Chapter 35 Crying for Help: This is a cry for help in the face of an impending crisis, inexplicably...

When Lucas arrived, what he saw was a giant alien spider standing obediently next to the witch, watching her eat with its eyes lowered.

He thought to himself, "As expected of the witch!"

Even a ferocious monster like the alien spider could be left standing so close to him without his consent.

Lucas wanted to take another step forward, preparing to call upon the witch, but he quickly realized that something was wrong.

The next obstacle was far greater than he had imagined.

Lucas lowered his head and discovered that his body was now covered in transparent spider silk. The silk was densely packed together, reflecting the dim moonlight, as if it too had been touched by the moonlight in that instant.

Just as he discovered them, the spider silk tightened suddenly, with a force that seemed to sever his entire body—before experiencing this, probably no one would have thought that spider silk, which looks fragile and easily broken, could be so resilient that it could tighten around a person's body like a rope, compressing his internal organs.

Lucas's face quickly turned bright red, and his breathing became increasingly rapid as he tried to inhale oxygen into his lungs.

Just a second before he lost consciousness, he heard a voice that sounded like heavenly music.

"Ah... Lucas?"

That one sentence saved him from the alien spider's web, allowing him to breathe again.

Lucas collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. By the time he had finally caught his breath, Catherine had already emerged from the cave and stood beside him.

Catherine glanced at Lucas from head to toe. He was in a terrible state, covered in grass and dirt, his clothes soaked with sweat, even worse than when she had seen him in the snake pit.

She asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

It's absolutely impossible that Lucas came here by chance.

It was night, and twilight enveloped the entire Devil's Forest. Danger lurked everywhere; a ferocious beast might be hiding anywhere. At this hour, for a child to cross the Devil's Forest alone, the only explanation was that he was here to find her.

When she returned, she asked Tarasco, and he said that all the giant snakes were dead, and only Xavier had escaped. They shouldn't be coming after them again anytime soon.

So why would Lucas, instead of staying in the camp, venture through the treacherous Devil's Forest at night to find him when there was no threat?

"Witch! Please, please save Uncle Benson... Waaaaaah!"

Catherine raised an eyebrow. Because she had lost consciousness shortly after growing spider legs and was unaware of what had happened afterward, she assumed the humans in the camp already knew she was impersonating a witch.

They actually thought they were witches?

"What's wrong with him?"

"He was captured by the Vatican..." Lucas recounted the whole incident as briefly but clearly as possible. Upon learning that Uncle Benson had been captured, his first reaction was to come find the Witch.

After the giant snake's attack, only a few dozen people survived in the camp.

Benson, captured by the knights, could only be taken to the Papacy's inquisition for trial. They were just a few dozen ordinary people; if they faced the Papacy, there was virtually no chance of successfully bringing him back. Moreover…

They were forced into the Devil's Forest to escape the Vatican's pursuit.

However, he was destined to be disappointed.

I won't help you.

Catherine's answer was a clear and unequivocal rejection, leaving no room for negotiation.

In fact, after hearing the word "Papal Court," she had no intention of listening any further.

She wasn't exactly a "helpful" person to begin with. Saving Bart was purely for her own benefit, plus a bit of sheer luck. And going to the Vatican to save someone… haha, don't be naive. She wouldn't be so foolish as to sacrifice herself for someone else.

She was a sacrifice, something "that couldn't see the light of day," and was destined never to go to the Vatican.

So, all I can do is apologize to Benson.

Lucas seemed to want to say something to persuade her to stay, but Catherine had already turned around and walked into the cave.

Lucas braced himself against the ground and stood up, tears still streaming down his face, looking utterly helpless. He opened his mouth, but didn't know what else to say to persuade the witch to help him.

After all, he didn't possess anything she needed; he couldn't even bring himself to make a deal with the witch instead of begging. He could only watch as she slowly walked into the monster's cave.

...

Just then, Lucas saw Catherine pause in her steps. Unbeknownst to him, at that moment, she seemed to hear a long whistle.

Catherine's eyes flickered, and a sense of unease crept into her heart. It was a strange sixth sense, a feeling of impending crisis.

Before she could react, Tarasco, who was not far in front of her, suddenly let out a painful scream. The place where the mark had been began to burn, and he looked very unstable.

Catherine's expression tightened instantly upon seeing this. Tarasco's current appearance was so strikingly similar to when the mark was kissed. But hadn't the witch already removed that mark...?

"What is this...?"

"Go somewhere far away and find a safe place to stay." Before Lucas could finish speaking, Catherine interrupted him hastily.

Seeing that he was still standing there in a daze, he even growled again, "Hurry up and leave!"

Lucas realized something was wrong and immediately left, looking back every few steps. He then found a relatively safe bush and crouched down. Fortunately, although it was already night in the Devil's Forest, thanks to the fact that Tarasco's lair was nearby and that he had been quite active recently, there were no powerful magical beasts in the surrounding area.

Looking at the cave entrance, Catherine consciously took a few steps back to keep her distance from Tarasco.

She removed the hair ornament from her head and stared intently in the direction of the alien spider.

Catherine recalled several instances of abnormal physical changes she had experienced, the most recent one involving the growth of spider legs. It was highly likely that if she could bleed sufficiently, the mutation would occur.

Recalling the most recent incident, although she lost consciousness after growing spider legs, she was still alive when Tarasco arrived—she didn't believe Xavier would be so kind as to spare her life. Especially since two of her "old friends" were present at the time.

This is enough to demonstrate that after undergoing physical transformation, she possessed sufficient self-defense capabilities. She was able to survive for so long even under the combined attack of three giant snakes.

She experienced it once, when Tarasco went mad because of the mark.

She knew that in her normal state, she had no chance of outrunning Tarasco in his berserk state by simply running away. Therefore, she could only mutate her body to prolong her survival time.

Of course, Catherine wasn't completely unprepared.

The witch was her backup plan.

The witch is omniscient and naturally knows what is happening to them. If she doesn't want her "experimental subject" to die like this, she will arrive before she dies.

The candlelight, still burning brightly by the cave entrance, flickered gently, casting its glow on the spot where Tarasco's mark had once stood, now covered by a scar—the mark left after the flesh had been removed.

But after about ten minutes, the scar was pushed up by new flesh and then slowly fell off. Then a brand new mark reappeared on it, exactly the same as the previous one.

As the mark flickered on and off, strange and intricate patterns began to rise from the corner and quickly covered Tarasco's profile.

Without hesitation, Catherine raised the hair ornament in her hand and slashed it hard across her arm.

Compared to a knife, a hair ornament is a bit too blunt. It glides slowly across the skin, causing less pain than a knife, but it takes longer for blood to flow.

Catherine glanced in Tarasco's direction to check on his condition, gritted her teeth, pressed the hair ornament into the wound again, and then slashed it down hard.

"ah……!"

The pain caused Catherine to scream uncontrollably, and her body underwent a strange reaction at the same time.

Blood began to surge and rush through her body. At the cut, new tissue rapidly emerged and intertwined, and spider legs pierced out from under her skin in an instant, without drawing a single drop of blood.

Catherine's eyes slowly became cloudy, no longer clear as before.

At that moment, Tarasco also ran out of the cave, heading towards the only living creature in his sight.

Their consciousness had become muddled, and they had no idea who the person in front of them was; they were only venting their anxiety caused by the extreme pain.

Two equally sharp legs collided violently, producing a crisp clanging sound like swords clashing. They then fell back down, leaving a trail of sparks.

After they stood still, one raised an eyelid and the other glanced down. The moment their eyes met, they simultaneously took a step.

...

In just a few brief exchanges, Catherine and Tarasco had already accumulated numerous wounds. However, due to their powerful self-healing abilities, those wounds would heal as if touched by a divine hand, returning to their original state as if they were new skin.

However, fighting against such a powerful opponent will obviously consume more of one's stamina.

As time slowly passed, the spider legs on Catherine's body began to appear and disappear intermittently, and her chaotic consciousness seemed to sense a sense of crisis in that instant. Despite her weakened body, she mustered one last strength and quickly raised her legs, thrusting them towards Tarasco's chest.