Chapter 86 - Arachnophobia

Her silver-grey orbs locked with eight beady eyes on top of a hairy pincer-like mouth of a huge spider, waiting for her eagerly from the ground.

EH? WHAT? NO WAY!

She panicked, her mind almost turning blank.

The original Suzuki Ara and Alinea, herself, were both terrified of spiders. Their arachnophobia both bordered on the extreme, they would stop to function when they saw one. Even if she was a lot stronger, her unreasonable fear of the arachnid could make her run like a sissy. It was why in Ritz, she could handle almost any type of beasts and monsters, but when it came to spiders, only the boys handled them.

Most especially something of this size…

Ara looked on in horror at the spider the size of a car, and she screamed.

Sensing her fear, the arachnid's pincers closed and opened excitedly, as it waited for her to land on it. It had positioned itself directly below Ara so it could catch her easily. The falling girl could almost see her own terror reflected in its watchful eyes.

What to do? What to do?

The electrical pole was around forty feet in height. She would land on the creature soon. She needed to do something or she'd be dinner.

Oh darn!

The giant spider's hairy feet shifted, so it could look up to her better, its moving pincers ready to grab.

At ten feet, Ara produced plasma in her fist, as she raised her arm, ready to swing it, and closed her eyes.

Here it goes!

ZZZZZZZZZZZT SMAAASH!

Her powered fist connected with the unknowing arachnid, breaking its pincers upon contact.

But it didn't end there.

Because Ara was falling downwards, gravity added to her strength, giving her punch more momentum. The fist that she swung forward didn't just stop after destroying the monster's mouth. It continued to go through the spider's body, cutting it in half as its slimy innards splashed all over her, splattering on her hair, face, totally soaking her clothes.

Ara was assailed by a mixture of terror and disgust as the smelly, thick liquid was awash her.

Oh…

She felt like crying, most especially, when the spider's body fell on her, its hairy legs grazing her skin.

EEEEEEEK

She quickly stepped back, shuddering as she felt the brush of its legs.

When she realized it's really dead, she felt suddenly exhausted. But, as soon as she breathed a sigh of relief, another sticky white thread shot at her, making her jump to the side in reflex. Ara's eyes widened upon recognizing the same web that the dead spider had shot at her earlier.

No way…

She quickly whipped her head to see another spider just above her, its eight beady eyes focused on her. Then, it shot another white thread in her direction.

Ara quickly jumped again, dodging the web. Then, she ran away just as when the spider decided to shoot her consecutively.

Big broooo saaave meeeee…

Ara rushed towards a parked car a few meters away, in a zigzag direction to prevent herself from being hit. But, as soon as she reached the small car, she slid from the slime under her shoes, and a thread hit her left foot, planting her on the spot.

Damn!

Ara turned to see the spider crawling towards her at great speed. She tried to summon electricity, but her arachnophobia was choking her, preventing her from concentrating to form seals. She struggled to get free, to release her foot from the web, but it was just too sticky. Then, she felt a tug.

Huh?

Ara realized the monster was pulling her towards it, its huge pincers tugging the thread back to it. She was like a fish caught in a string and being hauled. She unthinkingly grabbed the side of the car to anchor, herself, but the spider was strong, it was able to move her still.

Ara was now lifted up with the spider pulling her foot while she latched onto the yellow compact car for dear life.

Damn! Damn! Damn!

Then, Ara was inspired. She was panicking because she was trapped she couldn't summon her seal. So, she decided to finally do something about it, else, she'd get eaten.

A compact car normally weighed around a thousand and three hundred kilograms. When Ara was still in Ritz, she could easily lift and throw Horgall who weighed around four hundred kilos. Lifting the car that she'd grabbed onto was very tricky on an ordinary day, but with her fear, her adrenaline was rushing like mad.

"Damn spider, you want to pull?" she muttered as she helped the spider on tugging. She pulled the car with all her might, lifting the groaning yellow piece of metal off the ground.

"Taste Horgall's 'this-is-a-tree-chop-it-for-firewood', you ugly monster!"

Ara screamed as she tugged the car with all her might, pivoting her body to face the spider as she did to smash the compact car against it. The arachnid which had been pulling her gave a big tug at that very same moment, so Ara's swing was stronger.

BANG!

The yellow vehicle smashed against the giant spider, throwing it several meters back, flipping it on its posterior before being pinned down by the vehicle. Since Ara was stuck in its web, she flew with it, as if she was bungee jumping out of an airplane. This time, she had enough presence of mind to be on her feet. She landed on top of the car with the struggling arachnid underneath. The impact of her weight added to the car, crushed it more below, but not enough for it to die.

"Eat this!"

Ara finally formed a seal after much difficulty and summoned a bolt of strong lightning from above hitting the spider's head which was peeking from the car in one strike.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZT

The spider didn't even convulse with the electricity. It was burned to a crisp on the spot.

Heaving, Ara pulled the car off to check the remains of the monster. Only by seeing it totally dead, that she started relaxing.

But it was too early to celebrate.

Another wave of murderous intent struck her, and she pivoted on her feet once more to face the space behind her and nearly fainted.

"Are you kidding me?"

Ara wanted to cry. Behind her were three more giant arachnids that seemed to be more sinister than the first two she had killed.

She had enough.

Raising her hand, a huge seal, different from what she normally used, appeared on the ground, underneath the monsters. It was Perun's oracle, the ultimate lightning seal, the same one she had used to annihilate the archer battalion who had ambushed them back in Ritz. It was overkill for her to use it, but she didn't care.

Dark, foreboding clouds built up in the sky, covering all traces of the stars that were just there a while ago. Thunder rolled, the sound echoed loudly, as flashes of light appeared as the atmosphere thickened.

The spiders, being sensitive creatures felt the change in the air pressure, and immediately tried to skitter away, but it was too late.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? I REALLY, REALLY HATE UGLY SPIDERS!"Ara yelled as she swung her hand downwards, and a mélange of lightning danced wildly from the sky towards the ground, burning everything underneath the seal.