Chapter 156: The Devil-Face Spider

"Be careful, there's poison!" Sun Xiaowu croaked out. Before his warning, however, the hunters had already sensed something amiss.

Why would there be a sweet scent in the air? After all, they were in the Runic Forest, shrouded in eternal darkness! Sun Xiaowu was the only one who had fallen prey to the intoxicating scent because he was the only one daring enough to smell it. The other hunters had instantly stopped breathing the moment the wind began to blow.

Sun Xiaowu stumbled as he walked, as though he would fall down at any moment. Sun Mengmeng hurried back to him and supported his body, while Zhang Lie put two fingers by his nose and began circulating his genetic energy. As he did so, a small ball of poisonous mist was sucked out of Sun Xiaowu's body. Sun Xiaowu felt a lot more clear-headed after that, and Zhang Lie breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, however, a series of crackling noises came from above their heads. Zhang Lie darted to the side near-instinctively, and the other members of Team Zenith belatedly followed suit.

After dodging, they glanced up to see a massive spider hanging right over their heads. The spider's carapace looked like a devil's face, and its eight long legs, like bamboo poles, were covered with white fur. They were currently erect and stiff like steel rods.

As the spider moved, the markings that formed a face on the back of its carapace seemed to laugh, causing the hunters to jerk back in alarm.

"This is a superior-grade devil-face spider!" Sun Mengmeng identified immediately. This species of spider was relatively large, but well-versed in disguise. Its carapace was covered with sharp hair, and it was tough and resilient. There were essentially no weak points to be found.

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Furthermore, it could travel rapidly among the trees of the Runic Forest with its eight poled legs, and it could spit out a highly corrosive poison. Before it hunted, it would spin a web and release a sweet-smelling poison so as to paralyze its prey. Even the web it wove was poisonous; it wouldn't be easy prey at all.

Based on the state of the arboreal mantis' carcass and the unusual scent in the air, it was likely that this devil-face spider had just taken over the mantis' territory and killed the superior-grade mantis there. Just as the spider was about to enjoy its prey, the hunters of Team Zenith had appeared.

The devil-face spider let out a shrill screech. Wind rose around them, and the spider retreated. As it did so, the web it had prepared enveloped Zhang Lie and the others.

"This bastard's been laying a trap for us!" Sun Mengmeng cried out. The other hunters glanced at their foe grimly; the spider would be even harder an opponent than the mantis.

However, Zhang Lie was quite excited. The devil-face spider possessed an extremely strong poison and ability to disguise itself. If they could obtain its soulshard, it would be a big boon for Zhou Ying.

Of course, not having found a mutated-grade lifeform of the same species, Zhang Lie couldn't guarantee a drop.

"Destroy the web!" Zhang Lie commanded.

Sun Mengmeng circulated her genetic energy. Her hair drifted in immaterial wind, and hot air gusted from her bow. She launched [Lunarflame Shot]. The arrow shot toward the spider with a whoosh of sound, purple flames trailing behind it, her genetic energy giving it the impression of a flamboyant phoenix.

It sliced through the spiderweb with wisps of smoke, burning it to cinders.

When the spider saw its web so easily destroyed, it screeched again as it glared at Sun Mengmeng. Its mouth suddenly opened as it shot a few dark purple streaks of venom toward her, almost as fast as a gun's bullets.

"Be careful!" Fang Yi cried out.

Sun Mengmeng responded calmly. The moment the spider launched its attack, she had begun moving to the side.

The venom shot a runic tree, and green smoke began to rise where the venom landed. A hole had been corroded all the way through the tree's bark, and the hunters present were all shocked by its potency.

Seeing that its attack had failed again, the spider went on a rampage and began to screech into the air. As it did so, countless beady red eyes emerged from the darkness surrounding the clearing.

Trouble was approaching: devil-face spiders lived in swarms, so after sensing dangerous prey, this superior-grade spider quickly summoned its peers. At the same time, it shot back up the trees as it retracted its legs.

Zhang Lie activated his galewolf soulshard and clutched Venombane tightly in his hand. Devil-face spiders were very agile, and if he were to let it escape into the canopy, it would be even harder to deal with. ?Zhang Lie commanded the other hunters to form a defensive perimeter around the clearing so as to prevent the swarm of devil-face spiders from attacking.

The trees around the clearing suddenly began to quiver.

"It—these aren't runic treemen, are they?" Sun Xiaowu asked in fright.

"No, the shaking's caused by the devil-face spiders. They live in swarms!" Fang Yi shouted. It was apparent that he had studied the manual that Zhang Lie had given them all very closely.

If the runic trees here were actually all treemen, they would long since have attacked, and this clearing wouldn't have ended up as the arboreal mantises' territory.

Leaves rustled all around them, disrupting their sense of hearing. The hunters couldn't identify where the sound was coming from and were glancing all around suspiciously when two streaks of spider silk shot toward Sun Xiaowu.

His body still had trace amounts of the devil-face spider's poison, and the spiders clearly considered him a priority target.

"[Adamantine Aegis]!" Sun Xiaowu shouted. Golden light spiraled around his body as it turned to radiant gold.

The spider silk landed on Sun Xiaowu's body with a dull thump and so much force that even he had to take a few steps back. Where the spider silk struck the gold, it began to tarnish.

The hunters gaped at the sight: the devil-face spiders' silk alone was so poisonous that it could corrode the genetic energy sustaining his technique! He could barely sustain [Adamantine Aegis] much longer given the additional pressure from the poison.

The next moment, a veritable sea of devil-face spiders emerged from the darkness, strands of spider silk raining down on them all like rain. Luckily for them, the spiders that had emerged were only mutated-grade.

"[Heaven's Judgment]!" Fang Yi struck with an obsidian spear crackling with lightning as he dashed into the rain of silk. He pointed his spear straight up as lightning crackled all around him, destroying the silk in a large circle around him. Countless trees near the clearing were scorched black, and rays of light shone into the forest for the first time in years.

The spiders let out shrill shrieks as Fang Yi drew back his spear, splotches of green blood sullying the spearhead. They jumped around the clearing as they deftly wove a gigantic web around all the hunters.

Under the sunlight, the white silk glimmered with the green of intense poison. Many of the runic trees began to smoke, their bark being corroded away by the spider silk.

Zhang Lie frowned. Wasn't these spiders' venom far too toxic? It was almost comparable to Venombane!

The web quivered and trembled like violin strings as countless mutated-grade spiders dropped into the clearing from above. Streaks of venom shot toward the hunters of Team Zenith. There were so many spiders attacking that it wouldn't be possible to avoid the venom.

"[Lunarflame Shot]!"

"[Golden Divide]!"

"[The Boundless Blade]!"

"[Arclight Dragon's Imprint]!"

"[Storm of Leaves]!"

If they couldn't avoid the attack, then they would have to defend against it. The hunters of Team Zenith launched all sorts of attacks at their disposal toward the rain of silk, creating multicolored explosions in the air.

As hunters who had maxed out their gene capacities, they easily overcame the mutated-grade devil-face spiders, tearing a wide opening in the web that they had constructed.

Zhang Lie's eyes turned cold. As he circulated his genetic energy, a dark serpent materialized around him. He climbed on the serpent, which uncoiled and lifted him out of the web. Coldly, he glanced at the superior-grade devil-face spider directing all this from afar.

When the spider sensed Zhang Lie's malicious stare, it screeched in fright. From Zhang Lie's body, it could sense life-threatening danger. A superior-grade lifeform's intelligence was no worse than a human's, and it knew that it had no chance of winning against Zhang Lie.

As the queen of this swarm, her perishing would mean the swarm's perishing. As a result, after glancing at Zhang Lie, she hurriedly released dark-green genetic energy as she skittered away.

Would Zhang Lie let her escape? Of ?course not! If this spider were to produce a soulshard, it would surely enhance Zhou Ying's abilities.

As he continued feeding energy into his [Ninecarp Transformation], the serpent underneath him suddenly opened its eyes wide as it let out a shrill cry.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" Zhang Lie punched forward with his right arm, and the serpent launched itself at the spider queen.