Burning.
My home.
The place where Diana and Iris were just moments ago.
“This time, it’s really well done, isn’t it?”
The words of the spider-man, spoken with a gleeful tone, finally made me confront reality.
They took the full brunt of that explosion…
They’re probably…
“You…”
I glared silently at the spider-man.
Normally, in moments like this, a person would be consumed with rage.
But right now, my only thought was “to kill the one in front of me.”
“Oh? You still have a look like that? I’m surprised.”
He said that, but it was clear he wasn’t paying any attention to me anymore.
It made sense; a person who was injured and unable to move was no threat.
Fortunately, I still had enough magic power left within me, but realistically, with my broken bones, I only had enough strength left for a single action.
Of course, even that action wouldn’t be anything swift.
One chance.
How will I seize it, and how will I use it?
“Now then, let’s finish off the trash and move on to dinner.”
The spider-man aimed the tip of his sword at me, pinned against the stone wall.
The eight eyes on his face seemed to glimmer with delight.
Seeing that, a thought suddenly struck me.
If this method works…
Thinking that, a smile naturally crept onto my face.
“Hmm? What are you smiling about in this situation? Have you lost your mind in despair?”
“No, quite the opposite.”
“Huh?”
“I am certain of my victory.”
“……”
The spider-man was momentarily taken aback, not understanding what I meant.
And then—
“Hahaha, what nonsense are you spouting? You really must have lost it. Anyone can see there’s not even a one-in-ten-thousand chance for you.”
“Is that so? The result was already decided the moment this battle began.”
“What do you mean?”
“With those grand eight eyes of yours, you must see a lot of things clearly.”
“Of course. These eyes are one of my prides. No prey can escape their sight.”
“What if those prized eyes of yours became useless?”
“Huh? What are you saying?”
“I’ve already cast a slow-acting spell that blinds those eyes.”
“!? Impossible… That can’t be true!”
He was visibly shaken.
“I told you before, didn’t I? The outcome of this battle was decided from the start. You fell under my spell the moment I saw through your disguise.”
“Don’t lie. You never had the chance to do such a thing. It’s just a desperate bluff. And even if it were true, you can’t do anything in your current state.”
“Believe what you want. But shouldn’t the effects start manifesting around now?”
The spider-man looked over his hands and body, checking his condition.
“Hmph… Nothing has changed. What a joke.”
“Oh, really? Then, how does that look to you?”
I turned my gaze toward the burning house.
And just as I hoped, the spider-man followed my gaze.
“It’s just a house burning magnificently, that’s all. I can see each burst of sparks clearly… beautiful, really. And what of it—wha…?”
In the middle of his sentence, he noticed something amiss.
When he shifted his gaze back, I was no longer in sight.
“Wha—!? Where did you go?! Where did you disappear to?!”
“Right here.”
The spider-man responded to my voice and looked down.
That was the moment.
I, who had slipped under his feet, thrust my fist into his mouth from below.
“Ggah!?”
The spider-man let out a strange scream.
But if I stayed like this, my arm would get bitten off.
I quickly enveloped my arm with layers of magical barriers and a coating of fire magic.
“Wha… what’s going on!?”
“It’s nothing special. You just fell for my words.”
“……!”
I could see the shock in the spider-man’s eyes.
Of course, I had lied about casting a spell that blinds vision.
As he himself said, it was a bluff.
But once the idea is planted in someone’s mind, the thought of “what if” creeps in.
That alone can turn an imaginary spell into a perceived reality.
What if? That thought made him fall for the distraction, and when I disappeared from his sight, he convinced himself that he had truly lost his vision.
My knowledge from my previous life came in handy here.
Spiders, while often having good vision, are said to have a blind spot directly beneath them.
I figured it might be the same for this guy, so I used that momentary distraction to slip underneath him.
This only worked because of his intelligence.
If he were a lower-class monster, it wouldn’t have worked.
It was exactly the kind of strategy that Kurt once talked about—using intelligence against the opponent.
“Now, you know I didn’t shove my arm into your disgusting mouth for no reason, right?”
“……”
“Your stomach is filled with all that webbing, isn’t it? What do you think will happen if I set it on fire?”
“!?”
Suddenly, the spider-man panicked and tried to shake me off.
His desperation made it clear that this would work.
He grabbed at me, trying to tear me away, but I quickly assembled a Hydro Dragon with my free hand. The five-headed water dragon formed a barrier, blocking his attacks like extra limbs.
With his threads unusable, water magic proved to be effective against him.
“Now then, time for you to disappear.”
“Fffh…!?”
The spider-man struggled fiercely.
But the water dragon’s fangs held his limbs tightly, leaving him unable to move.
I channeled an immense amount of magic into the spell through my arm in his mouth.
A spell that unleashed a scorching explosion—Ignite Knuckle.
“Ugh…!”
The moment I commanded it to ignite, the spider-man’s body swelled rapidly.
Crimson light leaked through his translucent skin.
I kicked off his chest, using the push from the water dragon to propel myself away.
And almost immediately upon landing—
The spider-man erupted in a pillar of red flames.
Where the black smoke rose, there was no longer any trace of him.
He had exploded into tiny fragments, leaving no remains behind.
The flames from the burning house illuminated the ground scarred by the explosion.
I had managed to defeat him, but an emptiness remained.
The home I had stayed in, now a pitiful sight.
And the memories of Diana and Iris’s kind smiles came to mind.
I should put out the fire…
Just as I thought that and began to cast a water spell, I noticed two figures walking towards me, illuminated by the orange light of the flames.
“Ah…”
I recognized them immediately.
It was Diana, smiling at me as she leaned on Iris’s shoulder.
