“What... what the hell.”
Cover quickly looked around just in case—but not a single strand of Cha Sahyeon’s hair was in sight.
He transferred the videotape player into his inventory and immediately grabbed the bird in front of him.
“What the hell are you?!”
Skree?!
The shadow bird, whose body was now caught in his grip, flapped its wings wide in shock, eyes round as saucers.
“Why did you come alone? Where’s Cha Sahyeon—urk!”
Cover couldn’t finish his demand. He tumbled across the floor.
Shaaaak!
Shelob screeched, slamming her legs wildly into the ground.
Each time the spider legs struck, the floor split apart with sharp cracks and debris scattered everywhere.
‘Fuck!’
Cover had deliberately entered Shelob’s range, thinking it would summon Cha Sahyeon—but now he had no choice but to roll around like mad to stay alive.
Skree!
The shadow bird, now grown to human size, swooped down like it was snatching prey and grabbed Cover’s clothes from behind, lifting him high into the air.
It only grabbed his clothes—carefully avoiding harming him with its talons—yet the lift was surprisingly stable. It almost looked like Cover had sprouted wings.
Flying with the bird’s help toward where Eun Woojeong stood, Cover muttered bitterly.
“I almost died.”
“I’ve seen that thing before...”
Eun Woojeong squinted, trying to place the shadow bird, then asked,
“So, what was the plan, exactly? You ran off all confident like you had something amazing cooked up.”
“Big talk from someone who just stood around watching.”
Eun Woojeong gave him a stunned look.
“You told me to wait?”
“Are you a dog? Just because I said wait, you actually waited?”
“......?”
Eun Woojeong was momentarily struck speechless by the shameless response.
Cover didn’t care. He quickly began to devise a new plan.
‘If only Cha Sahyeon had shown up...’
He had closed the distance to Shelob earlier with the hope that Sahyeon would be summoned near her underbelly—where he could land a critical blow with Sahyeon’s support.
He’d managed to recover the videotape player, and if Sahyeon had arrived close enough, a single attack could’ve inflicted massive damage.
But Sahyeon hadn’t come. And now Cover had to figure out how to deal with Shelob and the spider swarm—alongside Eun Woojeong and the shadow bird on his back.
‘Shelob is still the real threat here.’
Even if the spiders were numerous, they didn’t radiate much power. Without Shelob, the horde wouldn’t be that hard to clean up.
But as long as Shelob was alive, the spiders weren’t something they could ignore.
Even now, the swarm was crawling up the walls.
Trying to sever Shelob’s remaining seven legs while fending off the spiders... was close to impossible.
He’d either die from Shelob’s poison or get torn to pieces by the swarm—one or the other.
‘There’s no choice but to gamble.’
If there was no safe route of escape, then the only thing left was a gamble with his life on the line.
‘...If we just had one more damage-dealer besides me.’
If that were the case, he might’ve even transformed into Cha Seohu to provide proper support.
Buffs and AoE holy power would’ve made this much safer. He wouldn’t have cared if his identity ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) got exposed—as long as he could make it out alive.
But if he stepped into the Support role now, Eun Woojeong would be left to deal with both Shelob and the spider swarm alone.
And with this many enemies, there was no way a weak Supporter could survive on their own.
“Haa...”
He missed Cha Sahyeon so desperately—Sahyeon, who could kill spiders like these with a mere flick of his hand.
Swallowing back his frustration, Cover gripped his sword.
“Let’s go for Shelob’s underbelly.”
“Think you can pull that off?”
Eun Woojeong asked, cutting down a spider that had begun climbing the wall.
“Even with that bird on your back, it’s not going to be easy.”
“There’s no other way.”
Eun Woojeong nodded, agreeing without protest.
No need for further explanation—they were thinking the same thing.
Since Cover hadn’t revealed his skill, it made more sense for Eun Woojeong to use his chains to bind Shelob and create an opening. Naturally, Cover would take on the role of stabbing the spider’s underbelly.
“I’m going.”
There was no time to hesitate. A lot of the spiders had already reached the ceiling.
Screeeee—!
Cover, with the shadow bird on his back, dove down fast.
Skitter, skitter, skitter!
As he neared the floor, the spiders rushed toward him.
The ones trying to leap at him with their legs outstretched were shredded by the edges of the bird’s wings.
Each feather was like a blade, slicing through flesh. Wherever Cover flew, the remains of torn spiders scattered.
Flap! The bird beat its wings harder, accelerating.
Spiders in his path were cut down by his blade, and the ones flanking him were ripped apart by feathers. Thanks to that, he advanced toward Shelob without interruption, and quickly glanced upward.
Clatter! The sound of chains striking echoed perfectly in time.
Riding the chains, Eun Woojeong soared through the air. In moments, he had caught up with Cover, narrowing the distance to Shelob—and unleashed his chains.
They fell like meteors, wrapping tightly around the spider’s body.
KIIIIK!
The chains wrapped around Shelob’s torso, not just the legs, and hoisted her massive body upward.
Feeling herself dragged against her will, Shelob screeched in irritation and thrashed all seven of her remaining legs.
As her legs scraped against the ground and walls, a storm of stone dust kicked up.
Cover pushed through that dust, shooting straight for Shelob’s exposed weak spot.
Because of the chains tightening around her torso, her head tilted upward—perfect. If he rushed in now, he could get under her and strike her belly.
‘Opening!’
Cover’s eyes lit up. He raised his sword to strike.
But from the right side of his vision, a black mass rushed in and slammed into his ribs.
“......!”
The impact twisted his insides—he couldn’t even scream. He was flung through the air.
Crash!
The wall he crashed into shattered.
He collapsed, unable to move, clutching his side where the spider leg had struck him.
“Gkkh—Ugh...”
Coughing up a mouthful of bright red blood, Cover’s face went pale. He slowly lifted his gaze.
‘Of all things... the leg...’
With all seven of Shelob’s legs flailing independently, their movements were utterly unpredictable.
Screech, scree.
The bird on his back let out a sorrowful cry.
Oddly enough, it was comforting. Cover spat out the rest of the blood and slowly staggered to his feet.
He hadn’t expected to succeed on the first try. Still, he hadn’t been crushed or drenched in poison—this was good enough.
Seeing Cover steady himself and take flight again, Eun Woojeong moved as well. This time, he summoned even more chains, wrapping them tightly around Shelob.
“Haa... ugh...”
His breathing from behind the mask grew ragged.
His heart was burning with pain, as if it might burst. Eun Woojeong, too, was nearing his limit. Sweat dripped down his chin, but he kept summoning chains.
Hooks dug into Shelob’s massive body, wrapping her from end to end.
She looked like prey caught in a web—her massive body bound in shimmering white chains.
Seeing the number of chains, Cover knew: this was Eun Woojeong giving him one final chance.
Even for an S-rank, summoning this many chains again wouldn’t be possible. If he failed this time...
Gritting his teeth, Cover dove beneath Shelob again.
Dodging the bared fangs and mandibles, he reached her underside and landed, feet striking the ground.
Noticing him, Shelob thrashed even harder—still bound by chains, but she swung her legs viciously.
Chaang! As the chains snapped one by one, her sharp legs slammed down all along Cover’s path.
“Huff... ugh...!”
A spider leg stabbed the floor just inches from his head. The ground shook with each blow—Cover stumbled, nearly lost balance, then surged forward again.
‘The weak spot!’
Even while dodging Shelob’s relentless assault, he never took his eyes off her body—searching for the exact point to strike.
It wasn’t just “underbelly.” Specifically, he needed to stab the patch of gray fur on her underside.
‘There!’
The glimmering chains helped him distinguish the spot from the rest of the shell.
Cover found it. He didn’t hesitate. He raised his sword and launched upward from the ground.
KAAAAK!
The moment he leapt, Eun Woojeong pulled all the chains taut.
Shelob’s body, bound in chains, was lifted upward—and her underbelly was completely exposed.
“Grgh!”
Cover plummeted directly onto the patch of gray fur—but not without wounds. Spider legs grazed his thighs and forearms, slicing them open. Blood streamed down.
But that was all. Shelob couldn’t stop him from falling straight into the strike.
Shlkk! The long blade pierced through the fur and drove deep into her flesh. Thick, dark purple fluid gushed out violently.
Kyaaaaak! KIIIIIEEEK!
Shelob let out the most agonizing scream yet. Her thrashing was more violent than ever—but also strangely stiff, rigid.
Eun Woojeong finally let himself breathe—just as he was about to descend.
But Cover, trying to wrench the sword from Shelob’s belly, was thrown off by her thrashing and flung away.
His body tumbled across the floor—and Shelob’s head lunged toward him.
“Get out of the way!”
Eun Woojeong shouted urgently, but Shelob was faster.
As Cover shut his eyes, unable to escape in time, Eun Woojeong hurled his chain and flew toward him.
There wasn’t enough time to grab and pull Cover out.
By the time Eun Woojeong reached his side, Shelob’s massive, venom-drenched fangs were already just inches away.
Crunch!
The sickening sound of flesh being torn apart echoed through the room.

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