Many students heard Han Xiaoqi's words and also ran to the window to look. Without exception, they were scared pale. Those Venomous Spiders were at least the size of a washbasin, dark and clearly covered in potent poison. Their six hairy legs were covered in hard barbs, and their ugly heads sported foul-smelling mandibles, far more terrifying than any ghosts or monsters from horror movies!
A full two hundred Venomous Spiders swarmed up, densely covering the windows and ledges from the first to the fourth floor like climbing ivy. The "thump thump" sound of their legs piercing the walls as they climbed was like drumming.
"Li Jiayu, what do we do?"
Chen Qinian, who had just sworn to kill ten insects to avenge his companion, felt a deep chill, his lips trembling as he asked Li Jiayu. The courage and anger he had just mustered were once again crushed by fear!
"What do you mean, what do we do? Figure it out yourselves! The Hyorinmaru I'm summoning still needs over thirty seconds to arrive in this world..."
Li Jiayu was also anxious. Facing so many Venomous Spiders, even with extraordinary abilities, it would be extremely tricky. Venomous Spiders were simply too dangerous; one drop of their venom could fell ten elephants!
Just a light bite or even skin contact with their hairs, and the black poison would immediately attack your heart, killing you in five seconds. No one could save you!
Although Venomous Spiders were low-tier, their agility couldn't be underestimated. Even high-tier warriors could be killed by a single bite if they weren't careful, with absolutely no chance of survival!
"Thirty seconds? That's not enough time!"
Han Xiaoqi was almost crying from anxiety. As they spoke, the Venomous Spiders had already climbed nearly to the fifth floor. Probably in another ten seconds or so, they would reach the sixth floor. There were two hundred spiders below! Even spread out among the classrooms, at least three or four would enter their classroom first... What would they do then? Without Li Jiayu, who would protect her?
"Not enough time? Then hurry up and flee for your lives! Run to the thirteenth floor and hide!"
Li Jiayu also got anxious. He gritted his teeth, desperately forming hand seals, no longer caring about conserving mental power. He fully pushed the magic circle, hoping to speed up the summoning even by a second or two!
"What about you then? If we run... will you face the Venomous Spiders alone? Why don't you run too... Didn't you say only half the people would die? Why do you have to fight the Venomous Spiders desperately? You... you run too, I don't want you to die! Forget about the summoning or whatever, staying alive is what matters! If you die, everything is over!"
Sun Weiwei ran to Li Jiayu's side with red eyes, gently pulling his arm, trying to pull him away too. Han Xiaoqi also nodded and quickly said:
"Yeah, Jiayu, as long as the green mountains remain, there's no need to worry about firewood!"
"You guys go if you want! The corpse of a King-level creature is too precious, how can I just abandon it... Besides, the most crucial thing is, if the summoning ritual is interrupted, the backlash is immense! I can't withstand it right now; my soul would scatter!"
Li Jiayu fiercely shook off their arms, pushing the two women away, continuing to form hand seals while cursing harshly:
"Get lost! All of you, get lost now! Don't get in my way, dragging me down! Hurry up and get away from me! You being here only distracts me!"
A few more timid students swallowed hard, stammering:
"Uh... okay then! Li Jiayu, we... we'll escape first, sorry... Please forgive us, we'll leave the monsters to you..."
Saying this, a total of thirteen boys and nine girls scrambled out the door, rushing madly towards the thirteenth floor!
Thus, besides Li Jiayu, only five boys and four girls remained in the class.
"You guys get lost too! Learn from them, be smarter! Don't do something stupid like trying to stop a chariot with your bare arms! Following me will only harm yourselves!"
Sweat had already beaded on Li Jiayu's forehead, but under the cold mist effect of Hyorinmaru, it quickly froze.
"Li Jiayu, I... I won't leave! You saved me several times just now... I, Sun Weiwei, absolutely cannot abandon you..."
Sun Weiwei picked up the hammer again and said weakly. In truth, her legs were trembling so badly she could barely stand. If she were to fight the Venomous Spiders, she probably wouldn't be of any use except as a meat shield. But for some reason, she felt a sliver of safety only when staying with Li Jiayu... Even though in the future Li Jiayu saw, she would become a shameless mistress, Sun Weiwei strongly rejected that future in her heart. She felt that if Li Jiayu protected her, she wouldn't stoop to becoming a mistress... Or rather, she was genuinely afraid that after reaching the thirteenth floor, she would lose her head and really find a senior student to protect her, with the price being her body...
No! How could she just casually find some man?
Without any emotional foundation, that's practically a transaction! Sun Weiwei felt only near Li Jiayu could she feel a tiny bit of safety; after all, she knew him well.
Sense of security... yes, that was it. The four girls, including Sun Weiwei, actually had particularly good relationships with Li Jiayu. The reason they didn't leave, besides the trust between acquaintances, was frankly the sense of security Li Jiayu gave them. The usually weak Li Jiayu had become so brave, mysterious, and powerful, like the Monkey King from "Journey to the West." Staying by his side might be safer than anywhere else!
"Damn it! How can I let you hog all the spotlight? Li Jiayu, this time I'll show you I'm not just for show either! So what if they're insects? My trusty mountain-cleaving axe is already thirsty!"
Lin Zhibin brandished the fire axe Li Jiayu had given him. His voice trembled from excessive excitement and nervousness. In truth, he was also extremely scared, but since Zhou Jiamin, whom he liked, stayed behind, he naturally wouldn't leave.
And the other four boys were thick as thieves with Lin Zhibin; their brotherly bond was unbreakable. They also stayed because of him.
"Fools! I don't need your hypocrisy... You'll regret your presumptuousness!"
Although his words were harsh, Li Jiayu actually felt a slight stir in his heart. In his previous life, Li Jiayu's fate was full of misfortune, his path arduous, like an unlucky star bringing disaster upon anyone close to him, their ends tragic. When Li Jiayu advanced to Dark Grand Summoner, he looked around, only to realize with sorrow that there were no longer any friends or family left by his side...
Deep down, Li Jiayu actually longed to live a normal life, with friends, family, a lover, instead of being hunted day after day, constantly mixing with dark creatures like undead and zombies!
These few young men and women before him had unexpectedly stayed behind... He truly hadn't thought anyone would dare risk their lives to stay by his side!
Li Jiayu had originally thought... they would be like ordinary people, losing their heads in fear, hiding wherever seemed safest. Even though they were classmates for a year, he usually didn't talk much, his personality was calm, and while he had many friends, he had no truly close confidants. Among the five boys, one was merely a nodding acquaintance!
Even if they had abandoned Li Jiayu like those who fled, he wouldn't have blamed them. But they actually...
While not exactly moved, his heart warmed slightly, feeling quite comfortable...
Just then, a black limb covered in barbed hairs stabbed into the concrete wall by the window with a thwack! Everyone's heart skipped a beat – the Venomous Spiders had arrived as expected!
Looking at the Venomous Spider's opening and closing gray-black mandibles and its scarlet, malevolent compound eyes, the students who remained couldn't breathe properly. For a split second, they really wanted to abandon all sense of righteousness and security and just flee in panic.
However, since they had decided to stay, they had to brace themselves and face it!
The Dark Octopus, which had been nearby, finally moved. It slithered its lower body towards the spider at the window, its speed not fast, but relying on surprise, it instantly wrapped up the Venomous Spider!
The next moment, another Venomous Spider climbed onto the windowsill, only to be caught by the Dark Octopus in the same manner, wrapped by its tentacles!
"Seems like it's doing well!"
Li Jiayu felt a surge of joy. He had expected the Dark Octopus to handle at least three Venomous Spiders, but he hadn't anticipated it being so effective, controlling two consecutively. It seemed the Venomous Spiders wouldn't pose a problem for the Dark Octopus; stalling for a few dozen seconds should be fine!
But soon, he realized he was wrong!
The Dark Octopus roared in pain, flailing its tentacles wildly as if having a seizure. Li Jiayu clearly saw that the two tentacles binding the Venomous Spiders had turned black and swelled rapidly, like tumors!
"Poisoned! Damn it... The Venomous Spider's hairs pierced its tentacles, the venom infected it... Doesn't the Dark Octopus have poison resistance? Why does a mutated Dark Octopus with Tentacle bloodline lack poison resistance?"
"Pain... pain... burning me... so uncomfortable..."
The Dark Octopus let out muffled, unpleasant groans. Seemingly unable to bear the agony of the venom, it finally decided to cut its losses, contracting its tentacle muscles, causing the two tentacles binding the spiders to break off at the base!
As they broke off, the two tentacles, along with the Venomous Spiders, flew out the window!
The Dark Octopus had dealt with two Venomous Spiders at the cost of only two tentacles!
But the Dark Octopus also seemed to have suffered a considerable blow, curling up for a moment, no longer daring to be brave.
Two seconds later, three more Venomous Spiders appeared. Without the Dark Octopus blocking them immediately, they actually jumped down from the window into the classroom, skittering around nimbly on their spider legs!
"Ah! Spiders! They're inside! Everyone, be careful!"
Lin Zhibin roared, bolstering his courage, and charged forward with the axe. The other four boys also managed to overcome their fear, hoisting desks as weapons and smashing them towards the Venomous Spiders on the ground!
"Clang!"
The Venomous Spiders were extremely agile. Lin Zhibin's axe missed, striking the ground instead, jarring his hand numb. The four students with desks, however, were quite lucky, like blind cats finding dead mice, actually managing to hit one Venomous Spider, knocking it back and flipping it over!
But that only repelled one spider; don't forget, there were still two more!
Of the remaining two spiders, one quickly scuttled to the feet of a male student named Zhang Pengyu, instantly climbing up his legs. It scurried up to his chest, then opened its mandibles wide and bit fiercely into his neck!
"Ah!"
Zhang Pengyu let out a short, sharp scream, but the sound quickly died out as more than half the flesh of his neck was bitten off, along with his larynx and vocal cords, ending up in the Venomous Spider's mouth!
The first male student who stayed behind died with his throat torn open!
The third Venomous Spider that entered was not to be outdone. It scuttled its strangely shaped legs papapa, heading towards the four girls. In its view, those four girls with their tender skin must be even more delicious!
Seeing the hideous, disgusting Venomous Spider rushing towards them, the four girls turned pale with fright, almost wetting themselves again. But just then, the Dark Octopus seemed stimulated by something and became active again, shouting:
"I am... gallant... protector... cannot... let pretty... females... be harmed..."
Saying this, the Dark Octopus's remaining ten tentacles actually picked up several nearby desks and desperately smashed them towards the Venomous Spider attacking the girls!
"Bang bang bang!"
The Dark Octopus's strength was inherently immense. Coupled with its ignited desire to protect, its gallant protector 'Buff' burning, it actually exerted 1.5 times its usual strength! The desks smashed onto the Venomous Spider were deformed by the impact, and the spider itself was actually crushed into a meat patty!
Of the three Venomous Spiders that entered the classroom, one died tragically just like that. But two were still rampaging. And precisely then, two more Venomous Spiders burst in through the window. Even though the Dark Octopus could protect the girls, another male student was still bitten on the thigh, a large chunk of flesh torn away, the wound deep enough to reveal bone. In less than a second, the massive wound festered, turned foul-smelling, and the blood flowing from it turned black!
Clearly... this male student was also basically dead; no one could neutralize the Venomous Spider's toxin.
The situation was becoming increasingly critical!
However, hope still flickered in Li Jiayu's heart – ten seconds, just hold on for ten more seconds, and Hyorinmaru's summoning would succeed! Oh, deceased classmates, I will exact a hundredfold blood debt for you!
Unfortunately, fate seemed against him. As if the heavens themselves were opposing Li Jiayu, a roaring sound came from outside the window again. Li Jiayu looked, and cold sweat broke out once more!
Three Scythe Beetles!
Damn it, three more Scythe Beetles arrived at once!
What could they do now? The situation was already bad enough, and now three more human flesh harvesters arrived, adding frost to snow! Wasn't this completely sealing their fate with no chance of survival?