Chapter 50: Water to Ice; It Finally Expands
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Qin Ruo's sudden involvement in the battle came to Slayer's Heart, Violet Orchid and the others as a shock.
However, it seemed that the five of them were completely unable to stop the Deathfiend Spider from squeezing itself into the crypt. Furthermore, time was no longer sufficient for the Twelve Frostramparts Formation to be set up. Hence, they could only silently agree to Qin Ruo's actions before he entered the fight.
Having no longer putting high hopes on the Twelve Frostrampart Formation, everyone only had one option left: to fully focus on launching a full-scale assault on the enemy with the attempt to deal as much damage possible to the Deathfiend Spider within the shortest time. As long as Violet Orchid could survive until the end of the battle, the party would still have a chance to return to their current spot.
What they never imagined was Qin Ruo's attack actually coming in the form of the Water Element. It gushed over and filled up the gap between the tunnel and the Deathfiend Spider's body…
The Water Element in the air was getting thinner by the second!
Slayer's Heart and the others instantly felt that the Deathfiend Spider's momentum of moving forward slowing down a little…
The first person to respond to the situation was Burning Rose. Although she had no idea how Qin Ruo managed to pull it off, her sharp judgment determined that moment to be a great opportunity for her to make her move on the giant spider. Without even the slightest hesitation, she stopped herself from casting her offensive Fire Element magic attacks. Right after that, she switched her focus to condensing a Tier 4 Enchantment and her Fire Aegis.
Qin Ruo was relieved after he saw what Burning Rose was doing. He seemed appreciative based on the look in his eyes. Hence, he hurried up as he controlled the Water Element, turning it into a circular shape before squeezing it into the gap between the tunnel and the spider…
On the other side of the spectrum, the giant spider was truly worthy of a Tier 4 Elite Mini Boss. It possessed strong judgment on the battlefield. Hence, the Deathfiend Spider was actually able to sense that the magic force weighing its body down was coming from the Tier 3 Water Element controlled by Qin Ruo. He was approximately twenty meters away from it. Upon abandoning its notion to attack Slayer's Heart and the others, the giant spider turned its head around. A row of black venomous needles rose up, piercing through the air as they rained down upon Qin Ruo!
"Watch out!"
The moment the Deathfiend Spider made its move, Slayer's Heart and the others immediately sensed that something was not right. However, they were not able to respond in time. All they could do was try to alert Qin Ruo about it…
However, Qin Ruo did not panic. He calmly adjusted the angle of the Aquashield in his hand. In the meantime, three Frostramparts swiftly rose up from the bottom right in front of him, one after another!
*Pshh Pshh Pshh!*
Along with the sound of something being penetrated, ice bits were seen scattered around their surroundings.
The three Frostramparts had seemingly been penetrated at the same time. A row of neatly-aligned, tiny black holes simultaneously appeared on each of the Frostrampart's surface as a result of corrosion. The momentum of the deadly poison needle attack against Qin Ruo did not slow down. However, it no longer posed a threat after it pierced through the water enchantment. All of the poison needles plunged into the surface of the Aquashield as they turned back into the Dark Element and dispersed into the air.
While he defended himself against the attack, Qin Ruo did not forget about his main objective!
Half of the Water Element had already filled the gap between the tunnel and the Deathfiend Spider's body. It was disconnected from the rest of the Water Element in the air…
A word then swiftly escaped Qin Ruo's mouth.
"Ice!"
Upon hearing Qin Ruo's voice, Slayer's Heart and Little Apple, who were standing closest to the Deathfiend Spider immediately noticed that the surrounding temperature in the tunnel had abruptly decreased. Soon after, the Deathfiend Spider's body appeared to be squeezed by a tremendous force from all four directions. Its death spots remained as disgusting as ever and the giant spider's bloated body was pressed so badly that its size seemed significantly smaller now. The giant spider's momentum, which almost allowed it to squeeze through the tunnel was completely stopped. It seemed as though the giant spider was stuck in the tunnel, struggling violently as it growled…
Both defense and a counterattack were accomplished in one breath.
Not only were his other party members relieved, they also seemed more astounded based on the look on their faces. They were unexpectedly surprised by his performance—Qin Ruo was truly a freaking prodigy. He actually came up with the idea of condensing water into ice, applying the theory of volume expansion to lock the Deathfiend Spider's body between the walls of the tunnel!
Burning Rose and Violet Orchid appeared stunned as well as surprised, taking a quick glance at Qin Ruo. At the same time, both of them also loudly urged Slayer's Heart and Little Apple to hustle up their attacks on the giant spider. In the meantime, they made sure that they did not hit the walls of the tunnel.
For a time, both of their attacks began to fall upon the Deathfiend Spider's body. Not concerned with the exhaustion of their MP, they relentlessly spammed their skills on the giant spider without holding back.
At the same time, iLittle Arrow and Qin Ruo also made their move. The two of them had locked Spell Arrow and Frostpike respectively on the Deathfiend Spider's upper half, which was exposed to the tunnel's opening. They did so with their targeting system as they launched their assault right on their target without showing any mercy.
Along with the ferocious attacks from the four of them, green liquid spilled all over the ground!
It also carried the stench of blood. However, at that moment, everyone's intolerance towards the loathsome stench as well as the Poison Effect had been alleviated for some reason. Without the slightest pause, everyone went all out as they unleashed their most ferocious attacks on their enemy…
The situation was turning out for the better, hence Violet Orchid was relieved. However, she remained vigilant as she continued to cast her Light of Healing again and again on Slayer's Heart as well as Little Apple, who remained on the frontlines. She did so as quick as she could while they endured the wrath of the Deathfiend Spider, recovering their HP bars.
The poor Deathfiend Spider had a "bumpy" body to begin with. Now that the condensed ice stuck all over its body had expanded right after they froze, it could not enter the crypt, or back away from the tunnel. The giant spider was basically a caged lion. To counter the attacks that were raining upon it, there was only one thing it could do for the time being. It repeatedly launched its attacks such as Poison Needle, Poison Mist and Poison Fang on Slayer's Heart and Little Apple, who were attacking it without restraint.
Ten seconds later, the Deathfiend Spider's HP bar had been reduced to approximately 20,000 points. On the other hand, the two players before the giant spider were still in perfectly good condition with the support of the Radiant Priest. Not to mention, the both of them could still recover their HP by consuming their HP Potions. Their situations were basically far from being in danger at the moment.
However, the Deathfiend Spider was a truly worthy candidate to be deemed as a Tier 4 Elite Mini Boss. It began to find a way out of its tight spot after getting stuck for a brief period of time!
*Sizzle!*
Along came the sound of something being corroded. It was crystal clear to everyone in the giant spider's vicinity. Black strips of gas suddenly appear all around the Deathfiend Spider's body. The black gas seemed to carry a highly corrosive effect. The condensed solid ice surrounding the giant spider swiftly melted away the moment it came into contact with the black gas. Black water droplets dripped down from the top continuously.
This was bad!
Qin Ruo furrowed his eyebrows as he quickly responded to the situation. He immediately controlled the Water Element in an attempt to salvage the situation, which seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. However, it had become impossible for him to rely on the expansion of the ice he condensed from water to suppress its movement. The Water Element would melt into nothing the moment it came into contact with the dark corrosive gas. Not to mention, the water droplets that were already tainted by the Dark Element could no longer be controlled.
After accessing the current situation, Qin Ruo could not help but feel regretful about turning away from his task of condensing the remaining ramparts for the Twelve Frostramparts Formation. Upon seeing that the situation had taken a bad turn once again… Qin Ruo was utterly out of ideas.
After all, he was merely a Tier 3 Aquamancer. Other than having the capability to fairly manage Elements to arrange some skills, Qin Ruo was not much help when it came to offense.
Previously, he was able to heavily wound the Gorefiend Spider Demon merely because it used the essence and blood in its entire body to summon a massive number of Netherspirits that possessed weak magic resistance. Hence, he was able to grab on to the opportunity and put up a good show as he detonated all Twelve Frostramparts at the same instant. He destroyed all the Netherspirits and blasted the Gorefiend Spider Demon into a weakened state. Otherwise, how would a Tier 3 Aquamancer's attack have dealt so much damage to the Gorefiend Spider Demon?
Right now, the Deathfiend Spider was much more problematic than the Gorefiend Spider Demon. Its Poison Wounds, which carried an AoE attribute had weakened the capabilities of everyone within its proximity. Heart's physical attacks and Little Apple's skills did not work on the giant spider ever since the beginning of the battle. Meanwhile, iLittle Arrow and Qin Ruo's Magic Effect had yet to be brought into play until now. Without using the expansion of condensed ice to lock the Deathfiend Spider in the tunnel for a brief period, the six players within its vicinity would have been completely wiped out by the Deathfiend Spider the moment it got loose from the tunnel.
Now that the corrosive stench of the Deathfiend Spider was unleashed into the air, the condensed ice was slowly losing its effect of imprisoning the giant spider's body. The Deathfiend Spider was now able to squirm around as it began to move forward again. The creature would regain its mobility in another two seconds at best.
"Purification Aura!"
Just when everything seemed to be lost, a flash of sacred light descended upon iLittle Arrow, who was done charging up her Lunarshackle. The negative Poison Effect on her body was instantly nullified!
iLittle Arrow felt a sudden lift in her spirit right after that.
"Go!"
With the twang of her bowstring, a violet Spell Arrow pierced through the air like a bolt of lightning. The head of the arrow plunged deep into the Deathfiend Spider's mouth…
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone