Chapter 57
“We can rest here for a bit.” Chrisson took a breath and looked at Lori, who was huddled up next to him from the cold rain. “At least we’re safe for now.”
Lori nodded, her face pale from the cold. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
She looked up and saw the little spider in front of her, holding two stones and striking them together, trying to create a spark.
That's a flint, but it's unusable now because of the water.
They were in a spot that offered some shelter from the rain. A tree had fallen and crashed onto the wellhead. They were now in the middle of the well, stepping onto Chrison's spiderweb.
The space machine was cramped, and the two of them almost had to huddle together. At first, Chrison was worried that the child would be afraid of her monstrous appearance, but she didn't mind at all; in fact, she now instinctively held Chrison in her arms. Because this monster was warm.
This was one of the rare times Spider-Man was hugged, which made him a little feverish. Coincidentally, this was the kind of time he should be feverish.
He continued trying to ignite the flint and steel; he could loosen his magic into a structure that would allow it to burn. However, he lacked the ability to start a fire and needed the flint and steel.
Before him lay a neatly woven spiderweb, which he intended to set on fire so that Lori would feel a little better.
“I haven’t properly thanked you yet.” Suddenly, Lori said softly, “Thank you... for giving me that doll, but I’ve lost it now. It must be lost on the road. I’m so sorry.”
As she spoke, she began to sob softly. She cried so bitterly because she had lost everything again, not even a single doll remained.
Carl had promised that everything would be alright once things calmed down, and she firmly believed it. But now her resolve and the promises she longed for had been completely soaked by the torrential rain. Now she didn't even have a warm home anymore.
"Don't cry, I'll make you a new one." Chrison was a little panicked. It could fight against the huge monster, but it couldn't think of a good way to make the child happy. "I'll make you a bigger one! I promise, I'll make a doll the same size as you, and I'll use the best cotton! I'll also carefully weave a more detailed shape."
As it spoke, it dropped the flint and steel, then its long legs unfurled and swung in front of it so fast that only afterimages could be seen. A miniature rabbit was handed to Lori, who looked at the little rabbit and smiled helplessly at Chrison.
"So, it's a date then."
“It’s a promise, it’s a promise.” Krisen nodded vigorously. “That guy Ark always says that you have to keep your promises. Once we leave here, you’ll have a warm bed, a life-sized doll, and candy! Remember the candy we had last time? We can have as much of that as we want!”
"Really?"
“Really, I swear, to God and to the devil.” Chrisson’s voice suddenly stopped, and then he covered Lori’s mouth with his hand.
At the same time, the light disappeared. It had just made its magic core light up, but now it dimmed it again, and the place became dark once more.
Because Ketchum had already arrived nearby.
Ketch stood there, looking up at the completely dark sky. This time, even the extinguished sun could not be seen. In the vastness, everything was so dim.
It's so cold.
Rainwater seeped in through the cracks and filled its entire body, making it completely soaked in the rain.
It was truly unbearable; the holy magic ultimately couldn't warm him up, it could only prevent him from freezing to death.
What had he just done? He felt his mind was a bit muddled and needed to think for a moment.
He hurt his only best friend and is now hunting down a child.
That's enough, I'm such a damn bastard. He felt like a piece of trash, and no excuse could change that fact. Kitsch loved the child; she was a very good child, a very, very good child.
If she weren't a demon, he would be the one protecting her. If anyone tried to harm her, Kuchit would definitely stand in front of them.
But she was chosen by the demon, inheriting some power from the demon god. Therefore, she was extremely dangerous, so dangerous that many, many people would be uneasy as long as she lived.
Therefore, even if it meant breaking with his friend, Ketchum had to kill her with his own hands. Even though he knew it would shatter her peaceful dreams forever. He killed a defenseless child with his own hands, and pierced his friend's chest with a weapon.
He hurt innocent people and those he cherished.
It was simply his duty; he had to protect humanity and maintain order. Even if it went against his own beliefs, he had to do it.
It's so heavy! The weight of my body makes Ketchum want to rest for a while and walk to the well later.
He truly didn't want to be the kind of person he despised; he could easily turn away or simply ignore it. But he was a paladin, and he couldn't do that.
Ketchum stopped, raising his sword as the sound of metal clashing rang out. He looked at the creature that had suddenly attacked, a spider about half a human's height, resembling a human.
It attacked and retreated, disappearing into the darkness.
But Ketchum always knew its every move, including the inescapable trap it had laid at some unknown time.
Because it is blessed, protected by light. Darkness is like daylight to it, and those who hide in the shadows have nowhere to hide. Every paladin is blessed, a total of twelve blessings. How many blessings one receives depends entirely on their talents.
Krixen attacked its back in the darkness, but Ketchum swung her weapon to the left, deflecting it again, and the monster behind her vanished into a phantom.
That was an illusion; Cresen was also skilled in illusions.
But Ketchum had washed his eyes with holy water and drunk the tears of angels. Illusions were ineffective against him, and mental attacks were equally ineffective.
Krisen muttered something as he backed away, watching Kitty from a distance.
The threads began to contract, but were destroyed by the sharp holy magic before they could even touch Ketcht.
Blessing—Immaculate. All binding magic is ineffective against it; any magical binding will dissipate the moment it touches the object, or even before contact occurs. Furthermore, any negative effects are nullified.
Meanwhile, hundreds of sharpened stones were shot out from the shadows, but Ketcht remained unmoved, as the stones were blocked by something resembling a shield around him.
Blessing—the Hand of God. All attacks are reflected by the divine power surrounding Ketcht; almost no projectile can penetrate this all-encompassing defense.
Restraints, mental pressure, hidden weapons, illusions, invisibility—to Ketchum, they were nothing more than a clown's performance, utterly ineffective.
Chris felt powerless; he had no chance of winning, and almost all his abilities were completely ineffective. He couldn't even mount a decent block.
He struck a strange pose, and spider silk shot out from his limbs, forming a white spear. He lowered his body, and the entire monster resembled a spike.
“I don’t want to be your enemy.” Kitty looked at the little spider and paused before saying, “Hand over that child, and I guarantee she will die without pain. I will cleanly and neatly cut off her head, without burning her at the stake or torturing her.”
But his response was a stab so fast it was invisible to the naked eye. Eight stabs were delivered at the same time, but none of them actually caused any damage. The only stab that could penetrate the armor was blocked by Ketch.
Spider-Man managed to avoid being thrown by releasing his weapon; his weight was a weakness. Even with strength a hundred times that of a normal person, a body that's too light can't contend with someone more than twice its weight. Being thrown has nothing to do with strength, only with personal size.
However, this means he possesses the ability to break the sound barrier without creating a sonic boom, allowing him to accelerate to a point where he is completely unable to react. For others, this is utterly unstoppable, just like the trio earlier. Spider-Man used his instantaneous acceleration to instantly kill the three Witcher hunters because they lacked the ability to counter such speed.
Ketch has a way, not because he can keep up with the speed, but because his heavy armor and the holy magic used for reinforcement make him an indestructible fortress.
“I reiterate, I mean you no harm,” Ketchum said softly, looking at the monster crawling on the roof. “I hope you will cooperate.”
"Damn it, is that something a human being should say?" Krisen finally couldn't contain his anger any longer. He yelled at Ketchum, "You're supposed to protect her! But now you want me to hand her over to you to kill? God! Is that something you acknowledge?"
He shouted that, then disappeared again. Ketchum's left wrist lashed out instinctively, striking the charging spider.
The immense force was thrust into Chrisson's body, sending him flying through the air like a black ball crashing into a wall.
But Chrisson was stunned because he saw white threads stuck to his arm.
He felt his arm being pulled, and the imbalance of gravity forced him to kneel down to wrestle with Chrison. His target from the beginning was this arm, and since he couldn't bind it, he used the thread to make a loop and wrap it around Chrison's arm.
The house that had been breached was already filled with the same white silk threads, and he was bound into a white ball of thread in a very short time.
Ark had said that this blessing wasn't always effective; it could only be deflected with holy magic the instant one was bound or locked. However, if one were to actually fall into a house filled with cobwebs, even with the protection of light, one would still be captured.
To his surprise, Ketchum found that he was not stronger than the hunchbacked fellow. He stuck himself into the spider web in the house and tried to pull it in with the thread.
He tried to cut the line with his sword, but he found that his sword could not cut the thin white line.
Speaking of which, I noticed earlier that the thread was incredibly strong. It seemed even stronger than steel, and even now, he couldn't cut it with his sword. He had clearly infused it with holy magic, but he hadn't seen any signs of the magic collapsing.
Ketcht struck his own bound wrist guard with a heavy blow, the hard metal broke off, and the wire carrying the metal flew back inside.
He looked at his wrists, which were only covered by a light layer of armor beneath his heavy armor, and noticed that even his light armor had been corroded in a short period of time.
Is this the corruption of magic? He felt a little surprised, looking at the little spider watching him from the shadows of the house, and sensed something was wrong.
The magical power within this guy's body had reached an unbelievable level; he had never imagined that magic power could be compressed to such an extent.
Without a doubt, this little guy was a calamity-level monster. Ketchum put away his original mercy and assumed a fighting stance.
While it's true that appearances can be deceiving, and the legendary demon kings are all roughly the same size as humans, seeing something so small yet sharing the same name as the terrifying creature from the Blood Sun and the giant dragons soaring in the sky was simply unbelievable. This was a monster outside the realm of common sense.
“I underestimated you.” Ketcht looked at Krissen, took a deep breath and said softly, “Now I will give it my all. My name is Ketcht.”
The second half of the sentence refers to the step of announcing one's name before a duel. He was used to fighting other knights and would announce his name without thinking.
"Crimson." Spider-Man finished his introduction in the shortest possible way, and then disappeared from the spot.
At the same time, sixty-four arrows pierced through the rain from all directions and shot towards Ketchum, but were repelled by his exhilarating roar. He swung his weapon high and struck a small spider that was about to pounce on him, wielding a short knife.
Without a prolonged fight, Ketcht pushed him away before he could pierce his armor with his limbs. At the same time, holy magic erupted, a massive lightsaber materialized, and with a slash, the shockwave of energy cleared away a large section of rocks in front of him.
But the little spider was no longer there; he was too fast to be seen with the naked eye.
Ketcht turned his head, and time seemed to stand still. He watched the little spider rushing towards him from a strange angle and in a bizarre posture, holding a short knife in his hand, its eyes meeting his gaze.
His greatsword was embedded in the rock, offering no resistance against such a high-speed assassination. The ferocity the little creature was displaying now elicited a helpless smile from him.
But he still won, because he too had nowhere to escape.
The sword he had been holding was released; it was, after all, a sacred artifact, and naturally wouldn't be so powerless. An unimaginable surge of sacred power crashed down like a tidal wave, leaving the little spider momentarily dazed in mid-air.
When it came to its senses, the creature in front of it was already facing it head-on, its greatsword raised high above its head, and it was like a lamb being offered up to the blade.
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