He knew he had mere seconds before the Flame Orbed Crawler spewed a torrent of fire at him. Just moments earlier, he had seen regular spiders disintegrated to nothing in an instant by that stream of liquid fire. Sure, he was definitely much tougher than those spiders, but a direct hit from the Flame Orbed Crawler’s magical attack could still do a number on him. He needed to act fast, but his options were limited. With the other spider pinning him to the floor, a quick escape was impossible. He was well aware he wouldn’t be able to get out of this predicament completely unharmed, but he could at the very least try to minimize the damage he was about to take.
He grabbed the spider’s leg that pierced his left shoulder and lifted, exerting all his inhuman strength. The spider was incredibly strong, but Jake’s effort gradually raised the creature’s leg. Unconsciously, he sprouted several tendrils from each side of his body, coiling them around the creature’s leg and pulling with every ounce of his strength. The spider struggled, pushing its leg downward, but no matter how hard it fought, Jake could feel the leg gradually retreating from his body. At last, the pointed tip of its leg slipped free from his shoulder. Mana immediately began to freely pour out, but at that moment, he had bigger problems to worry about.
He pushed the spider’s leg to the side and released it. It instantly plunged into the floor next to his head. The spider’s other leg was still embedded in his right shoulder, but he had no time to remove it. The Flame Orbed Crawler had already prepared its spell and was about to unleash fire upon him. Jake rolled onto his right side, curling into a fetal position. In the next instant, the Flame Orbed Crawler released a torrent of fire at the spot where he had just been. While he managed to dodge a direct hit, the fire scorched the floor just behind him, causing the armor on his back to melt. He was suffering significant damage, but it wasn’t as catastrophic as it would have been if the flames had engulfed him fully. Also, he was glad he had thought ahead to swap the Acid Protective amulet for the Fire one. Without that adjustment, the damage to his body could have been much more severe.
Suddenly, the stream of fire stopped. Jake glanced up just in time to see the Flame Orbed Crawler adjust its head slightly, aiming its open mouth directly at him. Just before the creature unleashed another blast of flames, Jake rolled onto his back and pushed himself as far from the expected point of impact as possible. The stream of fire enveloped his right arm and shoulder, melting them. His right side was also taking some damage, but not as serious. The spider leg embedded in his shoulder seemed entirely unharmed by the flames blazing around it, though. The Flame Orbed Crawler kept pouring fire at the same spot, and Jake could feel his right arm and shoulder liquefying, transforming into a viscous, waxy substance. He pulled, feeling his right shoulder stretch out like chewing gum. As he wriggled away, the remnants of his melted right arm finally tore free from his shoulder. He had lost an arm, but at least he was no longer trapped.
He immediately jumped to his feet and wheeled around. Still spewing fire from its mouth, the Flame Orbed Crawler lifted its head to direct the torrent of flames toward him. However, Jake was already running away, putting distance between himself and the searing flames. The loss of his right arm ignited his anger, even though he knew it would eventually regenerate. All things considered, he was fortunate to escape with his life.
A thought crossed his mind: he could flee for now and return for a rematch once his arm grew back. When he was a human being, he had been right-handed, but now that he was a mutant, that no longer mattered. He could operate equally well with both hands. Which was why the loss of his right arm wasn’t a significant setback. Besides, he could grow powerful bladed tentacles to use in battle. So he decided to stay and fight. It was time to finally deal with the Orbed Crawlers.
By that point, the number of regular spiders had greatly diminished, allowing him to focus entirely on the four elite enemies. He slowed his pace and glanced in their direction, surprised to see they weren’t pursuing him. Instead, they returned to the center of the cavern, maintaining a rhombus-shaped formation. Sensing something was on their minds, Jake chose not to charge at them. Instead, he watched them intently, waiting to see their next move.
All four Orbed Crawlers arched their abdomens upward, magical energies swirling and twisting inside. It was obvious they were gearing up for a combined magical assault, which meant they were about to use their first special ability. This ability would link their powers together, allowing them to unleash extremely powerful magical strikes. Since this was the first time they demonstrated this ability, he had no idea what to expect, so he decided to stay as far away as possible from the four Orbed Crawlers.
The remaining regular spiders jumped at him from various directions, but Jake had no trouble dealing with them while keeping an eye on the four Orbed Crawlers as they powered up, charging their abilities. Then a wave of energy surged between them, linking them together. Above the area between them, a thundercloud began to take shape. It hovered ominously, swirling and shimmering with a dazzling array of colors. The cloud expanded rapidly, consuming all the space between the four Orbed Crawlers. And then all hell broke loose.
Lightning bolts crackled violently from within the magical cloud. Jake managed to avoid being hit by any of them, but several smaller spiders were caught and instantly reduced to piles of ash. From the cloud, fire twisters erupted, racing in different directions and obliterating any unfortunate spiders caught in their path, leaving behind only heaps of dust and charred ground. Flurries of ice projectiles shot out in every direction at arrow-like speed. Acidic clouds surged from the magical cloud, sweeping through the area, rapidly spreading outward and annihilating the remaining smaller spiders in droves.
All Jake could do was dart from one spot to another, dodging lightning bolts, ice projectiles, and any other chaotic elemental attacks unleashed by the four Orbed Crawlers. He remained completely focused on avoiding being hit, refusing to let himself be distracted by anything else. His keen danger instinct, combined with inhuman reflexes, kept him just one step ahead, allowing him to evade the chaotic and unpredictable onslaught of elemental powers.
And then, it was suddenly all over. Jake allowed himself to slow down as he glanced toward the four elite spiders. The magical cloud was quickly dissipating, no longer unleashing attacks. The four Orbed Crawlers lowered their abdomens back to their original positions. After a few moments, the cloud completely vanished, and the energies swirling within the spiders settled as well. Jake stopped running and turned toward the elite spiders. He was determined to finally put an end to this exhausting battle once and for all. Morphing his left hand into claws, he burst into a run toward the four Orbed Crawlers.