Rise of the Blood Weaver - Chapter 63 (Patreon)

The surface area of the crab’s carapace was too wide. Arlo was standing in the middle. To its head, and eyes, was around twenty metres away. There was nowhere to hold onto.

The crab stepped to the side, attacking Elian. Arlo fell, and slid, only managing to stop himself from falling off by hanging onto a crack in the carapace.

Elian threw himself into the side, narrowly avoiding the harrowing snip of the crabs' pincers.

Arlo stumbled to his feet, then ran towards the beast's eyes. As he neared, he used one of his appendages and whipped the eye. Please work. The tip of the tendril cracked against the crab’s eye. It snapped shut. The crab thrashed in pain, sending Arlo careening through the air.

Like a lasso, Arlo latched onto one of the crab’s legs, stopping him from falling off. He regained his footing, and pulled himself back onto its back. He charged again, but the monster crashed itself down the dune.

He was sent tumbling into the air once more. Below him was the crab. But this time, the monster was too far away to latch his appendages onto. Arlo struck the slope of the sand dune, and began rolling. Mid way, he managed to stop himself, using his tendrils like ice picks.

Merc and the others chased the crab.

Light emerged from Merc’s sword as she cleaved into the monster's armour-like legs. A resounding clash of metal rang, but only a scar was the result of the impact.

Fighting on the dunes slope, the fight turned fierce. Justin attempted to attack the crab from underneath with his shadow lances, but they couldn’t pierce the tough armour. It was even thicker below. The entire monster was like a raging tank. Each snip of its pincer was more than capable of killing them. One wrong move would spell their last.

Merc couldn’t leap upward as the sand was draining her immense strength.

Louis chased them, but he kept his distance with gritted teeth. He wanted to help, but there was no possible way. Despite that, he had summoned a machete. It was his Remembrance.

However, it was Elian who was the only one finding success. Each arrow met its target; the crab’s eye. Ten minutes had passed, and the beast’s eyes were like a porcupine's behind; filled with arrows. He grit his teeth, pulled his bow all the way back in hopes of his arrow penetrating far enough into its eye, and loosed the arrow.

It hurtled through the air, swishing. It met its target, despite the crab tumbling down the dune. But the arrow didn’t reach far enough. Elian didn’t have enough strength for the arrow to penetrate far enough.

Merc moved again. She swung her hulking greatsword in a savage arc. She screamed as the blaze across her blade turned wild. Her sword clashed against the crab's legs, sending sparks scattering in the surrounding area. Then her blade continued through as blood splashed the golden sand red.

The crab roared. It thrashed its pincers back with enough speed and force to split open a tank. And it met Merc’s sword.

“Merc!” Arlo shouted as he watched the golden haired woman blast through the air. She rolled against the sand, eventually coming to a stop.

He heard someone scream. Arlo snapped his head back to the crab. Louis bolted toward the monster with his weapon in hand.

You idiot. Eyes widening, Arlo sprinted straight at their enemy. Thankfully, its gaze wasn’t on him. It was looking at Justin as they fought in an intense battle.

Justin expertly dodged every attack as if he was dancing with the shadows.

Louis struck the crab with his machete. It didn’t do anything. The only thing it did do, was attract the ire of the mighty beast. It was about to move.

Arlo looked at Justin. He saw what was happening, but he wasn’t moving. He refused to save him. Arlo grit his teeth and moved as fast as his legs could take him through the soft sand. The beast's pincers moved.

Justin noticed what Arlo was doing, and gritting his teeth, he sprinted in between the crabs legs, narrowly avoiding their weapon-like points, and grabbed hold of Arlo, and Louis. They leapt to the floor.

The crabs' pincers snapped shut. Arlo felt an intense, feverish pain overwhelm his senses. His clothes turned hot. He glanced behind him as a geyser of blood left the stumpy appendage. The crab had chopped half of it off.

Arlo’s mind turned blank. He only felt the sensation of being pulled away. He closed his eyes and focused on the pain that threatened to consume him.

The next time he opened his eyes, Merc was standing next to the crab with her blade halfway through its skull. To her side, was an exact copy of the monster she had just slain. But it was different. Its carapace, no, its entire body was almost translucent.

A Reflection! Someone actually received a Reflection!