Frightened, I stepped back slightly and without thinking began to hold the baby close to me, causing him to scream.
"Shit, excuse me, kid!
I loosen my grip, good girl, you need to calm down now, you're just going to end up killing yourself and the baby if you keep this up without thinking, it's clearly not a good idea.
As I try to calm the baby down - because it's going to bother me if I have to run away - I look up and see the spider taking its first step.
I can feel its shadow covering me like a shroud, and every movement it makes with its paws distorts the ground, even causing a rock to explode, like literally, just because it put its paw next to it.
Bloody hell, did I find the most powerful monster in the maze or what? It's the first time I've come across something that makes me feel so small, well, if you don't compare it to dragons.
"System... chance of victory?"
[ With your abilities, your chances are 0%, and even with luck, they'll stay 0%. ]
"Ah, just as I thought."
I back away quite slowly as my legs scream at me to die, but my brain screams louder to run, I know I'm not going to win and I can't even slow her down, or distract her.
Now she doesn't want to play any more, she clearly made a mistake earlier by trying to have fun and it went wrong.
This time, she's analysing me, she knows I'm weaker, but given that I fooled her once, she won't be fooled again, and I notice that her mandibles are spreading.
"Listen to me, boss, I'm not your snack.
But she pounces on me and wastes no time chasing after me, while I try to flee, but my speed must be way behind hers in terms of stats.
I'm disgusted with myself, I can't even fight or fight back, all I can do is run.
Run like a coward, a makeshift mother, a creature burnt from the inside out.
I'm sprinting at full speed, or trying to, after everything that's happened, my legs are giving out, the baby's screaming, my mana's at rock bottom and my lungs are burning like I've been smoking dragon fire.
It's clearly not conducive to victory right now, I've got far too many maluses, and I clearly haven't had time to rest to recover my mana, or just rest at all.
But I can still feel her behind me, and this time she's wasting no time, charging at me no matter what's in her way, forcing me to draw on my last bit of energy.
And then a horrible thought popped into my head as I looked at the baby: what if I threw it away? Yes, if I threw it away, I might be able to survive and find somewhere to rest, and thinking about that I end up grinning like a killer.
But instinctively my body reacts differently and my right hand throws a punch.
What the fuck am I thinking? What happened to me for a few seconds was like my brain switching off and having horrible thoughts.
Is this normal?
As I direct my view ahead of me, I notice something I'd rather not have seen: a massive, heavily armoured creature moving slowly forward.
"For God's sake, don't tell me that's a Guneseven..."
One of those eight-legged tanks, covered in black scales and poison, strong enough to crush a giant bat with a single snap of its mandibles.
A monster that would normally make me tremble.
But here? I've got no choice. It's either an angry spider chasing me or a flaming Guneseven that's going to turn me into a barbecue...
But for some reason that makes me smile - and not with joy, but with sheer madness.
In any case, my choice is already made.
"You're my final anti-boss wall."
I notice he hasn't seen me yet. Beautiful. Just perfect.
So I decide to take the plunge - literally - and slide underneath him, the baby snuggled up to me like a sacred balloon, and I pray to all the gods, goddesses and codes of the System that might exist in this bloody world for it to work.
And it works, goddammit! As I get up and keep running to put some distance between us, I hear a crash and take the risk of turning round.
It's a bad idea. Because what I see of Guneseven... or rather, what's left of him...
A body folded in half in a pool of acid, limbs torn off, and the Arch Taratect... who only stopped to tear the remains apart. And she's looking at me. In the eyes. Like she's thanking me.
"...Oh fuck."
As the chase intensifies and I'm almost at the end of my rope, I suddenly notice a fairly narrow cave I can get into. I try to lose her, so I dive in without thinking.
What I find is a room lit up... but not by mushrooms or mana. No. By a campfire.
Although I'm shocked that there are so many humans in the Labyrinth, I don't stop to think about it. Let's leave it for later. My brain has registered everything.
There are adventurers. Half a dozen or so. They're all sitting around the fire, eating like they're at Burger King.
One of them - a muscular guy in armour, a skewer in his hand - looks at me as I pass.
"...What was that?"
A green-haired girl, sharpening a dagger:
"Was it... a kid? With a baby?"
An old man, obviously the mage of the group, clicks his tongue:
"Another savage. There are plenty of them in the Labyrinth at the moment. She's going to get eaten."
I ignore them completely. I trace. I clearly don't have time to warn them, and anyway, I can't talk to them. I don't even understand their language.
As a creature moves away behind my back - unbeknownst to me - I hear the ground shake, which wakes me up suddenly.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Gried! You're finally awake! There was one of those half-human savages running around with a baby in her arms... she looked like a half-Oni."
I think I heard wrong.
"A half-Oni, you say? Are you sure? These creatures are extremely dangerous, especially since..."
I don't have time to finish my sentence. The cavern begins to shake again. This time it's more violent.
One of the swordsmen stands up:
"Wait a minute. That wasn't normal."
The girl jumps to her feet:
"Was she running away from something?
The old man spits, teeth clenched:
"Damn... that bitch. Just like all her kind.
And then the ceiling explodes.
A wall of shadow rips through the entrance. An immense creature steps forward. Legs, chitinous armour, a myriad of eyes and fangs.
The group's tank screams:
"HOLY SHIT, IT'S AN ARCH TARATECT!"
Shit, he's right. I can see it. It really is an Arch Taratect, as huge and nightmarish as ever.
But no discussion, no time out.
I brandish my sword, which bursts into flame under the effect of the divine aura I've been holding back for too long.
"Defensive formation! Get into position!"
Behind me, I can feel my companions moving. Selina leaps to her right, two archers stand back and Orman, the old mage, is already raising his runic staff.
But I stay in front.
I'm a Preux. This is my duty.
I step forward, one step at a time, while the air vibrates and my armour pulses. My arms ache, but I hold back the pain.
"By the will of the God of the Pact... I forbid you to step forward."
She pauses for a moment, but wastes no time. She charges.
The impact is powerful, but I miraculously block it. My feet leave the ground and I fly five metres before hitting the rock, spitting blood.
I stand up again.
"I won't fall here!
Orman unleashes a torrent of flames and lightning, but the Arch takes it in his stride and wobbles.
Selina charges forward, her dagger splitting the air. She hits an eye, and the creature lets out a scream that tears the room apart as black blood gushes out.
"It could be hurt!" she screams.
But she has no time to back away.
The Arch sends her flying with a swipe of its paw. His dagger melted into his mandibles. Selina rolls to the ground, her arm in tatters.
Just then, I see Mike charge at the spider with his axe. He slips to the ground and cuts off one of its legs.
"Hurry up, guys!"
I reactivate my blessing, and this time my aura shines brighter.
"She's playing with us..." murmurs Orman.
Around me, everyone acts without waiting for orders. We don't need to talk, because we've trained for this kind of nightmare, even if we never imagined that one day it would take the form of a bloody Arch Taratect.
To my left, I see Vayne, who doesn't hesitate to fire arrow after arrow. He's aiming for the joints, the weak points, always precise, always calm, as if the creature in front of him were just another target.
What luck... I wish I had the same calm as him.
On the right, Arla is also firing, but it's a different atmosphere: each arrow explodes on impact, igniting pieces of chitin that break off in black sprays. She laughs half-heartedly, as she always does when things go berserk. She's unstable, but effective.
Up ahead, Mike charges again, his axe cleaving the air with all the rage he's known for. He roars louder than the beast, and his blade cuts into a leg, spurting out viscous rain. He doesn't mind losing an arm, as long as he can stop it.
But this time, the spider was prepared and managed to push him away, propelling him against a wall, knocking him out cold on the spot.
"MIKE!"
"No time, Gried!" shouts Selina at me at the top of her voice.
And she's right. I don't have time to make sure she's safe. We've got to fight.
I look in the direction of Orman... old Orman. He holds his staff in both hands, his forehead covered in sweat, and incants without pause. Symbols glitter in the air, and a barrier rises around Selina, who has risen despite her tattered arm.
In any case, she's limping, but she's coming back. The emergency dagger already at the ready, with a cold, concentrated look in her eyes. Nothing seems to be able to stop her. I've always admired her for that.
The Arch lets out a scream, and I charge at her. I manage to cut off two of her legs before being propelled away, then barely caught by Arla.
"Thank you!"
She prepares to launch an arrow, but doesn't have time to react.
she doesn't have time to talk to me, and shoots.
Mike strikes too. Orman shouts a strengthening spell. Vayne and Arla fire at the same time. Selina goes for it. And I...
As the fight begins to drag on, I see a crack in her opening and swing my sword towards her throat, decapitating her head.
Selina collapses to the ground, screaming:
"Well done, valiant knight!"