Chapter 46: Blinding Light
Before Terrence managed to catch Gilbert, his Vampire Butler slammed the mind-controlling smaller spider beast hard into the ground.
They both stood like it was an intense showdown, just staring into each other’s soul.
The spider beast lay inside a crater made from that slammed impact, while the Vampire Butler simply stood without a care in the world. Painted on the humanoid beast was a sinister smile, enjoying every bit of the spider’s visible worry.
Tilting its head, the Vampire opened its palm, and a streak of blood materialized, imitating the spider threads. Now equipped with its own red thread, the Vampire once again caught the spider.
The eight eyes of the spider widened in terror as it felt another powerful pulling force yank its pincer legs. Unable to fight back, it flew toward a tree in an instant, slamming into the wood again and again, until its eyes finally weakened.
The small spider looked at the Vampire with pleading eyes. The vampire smiled as his sharp eyes caught the spider’s mind spell. He erased the spell immediately, then once again pulled the spider, slamming it against different ancient trees until it was smashed into a bloody pulp.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Hound now overpowered the bigger Arachne beast. Its pincer legs had failed to sever the hound’s head. With Triple Slash used as both a defense and an offense, there wasn’t any effective attack left for the Arachne beast to hit the hound with.
Now that it didn’t have to worry about protecting its host, the Shadow Hound paid full attention to the giant spider beast. Its bigger frame didn’t matter, as the hound beast could maneuver much better, swiftly turning to the spider beast’s blind spot.
Appearing on its back, the Shadow Hound unleashed a devastating pounce attack with Iron Skin, heavily damaging its oval body with blunt force.
With that pounce, the hound leaped backward with a Triple Slash targeted directly at the severed body. The Arachne’s thread was unleashed as well, catching the hound in mid-air.
In a slightly equal stand-down, the spider beast breathed laboriously, bleeding heavily. However, the Shadow Hound was still at its absolute best.
"What is happening to my beasts?!" Gilbert shrieked in disbelief.
Terrence casually reached and removed the spider net that had caught him.
Gilbert’s eyes widened as his body suddenly became much weaker. A connection from one of his beasts was severed, instantly weakening his amplified body provided by Skill Share.
’What? Impossible. I have the control!’
He staggered backward, unable to accept that one of his two beasts—the smaller mind-controlling spider—was now dead.
Terrence stretched his neck, then shook out his wrists and his whole body.
"Wow... that was a really dangerous mental attack, you know," Terrence said, his voice cold. "I was about to unleash all my anger on you. You should be thankful your small spider died first."
Terrence felt a strange connection forming in his mind. It was coming from the Vampire Butler, but he couldn’t quite determine what kind of sensation it was. It felt entirely different from how he normally felt a listed beast through the System.
Anger mixed with caution was obvious in Gilbert’s eyes. It seemed all of his offensive cards had been played, yet none had heavily damaged Terrence.
"No... this is not happening... I am an S-Rank Tamer!" Gilbert screamed, clutching his head in panic.
Terrence tilted his head.
"I didn’t know there was an official rank for a tamer..." Terrence retorted calmly. "But I guess I am still immature. I don’t know everything about the whole world yet."
Gilbert still couldn’t gather his thoughts as each second passed, watching his Arachne beast get severely injured by the Shadow Hound’s relentless barrage of attacks.
"Tell me... why am I a sacrifice? Why am I a fuel? Who really are you?"
Terrence now had the perfect chance to ask. He knew he held the absolute advantage, and cornering Gilbert completely was about to happen.
He didn’t have any personal attachment to Gilbert, but he desperately wanted to know what was going on. Weren’t they supposed to be part of a secret scheme against the Lee Family? Why had everything turned into this betrayal? Was this entire thing a setup, or had Gilbert infiltrated them from the start?
’There are plenty of questions...’ Terrence thought, his jaw clenching. ’But one thing is for sure—I can’t trust people easily anymore.’
"You... this is all your fault!" Gilbert shouted with raw anger at the top of his lungs, his face twisted in rage. "If not for you, I would have already gotten what I came for!"
"I don’t... understand," Terrence said, tilting his head slightly. "Your phrasing is a bit confusing, you know."
Gilbert bit his lower lip hard as his eyes frantically scanned in every direction. "I will get my revenge!"
Terrence chuckled softly, stepping forward. "Revenge? We will get to that, but you have to answer my questions first."
Gilbert shook his head frantically, refusing to speak. But suddenly, the Vampire Butler materialized next to him, slamming him against the trunk of a tree with immense force, a firm hand clamped around his neck.
The vampire couldn’t speak, but its glowing eyes pressed him to tell the truth.
"Fuck... I don’t want to do this... But..." Gilbert choked out, his throat constricted.
Terrence was still confused about what Gilbert was trying to say, though it clearly connected to what he was asking.
Just a second later, a blinding light burst out all over Gilbert’s body. His figure transformed into pure light, and then he vanished into thin air just like that, taking his injured Arachne beast along with him.
The Vampire’s hand slipped empty and smashed hard into the solid tree trunk.
Terrence’s eyes widened as he witnessed Gilbert’s disappearance. Logic couldn’t explain what had just happened. Was that even possible?
Moments later, Winter rested her hand on his shoulder and pointed in a direction. As Terrence turned toward it, tremors began vibrating through the ancient foliage.
"The dungeon boss... We can look for answers later, but right now, we have to survive."