143 Spider VS Earthworm Alaba⑥

Above: Bee.

Below: Flame.

What is this?

Correct answer—my current situation, you bastard!

Hey, bee.

You're annoying.

Why are you attacking me in this situation!?

I can take any bee attack without damage, but in this moment, even a small opening could be fatal—so cut me some slack!

The ground still burns fiercely.

At its center, Alaba breathes flame toward me.

I avoid it mid-air.

Then sever the approaching bees with my scythe.

Their corpses fall, incinerated by the flames.

Alaba, at the flame's center, is not unharmed.

Unlike immunity, resistance only reduces damage.

Even if it's a spell I cast myself.

Flame Resistance is a higher-tier skill than Fire Resistance.

The ability to instantly acquire a higher-tier skill is impressive, but it still cannot reduce damage to zero.

Araba is currently in a state of literal self-immolation, waiting for an opportunity to strike me.

HP reduction is significantly slowed due to rapid recovery.

Yet gradually, inevitably, his body is being consumed by flames.

If I keep fleeing like this, will he eventually perish on his own?

That is unrealistic.

The soil around Araba rises, forming a barrier to protect him.

A familiar earth magic, shielding him from the raging fire.

HP begins to recover at an accelerated rate.

During the battle, the HP recovery skill has also leveled up.

The speed at which HP regenerates is so fast it verges on suspicion—almost as if he’s using healing magic.

Ah.

Growth during combat? What kind of protagonist are you?

Such a dramatic development is reserved exclusively for the protagonist.

Cheater. Cheater.

Cowardly.

I’d appreciate it if you’d let me off.

To be honest.

My chances of victory through direct confrontation are nonexistent.

Even if all parallel minds were restored, it would still be impossible.

Araba's combat capability has increased significantly.

As if to prove it, flames erupted from the vertical shaft’s walls.

Not just below—entire horizontal surfaces are engulfed in flames.

Wherever land exists, it is consumed entirely by fire.

My only escape is the sky beyond the reach of earth.

And as if rending even the sky itself, immense energy gathered within Alaba's maw.

The ultimate strike of Alaba, never fired until now.

It was guarded by earth and flame, and finally unlocked.

Alaba breathes forth a colossal breath, piercing through the sky.

As if scattering flames spreading across the wall.

A single beam of light erupts from the depths below, reaching all the way to the heavens.

Imagine this scene.

No, no.

You'd be ash, ash.

Obviously impossible.

I escaped via teleportation.

Current location: between the upper and middle layers, at the site where Ark's corpse was left.

Even so, far from the opposite end of the vast labyrinth, no residual tremors from the battle remain.

If there were tremors here now... it would be catastrophic.

World collapse.

Ah.

Brief rest.

I'll consume Ark briefly.

I've expended significant SP.

Time for a temporary replenishment.

Ugh, terrible.

While eating Ark, I check Alaba's status and current position.

Alaba is not moving.

Either lost in reflection over having failed to eliminate me, or regretting that he failed.

Either way, fine.

I'll return shortly.

My poison is already consuming Alaba's body.

He hasn't realized it yet, though.

But as long as you do not defeat me, the poison will continue to侵蚀.

It has not yet reached an irreversible level—though it will.

Once it does, I win.

If direct damage cannot reduce HP to zero, then another approach is necessary.

Alaba misunderstands.

I am not a warrior who fights through combat.

I am a cunning hunter—skilled in deception, traps, and exploiting weakness.

Setting traps is my most effective strategy.

Poison is my most effective weapon.

Alaba is already within my trap.

Alaba is already poisoned.

All that remains is to wait—patiently—while the poison consumes him, as long as I do not die first.

The difficulty lies in avoiding death myself.

Consume a bitter Arc to restore SP.

Eat from the surplus of gluttony.

But the Arc’s body remains substantial.

This should keep me fed for a while.

Good.

Then I'll return to the battlefield once more.

Teleport.

I materialize at a distance from Alaba.

Appearing directly before Alaba’s spatial perception would likely result in a painful strike.

Just as I thought, a breath projectile comes flying toward me.

I dodge hastily.

I couldn’t see the future—just teleported.

The edge of the breath grazes my back.

Focus.

The opponent is, without doubt, the strongest monster I’ve fought so far.

One moment of lapse against this foe is fatal.

This breath was fired precisely upon detecting my teleportation signature.

I can no longer use teleportation freely.

Fleeing is acceptable—but returning is the most dangerous moment.

The flames on the ground still burn.

The flames along the wall have vanished.

The bees that were buzzing about so wildly have disappeared as well.

As I imagined, the wall flames were extinguished—sending a breath upward, engulfing the bees above, rising all the way to the sky.

Even though teleportation is dangerous, that breath cannot be avoided without using teleportation.

It is beyond my evasion capability.

No gap to avoid it—there is no way to dodge.

But as a high-tier technique, the cost is substantial.

In addition to the massive scale of the scorched earth effect covering the wall, Alba’s MP has dropped significantly after using the extreme breath.

To use that breath again, Alba must wait for MP recovery.

What will Alba do next, then?