A deafening crash echoed as the colossal spider slammed into the ground.
It was an unbelievable sight—Kiana had smashed a creature dozens of times her size out of the air with a single swing of her bat, sending it crashing down hard enough to leave a crater in the earth.
And Kiana herself?
Wind roared past her ears as she fell—only to find herself safely caught in Raiden Mei's arms, held in a princess carry as they landed gracefully moments after the spider hit the ground.
If not for the Stigmata's power enhancing their physical strength—and the spider webs breaking some of the fall's momentum—they would have been gravely injured, if not outright killed by the impact.
"Kiana, that was reckless!"
Raiden Mei's face was stern as she set Kiana down. Her heart was still pounding from the shock.
Kiana, however, felt nothing but exhilaration.
She hadn't thought it through at all—she'd simply seen an opening, jumped, and swung, figuring that a direct hit from above would do massive damage.
"Hey, you came without calling for me…" Kiana mumbled, half-defiant. Her adrenaline was still rushing as she peered at the massive spider, half-buried and motionless in the crater she'd made.
Even considering the momentum from the fall—managing to knock that huge thing into the ground with one strike meant…
Could the five percent Finality progression in her body really have amplified her strength that much?
"Kiana!"
Even Mei's usually gentle tone turned sharp. Kiana clearly didn't care enough about her own safety.
If she hadn't reacted in time and caught her mid-fall, Kiana would be lying in that crater alongside the spider right now.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Mei!" Kiana immediately surrendered, apologizing in a rush. "I was just worried about you! Seeing you fight that shameless—uh, I mean terrifying monster made me panic!"
That thing didn't even wear clothes.
Shameless!
When she'd reached the rooftop and seen the spider stop laying eggs—its upper body that of a bare, white-haired woman—her brain had short-circuited for a moment.
Did these Kami have no shame?!
Fine, don't wear clothes—but to appear naked in front of Mei?! Unforgivable!
The thought alone had made Kiana's blood boil, and before she knew it, she had acted—leaping off the rooftop, channeling her Herrscher-level strength into her bat, and slamming that arrogant "beauty's head" straight into the ground.
The result had been perfect.
One strike, devastating impact, seamless teamwork.
"Even if you were worried—"
Mei's words cut off abruptly. She took a step forward, shielding Kiana behind her.
From the crater ahead, the spider stirred. Its legs twitched—and then it pushed itself up again, its massive body rising shakily.
The once-beautiful head was now swollen and bloodied from Kiana's blow, half its face caved in, its expression twisted with rage.
Its voice, dripping with venom, shrieked through the storm: "It hurts—it hurts—AH! DIE!"
All across the battlefield, the spider's spawn responded. The smaller spiders that had been roaming or attacking others turned as one, swarming back toward their enraged mother.
From the ground, from cracks, from underground tunnels—they came crawling out in horrifying numbers.
Kiana had completely infuriated it.
The beauty-headed spider had gone berserk.
They were fragile, yes—but there were so many of them, the endless white tide of bodies triggering even the strongest cases of trypophobia.
"Don't get bogged down fighting the small ones," Raiden Mei warned. "We can't kill them faster than it can spawn more."
"Got it!"
Kiana gripped her bat and shouted back, "I'll take it head-on! Mei, you find an opening to strike!"
This beauty-headed spider didn't seem to have any remarkable regenerative ability. The injuries Kiana had inflicted were still clearly visible.
It must've invested all its power into summoning spawn, weaving webs, and fortifying its defense.
If it weren't for someone as absurdly strong as Kiana, this giant spider's speed of spawning offspring, its terrifyingly sharp webs, and its nearly indestructible threads would have been enough to drive anyone into despair.
Now was no time for hesitation. Raiden Mei gave a firm nod, gripping the katana tightly in her hands.
She wasn't strong enough yet.
The best strategy to deal with this massive spider was simple—Kiana would engage it head-on, drawing its attention, while Mei searched for the perfect opening to deliver a killing blow.
"Hey, ugly! Over here! Come fight me one-on-one if you dare!"
Kiana had already charged forward, her bat swinging in wide arcs, smashing through the smaller spiders blocking her path. She dodged strands of sticky web as she pushed toward the massive hole where the giant spider waited.
"Die! Die!!"
The beauty-headed spider shrieked furiously. Seeing Kiana again filled it with unbearable rage and hatred.
Several webs shot out, slicing through the air toward her. Kiana twisted and rolled, slipping perfectly through the gaps between them.
The webs looked thick—but their cutting power was terrifying. Wherever they struck the concrete and stone, they sliced cleanly through, leaving everything behind them carved into neat cubes, like tofu.
She didn't even want to imagine what would happen if one hit a person.
"Hey, can you even aim properly?!"
Kiana kept taunting it relentlessly. Against a monster with intelligence but no self-control, trash talk was a powerful weapon—it drew all its hatred toward her, creating the perfect opening for Mei.
"Did you enjoy that bat swing earlier? Want another one?"
She dove forward, rolling across the ground to avoid another deadly web. When she rose, the spider's enormous leg was already coming down.
It raised one of its massive legs and slammed it down at Kiana—like a human crushing a cockroach.
But Kiana wasn't a cockroach—and the spider wasn't human.
She braced her bat horizontally with both hands, catching the descending leg. The impact drove her to her knees, her arms trembling from the strain, her face flushed with effort.
Yeah, defending really wasn't her style.
With a sharp grunt, she forced the spider's leg upward and used the brief moment of imbalance to leap onto it. Her shoes hit the slick chitin, and with a few quick jumps, she was on the spider's back.
"Not so easy to swarm me now, huh?"
Looking down at the massive creature's bloodied, bruised face, Kiana stretched her shoulders and cracked her wrists. "Don't say I bullied you. From now on, it's just you and me—one-on-one."
"Die!"
The beauty-headed spider shrieked, its voice echoing with fury. These vile humans—climbing all over its perfect body, desecrating its purity—unforgivable!
"Touchy, aren't we?"
Dodging the whipping silk threads with agile movements, Kiana laughed breathlessly. "What's wrong? You're slowing down! You'll never kill me like this—try showing a little backbone!"