I open my hand and throw my lance of light at the Queen. The fast projectile missed her but kept circling around, keeping her in check. Now that the fight started, the Reapers rushed at me, while Spitters and Webbers shot their artillery.

Whip in my hand, I leaped on a Reaper about to slice me and wrap my weapon around him. Jumping as high as I could, I pull the whip with all my strength, flip the spider over and smashed it into its brothers.

As I open my two flasks, I landed in front of them. Protecting myself with my own acid, forming a constantly moving shield around me. The water was launched into their back rank to pierce and thin their attack, making it easier to focus on those closest to me.

On the Queen's side, she was able to spit a few shots while avoiding my light spear. With how poor her accuracy was, my spell was doing wonders, even if it was reaching its limits. The lance, finally out of mana, disappeared, allowing the Brood mother to take better aim. I used the surrounding swarm to take cover from her attack. Prioritizing my death over her children, she melted the offspring unlucky enough to stand between her and me.

I did my best to avoid being hit, even so, my armour still took a few bruises here and there. It was doing a great job protecting me from the burning acid that melt the thin steel plate on my chest.

Dancing around, I throw some attacks at the mother whenever the opportunity presented itself, but the damage done was minimal. She was looking bigger than I remember. If all her children somewhat evolve, it would make sense that their mother did too.

Using my acid as a shield, it burned incoming projectiles and forced the Reapers to be careful if they wanted to get closer. Which was difficult for them since I was on the full offensive. A whip would normally be at a disadvantage too close to its target, but my plant manipulation skill, allows me to control it precisely how I want, even in unforgiving situations.

The number of spiders was dimming, before the mother. Whenever I glanced at her, I could see her rage building up, making her more aggressive and less accurate. She didn’t even stop as she melted dozens of her own children. Their pathetic defence was worthless against the Queen’s acid shots.

The water control blade I assigned to their back ranks was doing great in its task. With my roots, I know the general location of all spiders around, even with my eye close. With a minimum of thought on the matter, my aqua blade was piercing spiders that were too slow to see the attack coming.

Their number was now half what it was at the start of this mayhem. I notice a group of Webbers circling around me, hoping to get an opportunity to entangle me while I was distracted by their brothers. Without even a glance. I grab a handful of incendiary sand, throw it in the middle of their pack, and manipulated the flame to form a blazing web and incinerate its content. My bloodthirsty smile was shining in their mother's eyes.

This continuous rejection of death was what I was looking for. Since my birth, I was at the mercy of fate. Sleep and hope to either wake another day or never open my eyes again was my old every day.

“Fuck you death!” I laugh in my madness. “Come at me as much as you want, nothing in any world is enough to kill. Hahaha!!!”

“HAHAHAHAHA,” I murdered spider after spider. Ripping them open, with the thorns of my whip!

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” Ignoring everything else, I revel in the power over life and death I possess.

“You!” I scream at a random spider in front of me. “You die!!!” It screeches, lost in the flame as I shoved burning dirt into its eyes. “And I…” I chant as a Reaper leaves a tiny cut on my cheek, barely avoiding losing half of my head. “Live!!!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” I didn’t feel any of my injuries. Right now there was me, the spiders and nothing else. Just for how long could they survive? None of them was able to answer.

Out of nowhere, I was sent flying into a tree. The impact was subconsciously lessened by a bed of vines. Brought back by the scream of pain from my own body, I regain my mind. The Queen was rushing at me. All of her children were dead. The fury in her eyes gave me a spine chill.

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Looking at my bloody hand, I cough some blood. Barely able to move, I pick myself up with the help of vines. I was not immortal, nothing was. I may have played with death itself a little too much, but this was not the place where I was gonna die.

Quickly pulling myself to the side. The Queen crashed into the tree where I was a moment before. Her scythes seared through the wood as if it was me. The look she gave made me wanna run as far away from her as possible. To go back home, hug Randal and forget everything that happen today. I almost cry and scream for help…

It was out of the question. I promise myself I won’t be scared of death, but from now on, I won’t tempt it either. Lavanda was right, all of this was a stupid idea.

I drag myself away from The spider and launched a raw fire blast. With a quick reaction, she jumped higher than I thought she could, and dodge my attack. She almost squashes me, but I manage to drag myself out of the way. No matter how many times I fired, none of my shots hit her. Her movements were too quick!

My legs were still trembling from terror, and I had to completely rely on vines to avoid dying. I gather light in my hand and prepare for another lance of light. With my free hand, I search my pocket for any burning sand left, there was none. The water and acid liquid were also unusable, having been lost when she sent me into a ragdoll across the forest.

My hands were shaking. This was not a hunt where I was the predator, only the weak prey. When my lance was ready, I launch it, aiming for its head. There was no way it was going to land, and I knew it. My goal was to distract her long enough to land a clean hit. I try to restrict her movement with ivies and spikes, but she sensed them before they could do anything.

She did just as I expected her to. My focus was horrible compared to what I can normally achieve, but this was enough to make the spear follow her. With how much mana I had left, each spell was not to be wasted.

As she jumps around, her actions were getting sluggish. She moved slower than before, the spear came each time a little closer to hit her. The rare spit was weaker and smaller than it used to be. She even stopped avoiding the spear if it was going to land on a less important body part, making sure at least her head was safe.

With a final hit on her abdomen, the spear fades away into nothingness, its energy empty. I only have enough mana left for either a single spear or fire blast. She was back on me.

“THINK, THINK, THINK, THINK,” I thought. I wasn’t allowed to miss my next shot if I wanted to live. The headache of having low mana was adding to my already battered body, even thinking was now a pain. I had to fight to stay conscious. I had to try something, anything! Another light spear would only gain me more time, mana was more valuable than time right now. The fire blast could be easily avoided if she jumps out of the way, while a wooden spike didn’t use that much, to land I would need them to not be detected by her. And since she can sense them as long as can feel the vibration of the ground… That it!

Burning with an ever-consuming rage, she dashed at me, ready to end this fight, just like I was. Charging a fire blast, she continued her rush, but I could see her muscle tense up, ready to jump. With a winner, smile, I launched the blast. Waiting for the last moment, she leaps high in the air and aims her crash straight at me. I dived out of the way, and surged a big, long spike out of the ground, just where I was.

I could see the panic in her eyes, but she had no way to avoid it. With a disgusting sound, the spike pierced all the way through her main body, impaling her.

Sweaty, exhausted, and injured, I lay on the ground next to her still alive, just almost dead. She couldn’t move and was losing blood, but other than that, she could maybe survive, if I didn’t finish her up before that.

Slowly and limping, I made my way in front of her, my shortsword in hand. As I lift my sword to deal the final blow. Her eyes, all eight of them, got wet and started crying, and a small deplorable shriek escaped her mouth.

There was nothing she could do. She lost. Her life will be taken without mercy. Nothing of her will be left behind. Her entire pointless, miserable, pathetic existence was going to end. She could cry, pray, lament, yell, moan, mope, sob, nothing will change. Death was here and it was me.

Or so I thought. I still haven’t dealt the death blow. I watch as she waits for me to claim her life. Was that what I wanted? To kill and eradicate an entire species, because of a whim. I was the one who came back here, I was the one who invade her territory, brutally killing everything in my path. Because of what? A challenge? Revenge against an entire specie for some scars when their perpetrators were already dead? They… did nothing wrong.

Survival of the fittest, survival of the fittest, my ass! I wasn’t even supposed to survive. On Earth, it was nothing short of a miracle that I lived that long. Nobody expected it, not the doctors, not my family, not even me! That disease robbed me of everything I should have got. Instead, it gave me suffering, loneliness, and despair. Once, they even had to stop me from killing myself with a blade! I wasn’t fit to survive, and because I did, she now feels just like I did back in my bed.

Tears rolled down my eyes. This wasn’t right, nothing was! Death can stick it up, I won’t kill her on a whim. She doesn’t deserve that, none of them did. She might be just a spider, but right now she is just like me.

“I… didn’t mean… I’m sorry…”

I crumble on her head from exhaustion. My blade falls on the ground, still clean. I cried and sobbed for the first time since I’m in this world.