: four extra limbs protruded from her back, which were spider legs.
Furthermore, if one looked closely, there were six other red dots above and below her normal eyes, like small eyes.
Even so, she was a very beautiful woman who appeared out of nowhere and without warning, standing in midair. Her attitude was that of someone who did not want to be there, but that was beside the point.
"I-I don't feel anything from her!"
Yefeng, who had prepared himself on Valeriane's orders, seemed puzzled: he did not sense any danger coming from the woman.
"..."
Cassian did not seem to feel any threat from her either, but when he looked at her closely, he realized something very important and mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen.
"Ooh~ now that I pay attention, not everything is bad. There are many cute things here... Yes, I think that's enough to motivate me a little; at least they have features to my liking, so it will be more interesting.... It seems that some have the strength of a champion. Yes, after all, I think this will be fun. I'll make sure to enjoy it thoroughly, so... come on, attack with everything you've got!"
The woman certainly didn't seem very interested and was talking to herself most of the time, but by her own words, she was certainly an unknown danger that they had to face, not to mention that when she seemed to become self-motivated she began to release a strong murderous intent that began to exert pressure on them.
"I'll prepare a preemptive strike and—"
"Wait, Ria. Calm down, she may not be an enemy."
Valeriane, who seemed very alert to this unknown being—who had obviously declared herself to be the next test—was about to throw the spears she had created, but was stopped by Cassian, who placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Huh? What do you mean, Sir Cassian? She already declared her intentions; she is releasing murderous intent!"
"Yes, I understand, but it's a thinking being, so we could talk."
"Hey, don't interrupt. I finally got some motivation. Haah!~ Well, I'm bored anyway. Let's see what you have to say, although that doesn't change the fact that we'll have to fight."
The woman found it interesting that Cassian wanted to talk, so she allowed him to do so, hoping that he would give her a good moral lecture or some nonsense that would motivate her a little more to fight them.
"Ahem, well... you, beautiful lady, do you currently have a partner?"