"How many hours are left before we arrive, old man?" Pearl asked. She was already getting bored from sitting still for such long hours.

"Please be patient, Miss Pearl. If we continue moving at this pace, we should arrive in about twelve hours." Gilles replied while wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. Making Pearl angry was the last thing he wanted.

He then lowered the carriage window.

"Hey, can you move faster, David?" Gilles shouted toward the carriage driver.

"Sorry, sir, but it is already night. It is not wise to move too fast blindly in the dark." David answered cautiously.

"And why is it not wise? Can you tell me?" Pearl suddenly asked mockingly.

"Err... it’s because of the monsters..." David replied slowly.

"Do you actually not know who I am? I am the one they call the Fatal Lancer. All monsters wish they never have to face me. Now, move faster!"

"A-alright!" David immediately whipped the horses, causing the carriage to speed up.

A few minutes later, the monsters inside the cages suddenly began making loud noises. Barking, growling, hissing, and various other cries echoed out as all of them stared toward the other side of the forest. They looked extremely anxious and frightened.

"What’s happening back there?" Gilles asked in annoyance. He climbed down from the carriage and lit a torch before walking toward the cages at the back. He then slammed the steel bars loudly.

Bam! Bam!

"Hey! Quiet, you monsters! Shhh!"

Rumble! Rumble!

Suddenly, Gilles heard movement behind him.

He slowly turned around, only to see a pair of glowing green eyes staring directly at him from the darkness. Before he could even react, a giant spider suddenly leaped out from the bushes and pounced onto him.

"Arggh! Help me! Help me!" Gilles screamed as saliva dripped from the spider’s mouth onto his body.

Swooosh!

The spider was thrown to the side and died instantly. Pearl had appeared and thrust her spear forward with terrifying speed.

"T-thank you!" Gilles quickly retreated back into the carriage in panic.

Meanwhile, Pearl slowly walked toward the bushes and saw dozens of similar green eyes staring at her from the darkness. One by one, giant spiders crawled out from the bushes, each nearly a meter in size.

David and the other carriage drivers were also tamers. They quickly drew their weapons and prepared themselves.

"Good! I can finally stretch my body a little after two days of doing nothing. Raaar!" Pearl shouted excitedly before dashing straight toward the swarm of spiders.

The spiders were actually Arachix, and their summoner was standing several hundred meters away on higher ground.

"It really is the convoy you mentioned, my Oliver. And it seems there’s a strong hunter among them." Queen said calmly. She had summoned dozens of Arachix to attack the convoy below.

Beside her was Oliver, lying on his stomach while observing everything from the cliff above. Thanks to the passive skill from Crimson Striker, he could see clearly even in the darkness.

"It must be a member of the Five Scorpions. Keep summoning the Arachix, Queen. And send one to my father with this letter." Oliver quickly wrote a letter to his father before attaching it onto one of the Arachix.

"Then, I’ll go first."

Oliver wore a black cape behind him before jumping down from the cliff and landing softly on the ground below. He then immediately ran toward the convoy.

His target was the hunter.

He wore the wooden mask once again, though a visible crack still remained on it from before. In the darkness, his eyes gleamed sharply, with one of them glowing red as he activated Overlord Eye. At the same time, he pulled out the Assault Dagger from the system.

A few minutes later, Pearl thrust her lance through the last remaining Arachix. The spiders had not posed much difficulty to her. Their only advantage was their overwhelming numbers.

Suddenly, Pearl instinctively raised her lance.

Clang!

Sparks burst out the moment she blocked an incoming attack. The flash of light briefly revealed Oliver standing before her while wearing the cracked wooden mask.

Ping!

Pang!

Ping!

Immediately, swift exchanges erupted between them as Pearl was forced onto the defensive against Oliver’s rapid attacks.

’This guy is fast! Who is he?!’ Pearl was shocked by the speed of the masked man before her. She quickly created some distance from Oliver to catch her breath.

Meanwhile, the other carriage drivers were still fighting the Arachix on the other side. All of them were only low-rank tamers. If she left them alone for too long, they would surely die. She was now far away from the convoy she was supposed to protect.

Suddenly, Pearl noticed a group of Arachix crawling from behind Oliver.

’Kekeke! It seems he didn’t notice the monsters behind him. And here I thought he was a good fighter.’ Pearl thought mockingly.

However, something unexpected happened. The spiders suddenly lined up beside Oliver as if they were waiting for his orders.

"Attack her." Oliver commanded calmly.

Immediately, the ten Arachix charged toward Pearl at once.

"Tch! So all of these are his monsters. Just how many did he tame?" Pearl gritted her teeth.

"Looks like I have no choice. Come forth, Spilance!"

A summoning circle appeared beneath her feet, and from it emerged a giant shrimp nearly two meters tall. Its two massive front claws resembled enormous lances.

The moment it appeared, Spilance furiously thrust its lance-like claws forward at incredible speed, instantly slaughtering all the Arachix with ease.

---

[Spilance]

Rank S

---

<Spilance>

"Rank-S monster?" Oliver muttered softly.

Pearl immediately heard his words, and her expression turned furious.

"How do you know my monster’s rank? No one has ever lived after seeing my monster!" Pearl shouted angrily.

She pulled out another lance from her magical space ring before lunging straight toward Oliver. At the same time, Spilance also charged into the battle. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Oliver tightened his grip on his dagger. Finally, he had the opportunity to see how far his strength had progressed.

Pearl arrived before him and thrust both of her lances simultaneously. Oliver quickly jumped aside and evaded the attack. He then stepped onto one of the lances and swung his body forward before charging directly toward Spilance.

"Charge forward, Husk!"

"What is that monster?!" Pearl was startled as she saw a massive creature suddenly appear beside Oliver.

Husk emerged and immediately rushed toward Spilance. Its body was nearly twice the size of the shrimp monster.

With a powerful swing of its claw, Husk smashed against Spilance’s lance-like arm. The weapon instantly shattered apart as Spilance desperately tried to block the attack.

The force sent Spilance flying several meters away before it crashed directly into one of the cages containing the captured monsters, completely breaking it open.

Immediately, all the monsters trapped inside escaped.

"No! No! Catch them back!" Gilles shouted desperately. However, no one paid attention to him as the others were busy trying to survive against the Arachix swarm.

"Spilance!" Pearl shouted anxiously. But she could not afford to lose focus because Oliver was still standing before her, currently in his Assault Striker class.

"Crimson Slash!"

A crimson slash shot forward at terrifying speed.

Pearl quickly crossed her lances to block it, but the attack was far heavier than she expected. Cracks instantly spread across her weapons before the impact blasted her backward.

"Is she really a former Rank-S tamer?" Oliver scratched his head in confusion. He had expected a difficult battle, but instead, he found himself overwhelming her far more easily than expected.

He slowly walked toward her.

"Bastard! Who exactly is this guy?!" Pearl slowly stood back up while gritting her teeth. "I never expected someone this strong to exist in such a remote place."

Suddenly, she extended her tongue slightly, revealing a scorpion mark beneath it.

"You’re really courting death! Don’t think I’ll let you leave this place alive." She then raised one hand upward.

Oliver’s expression immediately became alert.

At that moment, Spilance suddenly dissolved into light and merged into Pearl’s body.

Her appearance rapidly transformed. Her body became covered in thick shrimp-like armor, while two sharp lances formed directly from her arms.

"Come here and taste the terror of my Full Form!"