World's Last Hope-Chapter 50: Spider Web
While flying high in the air like a plane was undoubtedly cool, realization quickly hit Eric as his heart rate began to speed up.
His ascent was done, so now it was time to fall.
The feeling of falling was a horror few things could hope to match.
"Alright, think logically," he muttered under his breath, trying to stay calm.
"Falling from such a height would kill me for sure, so is there some way to break my momentum before hitting the ground?"
This was the dire question that he had to figure out, fast, as he wasn’t going to remain in the air for much longer.
"I have to avoid water at all costs, maybe aim for softer ground or branches of trees that could potentially break my fall."
While in theory these options gave him better chances of survival, he didn’t feel hopeful...
Until something caught his attention.
"Is that a monster?!" he spoke in disbelief as his eyes widened in awe.
It was still far away, but Eric was flying toward it, so with a little luck, he should be able to crash into it.
"No matter how tough its body is, there is no way it could withstand the ground, so if I collide with it, it should slow down my momentum quite a bit."
Deciding that this was his best bet, he summoned his sword.
Gripping his sword as he tried to ignore the feeling of having his desires amplified, he got ready for a collision.
"3." His heart was going to explode from worry, but his eyes didn’t stray from the target.
"2." In situations like this, the hands of a person would usually start to tremble in worry, but it seemed he had somehow managed to keep them steady.
"NOW!" he shouted, seeing that this was the perfect moment to attack as he brought down his sword.
He was moving with incredible speed, so he wasn’t even able to make out most of the monster’s characteristics, just its silhouette.
But that silhouette was more than enough.
Successfully timing it, his sword met the creature’s body at just the right moment to hit its head, killing it instantly.
Next, Eric’s body collided with the monster, but thanks to the attack he had performed just a second prior, most of his momentum was now gone. So, aside from a few bruises, he wasn’t hurt much.
Eric, without wasting a beat, dismissed his sword and positioned himself on top of the creature’s corpse.
He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes with the intention to protect them.
A few seconds later, the corpse that Eric was on top of broke through some tree branches and hit the ground, turning into a bloody paste.
Quickly distancing himself from the bloody sight, he stretched his legs and arms.
Even though nothing was hurting him at the moment, it was possible he had something broken, but he couldn’t feel it due to the adrenaline running through his system.
Confirming that he was indeed fine and had survived falling from a few kilometers down from the sky, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay... now what?"
He may have survived the moment, but the truth was that his situation didn’t seem very hopeful.
He was now alone in the middle of the death zone, with a monster on his tail.
"How long would it take for that thing to reach me?" he asked his system, now considering the situation.
Since he had some reserves of soul essence, he could afford to intentionally ask a question or two.
[Impossible to answer as the terrain changes as well as the entity’s speed.]
[But from the short encounter that the host had with the being, it became clear that the closer the being was to the host, the faster it would become.]
[As such, it is recommended to keep as much distance as possible.]
"It gets faster the closer it is to me?" Eric muttered under his breath, lost in thought.
Deciding that it was no time to ponder the issue, he glanced around.
"Just how strong has Aria become after evolving into a Grandmaster?" he asked himself.
The display of power she had demonstrated as she threw Eric high into the sky with such ease was something like out of a fairy tale...
"Well, maybe this world is as well..."
Shifting his gaze around, his eyes stopped at the sun for a moment.
"She said that we were supposed to meet at the second cathedral, so better not waste time here and keep the ladies waiting." he sighed as he began walking.
He might appear relaxed from the distance, but the truth was that he was currently on guard.
Especially because...
"What the hell is this?" he asked while looking at something that looked like a half pillar, with a few light spots.
"Is that an egg? A cocoon?"
Maybe he would have been able to ignore it if there weren’t dozens... hundreds, of these things all around.
They varied in size—some were smaller than his fist, while others were almost as big as him.
His eyebrows furrowed. "If this really is some type of egg or cocoon, then there is a monster inside."
What would happen if all of them broke out of their shells and attacked him?
"No, even if they did, they would be babies, so probably harmless, right?" Eric asked himself, hesitating.
Honestly, was it really a good idea to think with common sense in a world that laws seemed to now apply differently?
"But why do I feel like I’m missing something?" He muttered as his eyes caught something shining around the trees.
"Is that a web?... A spider web?" he massaged his forehead, deep in thought.
"Are there spider-like monsters here?... Well, that would explain these weird cocoons..."
As realization hit him, his body shivered. "Wait..."
"Spider web? Cocoons?... But aren’t these things only supposed to be in...?"
His eyes widened in horror.
"Did I... just fall right into a... monster’s nest?"
