"I didn't want to use this…." Oscar experienced the liberation brought upon by the Demon Deer Eirin Mantle. It was a truly uplifting sensation as before, in which every fiber of his being cried out in relief. Poking at his antlers for a little, Oscar turned to the queen tarantula. "I'll settle this in two minutes."

The queen tarantula let out a cry, grating on his ears. Its legs skittered rapidly on the web despite its large size and leaped in a frontal rush. Oscar took a step and disappeared to the side, dodging the queen tarantula's bullish charge. The web contracted and stretched from the weight of the queen's body.

But Oscar stood still, completely balanced. He stared with his misty blue eyes and stepped on top of the queen tarantula. His Eirin Lance pierced into the monstrosity. Cracks formed on its white-bone armor from where he thrust his attack. Oscar felt surprised that his lance couldn't fully dig into its back.

"How hard…." Oscar mumbled. His body was surrounded by a rush of wind, finding himself facing sideways as the queen tarantula rotated around to slam Oscar on the web. It was all so sudden, and the speed of its turn was nothing to scoff at. As her hair flickered wildly, Oscar allowed the queen tarantula to continue, clinging onto its back.

He could jump off and escape if he pleased. The queen tarantula's efforts were a waste. When his body was close to the web, Oscar spun, placed one leg on a strand, and breathed in. All of his might flowed into his other foot, kicking the back of the queen.

He hadn't tested how much more powerful he had gotten in this state in terms of pure strength. This battle was an ideal test. To his shock, his kick lifted the queen tarantula away from its descent, opposing the mountain that was its weight. Oscar couldn't help but smile at his remarkable strength.

"I'm not done yet!" Only a minute and forty remained. Oscar knew very well he needed another minute to escape from this place or remain down here with who knows what. The queen tarantula screamed, and it launched itself into the air, bouncing around the walls of the pit.

Oscar's eyes followed the path of the queen, barely able to catch its movements with his Prinstyct until it sped up even more. Feeling a burst of heat behind him, Oscar turned to find several flames approaching to engulf him. "Are you serious? Right now?"

He smacked away the flames, not a bother to his empowered form. Maia somehow freed herself from her prison of webs, breathing heavily. She must have tired herself out after a long battle. Oscar immediately dodged a hammer aiming for his head.

"Are the two of you idiots? What is the meaning of this?" Oscar glanced at Orden. "I would have expected this from someone like Maia, not you, Orden."

"I just wanted to play a joke. But…" Orden glanced up. "That doesn't look like one. She's getting faster with each bounce. For such a large spider, she fights quite unconventionally. Meanwhile, the two of us can't move. Our feet are stuck."

"Heh, a joke? I have to kill the two of you right now." Maia said coldly. "One with the meld and another with some strange form. For the sake of the Undying Flame Sect, I have to make sure you're both buried here. Revenge on Oscar is a nice bonus."

The queen tarantula was still building up speed from above. The walls started to cave in around them, and Oscar winced at Maia's focused expression, with flames sprouting around her like a demoness of fire. Oscar admired her willingness to stay on task and to put her own life on the line for the sake of her faction.

"I'm not interested," Oscar had already wasted enough time with these two and summoned his deer anima. Maia's flames appeared before him, and his skin dried from the heat. He was saved by Orden's hammer, which parted the flames.

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"This bastard!" Maia shouted.

Oscar took advantage of the opening Orden had given him. From atop his deer anima's antlers, he spotted the queen tarantula. Its legs dug deep into the wall and exploded into rubble. A white blur descended upon them like a meteor. Oscar focused all of his strength and launched himself like a catapult from the antlers.

The queen tarantula's eight red eyes gleamed with malice.

His Eirin Lance pierced through the dome of its white-bone helmet, drawing out green blood. Oscar focused. His attack only inconvenienced the monster, and it was still rushing down to the floor with all its might. The force of its descent forced Oscar to hug the queen tarantula, unable to pull himself off. The only option he had was to concentrate on his Eirin.

He drained himself out the last time he used this move against Regis. He believed only fools would do such a thing. He used to be that fool until his master straightened him out. Three-quarters of the Eirin in his body streamed into his lance.

It lacked the fanfare of his usual techniques. The fuss and awe-inspiring noise of power were missing, only a slight pop that he heard from the queen tarantula's head.

"Raaawr!"

A wail unlike any other could be heard from the queen tarantula. As fast as that scream resounded, it was choked out by the gurgling of blood and flesh. The head of the queen tarantula exploded, cracks formed like a jigsaw puzzle on its helmet, and Oscar was covered in its shredded brains and blood.

'Not yet. I still have a few more moments. I need to escape!' Oscar felt his body start to go numb and his vision distorting. His three minutes weren't up, but only so long as he didn't waste the built-up Eirin in his Adamasreis muscles. As he fell, Oscar plotted a path through the rubble.

Quickly he leaped from rock to rock until he reached a hole. He lost control and started to tumble and roll down the hill, and he was very lucky as well. The entire pit started to cave in, and he would have been crushed by rocks.

After a final thud of a large boulder landing who-knows-where, Oscar could only hear his own breathing. The antlers on his head started to fade, and he felt the numbness of a forceful sleep start to overwhelm him. He barely twisted his head to glimpse at the entrance. Rocks had sealed it shut.

"Ah damn. I'll deal with it tomorrow…." Oscar closed his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer.

…….

Suddenly, Demon opened his eyes and tried to move.

"Hmm. The body is too tired for me even to force it to move." Demon's eyes trembled, slowly closing. "Can't keep awake."

…….

Inside his inner world, Oscar laughed at Demon's return.

"You can't do anything, Demon. What were you planning on doing with my body?" Oscar listened to his own voice echoing in the dark.

"To salvage the situation," Demon sat beside the deer anima. "How stupid are you? You have left yourself vulnerable for an entire day. We're dead if anything spots you."

"I know. No need to remind me. It was a gamble, and I can only hope it works out." Oscar frowned. He understood the severity of his actions. "What other choice did I have? Fighting Gail was exhausting, and I couldn't trust the others except for Orden, perhaps. You tell me why I always have to do such things."

"Because you're limited and an idiot. You could have abandoned those two and gone up to escape. You could have played along with Gail and taken the token for yourself. You could have waited for the queen to kill the other two. Yet you stick around and fight. You can't stop yourself from wanting to fight when it's just you and one other."

"I don't need a lecture from you, who fights until my body is torn apart." Oscar couldn't stop his eyes from closing, even in his astral form.

"See? You're too tired." Demon's indifferent voice resounded in Oscar's mind.

Oscar strained to keep awake in his inner world. Demon's accursed figure was the last thing he saw before he fell asleep.

…….

One day later, Oscar awoke, unable to see anything. He twitched his fingers until they clenched into a fist. He sat down from the uncomfortable rocky ground and took a lantern from his space pocket.

"Finally up, lad?" Gol-4 said.

"Gol-4?" Oscar could feel his heart beat frantically. He felt warmth spreading across his body and stood up without an issue. He stared around. There were only rocks and dust. "How come you didn't mention an underground pit?"

"As I said, my knowledge is only up to the extent of thousands of years ago. That's enough time for beasts to start digging underneath, though this was deliberate from the Forest Heart Clan." Gol-4 replied.

"Right," Oscar nodded while walking through the underground complex. He was completely lost.