Chapter 274: Core Battle

It's just that the Stitched Human Spider now knows the importance of the Crystal, so it constantly extends a few legs, guarding its chest tightly, preventing Ai Rui Li Ya from succeeding.

"Just shooting arrows won't work; we have to cut off those human legs on the Stitched Human Spider!" Ruan Qingtan said anxiously.

"No, we can't get close to the Stitched Human Spider," Ai Rui Li Ya shook her head with a grimace.

"The data we just saw made it clear: this Stitched Human Spider can use dark magic attacks, but so far it hasn't used any, so it's likely to rely on melee attacks."

"Getting close to it is truly too dangerous!"

"So what do we do now?" Ruan Qingtan, seeing Lin Yifan's pale face, was so anxious he almost jumped up.

But at that moment, the Stitched Human Spider, which had never used dark magic attacks, suddenly rose on a few hind legs, exposing its entire abdomen.

And only then did everyone see that on its abdomen, the Stitched Human Spider actually had a woman's face.

It wasn't just a semblance of a woman's face; it was a truly genuine woman's face!

The face looked as if it had been peeled from a human and directly embedded there—vivid, lifelike, and animated.

Even that human face could be called beautiful!

Then the next second, the beautiful face suddenly opened a gaping maw and spewed foul‑smelling black slime.

"Careful, this thing is probably a dark‑attribute spell!" Lin Yifan grabbed Ruan Qingtan and rolled to dodge.

However, the two behind him failed to dodge in time; the slime coated them, instantly rotting flesh and bone, and they screamed as they turned to white skeletons.

"Damn it!" Ai Rui Li Ya quickly nocked a gold‑glinting Arrow, "This is my final anti‑magic Arrow; it must strike the core in one shot!"

Lin Yifan glanced at the monster's frozen, slowed arm and suddenly had an idea: "Give me three seconds!"

He unleashed Rapid Ice Flash, striking the side abruptly, then used Extreme Ice Thrust.

The Extreme Ice Thrust doesn't deal high damage; it's mostly suitable for ambushes!

But the Extreme Ice Thrust has another function: freezing!

As long as this ice spear pierces flesh, Lin Yifan can use it to freeze the target.

He can't freeze the whole body, but freezing a small part is doable.

And at this moment, freezing just a small part is all he needs!

"Swoosh!"

The Extreme Ice Thrust instantly targeted the human hand that was shielding the abdomen of the Stitched Human Spider.

"Seal!"

At the moment the Extreme Ice Thrust hit, Lin Yifan immediately activated Eternal Freeze Field again, using its accompanying ice‑seal power to directly freeze.

In an instant, the extreme cold spread along the ice spear; the few human legs the Stitched Human Spider kept over its chest instantly solidified into thick frost, making its movements stiff and sluggish.

"Now!" Lin Yifan roared, kneeling on one knee, his overuse of ice abilities causing blood to seep from his nostrils.

A golden light sliced through the darkness.

Ai Rui Li Ya's anti‑magic Arrow whistled sharply, piercing precisely through the gaps of the frozen limbs.

The Arrow pierced the abdomen, and at that instant the beautiful face emitted an inhuman screech, black slime gushing out of its seven orifices like a fountain.

The Crystal showed cracks within the slime, and the spider's body began to convulse violently.

"Not enough!" Ruan Qingtan suddenly swung her waist‑sheathed soft sword. The blade, wrapped in teal wind blades, traced a spiral in the air, cleaving the falling Crystal mid‑air.

Black blood rained down from the sky.

The stitched limbs suddenly began to tear each other apart, and the beautiful face melted amid its screams.

When the last Crystal fragment dimmed, the massive spider body collapsed with a roar, turning into a mass of writhing remnants on the ground.

"Cough…" Lin Yifan wiped the blood from his face, then suddenly noticed the remnants seeping into the ground, "Careful! This thing isn't dead yet!"

The entire cavern trembled; the flesh on the rock walls, having lost the freezing power, began to churn again, sprouting strand after strand of meat that grew wildly, soon weaving into a massive meat‑strand web.

At the center of the web, dozens of newly formed arms slick with slime rose from the ground, each palm bearing an open yellow eye.

"That core‑less thing was a fake!" Li Yifan said with a grimace.

"So the real core was underground. Damn, we were all deceived..." Ai Rui Li Ya also realized the deception, trembling as she reached for her quiver, only to find it completely empty.

She hadn't noticed that a spider‑web‑like black pattern had suddenly appeared on the back of her hand.

Ruan Qingtan's dagger in her hand let out a mournful wail at this moment, its blade suddenly covered with black, vein‑like threads.

But she felt nothing at all!

Lin Yifan's ice blade coalesced in his palm and then shattered.

From the deepest shadow came a sticky, clacking sound of stitching.

A new monster was reassembling—those arms twisted and coiled, intertwining like countless giant serpents, gradually forming an even more grotesque and terrifying body.

Dozens of yellow eyes opened in the darkness, staring fixedly at the three, their pupils reflecting the trio's pallid faces.

"Run!" Lin Yifan growled through clenched teeth, grabbing Ruan Qingtan and Ai Rui Li Ya, and activated Rapid Ice Flash again, thrusting the three backward.

However, just a few steps back, the ground cracked open, and countless black threads, moving like living things, coiled up, instantly binding their ankles.

Ai Rui Li Ya let out a muffled hum, the black pattern on the back of her hand spreading rapidly, her entire arm beginning to twitch uncontrollably.

"It's corroding my body!" Ruan Qingtan struggled, swinging her sword to cut the threads, but the severed black strands regenerated instantly, without pause.

Lin Yifan's gaze hardened; he slammed a palm onto the ground, and the Eternal Freeze Field erupted again!

"Crack!"

The extreme cold instantly froze the black threads beneath his feet, but in a heartbeat the ice layer was shattered by a new wave of darkness.

The monster's body was nearly formed—a massive flesh mass of countless arms and eyes, its center split open into a huge mouth lined with sharp teeth, emitting a shrill, mocking laugh.

"Useless... you can't escape..."

A deep female voice echoed from all directions, as if drilling straight into their minds.

Cold sweat beaded on Lin Yifan's forehead; his intellect was nearly exhausted, his mind about to explode, yet he could only press on stubbornly.

Ai Rui Li Ya half‑kneeling on the ground, pressed tightly on her blackening arm, her whole body trembling in pain.

And the weapon in Ruan Qingtan's hand had already been completely corroded by the black threads, fragmenting inch by inch.

The others were likewise in a dire predicament; in an instant, everyone was on the brink of despair.

However, just as despair began to spread.

"Boom!!"

A blazing fireball descended from the heavens, instantly incinerating the black threads that had entangled the three.

"This is not a place you should be in!"

A cold, merciless voice came from above.

The three snapped their heads upward, and saw a slender figure standing on the cliff wall, crimson flames dancing at its fingertips.

A silver mask covered its face!

It was! Yin Mian, who had arrived before they did,