Crusader King-Chapter 120: Beneath the Statue(5)

It did not take him long to arrive at the place under which the gigantic spider had buried itself, merely a second, partially due to the fact that he had subconsciously propelled himself, partially due to the fact that his intent was now finally starting to take actual form and consequences, something he would only truly realize quite a bit later as it currently was.

For now, instead of pondering his speed he was however focused entirely on the buried, seemingly cowardly spider that had run away, intent on regaining his arm, something that he truly needed if he wanted to fight at full power once more, and something that he would not be able to truly regain even if he killed it, but at the same time it was also a grandiose source of strength for him, the strength of a primary instinct, a primary longing of the soul and body of all beings, the longing to be whole.

And as he used that very longing to finally strike at the spikes protruding from between the sharp stones that had now started to ever so slightly hurt his feet once more, the resounding mana in the air clashed, be it just a tiny bit, barely noticeable, especially without a sound, and as soon as it did, resonating with his own, the clash occurred between the blade and the perceived spider, causing rocks to fly everywhere from the sheer speed and force, all focused on a single being.

Yet, the spider didn't react, actually, from what Cades could tell which admittedly wasn't a lot, the spider didn't even move during the entire ordeal, instead having been moved by Cade's attack, as if it just didn't care, or, as he realized after just a bit, as if it wasn't truly there, as if a smart being of the lord-rank was indeed trapping him due to his own arrogance and longing to be whole.

Cades eyes widened, and as he readied himself to turn around, swirling his eyes across the entire forest, desperately trying to spot the spider that might already have escaped but could also be planning to attack him from any direction, he was however once more surprised, just as when he had stepped onto the sharp stones from his soft landing spot, something that had truly been a great example of his own luck.

Just as he intended to do so, already having started to twist his head, he was however hit in the back, being pushed forward a few dozen foot, finally colliding with one of the surprisingly sturdy trees, something that seemed to be a constant within this realm, at least during fights, something that Cades was quite interested in, but didn't really realize in that moment as he had been turned around within the air and could now bask in the full glory of the spider he had tried to hunt, the spider that had managed to lure him instead, due to his own foolishness and longing.

It was indeed huge, it was not sixteen foot tall as he had previously fought, it was instead about sixteen feet tall, something that probably had been due to the problem with his eyes, being that there was only one, this spider, different than the previous one, consisted of countless long spikes covering the entire body of it, jut as hair would do with a normal being, it's legs, six all together, were sturdy and looked defined, as if it had the muscles of an ehetrian, something that made something in the back of Cades mind move, something that made him want to vomit out whatever he might have eaten, had the last time he had truly eaten anything not been over two months ago, at the least.

The spider had countless pieces of something that Cades knew to be scales, for the lack of a better term, ones that were part of it's huge body, and about as big as a normal hand placed with all fingers together, just as the golem had attacked him, each of these scales were of an onyx colour that reminded him of the chains he had wandered before and as such caused some horrifying feelings and some anxiety as well, on the other hand this colour seemed to be rather popular within this place as far as he had been able to tell. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

It had long mandibles that reminded him of those of a thomiside, but just as he had begun to look at those, the tools that might very well be the ones to finally end his journey through this endless hell, the spider began moving once more, having paused for just a second to find out whether or not Cades had survived, which it did, be it with some injuries of his own, including a horrible pain in the back and wobbly legs as he stood up from the surprisingly powerful blow.

Finally, the spider ran towards him, all six of it's leg working together, creating a silent rhythm, to get to Cades even faster, something that did indeed allow it to be a bit faster than Cades, however, in turn of that it did also have much less control, simply running forward and hoping to crush Cades who had been lucky enough to not really suffer any injuries aside from the horrible pain in his back and the wobbly knees that probably came from his knees having been injured.

Cades however, seeing the huge spider run towards him just as the last queen had done when she had been set aflame, didn't panic, he realized that he wouldn't be able to get atop it this time, not only because of the speed but also because of the size difference, with this one not being big enough, and definitely being quite a bit too spiky for his own tastes, as such he judged quickly on whether to attack, defend or evade, opting to evade due to the speed and sheer weight of the running, sixteen foot tall spider that was now crashing towards him like a ball of legs.

He quickly put pressure on his legs, and as the spider had already almost caught him, ripping him away and trying to spike him with it's spikes as he presumed, Cades had already jumped out of the way, resulting in the spider crashing into the tree of bone as well, and in him receiving his chance to attack instead.