Amber Sword

The Spider Mother flung her pincers outward, sweeping towards Brando’s back like a sharp curved blade. As it swung past, it stirred the air, forming a translucent trail of light in the dark underground.

Brando heard a screech reminiscent of an explosion, as if the sound had only just emerged and was already behind him. This was the power from the strongest creature. At that moment, a variety of attack patterns from Anarons’ front pincers flashed through Brando’s mind. In that split second, he pushed the princess forward and positioned the Earth Sword against his back.

Bang—a tooth-grinding loud noise. Although Brando couldn’t see, he could feel the scene of the Earth Sword’s blade bending under excessive force. The irresistible power transmitted through it to him, a tremendous force coming from behind, flinging him away.

The distance between the cliff in front of him and himself seemed to close in instantly.

But Brando knew it was an illusion; he was flying up over the cliff, soaring above the Abyss. Thankfully, the Will attribute heightened his nerve endurance, preventing his body from triggering protective mechanisms and fainting from pain. Brando certainly didn’t want to plummet into the Abyss while unconscious.

He shot forward like a cannonball, his body spinning in mid-air. Despite the severe pain feeling like a rasp grinding his nerves, he gritted his teeth and slammed the Earth Sword down into the cave floor.

With full exertion through the Elemental Manifestation strength, Harangeya’s sword blade directly pierced a foot into the rock, dragging a golden spark in the darkness.

Brando’s momentum slowed, but the Earth Sword in his hand still cut through the entire cliff like slicing tofu, deeply carving a groove into the ground while inexorably approaching the edge.

It all happened in less than one-tenth of a second, as if the last breath hadn’t finished when Brando already flew out of the cliff. With a swish, he carried a large area of rock, finally coming to a halt.

In mid-air, Brando spun, raising his right hand adorned with the Wind Queen’s Ring, launching a Wind Bullet at the opposite cliff. The airflow instantly gathered on his ring and smashed into the rock on the other side. The massive grey stones shattered, debris flying, and the powerful backlash finally caused a slight pause mid-air for Brando.

He looked up.

Above, the wind brought another screech—the right front pincer of the Spider Mother. After her left pincer swept out, six remaining legs supported her massive body, immediately raising the right pincer to stab towards Brando in mid-air.

To outsiders, even those Silver Rank knights, it might look like both strikes happened simultaneously. But Brando knew they were sequential, a common tactic of this deceitful beast.

If the first strike didn’t kill, the second would be a perfect coup de grâce. This time, no one would help divert the attention. Brando widened his eyes, focus fixed on the scythe-like claw closing in his view.

But he understood it was futile, the speed surpassing even his ’In-depth Analysis’ level.

What truly made a difference was the Dark Perception attribute he acquired from the Flowing Firefly. Magic power flowed through Anasilon’s body like starfire in the darkness, swiftly reaching him.

This was the moment.

Brando had just this one chance. He reached out and grasped the sharp tip of the Spider Mother’s right front pincer, his entire body dragged back with it.

Time seemed to slow down in his perception. He saw himself tugging the retracted pincer back into the cliff, forming a beautiful arc towards the nearby rock wall. He could almost see the crack drawing nearer and the faces of those knights.

They seemed just to react, unable to utter a cry, with some mouths agape before him.

Then he calculated the distance and released his grip; the crack was right in front of him.

A perfect landing, he tightened his nerves and relaxed his heart, then crashed with a beautiful arc, slamming solidly into the rock wall with a bang.

"Damn, ah..." Brando uttered an incredibly painful scream. It was as if he never imagined he’d make a mistake at the last moment. No matter what, this blunder was memorable indeed, for those underground rocks were intimidatingly hard.