Chapter 113 THE SILK RAIN AND THE SHOT THAT SPLIT THE NIGHT

Three seconds after the warning left my mouth, Arachne vanished.

Not literally vanished. Those eight glossy black legs bent, stamped the swamp water once, and then that round body with its human waist shot upward at a speed absurd for a creature that size. One second she was standing in the middle of the pool. The next, her silhouette was hanging among the silk curtains of the canopy, thirty meters above our heads, with only a pair of pale white eyes glowing behind the web.

[Phase 2 Begins: Weaver’s Canopy.]

Rain fell.

Not water. Thousands of thin threads glowing yellowish green drifted down from the canopy like silk snow, and the moment they touched the ground or a player’s body, they hardened into sticky coils that held movement back.

[Silk Rain: Movement -60%. Poison stacks every 2 seconds.]

"Ugh!" Yuna was ensnared up to the knees, her great shield pinned beneath a layer of hardened silk. "This is disgusting!"

"Alya, burn the ones stuck to the ground! Lumina, Purify without pause!"

Alya’s three tails ignited, and blue Foxfire swept the arena floor in one wide circle. The smell of burning silk filled the air. The coils around Yuna’s legs melted, and our formation could move again, though each step felt like walking through thick mud.

I used the pause to do something I’d been waiting for since the first phase: observe.

My gaze rose to the canopy, and for the first time I was grateful for the system’s decision. Arachne’s silk net did cover most of the sky, but in several gaps, moonlight still pierced through like thin silver pillars. And within each of those pillars of light, the Moonlit Sight passive on my Moon Bow worked perfectly.

My sight range, formerly forty meters, leapt to fifty-two. The mist that had blurred the canopy seemed to thin before my eyes. I could see the shadows of Arachne’s eight legs gripping knots in the web, four large knots arranged in a circle above the arena. Each knot pulsed faintly with green light.

"Four anchor points," I murmured. "She’s hanging there, and it looks like those webs support her body."

"Anchors?" Lumina repeated.

"If the anchors are burned, she loses her footing and is forced to come down." I glanced at Alya. "How long would it take you to reach those points?"

"I need a high foothold," Alya squinted toward the mangrove roots around the arena. "If Flora can arrange a root path up to fifteen meters, I can jump from there."

"I can," Flora answered in a steady tone, though her pink petals were still slightly wilted from the Venom Mist. "Give me ten seconds."

"Mira, Blood Sense. Where is she now?"

The red glow swept the sky. "Thirty meters up, moving north. Five... six... seven meters per second."

"Good. Report every three seconds. Yuna, hold your position. If she comes down, she’ll go for you first."

Yuna nodded, then raised her cracked shield and looked upward like a soldier who already understood how long this night would be.

The first Silk Needle from above fell two seconds later.

Those sharp silk arrows streaked down diagonally, diving toward Lumina, who was casting Heal. Mira darted in and pulled her by the collar of her robe two seconds before the threads stabbed into the ground where she’d stood, creating a row of holes in the mud.

"Twelve seconds!" I called, recalling the pattern I’d memorized. "Every twelve seconds! Whoever’s targeted, move right when she raises her hand!"

All the old attack patterns still applied, but now they came from above and were far harder to predict. Alya leapt three times in a row over the roots Flora arranged, moving like blue fire dancing between tree shadows. Each leap brought her closer to the first anchor knot.

"Ten meters!" Flora called from the ground. "Five... three..."

"Now!"

Alya launched from the tip of the highest root, and her three tails swung in unison. Three pillars of Foxfire struck the first anchor knot, and the threads supporting it immediately caught fire with a loud crackle.

[Anchor 1/4 Destroyed.]

[Arachne Hindered: Web Stability -25%.]

Arachne shrieked in rage from above. One leg slashed toward Alya, who was still in the air. The white fox twisted mid-leap, her third tail slammed against the nearest mangrove trunk as a brace, and she survived by the width of a single hair from the spear tip of that spider’s leg.

"Ah!" Alya landed on the ground and rolled. "That was close!"

"One more!" I called.

Two knots. Three knots. I fired standard arrows at each remaining knot, not to damage but to pressure and pull Arachne’s attention away from Alya. Each arrow landed precisely between threads, producing silver sparks that made the boss growl.

[Anchor 2/4 Destroyed.]

[Anchor 3/4 Destroyed.]

[Arachne HP: 66%]

"One more, Sis!" Alya panted. "I have to climb again!"

I stared at the last knot pulsing green, and at that moment, an idea that had been rolling around my head for a long time finally found its place.

"Alya," I said quietly, "don’t burn the last one."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I need her to fall at exactly the right moment. You’ll burn it when I give the signal. For now, back off and catch your breath."

I lowered the Moon Bow halfway. It was time to use my signature move, and everyone here knew exactly what that meant.

I opened my skill window and shared a summary of the rotation through Party Share, just to make sure no detail was missed, because this sequence wasn’t new to anyone here.

Syl’s Attack Rotation (Combo Chain)

Focus (Passive): Aim motionless for 2 seconds. Accuracy 100%, Crit +30%, Weak Point Finder. Lethal Shot: Crit Damage +150% on weak points. Ignores 20% armor. Bleeding effect. Charged Shot: Full draw for 3 seconds. Damage: 300%. Knockback. Piercing Gale Arrow: Wind arrow that pierces, ignoring physical resistance. Incantation Compression: Casting time -15%.

"That one-shot move again," Yuna grinned faintly. "But this time the target is a Lv 50 boss."

"Same move," I answered. "Focus finds the weak point. Lethal Shot doubles its effect. Charged Shot gathers power, and during those three seconds of draw I chant Piercing Gale Arrow into the arrow. The difference is that the target is much bigger and the stakes are too."

"Five and a half seconds with spell compression, as usual," said Lumina, glancing at her notes. "But usually the target can’t shoot back."

"That’s the problem," I answered. "For those five and a half seconds, I can’t move a single inch."

A brief silence.

"With one hundred twenty HP," Mira whispered softly.

"That’s why I need you."

I laid out the plan. First, Mira would wrap me in Blood Veil so Arachne’s vision would lose its target for five seconds. Second, Yuna had to ignite Provoke exactly when I began drawing the bowstring. Third, Flora would plant a root wall in front of me as a barrier against Silk Needles. Fourth, Lumina would prepare a backup Barrier. And lastly, Alya would burn the final anchor knot exactly one second before I released the shot.

"When Arachne falls, she’ll enter a staggered state," I said. "About six seconds. That’s enough time for me to shoot."

"And if it fails?" Yuna asked bluntly.

"If it fails," I answered, "we try again. As long as no one dies, no one loses anything."

No one smiled. But no one objected either.

The first attempt failed.

I began drawing the bowstring, and on the second second, when Focus ignited and the world around me contracted into a single point of light in the gap of Arachne’s belly, a Silk Needle shot from the canopy in a direction I hadn’t anticipated.

"Syl, left!" Mira shouted.

I pierced the Blood Veil with my eyes, and only then realized Arachne was reading our pattern. Instead of attacking Yuna, who was under Provoke, she fired five threads at once at a single point: exactly where I stood.

Flora planted her roots half a second late. The green wall appeared and absorbed three threads, but the other two broke through and nearly grazed my shoulder. I activated Wind Walk a fraction of a second before the threads stabbed in, canceling the entire rotation.

[Combo Chain Canceled.]

I landed in the mud gasping, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my ears.

"Sorry!" Flora sounded close to tears. "I was late!"

"It’s not your fault," I answered, steadying my breath. "She reads patterns. The system adjusts targets based on the highest threat, not taunt."

"Do we try again?" asked Yuna.

"We try again, with changes." I thought quickly. "Yuna, activate Dragon Scale Guard when I start drawing the bowstring. That will be the first bait. Mira, a wider Blood Veil, cover both of us. And Flora, plant your anchor roots earlier, two seconds before I start."

"Two seconds before," Flora repeated, drawing a breath.

"And I’ll move to a position she can’t read." I pointed to the east side of the arena, where three large mangrove roots gathered to form a dark shadow. "There."

Mira looked at me with a furrowed brow. "Won’t you be visible from above?"

"That’s the point."

I ran to that spot with Wind Walk, slipped between the root shadows, and crouched at the darkest point. Mira followed, wrapping me in a thin red haze. From there I could see the entire arena at once, but from above, I would look like just one piece of shadow among others.

"Begin."

Ting!

[Yuna: Dragon Scale Guard Active.]

Golden light wrapped Yuna, and all of Arachne’s attention was drawn toward her. Silk threads struck the shield again and again, scattering echoing metallic clangs.

I drew the bowstring.

[Focus Active.]

The world narrowed. The sounds of battle receded as if carried off by the wind. My gaze locked on one point: the junction between Arachne’s female torso and spider abdomen, now clearly exposed because she hung by one raised hand. Two seconds. Enough for Focus to mark the fragile point with a faint silver circle visible only to me.

[Weak Point Detected.]

[Lethal Shot Active.]

My arrow glowed dark red, and my body felt a strange cold vibration, as if the entire weight of my bow had suddenly multiplied several times.

[Charged Shot: 1... 2...]

In that same second, I began to chant.

My lips moved silently, weaving wind magic into the arrow’s tip. With Incantation Compression, a spell that normally took four seconds now finished in three and a half. Wind swirled around the bow’s curve, thin as silver thread wrapped around the limbs. I felt my MP flowing out in a torrent, eighteen hundred points drained in a single breath.

"Alya!" I called softly from beneath the Blood Veil. "Now!"

"Not waiting anymore!"

Alya leapt from the highest root, her tails blazing bright blue, and the final Foxfire struck the fourth anchor knot just as Arachne raised her hand to throw a web at Yuna.

[Anchor 4/4 Destroyed.]

[Arachne Lost Her Footing! Status: Staggered (6 Seconds).]

The last silk thread snapped. Arachne’s body plunged from the canopy with a shriek that shook the entire swamp. Her eight legs grasped at empty air, and her impact on the water surface created a wave of mud two meters high.

I didn’t turn. My eyes were fixed on one silver point on the boss’s chest.

[Charged Shot: 3.]

[Piercing Gale Arrow: Ready.]

And I released the string.

BOOM!

My arrow no longer looked like an arrow. It became a spiral of silver wind tearing through the mist, splitting the air with a sound that came before the report of a cannon, then lodging precisely in Arachne’s weak point. A burst of white light radiated from the point of impact, and the entire swamp seemed to hold its breath.

[COMBO CHAIN COMPLETE!]

[Weak Point Hit! Critical! Armor Ignore 20%! Wind Piercing!]

[214,900 Damage!]

[Bleeding: Arachne takes 2% HP per second for 6 seconds.]

[Knockback: Arachne thrown back 8 meters!]

Everyone fell silent.

Arachne was hurled through the mangrove trees like a doll, slammed into the black trunks, and lay tilted with her eight legs clawing at the air. Her HP bar, which had been at sixty-six percent, flickered and dropped in one straight line.

[Arachne HP: 59%]

"Two hundred fourteen thousand," Yuna whistled softly. "I’ve seen it many times, but it still gives me chills."

"Twenty normal attacks," Lumina added, shaking her head. "And that’s already after the level-difference penalty."

"It’s not over!" I cut in, my breath still ragged from the sudden MP drain. "She’s still staggered! Everyone attack now!"

The final assault began. Yuna slammed her shield into Arachne’s legs with all her strength, Alya released three pillars of Foxfire at her face, Flora ensnared her legs with roots, and Mira leapt out of Blood Veil to stab the joint in her back with Crimson Needle twice.

[Arachne HP: 54%... 51%... 48%...]

I lowered my bow and leaned against a mangrove trunk, steadying my breath. My MP was down to four thousand two hundred. One more rotation was still possible, and maybe three if I used my homemade MP potions.

But not now.

"Don’t burn through it too fast," I whispered to myself. "Save it for the next phase."

Those six seconds of stagger ended faster than I wanted.

Arachne rose with a horrifying roar, one leg broken and bent, and new silk writhed from her belly to reconnect the web above. Her white eyes turned blazing red one by one, and the hatred in her gaze, piercing straight into my bones, made me shiver.

"That light..." she hissed, her voice hoarse and full of rage. "I recognize that scent. The scent of the moon. The scent of the woman who locked the door of my house..."

I narrowed my eyes. The last part of her sentence made no sense to anyone listening, but I felt something pinch faintly at the back of my head. The scent of the moon? The woman who locked the door? Did that mean the system was dropping hidden lore in the middle of the fight?

"Focus!" shouted Yuna. "She’s going up again!"

The second attack came fast. Arachne leapt back into the canopy on her three healthy legs, spewing a thicker new silk rain, and released five Silk Needles at once toward the most crowded group: Lumina, Flora, and me.

"Barrier!" Lumina cast quickly. A wall of white light pulsed before us, absorbing three threads, but the other two broke through and struck Flora’s roots.

[Flora: -1,400 HP]

"I’m... fine!" Flora cried, her petals trembling with pain. "Keep going!"

Mira ignited Blood Veil again. Alya leapt from root to root. Yuna slammed her shield while continuing to draw the boss’s attention away from the rear line. For almost three minutes, we held on in the same rhythm: dodge, burn, bait, shoot.

Until finally, just as Mira’s Bloodlust touched twelve percent and Lumina’s MP fell to fifteen percent, I opened my inventory and took out two bottles of my own homemade MP potions.

"Lumina," I said, tossing one bottle. "Drink. It’ll restore forty percent of your MP."

Lumina caught it and drained it in one gulp. The white glow on her staff immediately strengthened, and a thin smile appeared. "Your potions always taste like medicine, Sis."

"Because they are medicine."

The second bottle I drank myself. My MP rose back to five thousand eight hundred, enough for two Combo Chain rotations.

I turned, looked at the green-glittering canopy above us, then at the boss’s HP bar, which now read forty-three percent.

[Arachne HP: 43%]

"One more time," I whispered. "One more rotation, and this phase is done."

The second rotation ran smoother than the first, probably because we had memorized all the patterns.

I returned to the root shadows, and Mira wrapped me in Blood Veil. Yuna ignited Dragon Scale Guard. Flora planted her roots two seconds early. Alya burned the anchor just as my hand drew the bowstring fully.

Ting!

[Focus.]

[Lethal Shot.]

[Charged Shot: 3.]

[Piercing Gale Arrow: Ready.]

The second arrow shot out in a spiral of silver wind, pierced the canopy that had formed a thick silk shield, and lodged precisely in Arachne’s heart.

[COMBO CHAIN COMPLETE!]

[198,400 Damage!]

[Arachne HP: 36%]

It wasn’t only that number that made me exhale in relief. The boss’s HP bar had dropped to the threshold I’d been waiting for. A thin pale-purple line at the side of the bar, which had never been clearly legible from the start, now blinked slowly.

[Warning: Arachne Entering Phase 3 Threshold at 35% HP.]

Arachne raised her head, and her three pairs of eyes opened in unison. Blazing red light at each pair, one by one, faded to white, then returned to red. Her voice echoed from the entire canopy, deep and cold and full of rage.

"Enough."

That single word was enough to make the whole swamp hold its breath.

I lowered the Moon Bow with hands that had begun to tremble faintly, not from fear, but because I knew what was coming next. The fight had only just passed its midpoint. And just one percent below the threshold, something far bigger was waiting to wake.