While Raven was making his plans, the symbiote disappeared from his sight once again. If he had no instincts and relied solely on his speed, this battle would have ended in the blink of an eye. Raven jumped up once more and climbed onto a tree branch. Extending the symbiote arm behind him into a massive web, it hurled it toward the spot where Raven had been standing before jumping. As the attack missed, Raven hurled another stone with all his strength. As before, the symbiote retracted its web-like arm back into its defensive form to block the stone.
If even a single stone had hit while it was in attack mode, it could have dealt enough damage to slow it down, as the closer the shell was to the core—the host—the more vulnerable it would be. The hardness of the shell was also a major factor, but it didn’t seem to be an incredibly large or powerful symbiote. Based on this idea, Raven concluded it couldn’t even be a two-star symbiote.
While Raven was considering how to defeat it before it could return to its defensive form, he noticed the tree he was standing on shaking. Looking down, only one thought crossed his mind: “Shit.” The symbiote had loaded nearly all of its biomass into two arms and was trying to uproot the pine tree Raven was on. Such a feat was impossible for a human, as it would require at least 10 tons of lifting force.
As the sounds of the tree’s roots stretching filled the air, Raven cleared his mind and began to think rationally. Until now, the symbiote had never concentrated its biomass in one place like this. A single stone thrown at this moment could be lethal. Balancing himself on the swaying tree, he prepared to throw the stone. But something felt strange. Even though he could feel the symbiote pulling the tree, it wasn’t managing to uproot it any further. Why was it still pulling?
Pushing aside the minor details, Raven prepared to throw the stone. But the last thing he saw before throwing was a third arm emerging from the symbiote’s body. The symbiote pulled Raven toward itself, and it was over. The symbiote had lured him into a trap, knowing exactly what he would try.
It was completely impossible for a one-star symbiote to fully uproot a 10-ton tree. All it had to do was wait for Raven to focus all his attention on throwing the stone, leaving his already exhausted mind unable to concentrate on escaping. When the symbiote pinned Raven down, his escape was no longer possible. The hand that could almost uproot a tree certainly wouldn’t fail to hold Raven.
Previously, Miles had saved him, but now, it would take at least 10 minutes for Miles to wake up. It was all over. He hadn’t even been able to stall the symbiote long enough. After consuming him, it could head straight for Miles’s sleeping body and devour him as well.
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No matter what, Raven found some comfort in knowing that he had fought to the limits of his body and wouldn’t die with regret. After running for over half an hour with the speed spell and carrying Miles through the forest for hours, his body was wrecked. On top of that, he had to fight the symbiote twice in a row. If he had been more cautious, he might have avoided the symbiote’s third arm, but his body and instincts were too exhausted to notice anything. Raven consoled himself after losing to a one-star symbiote.
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Meanwhile, at the Hunter Manor...
“They should have used the crystals I gave them to return by now, Eryndor,” Edward said nervously, sniffing the wine in his glass.
“If it troubles you this much, I can send one of our mages, Lord Edward,” said a tall, thin man with a long beard wearing a blue robe. This was Eryndor, the chief mage of the Hunter family. Chief mages were individuals who fought alongside the emperors of families in wars and trained the family’s promising young mages.
Edward finished the last sip of his wine, stood up, and took his oversized coat, clearly belonging to a noble, from the armrest of his chair. “I will go myself.”
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Meanwhile, Miles had woken up.
He was in a dark, cold, and unsettling place. There were owl sounds, but he had a vague idea of what was going on. Despite having no energy, he staggered to his feet and began walking, holding onto trees with every step. “Please, be okay,” he muttered as he stumbled toward the source of mana he sensed.
Even though he didn’t have the energy to open his eyes properly, Miles was almost running, trying to save Raven’s life. His brain kept shifting between shutting down and staying awake, causing him to frequently lose track of where the mana was coming from. He tripped many times and was practically sleepwalking.
After minutes of walking, he finally reached the source of mana. Normally, he should have woken up half an hour later, meaning his brain didn’t even have the energy to dream. He was witnessing the final moments of the battle. Raven, due to his exhaustion, had made a simple mistake and lost himself. He was now at death’s door.
Miles approached and, as Raven fully accepted his death, saw Miles, barely able to stand. Using his hands for support, Miles took his final steps and grabbed the symbiote’s leg.
“YOU IDIOT! I LEFT YOU THERE SO YOU COULD ESCAPE! YOU RUINED MY ENTIRE PLAN!” Raven shouted.
The symbiote, understanding human language and amused that its next meal had come to it, began laughing.
“Everyone has their own plan, buddy. If we’re going to die, we’ll die together,” Miles said in a shaky, exhausted voice. He began laughing as well.
At that moment, the last shred of comfort Raven had—his ability to console himself—vanished before his eyes. Now, both he and Miles were going to die.