Touch

The spider looked towards the two demons trapped in the web of black strings up in the ceiling. It smiled, delighted at its triumph against them.

It raised its abdomen high in the air and shot forth black strings that continued to restrict the two demons' movements.

It took its time and relished the fact that it was on the verge of winning. Azrael was beaten black and blue, panting for air and a chance to recuperate from its injuries. Raguel's blue luster was beginning to dull, obscured by the cracks in its skin that propagated all over its body.

It bent its body low and launched itself in the air, using the strings as a foothold. It traversed the air, holding the black lines with its legs and using it as a launcher.

It reached the top of the dome, planting its body upside down. It walked on the net of black strings constricting the two demons and opened its jaws wide with the full intention of biting their heads off.

It was disappointed to see calmness in the eyes of the two demons. When a person faces certain death in its hands, that person would usually display fear and resentment. They should be begging for forgiveness or curse their hearts out, but the two demons did not show any of those; they did not have any emotions.

The spider ignored that fact and just assumed that as demons, people lose their sense of self-preservation.

It walked towards Azrael and eyed its prey. It opened its mandibles and tried to bite its body.

Suddenly, Azrael displayed a burst of power and was able to dodge the spider's bite. The spider was only able to bite down on the black strings that constricted Azrael. It did not know if that was a coincidence or a well-planned dodge.

Azrael gathered rot in its hands and severed the strings that kept it stuck on the web. Gravity took over as Azrael's body started to fall on the ground.

The tiny wings on its back tried to flap as hard as possible, but there was not enough drag to keep its body afloat.

*boom* *crack*

Azrael's body collided with the ground, accompanied by the sounds of bones breaking. The fall looked intense. Coupled with the injuries it sustained before, the spider was surprised that the demon did not shout in pain.

It looked down towards Azrael and found that it was still alive, although barely. Judging from its injuries, it could not walk, nor could it stand up to escape from its clutches. It decided to ignore the incapacitated demon and focus on Raguel that was still on the black web.

It walked on the web with such precision that it could reach Raguel's body at top speeds. It knew that Raguel may still be hiding enough power to try and escape like Azrael, so it did not lower its guard.

The spider observed every little movement that Raguel made, calculating its plans to kill its prey safely.

It made its decision to wrap Raguel's body with more silky black strings to ensure that there would be no more shenanigans taking place.

Knowing that Raguel was securely restrained, the spider began to approach the demon. It used its two pegs on the front to poke the monster, provoking it to display any emotion. It did not work as Raguel still revealed a carefree face with no troubles whatsoever.

It walked around Raguel's body, ensuring that it had no way to escape. It opened its jaws wide and took a bite. Its mandibles were about to reach Raguel's head, but it suddenly felt something was amiss.

The spider was forced to retreat its head and look down on the danger. It saw Azrael with its scythe, slashing towards it and releasing a thin blade of rotting sludge.

This was the attack that the spider saw multiple times from Azrael. The problem with this attack was it was too small and too weak. It could not feel the aura of death that it could preciously feel.

Its mind told it to pay no heed to the attack since it was too weak and its carapace would be able to repel the attack, but its instinct told it otherwise.

The spider knew that the two demons were too smart and too carefree to launch a half-hearted attack without any ulterior motives.

The sludge came towards the spider at top speeds, making the spider think twice about its actions.

Launching a black string would do no good against that sludge of deathly rot, and weaving a wall of strings would take too much time.

If the spider were to dodge, the rotting sludge would collide with Raguel's body. The sludge would probably rot the black strings that constricted its body, therefore, freeing it from captivity.

If Raguel and Azrael were to work together and unleash one final suicide attack, the spider would not be confident in surviving.

The only solution it could think of was to use its legs and try to tank the attack, ruining whatever Azrael had planned.

The blade of sludge reached the spider's body and was swatted away by its two hind legs. The spider was glad that there was nothing special about the sludge, which meant that it was only a ruse.

The spider quickly turned its body towards Raguel, but it was too late. It felt a cold and soft touch in its chest, with no force whatsoever.

The spider felt confused. Raguel had successfully caught it off guard, yet it did not take this chance to deal damage to it. It brushed away that doubt and opened its jaws to finish the demon once and for all.

Its mandibles opened wide yet closed once again. The spider felt its power draining from within the deepest part of its heart. It started to lose control of its own body, letting go of the strings that kept it afloat.

The spider fell towards the ground while its head was full of doubt and confusion. Was there a skill that powerful that a soft touch could make a person lose its power?

It tried to gather the strength in its body, but it was of no use; the spider continued to fall on the ground.

As it looked up on the ceiling, it saw Raguel looking down at it with a strange face. If the spider's sight was correct, Raguel was displaying an emotion.

The normal emotion after outsmarting someone would be joy and delight. It could even be anger at the main perpetrator for their wounds, but that was not what Raguel was displaying.

Raguel seemed to display a sense of pity.

Before it could even try to deduce the face of mercy in Raguel's face, it felt sleepiness take over. It was starting to lose its consciousness, and before its body hit the ground, the spider was incapacitated.

*boom*

The spider's humungous body fell face flat on the ground, unmoving and unconscious. A crater was created in the environment due to the spider's weight, which meant that it suffered a good deal of damage from falling at that height.

Azrael propped its body up using its scythe. It had trouble just standing up, an indication of the tremendous amount of injuries sustained from the battle between them and the spider.

If Azrael was alone, it was not confident in getting out of the fight with its whole body intact.

It dragged its feet towards the gigantic body of the spider, taking its time as it did so. It was confident that whatever happened to the spider would last for a long time.

After reaching the spider's body, it extended its hand and reached out onto the spider's chest.

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In a dark place, a man was in a fetal position covered by some protective layer made of black powder. Upon closer inspection, one could see that it was Isiah who was in a cocoon.

Isiah was unconscious until a tremor woke him up from his slumber.

The cocoon opened up, and Isiah's eyes showed themselves to the surroundings. His suit was still neatly intact, and his hair was in perfect condition.

He looked around and saw a desert of black powder extending to the horizon. The sky was dark, yet there were small violet light sources that gave him clarity; they were stars in the night sky.

He did not remember where he was previously and how he ended up in this place. His strange surroundings were unfamiliar yet comforting at the same time. It felt like this was his home, his territory, and his safe place.

Without knowing why he was here or where he was, he started to walk in the desert of black powder. The black powder was like sand, it spread on his feet as he stepped on it.

Another earthquake hit the ground, shaking him to his core. He did not know what those earthquakes were, but he did not like it at all. It felt like he was being invaded.