[Chapter 28. NOPE]

  It had been roughly four hours since he entered the sticky tunnels, and none of it had been pleasant. Every meter he advanced, something jumped at him camouflaged spiders dropping from nowhere or shapes peeling themselves out of shadows at the last possible moment. Searanox was beyond fed up. There were so many spiders that he had stopped counting after reaching one hundred, and that was before he even left the first tunnel and entered the egg chambers.

  He wasn't sure whether the smaller ones even counted, or if only those the size of rabbits or dogs should be included. Even the "small" ones in here were larger than his outstretched hand.

  What bothered him more was the tunnels themselves. They were getting bigger. At first, they hadn't even been wide enough for two people to squeeze through shoulder to shoulder. Now, three could walk side by side with room to spare. He hadn't noticed it at first, but once he stopped brushing against the web-coated walls, it became impossible to ignore.

  Searanox didn't liked that one bit. An hour later, the tunnel ahead was completely blocked by dense webbing. He could see faint shadows on the other side, but not much else. The tunnel itself was now wide and tall enough to drive a truck through. He decided to sit down and rest, letting his TP regenerate. If his experience with games was worth anything, this was a very bad sign.

  "That shit screams boss fight," he muttered as he sat on the cold, damp stone floor.

  Once his TP was full and his pants thoroughly soaked from the moisture he summoned one defensive drone, two assault drones, and one offensive drone. Stepping closer to the webbing, he reached out and pulled at it.

  It broke apart with a sharp snapping sound. This wasn't soft silk like the cocoons. It was hard, almost woody, cracking like branches torn from a tree. After tearing a large enough opening, he sent the drones in first.

  Then he looked inside, his face went pale.

  Before him rose a monstrosity of impossible scale, a grotesque fusion of spider and tumor that defied any notion of natural life. The creature filled most of the cavernous chamber, its bloated abdomen a massive, translucent sac glowing sickly green. Bulging, egg-like growths pulsed rhythmically across its surface. Once-iridescent chitin plates were cracked and warped, overgrown with web-like formations that oozed a dark, sizzling fluid onto the stone floor. Each of its eight legs was thicker than a man's torso, ending in serrated claws that scraped against the rock, filling the chamber with a discordant screech. Smaller spiders crawled endlessly along its underside, clustering and dispersing like parasites.

  "NOPE! I'm out of here!"

  He spun around and ran straight into webbing. The opening he had entered through was gone. In its place stood a wall of reinforced webbing, thicker and tougher than before, glowing faintly with malevolent energy. It had resealed itself, he was trapped.

  `Think. Think. Think. There has to be a way out of this.′

  The Broodmother screeched, the sound vibrating through the air and shaking the stone beneath his feet. The eggs on its back burst open, spilling a swarm of spiderlings the size of large dogs onto the floor. They surged forward in a chittering tide, eyes blazing with hunger.

  The assault drones opened fire, crimson beams carving through the swarm, but for every spider that fell, several more took its place. The defensive drone projected its barrier, hexagonal plates flaring under the relentless assault. The offensive drone fired a charged beam straight into the Broodmother's abdomen.

  The creature roared as the beam struck, but the wound sealed almost instantly, webbing crawling over the damaged flesh.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "It's healing. Fuck me. It's healing."

  The spiderlings slammed into the barrier, claws and acid battering against the shimmering shield. The hexagonal plates flickered as energy reserves dwindled. Enraged, the Broodmother reared up and brought its massive claws crashing down. The barrier shattered in a burst of blue light. The assault drones kept firing without pause, curving around the chamber as a violet beam arced through the horde, carving a temporary corridor through the swarm. It didn't matter. For every spider destroyed, two more replaced it.

  `This is not a boss fight. This is a meat grinder. I am the meat.′

  Then, suddenly, the flow of spiderlings slowed. The green glow of the eggs dimmed, their pulsing sluggish now. He looked back at the Broodmother. The crater in her abdomen was still there. The acid spittle had stopped.

  `There's a limit. Spawning costs her something. Healing too.′

  The drones intensified their fire. Red and violet light flooded the chamber, punctuated by blue flares whenever something struck the barrier. The Broodmother shrieked again, the sound so violent it made the drones falter for a split second.

  She seized the opening and lashed out, one massive claw cleaving through an assault drone. It detonated in a burst of blue sparks. Searanox immediately summoned another assault drone.

  It fired before it even stabilized, eviscerating an incoming spider and sliding seamlessly into the formation. The swarm thinned rapidly. The assault drones redirected their fire toward the smaller spiders crawling across the Broodmother's body, hovering nearly ten meters above the floor as they picked them off one by one.

  Each dead spider struck the webbed ground with a dull thud, and with every impact, a tremor ran through the Broodmother's massive form.

  Suddenly she went still, as the last one of the small spiders fell.

  There was no movement, even under the constant barrage from the drones. They focused their fire on her abdomen and joints.

  Searanox stood perfectly still and braced himself, for what's to come. But nothing came; she didn't move at all, even as the drones shot at her searing chitin and flesh alike. He shifted his stance, and in that moment, the Broodmother struck. A spiked leg swung toward him, the barrier flaring as it altered the trajectory but not enough.

  The impact hurled him into the wall.

  A sharp crack echoed as he spat blood, his body collapsing to the floor. He lay there, staring at the Broodmother as she went still once more. The drones continued firing, searing her chitin and flesh. A defensive drone drifted over him, forming a barrier as he tried to push himself up. The moment his arms moved, the barrier flashed violently, he froze.

  `Every time I move, she attacks.′ his thoughts raced, `She only reacts to vibrations. The drones don't touch the ground. I do.′

  He stayed perfectly still, so did she. As a crimson beam struck her main body, deflecting into one of her eyes. The Broodmother recoiled violently, screeching in agony.

  `Her eyes…′

  He focused on them. Of the once eight, one was now a bloody mess. The others were dull, lifeless silver. Her legs thrashed blindly, striking walls and floor alike.

  `She's blind.′

  He ordered one assault drone to skim along the web covered floor. The moment it touched the surface, one massive limb slammed down, obliterating it in blue sparks.

  `She tracks through vibrations.′

  With a grabbing motion he summoned a travel drone, directly in front of him and ordered another drone to draw her attention. As soon as the drone touched the webbing, he grabbed onto the travel drone and lifted himself off the ground. A thunderous impact shook the chamber as the Broodmother smashed the space he had occupied moments before.

  The travel drone carried him upward, toward the ceiling, where he could observe the entire chamber without touching the webs. He coughed blood as he dismissed his defensive drone and summoned an offensive one instead, glancing at his TP reserves.

  `Five minutes. After that, I either dismiss everything and starve… or fall and die.′

  Lying broken atop the travel drone, he watched as his remaining drones tore into the Broodmother. Violet beams hammered into her head again and again, while scarlet beams rake her underside as an assault drone slipped beneath her massive bulk.

  Her legs lashed out blindly, smashing against stone and empty air, striking nothing of substance. A concentrated violet beam sliced through the base of one of her legs.

  It detached with a wet, cracking sound and fell to the web covered floor, sending a tremor through her grotesque body. The drones did not relent. They kept firing as her movements grew increasingly erratic, her once thunderous screeches thinning into hoarse, broken cries.

  Then another violet beam punched through the air and struck her remaining eye. The Broodmother roared, a sound of pure agony and rage, before her colossal form finally gave way and collapsed with a deafening crash. Silence followed, heavy and absolute, broken only by the low hum of the drones and Searanox's ragged, blood stained breathing.