Ethan Thompson also stepped out into the courtyard, standing to the side with a long spear on his back, watching over his sister without joining the fight. It was clear he intended this as training for her.

　　Alice Carter was sighing, “These people clearly offended her, so why bother saving them? The original Daoist? He’s already dead, what’s the point?”

　　William Foster ignored it. He didn’t think Olivia Thompson was in the wrong this time; in fact, he found himself somewhat admiring her. After a moment’s thought, he quietly stood by the courtyard exit and used the sharp teeth at the tip of his mace to quickly carve a simple formation into the ground.

　　A simplified, small-scale demon-binding array—the same kind he’d used against the demon tiger before. He wasn’t sure if it would work on the spider demon, but he figured he might as well do what he could.

　　Looking back at the fierce battle in the center, one side had long hair flowing, a silver spear like a dragon, moving as gracefully as a startled swan. Thunder and rain illuminated a jade-like face weaving through a sky full of white silk; just watching was a pleasure in itself. The other side was terrifying in appearance, roaring like thunder, its figure clashing and intertwining, creating an extreme visual contrast that made Olivia Thompson seem all the more like a celestial maiden.

　　“I never realized this wild girl could be so beautiful. Truly, red flowers need green leaves to set them off,” William Foster muttered under his breath.

　　Alice Carter couldn’t help but laugh.

　　Looking at the human-shaped white cocoon on the ground, William Foster still felt his stomach churn. He cautiously asked, “Does this monster have any special spells besides binding?”

　　“Poison. Most spiders are venomous,” Alice Carter replied. “Other than that, I don’t think it’s developed anything else yet. After all, it’s just a minor demon. In terms of combat skills alone, it might not even match Olivia Thompson. But its spells are troublesome—Olivia Thompson might not be able to win alone.”

　　In the center of the fight, Olivia Thompson swept aside several strands of white silk with her spear and thrust straight at the spider demon’s shoulder.

　　The spider demon failed to dodge, letting out a howl of pain. Several of its legs staggered back a few steps, and its seemingly impenetrable body was actually pierced, with blue blood gushing out.

　　But at the same time, the spear tip stuck in its body was quickly covered in spider silk, tangled so tightly it couldn’t be pulled free. Then, a dark blue hue began to spread from the spear tip upward, rapidly approaching Olivia Thompson’s hands.

　　Olivia Thompson abruptly broke free from the web, yanked her spear back, and leapt away, looking a bit disheveled.

　　William Foster stroked his chin and muttered, “This spider demon looks scary, but it’s not actually that strong… In terms of raw strength, it might even be weaker than that demon tiger?”

　　“Its strength is limited by its natural form, but its overall spell abilities are much stronger than the demon tiger’s,” Alice Carter said. “Especially its traps—Olivia Thompson just hasn’t fallen for any yet. The biggest difference between demons and beasts isn’t strength, but this.”

　　“Intelligence?”

　　“Yes. See how it never dares provoke Ethan Thompson, but keeps glancing at you? It probably sees you as the easy target, planning to break through your side if things go south. Pretty clever.”

　　“……”

　　In the midst of the battle, Olivia Thompson was already falling behind.

　　Just as Alice Carter had said, the spider demon didn’t have any remarkable combat skills, but Olivia Thompson also lacked experience dealing with spells. Every time she seemed about to win, she’d end up in a mess because of some strange technique.

　　William Foster was still enjoying the show, but Ethan Thompson, worried for his sister, finally intervened.

　　“Whoosh!”

　　His movement was so fast it was almost invisible—the silver spear was already at the spider demon’s face. The chilling murderous aura made the spider demon’s bristles stand on end. Instinctively, it raised its arm to block, but its sword-like forearm immediately began to sizzle and emit a scorched smell—the sudden burst of spiral force had burned into its incredibly tough arm.

　　At the same time, some kind of light seemed to ripple from Ethan Thompson’s body. The spider demon let out a terrified screech and, in a panic, charged straight at Olivia Thompson, completely ignoring the fact that her spear tip was already at its face.

　　Alice Carter mused, “There’s something about Ethan Thompson… That’s not something pure martial arts can achieve…”

　　It seemed the fear Ethan Thompson inspired in the spider demon was so overwhelming that it didn’t even try to dodge. It rammed its shoulder into Olivia Thompson’s spear, knocking it aside, then crashed straight into her. Olivia Thompson sliced with her left palm, hitting the human face on the spider demon’s throat, but it gritted its teeth and kept charging, pushing Olivia Thompson back a dozen steps.

　　Olivia Thompson didn’t panic. As she was pushed back by the spider demon, she had already adjusted her spear. With her slender hand gripping the front end, she drove it hard into the human mouth, shattering several fangs and thrusting it deep into its throat.

　　The spider demon let out a deafening scream of pain, but suddenly spat out a cloud of red smoke, instantly enveloping Olivia Thompson at point-blank range.

　　Poison—who knew what kind of spider this was, or what kind of venom?

　　On the other side, Ethan Thompson was startled and was about to help his sister, but suddenly paused, stunned.

　　Just as the spider demon’s forearm was about to pierce Olivia Thompson’s throat, there was a sharp “crack” and another howl of pain. The arm that should have stabbed into Olivia Thompson’s throat was instead impaled on a mace that had appeared out of nowhere.

　　The mace’s savage spikes pierced its arm, and even though its limb was as hard as a sword, the pain was unbearable.

　　They had pushed and struggled their way close to William Foster.

　　William Foster blocked the spider arm with one hand holding the mace, and with the other, pulled Olivia Thompson by the waist and retreated three steps. As soon as they stopped, he immediately took out a pill and stuffed it into Olivia Thompson’s mouth.

　　Ethan Thompson didn’t pursue, instead watching William Foster’s actions with great interest.

　　Olivia Thompson was also momentarily stunned.