Hugo grabbed a knife from one of the passengers, his gaze fixed on the three Arachlaws harrying the struggling Marcos as he shouted back to Melt.
With a running start, he vaulted into the fray, breaking through the ring of Magic Armor Beasts surrounding the noble. He landed beside him and thrust the knife forward.
"Marcos, take this! Use it to cut the silk binding your scissors!"
"What...?"
Marcos stared at the purple knife, his face twisting into a mask of bitter resentment as he let out a low groan.
Hugo urged him to prioritize freeing his weapons so he could actually fight, but Marcos's pride proved to be his greatest obstacle. He swatted Hugo’s hand aside, his voice cracking with indignation.
"Don't mock me! I would never accept help from the likes of you! I am a proud noble! I have no need for your pity!"
"You idiot! You can't fight in that state!"
Ignoring the warning, Marcos braced his left arm and charged the Magic Armor Beasts. It was a clumsy, linear tackle—an amateurish move that the monsters easily read and evaded.
Frustrated, he attempted to strike with a backfist, relying on the hardness of his armor, and followed up with a desperate thrust. But his attacks were monotonous and telegraphed; they stood no chance against the agile Magic Armor Beasts.
"Dammit! Dammit!! Why won't they die?! Even Hugo Clay could defeat them! This isn't how it was supposed to go! This... this is...!"
"Marcos, pull yourself together! We have to work together to take them down!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Be quiet!! I don't need your help to—gah!?"
The blood rushing to Marcos's head in his fury proved to be his undoing.
An Arachlaw seized the opening and delivered a brutal kick to his defenseless abdomen. Marcos doubled over, a wordless wheeze escaping his throat as his body curled into a pathetic "U" shape.
The monster’s leg, reinforced with magic power, shattered his barrier and followed through with devastating momentum. The impact knocked the consciousness right out of him. Kicked backward by the force of the blow, Marcos slammed into the cavern wall and slumped to the ground, motionless.
"Marcos! Dammit...!!"
Hugo felt a surge of anxiety. He was now surrounded by three monsters, and his supposed partner was incapacitated.
He had intended for them to divide and conquer, but now he was trapped in a three-on-one scenario. Just as a look of grim determination crossed his face, a saving grace called out to him.
"Hugo, jump!!"
"Melt!?"
Hugo reacted instinctively to Melt's scream. He flooded his legs with magic power and leaped high into the air, twisting to see her.
While Marcos and Hugo had been drawing the Arachlaws' focus, Melt had been busy. She had manifested dozens of purple swords, and now, taking aim at the cluster of monsters, she unleashed them in a torrential downpour of blades.
"Take this!!"
"Gaguooh!?"
"Gyoh!? Gugyoh!?"
The Arachlaws shrieked as the unexpected barrage tore into them.
They managed to shield their vitals at the last second, preventing an immediate kill, but they were severely battered. Hugo wasn't about to let such a perfect opening go to waste.
"Nice work, Melt! Leave the rest to me!"
He funneled magic power into both fists, his hands beginning to glow with a brilliant, pulsing crimson light.
Dropping toward the ground like a meteor, Hugo locked onto his targets and roared.
"Blaster Punch!!"
"Gofuh!?"
"Gagu!!"
He drove his left fist into one monster's face, putting the full weight of his descent into the strike. The moment his feet hit the cavern floor, he spun, driving a right hook into the side of the second Arachlaw’s head.
The two Magic Armor Beasts were blown backward, their bodies glowing with the same crimson radiance as Hugo’s magic before they vanished in a violent explosion.
"One more! This is it—!?"
Hugo turned to finish the final Arachlaw, but a high-pitched screech echoed through the cave.
Unlike its companions, this one had evaded Melt's barrage. It shot a strand of silk toward the ceiling and used it to swing through the air, hurtling straight toward Melt.
Having just exhausted her energy on her large-scale spell, Melt was defenseless against the incoming monster.
Seeing the Magic Armor Beast swinging toward her like a predator on a vine, Hugo moved with god-like speed.
"Like hell I'll let you!!"
He pumped magic power into his legs, enhancing his physical capabilities to the limit. Predicting the Arachlaw’s pendulum-like trajectory, he sprinted to cut it off.
Dashing forward, he leaped, kicked off the cavern wall to redirect his momentum, and flipped through the air. He extended his right leg, meeting the monster head-on.
"Blaster Kick!!"
"Gugyaaaaaah!?"
Hugo's kick, reinforced by magic and the combined momentum of his jump and the monster's charge, landed with a bone-shattering crunch. The Arachlaw was sent flying, its scream echoing through the dark.
Hugo landed gracefully and kept his guard up. The monster struggled to its feet, staggering for a few moments before its strength finally failed. It collapsed back onto the stone floor.
A moment later, it followed its kin, its body erupting in a brilliant crimson explosion that filled the cavern with a blinding flash.
"Gugi! Gugo...! Gyaaaaaaaaaa!!"
In the fading light of the explosion, the survivors looked upon the silhouette of the Black Knight.
Hugo, who had single-handedly slaughtered the monsters and saved them from their captors, remained in his Transformed state as he addressed the crowd.
"There might be more of them lurking nearby! We need to get everyone out of these webs now! If you can move, please lend a hand!"
"R-Right! We understand!"
Whether the nest was fully cleared remained to be seen, but the immediate threat was gone.
Following the instructions of the hero who had saved them, the passengers began working together to cut through the sticky Arachlaw silk.
"Stay still, I've got you!"
Hugo used the technique he had just perfected—infusing his hands with magic to create sharp, blade-like strikes—to slice through the bindings.
Once he was sure everyone was free, he pointed toward the side passage they had used to enter.
"That way leads back to the surface! I'll take point, so follow me! Help those who can't walk—we're all getting out of here together!"
The hero who had pulled them from the depths of despair led the way, his broad, dependable back serving as a beacon of hope in the darkness.
Filled with the joy of knowing they would see their families again, the people followed him out of the shadows and toward the light of the surface.