Chapter 61: The Oathkeeper’s Last Oath [Part 1] After a few hours of concentration, Lavinia finally decided to rest. She felt fearful and anxious for what was about to happen, but she did her best to look calm in front of the other Catkins. The Clawford Tribe instinctively looked up to the Hartwell Clan for support and, as one of them, she mustn’t show any signs of fear and weakness. As long as she stood at the front lines, the Catkins would fight to the death if they had to. The young lady could have sworn that she had gotten only ten seconds of sleep when she felt a presence that made her eyes open in shock. The other Catkins, who were also resting, woke up from their slumber and stared fearfully at the north. A powerful aura of malice and death was emanating from that direction, forcing everyone to stop whatever they were doing. "Everyone, prepare for battle!" Lavinia shouted as she drew her sword whip from its scabbard, already prepared to fight. All the Catkins obeyed and readied themselves for battle. They watched as countless birds cried out, scattering in different directions as if they were trying to escape something that would threaten their lives. As if trying to intimidate the helpless Catkins, the Rank 2 Boss Monster didn’t bother to hide its presence and knocked down every tree in its path. It could feel the fear and anxiety of its prey, which only filled it with anticipation. It was looking forward to playing with its food before eating them one by one. As the trees fell one after the other, the Catkins stood rooted to the ground. They had the strong urge to run away, but they couldn’t do that. Simply running away would make it easier for the Boss Monster to pick them off one by one. Their only chance of winning was to fight together. If they could not defeat the monster as a team, then they stood no chance of fighting it alone. When the monster finally appeared in front of the Catkins, they couldn’t help but shudder from its menacing aura. "Everyone, I know you’re frightened!" Lavinia shouted. "But we must make our stand here! Show this abomination the courage of the Clawford Tribe!" Her bravery diminished the fear the other Catkins felt, and they all gripped their weapons firmly in their hands. Cairo, Ramza, and the Elders approved of Lavinia’s leadership skills, but they still couldn’t help but worry for her safety. The mutant spider locked its gaze on the young lady, whom it recognized as the person who had summoned the dire bear. It made a chirping sound as if to laugh at Lavinia’s bravado, which it intended to soon destroy in the cruelest way possible. Lavinia might not be able to perfectly understand what the spider was thinking, but she could tell it was planning to do something sinister to her. As such, she took the initiative to charge at it and engage it in combat. She couldn’t let the monster make the first move, knowing that if it had the initiative, it would gain unstoppable momentum that would throw their plans out the window. Seeing their Young Miss initiate combat, Lioren and the others charged alongside her, weapons drawn and ready to strike. "Serpent Lash!" Lavinia yelled as she swung her sword whip against the unmoving foe. The sword whip unfurled like a snake about to strike, flying directly toward the mutant spider’s head. However, the Boss Monster simply used its forelegs to deflect Lavinia’s blow with ease. The young lady had already anticipated this, so she remained unfazed. Instead, she raised her left hand and chanted a spell. "Fire Bolt!" A ray of flame shot out from her hand and flew toward the monster, which was underestimating them. Instead of tanking the shot, the mutant spider finally made its move and jumped over the attack with its fangs bared. "Now!" Lavinia shouted. As if waiting for that order, all the Catkins flung the wooder spears in their hands at the spider that was about to land on their Young Miss. Lavinia deftly jumped to the side and evaded the incoming spears. This was part of the strategy they had devised for the battle. She would try to get the spider’s attention and force it to attack her. Once that happened, everyone would attack it at the same time, allowing them to land the first hit in this battle. Just as Lavinia had predicted, the spears hit their mark... but only a handful of them. Most of the spears were deflected by the monster’s legs, and the few that struck its body barely left a scratch. If their tactic succeeded in doing anything, it was pissing the monster off. It started to spit out web balls that hit the Catkins and pinned them where they stood, preventing them from escaping. The web was incredibly sticky. The more they struggled, the more entangled they found themselves, worsening their situation. "Ahhhh!" "Nooo!" "Run!" Lavinia roared and attacked the monster with her weapon, forcing it to once again focus its attention on her. The monster spat a web ball in the young lady’s direction, but she managed to dodge it at the last second. Lioren and the others lunged at the mutant spider from its blind spot. However, the spider had sensed their attack earlier, so it simply leaped away before hurtling more web balls in mid-air. Two of Lioren’s teammates were hit by the attack and screamed in fright. The battle had just started, yet a sixth of their numbers were already out of action. Although fearful and anxious, the Catkins didn’t panic because they knew that Lavinia still had a trump card she had created just for this battle alone. Just as they were about to make an opening for her, the spider suddenly unleashed a screech so mind-rending that it made everyone instinctively cover their ears. The spider then used this opportunity to lunge at Lavinia, whom it deemed the greatest threat in battle. Still shaken by the screech, Lavinia’s reaction time became a bit slower. Time seemed to slow down as the young lady saw the spider descend in front of her with its fangs ready to strike. It was at that moment that she realized she was fighting an enemy way out of her league. Any belief that they had a chance of beating it was simply false hope. But, in that slow-moving world, she also saw something she didn’t expect. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw that a boulder was slowly but surely about to collide with the mutant spider’s body. Time resumed its normal flow, and the boulder struck its mark, knocking the spider off course. Its fangs sank into empty air instead of Lavinia. Lavinia and the Catkins glanced in the direction from which the boulder had come and saw Dim Dim perched on the head of a guardian golem. But there was someone else standing beside them, and it was none other than Alex. He was holding a gray shield with the emblem of the Clawford Tribe embossed in its center. "Have no fear!" Alex shouted. "Dim Dim is here!" Dim Dim declared, raising its body proudly. Not missing a beat, Alex lightly tapped his sword on the shield in his hand and shouted. "Come here, you ugly spider!" < Taunt [EX] activated! > The mutant spider, who had just suffered a surprise attack from the side, screeched before jumping at Alex with the intention to kill. Although they were far apart, that single leap closed the gap between them easily. Taunt [EX] forced its target to exchange one blow with Alex. It had a cooldown of two minutes, but that didn’t mean others couldn’t interfere while the Boss Monster was in a taunted state. Leo, possessing the guardian golem, roared and smashed his fist into the monster’s face, eliciting a painful scream. With Alex’s taunt still affecting it, the monster couldn’t control its body and failed to dodge the heavy blow. Cairo, Ramza, and the Elders all rejoiced as the young man joined the battle. Now that Alex, Dim Dim, and the guardian golem had arrived, the chances of winning against the Boss Monster were no longer zero. Lioren and the rest of the Catkins, who hadn’t liked Alex at the beginning, were now very happy to see him. Lavinia, who had almost given up a minute ago, also looked at the young man with hope in her eyes. "Everyone, let’s work together to beat this thing!" Alex shouted. "I’ll tank it, so don’t hesitate to attack when you see an opportunity to strike!" The Catkins shouted back in acknowledgment as their morale drastically rose. Lavinia took a deep breath before her expression turned serious again. Now that someone would tank the attacks of the Boss Monster for them, she and the Catkins could now attack it without holding back. Leo, who saw this scene, couldn’t help but remember the past, when he had played the same role for his tribe. "Can you do it?" Leo asked the young man, who was preparing to get beaten up badly by the spider. "Sir Leo, don’t ask the obvious," Alex replied. "Even if I can’t do it, I will still do it. After all, someone has to take the hits, right?" "Indeed." Leo nodded. "Someone needs to take hits so the others can kill this thing." The guardian golem then shot a Stone Bullet the size of a volleyball at the mutant spider, who was no longer planning to play around with its prey. Cairo, Ramza, and the Elders of the Hartwell Clan all watched with bated breath at the battle that would be recorded in the history of the Clawford Tribe and talked about for many years to come.