Auren holds tightly onto Eternity, watching dozens of grenades and rockets fly past and above him, arcing toward the horde of approaching spiders.
“This is so fun!” he hears Vanessa yelling behind him, before laughing crazily. “Hahahaha.”
A fraction of a second later, Auren shields his eyes with his left arm as countless fiery explosions erupt ahead, creating such violent noise that even his ears ring.
The battlefield in front of Auren and the soldiers is instantly cloaked in thick smoke and dust.
That’s dangerous... if we can’t see them... I can use En, but the soldiers can’t.
Auren grips Eternity harder, draws a little Aura from it, the Aura it has absorbed from the spiders, and stretches out his left palm.
After gathering as much Aura as he can, he pushes it forward using Emission. He isn’t trying to deal damage—he targets a wide area, as his only goal is to clear the smoke and restore visibility for the others.
A strong blast of Aura surges out, like a brutal gust of wind, pushing the smoke and flas away and clearing the battlefield.
Auren sees a mountain of corpses, but also quite a few unhard spiders, and many more that are only slightly hurt. So of them have used the bodies of their comrades as shields, crawling out from behind the pile in a frenzy.
“It isn’t over!” Commander Kieran yells.
“Vanessa, you wanted to show off. As long as you remain calm, this might be your chance,” Auren says, already rushing forward.
“Hehe!” Vanessa laughs, following after him. “Leave it to !”
Behind him, he hears her yell, despite it serving no purpose whatsoever, “teor Fist... barrage!” As her Aura spikes, she punches multiple tis in front of her.
A few seconds later, multiple mid-sized Nen teors appear in the sky.
Auren takes note of their trajectory and position and calmly approaches the first spider, using Limitless Waters and Shu to extend and enlarge Eternity’s edge and reach.
With a swift slash, he cuts it in half and keeps moving.
Slashing low and fast, killing every moving spider in front of him regardless of size, Auren clears a path through the swarm. Then the teors finally land further ahead and detonate in heavy bursts, stronger than the grenades the soldiers used, evaporating spiders that have absolutely no protection against Aura-based attacks.
As Auren continues to cut them down, the soldiers also press forward, desperately trying to fight back against the remaining hordes of spiders, firing in bursts and stabbing anything that gets too close.
While Auren slaughters through the centre, he sees Eren and Neffi join him, filling the empty space to his left and right.
Both have activated their Hatsu and are fighting almost like twins. Neffi’s scarves spin around her, cleaving any spider within range, while Eren’s two tentacle-arms sprouting from his back pierce into nearby spiders, then whirl and spin in tight arcs to defend him, swiftly switching from offence to defence whenever sothing jumps at him.
Slowly but surely, Auren, Neffi, and Eren lead the charge and cleave through countless spiders. Vanessa backs them up with her rifle as best as she can, picking targets that slip through gaps or try to flank them. Little by little, every last spider in the centre is decimated.
Auren, however, does not rush ahead. He sees that their sides, where the main group is stretched and where the three of them are not positioned, are struggling.
Despite the soldiers doing their best, especially the Nen users among them, who not only carry rifles but also a range of other unique weapons, Auren sees one man get overwheld. A spider pierces his chest with its legs, then bites into him and kills him before anyone can save him.
“Take the sides! Eren, Neffi, you take the right. Vanessa, back them up!” Auren orders, before rushing to the left.
Imdiately, Auren runs to the nearest spider and jumps onto its back, stabbing Eternity deep into its head before moving toward the next target.
Feeling Eternity grow stronger with every kill, Auren suddenly slips into a trance.
With every movent, he feels stronger, steadier, more comfortable in his own skin, Eternity beginning to feel like it’s part of his body.
With absolutely no fear, he charges toward five giant spiders, their movents looking almost slow, as if the world around him can’t keep up. He dodges their stabs, bites, and even one that tries to pounce on him easily, and prepares his counter.
With five clean slashes, Auren cuts through each one. Their bodies can’t put up any resistance at all, Eternity in turn absorbing more and more Aura.
This... felt right.
Slowly but surely, the Hollow Blade mbers finish exterminating the spiders. The flathrowers remain highly effective, especially against the smaller ones that try to slip through gaps and are closer to the ground.
It takes only five minutes until the battle is over and everyone regroups, breathing hard and scanning the area.
“Commander,” Auren says, approaching Kieran. “How many casualties?”
“Seven dead, ten injured, one of them critical,” Kieran replies. “We’re still counting, though.”
“Bring the one in critical condition,” Auren orders instantly. “Evacuate the rest right now.”
A few seconds later, a heavily wounded man is brought forward, his stomach bleeding badly, his face already pale.
Auren grabs him and carries him away, and without Auren needing to say a word, Vanessa, Leira, Neffi, and Eren step in front of him, forming a wall, giving him so privacy.
Relying on the massive Aura stored inside Eternity, Auren activates Azure Restoration, coloring the dark forest in his familiar Azure light.
Twenty seconds later, the man’s stomach injury closes rapidly. Auren stops early, choosing to conserve not only his own Aura, but the Aura inside Eternity as well.
That’s enough... he’s out of danger.
Auren carries him back toward the soldiers. “Evacuate him, too. He’s stable.”
“Thank you, Vice-Leader!” one man yells, relief clear in his voice as he helps the injured man stand and escorts him away.
“We need to move on, Commander,” Auren says, turning back toward the nest.
“Auren... a minute,” Leira interjects.
Auren turns and sees her crouched over several spider corpses, focused on sothing she’s picked up.
“I’m detecting traces of a fungus,” she says. “Not just in one spider. I’ve seen it in multiple bodies already.”
“Fungus...?” Auren asks. “You an Mushrooms?”
“In a sense, yes,” Leira replies.
“What does that even an?” Vanessa cuts in, impatient. “Does it matter? Let’s keep pushing forward. We don’t have ti for this science experint.”
“Leira... I rarely agree with her, but she’s right,” Auren says. “I don’t know the relevance yet, but I’d rather press our advantage. Is there any reason we shouldn’t ignore it for now?”
Leira pauses, thinking. “My guess is that they’re infected by said fungus. That fungus is highly suspicious, in my opinion. It doesn’t resemble any known variety I can match. I’d need a real sample to identify it. Please be aware, there’s a risk of infection, though it’s extrely slim, as only long-term exposure could lead to serious repercussions.”
“We have to take that risk,” Auren decides. “Commander, we move. I want a solid defensive line at the front, and when we reach the inner web, I want the flathrower troops focusing on it. It didn’t catch on its own, but if we concentrate the fla, it will burn. I’m certain.”
“I agree,” Kieran calls out. “Move! Form up and advance. Burn it all down!”
Together, the group pushes forward, closing in on the centre of the nest in the distance.
An almost endless stream of spiders pours out of the webbed mass, but under steady flas and gunfire, they drop within seconds, bodies piling up in the burning underbrush.
Finally, with the advantage of distance and angles on their side, the flathrowers reach effective range and manage to set the inner web ablaze.
The soldiers, with the biggest wave already beaten back, are now able to deal with any remaining spiders effectively, as they’re just aimlessly charging towards them.
“This should be over,” Auren states. “These mindless beasts aren’t a threat if they keep rushing to their deaths, without any cooperation.”
“Auren, there should be a queen,” Leira says, sounding genuinely worried.
“It doesn’t matter,” Auren replies with a cold voice.
However, the mont the words leave his mouth, a loud shriek cuts through the burning forest.
In the distance, out of the centre of the nest, a massive spider erges—easily four tis the size of the larger ones, big enough to tear apart a house without any effort.
“Vice-Leader!” Kieran yells. “We’ll take it down from a distance!”
“No,” Auren says, greed in his eyes as he stares at it. “I’m taking it.”
And all of its Aura.
“Let at least show off a little!” Vanessa yells, spiking her Aura, then forcing it all into her fist, unleashing a huge strike forward, the Aura quickly travelling into the sky.
“teor Fist!” she shouts as loud as she can, smiling wildly, practically glowing with excitent.
Auren walks toward the queen, but stops a short distance in front of her, careful not to approach too close. The Queen stares at Auren. Her body is completely black while her many eyes are red, all focused on Auren alone.
A few seconds later, a huge Nen teor becos visible in the sky, plunging down.
The queen reacts, her many eyes looking towards the sky, but remaining unfocused as they can’t spot Vanessa’s attack.
She can feel it... but she can’t see it. Let’s make sure she gets to feel it even more strongly...
Auren flares up his Aura and charges forward, pouring more and more Aura into Eternity until its size swells to an extre, his reach increasing by five tis.
With her in range, he slashes forward.
The queen desperately tries to twist away, but one of her legs is still cut clean off, and she scrambles back in a panic, straight toward the teor’s landing point.
Desperate, she digs into the ground, screeching loudly—it echoes through the entire forest, causing all nearby spiders to rush towards her, piling on top of her, seemingly trying to shield her.
When the teor hits the ground, everyone stares at the point of impact—as a massive Nen explosion erupts, looking like a powerful bomb just exploded.
Auren briefly uses En and imdiately detects his target.
The queen has mostly escaped the blast, as she’s still digging, her body now almost beneath him.
Not escaping, huh? I like it!
Smiling, Auren gathers more and more Aura into Eternity, the blade feeling incredibly heavy and dense with the sheer amount of Aura it contains.
The ground suddenly vibrates, and Auren can feel her body is about to break through to the surface.
Just as the queen bursts up, Auren jumps and slashes downward in a heavy arc, cutting straight through her body and cleaving her in two.
Not celebrating his victory, he imdiately drives Eternity into the larger part, the half with her head, and begins to drain her Aura.
The amount of Aura that floods into the sword surprises even himself, as for the first ti, Eternity is making progress, greedily consuming the Aura, as it rapidly disappears deep into the blade.
Just as the Aura is used up, he stabs it into the second and smaller piece of her body and drains it as well, leaving not even a trace of Aura behind.
Still, to his disappointnt, Eternity doesn’t undergo any dramatic change—it rely absorbs the Aura and feels slightly sharper, heavier, and grows a tiny bit in size and width.
Walking back, Auren watches the remaining spiders scramble senselessly inside the nest. They don’t flee, and they don’t fight properly anymore. They just crawl in frantic, pointless circles as they burn, twitch, and finally go still under the flas.
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