I dodged the initial volleys with my speed, but the confined space made complete evasion impossible.
Splash!
Several venom streams struck my chest and arm, the corrosive substance imdiately beginning to eat through clothing and reaching skin. But my newly acquired Strong Body aspect and enhanced constitution ant the damage was superficial - very subtle burning rather than the devastating flesh-lting that would affect normal opponents.
Another group fired sticky webbing projectiles designed to immobilize prey. The strands were supernaturally strong, capable of restraining even Elite-rank awakeners through sheer tensile strength.
Slash! Cut Through!
I carved through the incoming webs with my blade, the blood energy coating my sword burning through the sticky material before it could properly bind . A few strands managed to catch my left leg, but I simply tore through them.
I targeted ten spiders simultaneously, commanding their hearts to rupture from within. The technique was becoming almost effortless with practice and my increased rank.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The targeted Thornbacks convulsed and died, their bodies creating obstacles that disrupted the advance of those behind them. But more kept coming - the colony’s numbers seed endless.
Rather than let the spider blood pool uselessly, I activated my Blood Control trait to draw their essence to create more weapons. The inferior blood couldn’t match Transcendent-quality resources, but quantity had its own advantages.
The spider blood reford into deadly projectiles above my head - dozens of crystallized blood spears that would cost enormous mana if created from my personal reserves. But using the enemies’ own blood as ammunition? That was resource-efficient.
The blood spears shot forward like a crimson rain, each one targeting vital points on approaching spiders. The projectiles punched through exoskeletons with devastating force, creating a barrier of impaled corpses between and the next wave.
I reached for the artifact hanging around my neck and channelled blood into its enchantnts. The pendant’s unique ability allowed to burn blood as fuel for enhanced power - and I had abundant fuel available from dozens of spider corpses.
BURN! Power Surge!
The pendant flared with brilliant red light as it consud spider blood like a furnace consuming coal. My physical capabilities spiked beyond even my blood enhancent’s normal output. Strength, speed, and durability all increased as the artifact converted biological material into raw power.
Each sword strike carved through multiple spiders, each movent left afterimages, and each defensive position beca an impenetrable fortress.
Slash! Decapitate Three!
My blade moved so fast, severing heads from bodies in sweeping arcs that left no room for counterattack.
Blood Spear! Mass Launch!
More projectiles ford from harvested blood and launched continuously, creating a rhythm of death that the spiders couldn’t penetrate. For every one that fell, its blood beca ammunition for killing two more.
SHRIEK! ATTACK! OVERWHELM!
The spiders attempted coordinated rushes from multiple angles, trying to use their numbers to drag down through sheer mass. Dozens of sharp legs struck at my position, venomous bites sought exposed flesh, and sticky webs tried to bind my movents.
Strong Body! Absorb Impacts!
My passive defensive aspect proved its worth as attacks that should have pierced skin rely left bruises. Bites that should have injected lethal venom were absorbed by my enhanced constitution. The spiders were discovering that I was far more durable than any prey they’d encountered before.
Counterattack! Devastating Response!
Every failed spider attack created openings that I exploited ruthlessly. A bite attempt beca a severed head. A leg strike beca a burst heart.
A web launch beca impalent by blood spear.
Fifty dead... seventy... ninety...
The body count climbed rapidly as I eliminated everything that entered the central chamber. Elite-rank Thornbacks ranging from newly low rank specins to peak-level. They all fell before like swarms of flies.
The confined space that should have been my disadvantage beca a killing field. Where warriors would be overwheld by attacking from all angles, I thrived on the density of targets. More enemies ant more blood to harvest, more fuel for my pendant, and more opportunities.
Nearly one hundred dead... where are the leaders? Are they planning to just watch?
The swarm was thinning noticeably now. The initial wave of Elite-rank defenders had been decimated, their bodies creating a literal carpet of corpses and pooled blood that made footing treacherous for anything trying to advance.
Then I felt them - three powerful auras approaching from the nest’s deepest chambers.
SHRIEK! SHRIEK! SHRIEK!
The three Transcendent-rank Thornbacks finally arrived, their massive forms appearing at the chamber’s far entrance. These were the alpha specins I’d observed during my initial scouting, each one twice the size of Elite specins, with battle-scarred exoskeletons and eyes that burned with fury.
They surveyed the massacre with what could only be described as shock and rage. Nearly a hundred of their colony lay dead in minutes, slaughtered by a single intruder.
I looked at the three arrivals with a blood-splattered smile, my sword dripping with spider blood and my aura blazing like a crimson beacon.
"Took you long enough, I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up to your own extinction party."
The mockery enraged the Transcendent Thornbacks beyond rational thought which was exactly what I intended.
All three launched themselves at simultaneously, their combined fury promising that the real fight was finally beginning.
There were approximately fifteen Elite-rank spiders remaining from the initial swarm, scattered throughout the chamber and passages. When they witnessed the three Transcendent alphas launching their furious charge, the survivors imdiately joined the assault with renewed aggression.
The Transcendent Thornbacks led the coordinated assault, their massive forms thundering across the corpse-strewn floor while the Elite survivors followed in supporting positions. The combined force represented the colony’s final desperate defence - everything they had left to throw at the intruder who had massacred their numbers.
The three Transcendent specins moved with terrifying coordination. The largest took point position, its battle-scarred carapace acting as a battering ram. The other two flanked wide, attempting to surround my position while the Elite survivors sward from multiple angles.
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