RWWOKS Chapter 122

In the dim forest, a group moved swiftly through the shadows. Their matching black uniforms provided effective camouflage, indicating that this was no ordinary, hastily assembled team.

“How much farther?” The man at the front, gripping a spear, asked eagerly, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

A mature woman wearing glasses, seemingly focused on sensing something, was trailing close behind him. Beside them was another man, a ninja with a forehead protector, who appeared quite ordinary and unremarkable.

These individuals were reincarnators from the Iwagakure faction. From the moment they arrived, they had moved to intercept key routes leading to Konohagakure in other countries.

They understood that not all enemy reincarnators would travel to the Land of Fire together. Some would choose to journey alone to the main battlefield.

Their task was simple: intercept and kill those unlucky enough to be traveling alone.

In fact, ever since last night, groups had been steadily heading toward the Land of Fire.

Operating under the principle of “target the smaller fish, not the big ones,” they had completed a series of fierce battles, achieving an impressive record of 2 deaths and 7 kills.

Thanks to their outstanding performance, their squad had risen to the top of the rankings in the space battlefield, putting Iwagakure’s faction in the lead with the highest score.

Seeing a team ascend to the top, other reincarnators quickly realized the gravity of the situation. To earn points so rapidly, the Iwagakure team must have set ambushes along the route, forcing everyone else to become more cautious in their movements.

For the entire half-day, the squad hadn’t encountered any more lone targets.

The closest they came was when they spotted a group of five, but after much hesitation, they decided against engaging them.

Just when they thought their hunt would have to end, the member responsible for scouting suddenly detected a lone traveler.

With no other presence detected within a few kilometers, it seemed they had found a solitary reincarnator venturing recklessly.

They were confident because the woman in their squad had a peculiar flying familiar. She could share its vision, using an “eagle-eye” view from a thousand meters above to scout and lock onto targets.

“About three kilometers away. We’ll reach them in approximately 15 minutes.”

“Three kilometers in 15 minutes? Seems like the target’s agility isn’t that high,” Kishu muttered as he twirled his spear, licking his dry lips eagerly. “Excellent. Once we take him down, we’ll head to Konohagakure.”

This area was the borderland between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire, with several smaller countries nearby—a typical no man’s land.

Fighting here was fine, but if they ventured into the Land of Fire, they’d have to be careful, or they’d soon face the attention of Konohagakure’s shinobi.

The thought of earning more points made Kishu’s excitement surge.

“Hmph, that idiot Stoss. How dare he look down on me?” Remembering what the man said before they parted ways, Kishu’s temper flared.

“What did he mean by ‘don’t act recklessly’? Reincarnators must seize every opportunity. Otherwise, the rising difficulty will eventually swallow them whole.”

He wasn’t wrong to want more points. Who was that guy to criticize him?

If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t defeat Stoss, Kishu would’ve pierced that guy’s behind long ago.

“If he hadn’t gotten lucky, how could he have obtained that card?”

One of the silent teammates seemed ready to speak up, but the woman quickly gestured for him to remain quiet.

Seeing her subtle shake of the head, he sighed inwardly and kept silent.

Stoss had been generous, even offering a one-time-use small formation scroll before they left.

The man understood its function—an effective escape tool if they needed to retreat from a dangerous fight. But Kishu, their leader, had refused the gesture.

“Sigh, at this rate, we’ll end up suffering because of the captain’s arrogance.”

As his teammate sighed, they finally approached their target.

“All right, let’s sprint forward. Don’t give them time to react.” Kishu pulled out a scroll from his pocket, tore it open, and tossed it on the ground.

A faint glow enveloped the squad, and they gained a 35% speed boost.

Their already impressive speed increased further, and they rushed forward like three arrows toward their target.

As the surroundings blurred, they emerged from the forest and arrived at a small riverbank, where they spotted their prey—a lone figure with his back turned.

His wine-red hair cascaded over his shoulders, and the two blades he carried shimmered with an aura that promised to cut down anything in their path.

“A swordsman?” Kishu felt a flicker of doubt.

Usually, reincarnators who pursued such a path had high agility.

But he quickly brushed aside his hesitation. None of that mattered now; all he needed to do was pierce his spear through the target’s body.

A faint green energy gathered, transforming his otherwise plain spear into a dazzling weapon.

**Flying Spear**: A D-rank skill from Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance, capable of delivering a devastating, beast-piercing strike.

Though not a high-rank skill, Kishu had trained it to level ten.

Sometimes, what’s best is what suits you. The corpses left behind by his spear proved that.

If this strike hit, it would undoubtedly gravely injure his target, allowing his teammates to swiftly finish the job.

*Crack!*

Suddenly, the sound of the earth shattering filled the air.

Before the squad could react, three massive, human-sized ghostly spiders burst forth from the ground.

“Damn it!” Unable to react in time, Kishu instinctively targeted the monstrous spider lunging toward him.

[Your Flying Spear hits the target, dealing 54 + 24 Shadow Piercing damage.]

The attack mercilessly impaled the spider, pinning its grotesque body to the ground.

Seeing it still twitching, Kishu drew a short sword from his waist and chopped off the repulsive head.

Glancing at his teammates, he saw they had successfully fended off the sudden attackers, and he turned back toward the figure by the river.

“You knew we were here all along?” Kishu asked, a hint of seriousness creeping into his voice.

If that were true, then this enemy might be even stronger than he had anticipated.

After all, he himself wouldn’t have the courage to face three reincarnators alone.

But his opponent remained silent, and then, the twin blades erupted into fierce flames, sealing off Kishu’s escape routes from both sides.

**Sun Breathing Third Form: Raging Sun!**

With his teammates still engaged in combat with the spider monsters, Kishu had no room to dodge. He had only two choices: take the hit or risk a mutual exchange of blows.

“Like hell, I’m scared to trade hits!” he roared, thrusting his spear with all his might. Both attacks struck simultaneously.

The spear pierced through the red-haired swordsman’s body, but the two flame-engulfed swords dealt an explosive blow, leaving Kishu utterly stunned.

[You’ve been hit by Puppet Controlled by User #14552, taking 65 + 60 mixed damage.]

Feeling the intense burning sensation spread through his body, Kishu’s eyes widened as terrifying thoughts flashed through his mind.

First, this wasn’t a reincarnator at all—it was a puppet controlled by someone else.

**The inability to detect this meant that the enemy’s perception attribute was overwhelming the woman.**

Secondly, the puppet’s attack power was incredibly formidable, instantly wiping out two-thirds of his health.

The intense pain coursing through his body seemed to be a harsh reminder that this time, he’d really kicked an iron wall.

Thirdly, the enemy’s true body was likely hiding in the distance, waiting to launch an attack on them.

These chaotic thoughts flashed through Kishu’s mind in an instant, and he gritted his teeth, swinging his spear to deflect the puppet’s second strike.

The relentless pressure from the enemy didn’t even give him a moment to drink a health potion.

With his agility attribute maxed out, Kishu could theoretically break away from the puppet’s assault with ease, but his two teammates would then be left in a dire situation.

One was a gunner, and the other a healer/magic damage dealer. With such devastating attacks coming their way, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Their squad’s configuration clearly emphasized high firepower, making it possible to kill any lone reincarnator caught off guard in seconds.

However, every advantage has its drawbacks. Their high damage output came at the cost of weak defensive and counterattack capabilities.

Just like now, as their strongest member, Kishu found himself unable to leverage his strengths in this environment, and the other two were tangled up with the giant spiders that had ambushed them.

Maybe in seven or eight more seconds, they could resolve the current predicament, but would the enemy give them that time?

The answer, of course, was no.

Just as the two teammates finally killed the spiders, and the female reincarnator attempted to heal their captain, a terrifying figure suddenly descended from the sky.

*Bang!*

The half-human, half-spider shikigami landed on the ground, its cold, mocking eyes fixed on the trio.

“The rich energy in this flesh… it’ll surely give birth to excellent offspring.”

**Ultimate Skill: Heart-Eating and Bone-Crushing** activated!

A swarm of small energy spiders struck the target, instantly plunging the entire reincarnator squad into a stunned state.

Seeing this, the puppet’s twin blades ignited with flames, slashing through the air like a dancing fire dragon, striking the enemy.

**Sun Breathing Sixth Form: Solar Halo Dragon Dance!**

In a fiery sweep, the head of the man with the spear was severed in an instant.

The poor soul never even got a chance to showcase his true power.

[You have killed an enemy reincarnator, earning a personal kill chest.]

[You gained 3 points.]

[Legendary trait (Heart of Steel) activated: Health +3.]

“Captain!!” The woman’s cry was heart-wrenching.

But no matter how much she screamed, it didn’t change anything. She remained in a stunned state, unable to fight back.

As a result, the two remaining reincarnators couldn’t withstand the shikigami Jorōgumo’s Oni King’s Needle. Under the combined assault of poison and physical attacks, they both perished.

Because neither had reached maximum attributes, they only contributed 2 more points in total, along with an additional 4 points to the Heart of Steel health bonus.

Thus, Fang Bo’s ambush yielded 5 points and a 7-point increase in his health pool.

Of course, this didn’t include the three chests dropped by the reincarnators or the new ghost spiders the Jorōgumo was now nurturing.

[Name: Spider Soldier (Summon)]

[Rank: Tier 1]

[Health: 80]

[Strength: 12]

[Constitution: 8]

[Agility: 10]

[Spirit: 5]

[Perception: 10]

[Traits: Venomous, Devour and Evolve]

[Skill: Poison Needle]

The Tier 1 spider soldiers were fairly average in attributes, but their strength lay in their sheer numbers. With 80 health points, they could at least hold off enemies for a while.

If they could evolve to Tier 2, their attributes would see a noticeable boost. At that point, Fang Bo could face enemy squads head-on and even overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

That was the terrifying power of the SSR-ranked Ghost Queen Jorōgumo.

She might not have explosive offensive abilities, but her potential impact on the battlefield was no less than any other Oni King.

Given enough time to develop, the true horror of the Jorōgumo would finally emerge.

In the end, much like the Mimic White Armor, she was something that should never have appeared in a lower-difficulty world.

Now that she was under Fang Bo’s control, it was inevitable that this battlefield would be plunged into chaos.

Watching the grotesque scene of the giant spider feasting, Fang Bo turned away and decided to open the chests dropped by the three reincarnators.

*(End of Chapter)*

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