The Eternal Winter - Book 1 - Chapter 49 - Spider and the Rat (Patreon)

                                                                                             Alexander North

I continue running down the tunnel for ages, with the rat and spider getting closer and closer only giving me a short respite in the distance between us whenever we get to a bend in the tunnel. And along the way, several other spiders and rats somehow make their way out of holes in the wall and cobwebs where they were likely hidden when I had first passed through.

Some of the spiders end up fighting with the rats before getting squashed by the large rat and the queen spider, whereas others end up following after me in an attempt to run away. But the rats are literally sacrificing themselves to lock the spiders into place for the large ones to squash.

After several minutes of straight running, I finally find the exit to the spider’s portion of the tunnel. And the moment I get out of the tunnel, a notice appears overlaying my eyes, making me frown at the poor timing.

/ Notice \

User General Edward North has attempted to use direct port ‘North’.
Would you like to give them permission?

\End of Notice/

“Terminal, set the connection to combat hold!” I shout while still sprinting away from the branch in the tunnel right before the rat bursts out of the tunnel, still dragging the queen spider whose body is extremely torn up by now, its main defense not usable against the rat. But despite that, the rat isn’t unscathed either, as the spider has been stabbing it with its claws repeatedly and wrapping parts of it up in frozen webbing.

/ Notice \

User General Edward North is connected to direct port ‘North’ through a combat hold.
No messages or voice will be transmitted through the direct port unless the message is designated an emergency.

\End of Notice/

I continue running for several seconds before noticing that the walls and ceiling of the tunnel isn’t shaking. So I throw a glance over my shoulder, just to stop at the sight of the spider queen and large rat just staring at each other from a couple of meters away, each leaking out blood from damn near every pore in their bodies.

Then a very nice idea pops into my head and I move over to the edge of the tunnel to hide behind a relatively large web of icy silk.

Maybe I can wait for them to kill each other and then rush in to absorb their energy…

My thoughts pause as a bright red alert flashes in my vision.

/ Alert \

Exterior energy source located.
Two energy sources identified as Frozen Ones.
The first has an energy level of 3.71, while the second has an energy level of 2.62.

\End of Alert/

I blink in surprise at that before tilting my head.

Why did it take so long for that to appear? Was it because I was running and didn’t stop till now? Or could it have just taken this long to get a read on their energy levels?

I don’t get long to think about it as another alert appears in my vision.

/ Alert \

User General Edward North has sent the following emergency message through port ‘North’:

“Alex, the lieutenant colonel stationed on Arran is deceased. I want you to get out of that base with your cousin at any cost. Even if it means abandoning the other civilians and soldiers there to do it. Your lives have been set as the priority by the Triad – you because of your unique situation, and Cynthia because of her status.”

\End of Alert/

My mouth drops open in shock at that message.

He just… did he really just tell me to flat out abandon everyone and run away with Cynthia if need be? And that the Triad…

Wow. That’s… not sure what to think about that.

It does at least prove that there’s a reason the Triad was so accommodating to me, at least if what dad was saying is true.

They want to study me to find the weaknesses of the frozen ones that they haven’t already found. That or they just want me to be a guinea pig for a new way for humanity to advance.

I do wonder how they’d act if they knew just how fast I am advancing in power though, considering the relative time it takes for a symbiont to evolve.

Not only would that make me a possible threat to the Empire, but it’s also mean much worse in the case of the frozen ones, since they are advancing just as quickly. And if the Eternal Winter isn’t dealt with soon enough, then the universe might be lost for good.

My thoughts are attracted back to the rat and spider as the rat suddenly rushes towards the spider with an angry sounding squeak and its right paw raised to strike. And doing this reveals a faint shining light beneath its armpit in the direction of its chest.

Huh. So it does have energy in its heart after all.

Was kind of assuming it didn’t since I haven’t seen it yet.

Meanwhile the spider queen’s entire body is shining like a dull beacon as it lets out a hiss and climbs the wall up towards the ceiling to avoid its strike. It then raises – or lowers, considering that it’s on the ceiling – its rear part and points its spinneret at the rat before shooting out strings straight at it. But the rat just tears through most of the icy string with a harsh shriek that hurts my ears.

How the hell is that spider queen still strong enough to climb up onto the ceiling and hold itself there? Considering all of the large injuries coating its body…

I glance at the rat before frowning.

From a glance, it looks like the rat is most likely going to win this fight. But I can’t tell if the rat will die afterwards or not.

Because if it doesn’t die… that could be a problem.

I watch for a little bit more before coming to the decision that I’ll figure it out when it happens. After all, it’s not like I can run away.

After all, unless the lieutenant colonel managed to take down the frozen symbiont and the worm with him, then they’re still in that direction on the other side of the tunnel. And these two aren’t exactly leaving any room to make it past them either. Not to mention that I’d be leaving the others behind to die if I did. And I’d rather not do that.

So it’s time to wait and hope they both die.

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