Soul of Blades - Chapter 36 & 37: Bestial Sense / The Green One (Patreon)

In the system's inky blackness, Alex’s consciousness stood vividly alert. He lost whatever purchase his feet had found in the empty space and began to drift, detached from reality, Here, he was not bound by its rules or limits. Except one; the limit of time. Aside from times March- slowed to a crawl- His mind was his reality, and it was here he faced a crucial choice: the selection of his latest crystal gained skill.

His first option, 'Lesser-Hivemind,' presented itself as a network of thoughts, a web of minds interlinked. Alex envisioned the strategic advantages, the seamless flow of information and tactics between allies. But it would be limited to just one person, either John or the kid- that ‘thing’. Perhaps he could use it to find out her true motives, if she was acting on the Queen's orders. And then what, think them to death? He thought. The skill had no immediate combat uses and relied heavily on others. Aside from the single use of shared thoughts, the skill would be useless against the queen and her soldiers.

But Predation had potential. A lot of potential. It was primal and beckoned to him. He saw himself gaining strength, and vitality from his vanquished foes, a direct path to power that was easily exploitable. But the act of consuming another's flesh for power was a step into a realm where humanity and monstrosity blurred. And if it gave significant stat boosts at higher levels, what was to stop him from tweaking his moral quandaries? What if he needed to take a bite out of someone to survive? What if the stats became permanent? That kind of temptation could topple even the most noble of men. All it would take would be a moment, a single lapse of judgement or bending of his views of the right and wrong things to do, however small, and he would be set down a path of no return, a path that lead to him treating people as mere morsels to be consumed. He found himself wondering if the path was all but guaranteed to strip him of the very essence of his human soul, and his questions led him to a definitive answer. The skill absolutely had the potential to turn a man into the very thing he sought to defeat. Eating monsters and eating people wasn't something he felt was befitting of a swordsman; not only was it pretty evil, but In all honesty… it was kind of gross, too.

Then, there was 'Abyssal Chitin', another tempting skill, but for different reasons. A carapace of armour, a shield against the physical assaults of this unforgiving new world. The shapeshifting elements were pretty damned cool, and the ability to conjure a weapon at will paired well with skills like mana blade and his executioner skill. But technically his inventory already did that, in a way. And then there was the fact that the skill didn’t match Alex’s fighting style; It promised resilience, a chance to become a bastion and bulwark against an onslaught of enemies. But Alex wasn’t a defensive fighter. He could be, but it just wasn't his style. Not to mention the skill was not without its drawbacks – the heavy toll on his mana reserves, the potential sluggishness and vulnerability when the mana waned. It was a fortress, yes, but one that could crumble under sustained assault.

Finally, 'Beastial Senses' emerged from the depths of his mind, a skill that would amplify his perception to superhuman levels. It paired well with his Inner and Outer sense skills and matched his style almost perfectly. He imagined sensing the slightest tremor, the faintest rustle of an enemy's movement, turning the world into his personal theatre with everything easily seen and interpreted. But with this heightened sense came the risk of overwhelming his mind, the barrage of endless information that could distract and confuse him at critical moments.

The skills appeared as distinct pathways, each branching off into uncertain futures. His decision loomed, a defining moment in the inky blackness of the system. But he was out of time, he had to make a decision now. And so he chose.

[Grade F Class Skill: Bestial senses - Arachnae (Passive) selected!]

At the notification's arrival, colour bled into the system's world of darkness, and within a fraction of a second, Alex returned to the world.

But the world to which he had returned was unlike any world he had experienced before. It was a world of new sensations.

He could feel the sounds of the chamber, he could feel the currents of air in the same way one could clearly feel a finger's path tracing along their skin.

He could almost see them.

The subtle shifts of the air on his skin sent a surge of information flooding through his mind. Of The air drifting in his vicinity, its currents, ebbs and flows pushed by the mouth, pores, and movements of all beings close to him.

It painted a static image of his immediate surroundings. Like a subtle hazy picture in Alex's mind's eye. It was Blurry and unclear, but enough to make out important details; the movements and general figures of all present. With this, he could sense any attacks or projectiles even while blindfolded.

He leaned into the sensation, his head tilting imperceptibly forward.

A crackling series of clinking sounds from the Queen's porcelain joints sent pulses through the chamber, waves of sound that cleared the fuzzy image in Alex’s mind. The rings of sound waves shot from one end of the chamber to the other, turning soft lines clear and hard as each wave of sound washed over him, adding small details like the slight twitch of John's fingers beside him, the fact that John wore three rings beneath his gauntleted hand, the blood-stained scar on his back beneath his clothes. See the form of a human girl beneath the webbing of the kid to his right and outside of his field of visual view.

Then the rest of his new senses crashed into him in a wave of overloading sensations.

The queen's grasping hands had stopped about 15 metres away from them, the chamber was oblong, and they were all on the far end, out of her reach apparently, the Queen made to move closer and the chamber rumbled further, then she stopped and looked to her soldiers, who at her mere glance, began to approach Alex and his companions as though they had garnered her full intent from a single glance.

The soldiers moved with slow and sure steps, confident in the knowledge that the only path that could allow humans to escape would be a path that led directly to their many blades.

Each step sent waves of information through Alex, an overload. For a moment the overload of information was blinding, his enhanced intelligence stat allowed him to process information at speeds a baseline human could only mimic with tools, but the sensations remained foreign and disorientating. He simply wasn’t used to being able to see so much, so suddenly. He struggled to parse the information until the systems instincts guided him- giving him the sense of the possibility of sorting the overload, allowing him to choose what he wanted to focus on. He has the subtle feeling that if he wished, he could subconsciously choose the level of his focus and grant himself only a 360-degree, 3-dimensional image of his close surroundings, and not that of the entire chamber or the many chemicals, sound waves, and vibrations it held. It felt like holding a conversation while ignoring the freeway behind you. This’ll take some getting used to, he thought with a tightening grip on his sword.

He focused, chasing the sensations of his new Instincts, allowing only the smallest parts of information around his immediate vicinity to seep into focus. as a result, chemical reactions in the air around him washed over everything in his vision, and a few things outside of it. It sent vibrations through substrate that turned everything immediately around him in a 360-degree radius into a view as clear as if he was staring at it all from above. And below. And from the front, too. Vibrations from the floor beneath his feet and the wall behind his back rocked through him, and Alex found himself picking up the most minute of details, things outside his field of vision and things the naked eye could never perceive. He saw the bead of sweat trickling down John's brow to his left and a little behind him… saw the contours of the girl's facial features beneath her webbing, how small pores all over the surface of her skin released waves of chemicals into the air, almost identical to the waves released by the gargantuan looming palm of the queen some metres away. Yep, she's definitely one of them. Alex was almost sure of it now. He could clearly see the form of a human girl beneath the webbing of the kid, despite her standing to his right and outside of his field of view. Alex frowned at what he saw. it was like he was seeing her for the first time, beneath all the frayed layers of ‘prey’ webbing that covered her.

She looked almost exactly like his sister, but different.

The sight of her features conjured buried memories in the recesses of Alex’s mind. He had seen those features before, as a child. Blended in with the features of his younger sister were small hints of his mother's features, too. Alex reeled in shock, his mouth Ajar.

Why does she look like my sister? He knew it couldn’t be her, she had nothing of his sister's personality. Her mannerisms, speech and behaviour were that of a complete stranger.

Another step from the soldiers sent a wave of information crashing through Alex, and this time, rather than treating it as background noise, he chose to accept it all, focusing on the details of his ‘companion’.

He could thin lines patterned across her human-like form, so thin the naked eye would never be able to detect them, arrayed across her otherwise mundane appearance in fractal and insectile patterns. Another vibration rocked through the chamber, as the soldiers marched in unison, and then Alex sensed- no - saw beneath her surface.

She was an arachnae, with dense muscle packed beneath her form. Myriad limbs fused together in each arm and leg, compressed and fit to burst with power. She was dangerous.

Should he kill her? The thought came to him unbidden and unwelcome, but still, he found himself considering it.

Should I kill her? He asked himself, weighing his options. They needed her to fight the soldiers and the queen, but trusting one of them with his life would be the height of stupidity. She could be working with the queen, a sleeper agent, of sorts. He would expect a betrayal at any moment, and would never be able to rest. Her existence also puts John in danger. There’s the possibility that she’s a drifter, that worker called her before, didn’t he? Alex’s eyes widened in realisation. The clues were all there, but he’d been initially blinded by his filial instincts and some semblance of a saviour complex his system granted power had caused him to develop. Then he’d been further blinded by her human appearance to his previously mundane senses. But now it was clear as day, she was a drifter, some strange form of arachnae that mimicked a human perfectly, but she was still one of them- still a monster that kidnapped and ate people.

And she had saved his life.

Alex didn’t know what to think, but he did know that he had to deal with this here and now. But that could be an act to gain his trust, but she had killed plenty of her kind to get here. But she had still attempted to deceive him the entire journey, from the moment he’d come to. He didn’t trust her, he wouldn’t allow himself to- the facts overrode any reasoning; she was one of them, and despite her freedom as a drifter, she had lied to him. She had helped and saved him, sure. They had even developed something resembling camaraderie, the type of familiarity that could lead you to forget to ask for someone’s name as if some part of you already knew it. That was the only reason why he found himself struggling to end her, that and her usefulness in the fight to come. She had already helped countless times in their escape. But why go to all that trouble? He thought, still assessing her. And why does she look like my sister? The question kept finding its way to the forefront of his mind.

Alex raised his sword to the girl's throat. “Who are you?” He asked.

John’s head turned at Alex’s swift gesture, surprise etched on his pale brow. “Hey,” he hissed, “what are you doing!? They’re coming! Leave her alone!” His sword was still pointed towards the slow march of the soldiers.

Alex ignored him, pressing his blade closer to the girl's throat. She looked confused beneath her coverings and a little hurt. But she didn’t look threatened.

“What are you?” Alex asked, this time an edge of threat seeped into his voice unbidden. “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“WHAT?” John's sword faltered at Alex’s question, he scrambled away from the girl as one would from a lake of fire. He switched his sword from pointing to approaching soldiers to pointing at the girl, then to the soldiers, and back to the girl once more. He repeated this gesture in frantic intervals, confusion marring his face with each movement. “Take the webbing off your face, let us see your skin. prove him wrong.” John said, his sword growing steadier with each word, he switched back to the soldiers, eyeing their approach, then back to the girl.

The girl raised her sword and expertly parted the webbing covering her features, but Alex noted the imperceptible shift of the webbing that moved with a life of its own. She had two human eyes, brown and perfectly normal in appearance. But Alex could see ten more closed eyes through his sixth, and seventh senses. They were arrayed around her forehead and temples like nebula, closed by imperceptible seams.

“She’s human.” He said, “Look at her. I already thought so from the little I’d seen. But they don’t have human skin.” John sagged in relief and turned to face the soldiers. “At best they’re like the queen with hard surfaces that are passable from a distance.”

“I didn’t want to do this so soon.” The girl sighed in response and opened her eyes. All of them. Eight pitch-black eyes came into being across her unblemished features and John sucked in a breath. “I’m on your side,” She said, “ I didn’t think you were ready to see. I-“

“Why did you follow us? Did you lead us here?” Alex interjected. Perhaps he should’ve played along, expecting her inevitable betrayal and turning it on her at the last moment. It's what he would have done if she had bore any other appearance.

But seeing the forms of people he thought he would never see again had stirred something in him. He knew she wasn't his sister- they were alike in appearance and nothing else. But a small part of him hoped for something, some sign that she was more than an imposter. It was foolish, he knew. To his enhanced senses, it was clear as day that she wasn't family. But the sight of something he'd thought was lost forever still brought him comfort. But that was a fleeting comfort riddled with danger. He would have to prepare for any attack from her- focus on her while even in battle. With his new senses, he would be able to react to surprises or betrayals from all angles. She would not be able to harm him.

Unless she attacked while he was fighting the queen. He wouldn't allow things to come to that. Sword still pressed at her throat, he asked of the detail that had been bothering him the most, “Why do you look like people I know?” he left it vague and non-specific to give her room to inadvertently slip the extent of her knowledge.

She raised her hands in surrender, her expression forlorn and hurt, “I didn’t lead you here, I didn’t even know where ‘here’ was until we were closer.” her sword was held loose between her fingers, without intent or hostility as she continued. “I'm not a part of them and I just wanted to find a way out, like you. All this time I've only cared for helping us survive and make it out of here. I swear, I'm on your side.” She said, her words seeped in earnestness, her two human eyes pleading with Alex’s.

Alex focused as she spoke, sensing the steady pulse of her heartbeat, and the layered organ he guessed was her lungs did not seem to move erratically as she pleaded. He had heard that tremors in heart rates and breathing signified lying, but he was far from an expert. He was a martial artist, not a walking polygraph- the information did not mean much to him.

The girl continued. “And as for the rest…I… I can explain… But now isn’t the time, they're here.”

She pointed a raised hand at the soldiers who were now close to an arm's length away.

Three of the soldiers had arrived with unified steps, eerily synchronized, each reaching for the closest human. The green one marched a few steps behind as if leading the small regiment.

A soldier reached out intent on dragging Alex into the queen's range. It dismissed his weapon and prowess in the way it dismissed all of the humans it had encountered in its short life; as negligible and inferior. Alex’s arm extended, his blade moving to make the creature regret its lack of care.

Alex swung. Mana Blade, he thought at the very instant the blades touched.

The blade, charged with blue energy, sliced through the soldier's reaching arm and countering blade. It hummed as it cut through the air, aiming for the soldier's neck. It connected, sending a spray of dark ichor splattering against the cold stone wall. He had caught it unawares, and the thing had never imagined his blade to be capable of such damage.

The soldier's head, severed, fell to the ground with a thud, its body collapsing moments later.

[You have defeated, Level 36 Arachnae Soldier]

Alex heard a cry sound through the chamber, and the waves of its vibrations painted a picture that caused his heart to pulse with concern.

John, several feet away, was visibly struggling. An arachnae soldier, towering over him, lunged with a swift strike. It's six arms struck independently, three aiming high, three low. John raised his broadsword in a shaky defence, attempting to intercept the lower arms. His blade connected with one swing, and the force of the blow caused him to stumble. his back crashed into the wall behind them as he successfully deflected the blow. He grinned in triumph, but the triumph was short-lived. The soldier he faced had many more swords. Two of its blades slashed down, cutting deep into John's thigh and side. Blood soaked his clothing, turning the dark fabric of his uniform a deeper shade. John roared in defiance, His broadsword, heavy and slick with his blood, was swung in a desperate arc. The soldier's other blade bypassed John's defiant swipe of retaliation, slicing across his left shoulder. Blood spurted from the wound, staining his armour. John staggered back, grimacing in pain, his face contorted in a mix of fear, agony, and rage. John screamed in pain and swung, his sword seemingly too short to reach his opponent. His blood changed that. It crystallizes at the last instant, extending into something akin to a spear, shearing towards the creature's legs in an instant.

The creature leapt over the blow, the spear of hardened blood only grazing its hide. But to a weak Constitution, a graze was enough. A rain of small slithers of cracked chitin scattered across the chamber’s floor as the creature landed. A small section of carapace on the surface of its leg held a fracture. It Screeched with a rage that on the surface appeared to rival John's own.

Alex turned sharply. He saw John stumbling, trying to maintain his balance as his foe prepared for a killing blow. Phoenix Leap, he thought. Alex leapt towards John, landing beside him, boots sliding across the stone floor. As he swung his blade. The soldier had sensed him coming and further sensed an opportunity. It lunged at them both with its many arms swinging in arrayed angles.

With his new senses, Alex found the myriad blades far less intimidating. He felt calm, composed even. He knew that if he tilted his head just right, and splayed his arm at just the right angle, he could time his counterattack to sweep through the gaps in the soldier's attack to use its own momentum against it. Boundless Dodge, Alex thought.

His skill shot him forward and his blade sang.

Two arms clattered to the ground, blades set free from dead fingers as Alex’s swing carved through a portion of the creature's attack. It screeched as it staggered back in surprise, an arm from each side missing. It then reoriented itself and changed strategy, focusing all of its efforts on harrying John, using his prone form as a hostage and forcing Alex to be on the defensive.

Alex had fought countless battles, so many he didn't know the exact number- he guessed it was somewhere in the hundreds, possibly the thousands.

He had fought to defend others before, but he had never experienced fighting solely to defend a single person incapable of defending themselves. To act as a human shield with a blade was alien to him. He was struggling, and the creature knew it, so it intensified its efforts.

John, leaning against the wall, attempted to stem the bleeding from his wounds. His face was pale, his breathing ragged. He looked up at Alex, his eyes conveying a mix of fear and determination. “Just let me die.” he called out, “I'll fight it, you go on without me.”

Alex wouldn't hear or accept it, he simply parried and blocked, leapt and swung, keeping the soldier at bay.

Boundless Dodge. Phoenix leap. He had been saving his more versatile skills to use on the Queen or the green one. but he was inching closer to deciding to use them to keep John alive.

A clash sounded beside him from the sounds of another battle.

The girl had been assaulting her opponent with wild and reckless swings. Her technique was Non-existent, but her movements were explosive, with speed that lagged only slightly behind Alex. Her every strike was a display of her monstrous strength, a force that even the arachnae soldier seemed wary of. She ducked beneath a many-armed swing and held a blade in each hand, swinging with both as she rose. Two blades locked with six as she met the soldier's blow. They struggled against each other for a moment before the soldier began to falter, her strength proving superior. Her leg lashed out in a blur, a kick that crashed through chitin and removed both of the soldier's legs. It crumpled to the ground, its swords scattered. The girl moved, going for the final strike. aiming for its head with her sword raised high she swung. The soldier, its movements hampered by the injury, couldn't react in time. Her blade came down, crashing into the soldier's skull.

Before it could collapse, lifeless, at her feet, she turned and sprinted towards Alex and John, two of her powerful steps closing the distance. She crashed into the Arachnae soldier as it attempted to evade, both of her feet crushing its thorax, soon her blades followed, until nothing but a lifeless mess of broken chitin remained.

[You have defeated, Level 39 Arachnae Soldier]

She crushed it under her foot, its shell splattering with a crunch. Alex could only scratch his head in apprehension and a mix of emotions at her swift action. "Thanks, kid," he muttered, almost out of habit.

She beamed at his words, then turned to face the green one.

What’s her deal? Alex felt both curiosity and apprehension, but now wasn't the time.

The green soldier, having observed Alex's skill, approached him with a calculated strategy, ignoring the others completely. It mirrored his trajectory, advancing with a fluid grace that was unsettling- in contrast to its previously jerky movements. What's its level? Alex wondered.

If its level was higher than his, he would need to recalculate his strategy.

The green soldier moved, its arms growing a layer of bark-like carapace that turned its form bulky and stalwart. Its ghostly light caught the three’s attention, and they stared at its approach, their expressions a mix of wariness and resolve, and Alex's of determination as he stepped forward to meet it.

A Phoenix Leap sent him rocketing forward, and a boundless Dodge sent him sliding beneath a thick root that shot from the gaps between the things armour like twisted webbing. Another application of his skill sent him hurtling over another wave of sharp vines, heading towards the luminous soldier. A combination of outer sense and bestial sense had allowed him to see its attacks coming- he doubted he even needed the skill to evade it but he was still wary of its venom and unsure if any evolution it experienced had caused it to become more potent or dissapear interly. His senses were picking up something strange about the green one. He wasn't taking any chances.

He landed with a forceful thud, the ground beneath him cracking from the impact and swung in the same instant, intent on removing its head with a single blow. It swung all six of its blades to defend.

The impact was brutal.

Alex staggered as the creature's strike landed, the stone beneath him cracking from the sheer force. A force that nearly toppled him. Reacting instinctively, he pivoted sharply, his heel grinding against the stone floor. As he turned, the spectral figure of the Sovereign Executioner materialized behind the soldier, mirroring his motion. Simultaneously, Alex activated Phoenix Leap, propelling himself forward with explosive speed. His Mana Blade, enveloped in a vibrant blue aura, sliced through the air, its unblockable edge aimed directly at the soldier's vulnerable point. He crashed into the green one from both sides.

Alex's blade cut through one of its arms, severing it cleanly. The arm fell to the ground, still clutching its blade.

The green soldier, now with five arms, showed no sign of retreat. It hissed, a chilling sound that resonated in the chamber.

And It erupted into a spray of vines.

Its plant-like arms extended, vines shooting out towards Alex. As they carved through the air, their tips, sharp as blades, etched deep grooves into the stone, sending chips flying. They snaked through the air, aiming to ensnare Alex like a spider's web capturing its prey. Reacting instinctively, Alex's blade moved in practised arcs, a blur of motion that sliced through the approaching vines. His swift cuts sent pieces of vines falling to the floor, Yet, undeterred, new vines sprouted rapidly, surging forward, unyielding in their pursuit. each new wave attempted to ensnare him, their assault as persistent as the relentless advance of a hunting spider.

And the green one in the center of the web of bark remained, its arms moved faster, a whirlwind of green blades that Alex found himself struggling to counter.

Until the girl joined the fray.

She attacked with raw, untamed ferocity.

Her movements, though lacking the refined grace of a trained warrior, were imbued with an explosive power. As she struck, her blade whistled through the air, its path erratic but forceful. As the duo breached the wall of writhing vines, her sword met not flesh but wood, The green one dodged her assault with a swift sidestep, the manoeuvre leaving behind a cloud of splinters. These fragments, in turn, became the creature's weapons, coalescing into tendrils that lunged towards her, even as its many eyes remained locked onto her, unblinking and calculating, its multiple eyes tracking her every move

And in its moment of distraction, Alex struck. Phoenix Leap, he thought, Propelling himself off the ground. He became a blur, moving at a speed that was almost disorienting. He reappeared behind the soldier, his blade coming down in a swift, decisive strike aimed at the creature's back.

Alex shifted his weight to his left foot, a subtle movement but one that allowed him to pivot away from an incoming strike. His blade arced through the air, leaving a trail of Mana Blade’s blue energy. It met the soldier's weapon, the sound of sliced metal echoing in the chamber as the blade cut through without resistance.

The green soldier extended an arm, and light flashed as roots shot forth from its armour to retrieve another. It lashed out with its remaining blades and vines, creating a deadly pattern of steel and wood that forced Alex to create some distance lest he be skewered. Alex, his inhuman senses tracking every motion, instinctively leapt back. His boots skidded on the stone floor, sending small pebbles and cut bark scattering. He narrowly dodged a vine that whizzed past, leaving a shallow cut on his cheek, the sting of which was immediate and sharp. He sliced off a portion of his cheek without hesitation, deeming it better to be scarred than envenomed. The air around him was sliced by the passing blades and vines, creating a symphony of whooshes that underscored the peril of his situation.

The girl remained trapped in the storm of vines, frantically dodging in an attempt to retreat.

“Use your other arms!” Alex yelled through the onslaught of vines. “I know you have them!” he summoned a Sovereign Executioner with a thought as he swung, and the long ceremonial blade of his construct cleaved through a section of the assaulting vines in tandem with his movements.

“No!” the girl yelled back as she thought against the vines assaulting her.“I- I can't!” she yelled once more, twisting her body in a pirouette to evade a spray of stabbing roots. “I won't,” she whispered.

John, watching from the sidelines, tried to rise, but his injuries were too severe. He slumped back against the wall, his broadsword clattering to the floor. His eyes remained fixed on the battle, a silent observer of the unfolding carnage.

Alex gripped his sword tight determined. It was time to end this, vines or no. His mana blade shone as a blend of Phoenix leaps and Boundless dodges sent him rocketing through vines intent on skewering him- straight towards the vulnerable creature in the centre.

Alex's boots scraped against the stone as he pivoted, the gritty texture resonating up his legs. Gripping the Mana Blade, he felt its pulsating energy seep into his palm, sending a tingling sensation up his arm. He lunged, his blade slicing the air with a hiss, then striking the soldier's lower left arm with a resounding snap of chitin. The soldier staggered back, its arm hanging limply, a spray of green ichor shot forth from where it was cut, splattering the floor beneath its feet with a mosaic of softly lit blood. In response, wood sprouted rapidly from the wound, morphing into a glowing, bark-covered limb, radiating a sinister, pale light.

In that instant the ichor breath its feet burst into glowing crystalline spikes that sheared through its legs, locking it in place. In the distance, John wiped blood from his brow and stumbled to his feet, the blood from his injuries strengthening him.

“CUR!” it roared in rage, breaking the silence of the chamber.

The girl's eyes widened at the site of its lost composure- a vulnerability. With a burst of speed, she lunged forward, her muscles tensing as she thrust her sword towards the creature's underbelly. The blade connected with a sharp, audible crack, breaking through the chitin. The green soldier stumbled backwards from the force, its armoured plates splintering, and a guttural hiss escaped from its mandibles, its vibrations ringing through the chamber.

Phoenix leap. Boundless Dodge. Sovereign Executioner. Mana Blade. Sovereign executioner. Alex was a blur of movement. He dodged vines by a hairs breath, but with his enhanced senses, and the soldier's weakening form, they might as well have been miles away. Each movement brought him closer, each swing of his blade coupled with the swing of his executioner skills mana construct, crushed the endless vines that sprung forth from the green one. And the girl followed close beside him, hacking and slashing and tearing away sharp roots to deal damage to the creature at the center.

Together they hacked apart the green monstrosity.

[You have defeated, Level 46 Arachnae Soldier]

[Level 37 > Level 38]

[Strength +4, Dexterity+4, intelligence+6, unassigned stats +4]

In the midst of the fray, the Queen watched, her presence ominous yet passive. Her smile grew with each of her soldiers slain, whether in entertainment of the kill or excitement at the strength of her captives, Alex wasn't sure. He suspected it was probably both.

“I levelled.” John muttered, rising to his feet, “a lot,” he added as his blood-hardening into glistening constructs that stemmed his bleeding. He swayed as he stood, and almost stumbled. But he persisted and headed forward, each step becoming surer, gaining a strange form of second wind and Joining them in heading to end the Queen.

The porcelain Queen Perked up as she observed the strong human and drifter approaching her. “Oh? Are you done?” she said, as they entered her range, her wide smile tinted with hunger. “COME CLOSER.”

"We can't fight her," John whispered, his face pale and voice trembling.

“We don’t have a choice” The girl spoke with finality, clumsily raising her sword in mimicry of Alex’s stance. Alex eyed her warily with his many senses as he faced the queen.

For now, the girl appeared to be opposed to the queen, and her strength was potentially a part of their ticket out of there.

But at some point, and likely some point soon, he would have to turn his blade to face her, too.