The spider's scream echoed through the forest as the wind arrived, blowing Sief’s hair, who still wore the same nervous smile. Soon, he saw spiders leaping from the trees toward him, their legs now reinforced with stones, descending rapidly.
Sief ran away from the giant spider, noticing numerous smaller spiders hitting the ground and already charging at him while others in the trees launched their heads, forcing him to zigzag, using the trees for support.
'There are so many.' He frowned while running. 'It feels like I’m facing the whole village of that Shaman—'
Looking ahead, Sief saw a spider with stone legs leaping at him; he quickly struck it, but the legs sparked against his claws. Sief squinted slightly but lunged again, the claws failing to hold the blade that sliced through the spider, which screamed and fell to the ground.
Once more, Sief felt his body chill, and the giant spider screamed again, making the wind blow, as he noticed more spiders appearing in the trees, jumping toward him.
‘Is this a trap? Only the Shaman was this territorial.’ He cut down a few more spiders, then felt a bite on his leg, causing him to grunt and turn quickly, stabbing a spider that had bitten him, easily taking it out. 'It feels like the entire forest is against me.'
He advanced through the trees and saw spiders blocking his path ahead. Some jumped from the trees, and as he looked up, one quickly descended toward his face, but he swiftly struck it with the dagger on his back, splitting the monster and spilling black liquid onto his skin.
Quickly, Sief stepped aside and tried to distance himself from the spiders that kept leaping and were swiftly eliminated by his blade, causing the giant spider to scream, making him frown.
‘Is it feeling the pain of the smaller spiders? But that doesn’t seem to have any effect… Why does it scream so much?’ He saw something flung toward him and barely dodged it, the web grazing the edge of his cheek, making him grunt. 'Damn… these too.'
Sief tore the web off his face and saw three spiders leaping at him; he killed one mid-air, but the other two grabbed his arms, forcing him down.
Sief clenched his teeth as they quickly sank their stone fangs into his arms, causing him to grunt. But he lifted the arm with the blade, killing the one on his other arm, and, once freed, held the dagger and struck, freeing himself while feeling more spiders climbing his legs.
Just as he was about to move again, Sief saw more spiders jumping from the trees, grabbing his legs, and already sinking their fangs, making him grunt in pain as he continued moving with the creatures biting his skin.
He struck down the spiders that continued to leap onto his body, pressing him from all directions, realizing that even while escaping the largest one, the entire forest was filled with spiders.
Sief lowered his head and ran to a small clearing among the trees, already panting as he killed the last spiders that had bitten him, noticing that some of their teeth had gotten stuck in his skin and also caused some weakness.
'They’re venomous too? It’s weaker than mine, but…' He stopped in the clearing, raising both weapons, listening carefully for the spiders' steps. 'The giant spider is calling all nearby spiders here with that scream.'
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A low, sharp cry sounded behind him, making him quickly turn and strike, slicing with his dagger, then swiftly turning to another cry and thrusting quickly, piercing a spider that had leaped.
He raised his eyebrows, realizing that a clearing would give him an advantage, but soon more shots appeared. Even as he jumped back, one hit his boot, and as soon as he touched the ground, it stuck him there, making Sief click his tongue, already noticing more spiders approaching.
He quickly readied his weapons, but suddenly he felt a warmth on his back, like his hair standing on end, and something made him turn his head quickly.
Sief’s eyes widened, feeling his vision's edges darken slightly as he saw a pair of red eyes staring at him, rapidly advancing, revealing itself as another giant snake, its jaws open, lunging at him.
He leapt back to retreat, but his leg remained stuck, and the snake’s jaws extended beyond his arms, making his eyes widen as he thought quickly.
'It’s bigger!?'
In an instant, the snake’s jaws trapped him, and Sief felt his arm bones creak as it squeezed his ribs. Air escaped his chest, his feet lifted off the ground, and he and the snake hit a tree.
Sief’s back cracked with the impact, and the snake’s jaws began to squeeze tighter as he groaned, forcing himself to break free, while more spiders descended from the tree, jumping toward him.
'Even with this strength boost, I can’t shake this off. It’s different from the previous insects that died with one punch.' He felt the spiders biting his shoulders and head, blood trickling down as he forced his arms upward, sensing a gaze over his shoulder. 'Damn...'
Turning his face toward whatever was staring, Sief’s eyes widened as he saw, among the trees, large pairs of red eyes watching him. They were different from before; they stood in front of a large silhouette that Sief recognized as the giant spider, observing him from behind the trees.
Its jaw salivated voraciously, and the monstrous sounds it made were unlike anything Sief had ever heard, but behind it all, he sensed a certain resentment and eagerness, as if devouring him with its eyes.
But Sief squinted, feeling blood reach one of his eyes, forcing it shut with a frown as the giant snake continued to tighten its jaws.
'Those eyes...' Sief clenched his teeth, noticing a strange similarity between the spider’s eyes, the snake’s, and the smaller spiders', as if they were the same eyes. 'If that’s it… it makes a bit more sense...'
A greenish aura with purple hues enveloped his arms, and Sief widened both eyes, which began to glow intensely. He pushed his hand into the giant snake’s mouth, surprising the creature, which trembled slightly.
'Normally, I can do this to a wound… a simple envenomation won’t kill you…' The snake’s eyes began rolling back. 'But even with resistance, you’ll have trouble if you swallow all of this.'
Sief felt the jaw’s grip lessen as his body dropped to the ground. The snake rose and released Sief, who took a deep breath after hitting the ground breathless, while blood bathed his face. His green eyes gleamed as he watched the snake vomit purple liquid, forcing it to collapse and scream, still spewing the poisoned liquid.
“It doesn’t taste as good as it looks… does it?” Sief forced a smile, even fallen, feeling more jaws squeezing him. “Now…”
He swiftly struck the one biting his head, finishing off the small spider, which fell toward the ground. Immediately after, the giant snake fell. Sief quickly advanced, dodging more spiders descending from the trees and eliminating those on his body. He felt increasingly heavy and tired, clenching his teeth in frustration as he concluded.
'Escaping the forest isn’t an option; even if I go around, I’ll just end up facing more monsters and encountering another alpha…' Sief took a deep breath, his eyes glowing again. Looking at his hand, he noticed a purple poison still there. 'I can inject poison directly into the cut, and it has an immediate effect, different from putting poison on the blade. This might help against that giant spider... but even if it’s in a clearing, I’ll still be surrounded by all these spiders.'
More spiders kept leaping, being eliminated with increasing difficulty due to Sief’s weakness. Even with the strength-enhancing necklace, his gear felt much heavier, and the dagger seemed to pull him down. Yet, his eyes continued to glow as he sheathed the dagger on his back, grabbing the wooden arrows with his hand and turning his eyes to the giant spider that slowly moved away from the trees.
‘Just like the Shaman… once you die… the game’s over…’ He tightened his grip on the arrows, which were enveloped by the venomous aura. “Better run… now it’s my turn to be the hunter, I'll get you even if I have to clear the way putting everything down."