Extra Chapter (For Completing 900 Power Stones.)
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Meanwhile, back in the Elroe Labyrinth...
Two monsters were locked in a standoff. Earth Dragon Araba had achieved an overwhelming victory. Kumoko, both her eyes burst, half her body obliterated by dragon breath, had lost all mobility.
Her HP and MP were both completely bottomed out. Although she hated to admit it, she had truly reached her limit. A single momentary mistake, and she had lost to Earth Dragon Araba.
"Am I... going to die?"
"I don't want to! I really don't want to!"
"If only I had dodged that one attack! I still had a chance! Just because I couldn't dodge that one hit!"
Kumoko felt miserable. She had sworn to protect Elliot, but in reality, she couldn't even protect herself. She said she wanted to become strong, but in truth, she was still so weak and helpless.
"Hmph—" Before her, Earth Dragon Araba's eyes held a trace of pity and respect.
He hadn't expected this little spider to refuse to beg for mercy even at death's door, instead choosing to sacrifice another eye to deal him another chunk of damage.
Not bad! For such a creature, he was willing to offer his highest respect by sending her to her death!
He raised his claw, about to finish Kumoko off, when suddenly, his soul felt a tremor... and fear!
Araba looked towards a certain direction. Strangely, even though there was nothing there, an overwhelming sense of dread washed over him, growing stronger by the second.
What's going on? As an Earth Dragon, he was supposed to be a symbol of nobility and power.
Not even the Queen Taratect should make him feel such fear. But this inexplicable feeling was real, gripping his heart, making him extremely uncomfortable.
His feet instinctively took a step back. But retreating was useless; he felt as if he was locked onto by some immensely powerful being.
The muscles in his legs tensed, his claws digging into the earth, ready to spring at any moment. This was the first time since his birth that the Earth Dragon had ever felt such a sensation.
However, he wouldn't just wait to be killed. As an Earth Dragon, he possessed a noble soul and an unyielding spirit.
Even if his opponent was terrifyingly strong, it only served to further ignite the battle lust inherent in his dragon blood!
With a roar like a thunderclap, a faint, earthy-yellow light seeped from between Earth Dragon Araba's scales, flashing for an instant, like a god peeking through the clouds.
His tree-trunk-thick dragon claws slammed down, pulverizing a nearby boulder into dust.
The fragments became whistling stone projectiles, shooting towards the direction that filled him with dread.
This was an Earth Dragon. When faced with danger, they never retreated; they attacked! What terrifying power! In that instant, the Earth Dragon transformed into a long-range catapult, a siege engine.
Countless stone fragments shrieked through the air at high speed, anything in their path instantly shattered, an unstoppable storm of rock impacting that one direction.
Only a series of dull rumbles could be heard as dust and smoke filled that area. Anyone caught in that hailstorm of rock would have been instantly pulverized, their limbs torn asunder.
And yet... nothing. Following the anime rule of "if there's smoke, there's no permanent damage," Earth Dragon Araba could still feel the immense pressure from the figure within the dust cloud.
"What... what's happening?" Kumoko, barely able to move, wondered. She had thought she was dead for sure.
Under the Earth Dragon's attack, she expected to become a puddle of goo. But unexpectedly, Araba had suddenly sensed something, abandoned her, and focused all his attention elsewhere.
And through her heightened senses, 'seeing' Araba's terrified, on-edge posture, Kumoko was deeply puzzled. In the entire Elroe Labyrinth, wasn't the Earth Dragon the undisputed overlord?
Araba was a peak Level 31 monster! Besides the Queen Taratect, no one else in the labyrinth should be his match. He's actually... scared? Unbelievable!
Although Kumoko had lost her eyes, she had enhanced her other senses. The benefit was that even without sight, she could use her hearing to paint a picture of her surroundings, similar to how bats use echolocation.
Through enhanced hearing, she could pick up subtle changes in sound waves.
For example, she could 'hear' a worm slowly moving beneath the earth, the vibrations of its antennae creating sound waves her hearing could capture.
Kumoko heard the Earth Dragon's heart pounding powerfully, his blood rushing like a boiling river through his veins a state he hadn't been in even when fighting her.
"The monster Araba is afraid of... what could it be?" With her vision gone, her hearing became even sharper.
She, too, sensed the great terror emanating from the direction Araba was wary of.
Just a slight mental probe in that direction sent shivers down her spine.
"No way, this is too unlucky! First Araba, and now something even scarier than Araba?"
"If that thing kills Araba, I'm next, right...?" Kumoko couldn't help but tremble. But then again, it wasn't like things could get much worse. Even if this new threat hadn't appeared, Araba was about to kill her anyway. It couldn't get any worse...
Her senses began to blur; the side effects of the [Corrosion Evil Eye] were kicking in. This Evil Eye also had another name: [Death Evil Eye].
It could ignore resistances and deal massive damage directly to Araba. But the backlash was also immense.
The first use caused an unbearable headache. A second use, for someone with a weaker soul, might cause them to faint directly. That she had held on this long was already remarkable.
In the last moments before her consciousness faded, she thought she heard Elliot's voice...
"I'm back."
Was it... an illusion? She'd heard that people about to die often saw their life flash before their eyes. Maybe she was close to death now. But... to hear Elliot's voice at the very end... she could die with no regrets.
As Kumoko finally succumbed to unconsciousness, a faint smile touched her lips.
BOOM—
A massive explosion suddenly erupted! The violent shockwave jolted the nearly unconscious little spider awake.
"Wh-What happened?!" In Kumoko's senses, the overwhelmingly powerful Earth Dragon Araba was sent flying backwards without warning, his massive body crashing hard into a huge crater, unable to even get up.
And opposite the downed Earth Dragon... stood a human. No... not a human. A humanoid being, but definitely not human. His aura... Kumoko knew it very well.
"Elliot!" Kumoko, who had been groggy and disoriented, instantly became wide awake.
Yes! This humanoid being was her old friend, the Earth Dragon, Elliot! He was back! He really was back!
That familiar aura, there was no mistaking it! It had to be him! Even though he was in human form now, Kumoko would never mistake him. This was Elliot.
But as excitement surged through her, she suddenly realized blood was gushing from her wounds. The agitation had torn them open even further.
Her HP dropped to critical again. Good thing she had Perseverance locking her health, or she might have been the first spider to die from overexcitement.
Elliot's expression was calm, almost detached; obtaining the Gnosis had tempered his emotions significantly.
But his eyes still held a soft light. His gaze towards Kumoko was gentle and peaceful. Even sages have human aspects; gods are no exception.
"I'm back," he said softly.
Looking at the little spider, grievously wounded and near fainting, a flicker of anger ignited in Elliot's eyes.
Gods generally didn't get angry. But when they did, it was divine wrath, a heavenly punishment meant to sweep away all injustice in the world.
He raised his hands. Endless profound light gathered, coalescing in the air into a divine sword.
The Dendro Archon may have perished, but his essence became the land, his blood nourished every plant, every flower, every tree.
His death brought new life to Teyvat. This didn't mean the Dendro Archon was weak.
The moment this divine sword appeared, the vegetation throughout the Elroe Labyrinth seemed to burst with vitality.
A hazy, moon-like verdant power flowed from them, converging onto the blade. What should have been a power of life and prosperity was now tinged with specks of crimson, like drifting blood.
Divine light stained with blood signified divine wrath.
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Extra Chapter on every 300 power stones.
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