Vallynor pulled the last servants out of the ring and freed himself, after which he began to attack and kill spiders more actively, creating spells to resurrect the undead. He sometimes touched the corpses himself, turning them into revived corpses, but more often did it through his army.
The bond created by the spell between the necromancer and the created undead was exceptionally powerful - it connected the master with hundreds of servants through one thread, which reduced the pressure on him and made it easier to control them. However, since one thread connected hundreds of corpses, an order given to one of them spread to all the others, which was not always convenient for detailed commands or in the case of a single undead.
The spider army attacked the risen sand brothers, but the undead spiders retaliated and became meat shields, protecting their master and other types of undead taken from the ring. A large number of earth spiders moved under the sand and struck the Dead Earth, causing small explosions and half-meter cracks. Hundreds of undead skeletons, who had caught or attacked spiders, stood still and watched the creator of the spell.
A sudden strong cry rang in Vallynor's ears as he looked at Archana and saw her angrily stomping on the undead and the Dead Earth, causing even more cracks. Feeling that control over the spell would soon be lost, he quickly moved to the Spider Queen, who was passionately destroying the undead.
"Ow!" A strong wolf cry sounded, drawing the spider queen's attention. Annino, killing his enemies with one blow, approached the largest of them. Spiders, following him and watching all his movements by order to kill the human, tried to kill him, but the created undead always stood in their way. If they still reached him, the enemy quickly fell in the sand and then reappeared in another place. Because of this, they were too vigilant and tried to find a way to kill him during battles.
But now a new enemy appeared, who was fast and knew where to strike to kill his enemies with one blow.
Seeing the wolf, the spider narrowed her eyes and, pointing a finger at him, formed a large droplet that flew straight towards Annino. He noticed the direction of the projectile and entered the shadows. In the next moment, there was a big explosion, followed by strange hissing sounds. The spider was momentarily distracted by Annino, which Vallynor took advantage of, entering under the queen's belly. He deliberately destabilized the "Land of the Dead" spell, causing a powerful explosion that threw everyone, even Arhana, aside.
Vallynor was injured but rose from the sand, like all the undead, followed by wounded spiders and their queen. Only Annino remained unharmed because he was in the shadows during the explosion. Emerging from the shadows, he lunged at the queen but received a blow from one of her legs. He flew like a bullet into a tree, full of spiderwebs.
During the contact, Annino felt himself sticking to the web, causing him to disappear and enter the shadows. The queen, ready to attack, felt pain in one of her legs. Looking at the source, she saw a man with a scythe cut off her leg.
He caught the leg with the blade, pulled and twisted it, which helped him to cut off one of the legs.
The queen let out a cry filled with anger and pain. "I have so little left, and even whole spiders were unable to protect me," she thought and ran to the queen, while another spider ran towards the enemy to prevent him from approaching Arhana.
The spiders sat on top of each other, forming seven columns of spiders. The queen lifted one of her legs and plunged it completely into the column of spiders. The spiders, skewered like kebabs, decreased in number, pierced by the queen's legs. After that, their bodies and organs merged, and the spiderlings all looked at the man, wishing to tear him apart.
The other spiders left Vallynor and threw all their strength into destroying the undead. Meanwhile, the queen, lifting one of her legs, tried to strike the man. Her blow was so fast that Vallynor, even if he had noticed it, could not physically dodge it.
In the last moment, tendrils of shadow dragged him into the realm of shadows. Angry Arhana began to strike at all possible shadows, and her spiders also attacked. Despite a large and thick leg of the spider part of the queen penetrating them, they were alive but could no longer move as they pleased.
Vallynor and Annino stepped out of the queen's range of influence. At the same moment, Archana stopped and looked at them. Her face was full of anger, and she cast a spell in the form of water drops. Vallynor realized it wasn't water, but something like acid or acid itself.
The drops, like rain, headed towards the duo. Annino took Vallynor with him into the shadows again, and they appeared under the queen's belly. There, Vallynor took the swords because they were smaller and more mobile than the scythe and tried to pierce her belly. Unfortunately, the swords bounced off, leaving only a small scratch.
The queen directed her paw, full of spiders, under her belly and tried to strike the man, just like she did with the dog, but she couldn't attack with all her strength, losing almost half of her initial power. Instead, the spiders actively attacked with their paws.
Vallynor used the swords for both attack and defense. During his training, he often fought spiders in the monster's prison cell and had long since memorized their weak spots. One of them was the paws, without which a spider cannot move. Therefore, he first cut off one of the queen's paws. This was enough, and he could even use the severed paw for his purposes.
Annino used his proximity to the shadows to elongate his claws. Like a cat, he always dodged and attacked.
While Annino and Vallynor fought the queen and her spiders, the rest of the spiders attacked the undead. Even if the spiders died, new ones took their place. Because of this, it seemed like the spiders were infinite, and to some extent, it was true.
But the new undead in the form of spiders continued to appear. The old undead from other races sat in the center, to avoid being killed. But what was the point of that, when more than half of the field was covered in webs? It wasn't critical, but it was sticky and hindered movement for everyone except the spiders.
In the end, the Queen realized she had reached a dead end. No matter what she did, this person parried or countered all her attacks. If she tried to move, he moved behind her on his two legs. If she was fast, he used his dog.
When she tried to lure him onto the web, that fool created several fire or necrotic balls. Or he brought his risen child and used it as a horse. The Queen had to admit that he was not as weak as she thought, and that his attacks almost did not harm her. He was as resilient as a cockroach and did not give her a chance to kill him and take his soul.
At the same time, thousands of spider souls sat and waited for an opportunity to rise or searched for bodies elsewhere. All of this was observed by an old woman. She could no longer watch as this young man made foolish decisions. She had been watching all this time and remained silent, not wanting to interfere and put him at risk.
But now, when she saw that he had relaxed and was only fighting Arhana, not taking the souls of the spiders, she felt that her patience had run out. He seemed to have forgotten about the souls of these spiders. Too much time had passed since she last slept.
"Fool, gather the souls of the spiders!" the old woman yelled in Vallynor's head. After that, she fell asleep.
The old woman's words worked like a trigger, making Vallynor remember that a soul does not disappear after death. Until the soul is taken, it will rise as undead. Creating "Hands of the Soul," he began to feel the souls of thousands of spiders that were waiting for their moment. 50 invisible hands, like snakes in baskets of eggs, began to catch them and bring them back to their owner. There they quickly gathered into a book.
The Queen was thinking about how to kill the man and his cursed dog when suddenly she felt pain - a familiar pain, but a hundred times stronger.
It began several months ago, when some of her servants were sent to search for strong souls for the mistress, but they disappeared, leaving only a slight pain behind. She thought at the time that the spider had not been lucky enough to meet a stronger enemy.
This was not the first nor the last time. She did not send new servants and did not go herself for several reasons. Firstly, the enemy was warned and was either preparing to leave or had already hidden. Secondly, she did not know how strong he was. If he was weak, it would be a waste of time, and if he was too strong, it would be dangerous for her. Thirdly, she had too many things to do, and checking on what happened to her servants had many downsides. Leaving this issue behind, she had to capture as many souls as possible.
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But over time, she sent spiders again, and they were killed again. Then she ordered to go around the place where their brethren were killed. But they were killed again. And so it went on until one of her servants returned and told the whole truth. Angry, she sent a group of spiders to kill the insolent one, but they always died, making her feel pain as if someone was tearing her flesh.
Each spider was her child, and in each one was a little piece of her soul, like a thread. She did this so that the spiders would not betray or become fallen, and so that they could be resurrected in new bodies. In the end, when their souls became strong enough, she ate them, becoming food for herself.
But recently, this man and his dog not only tore a piece of her soul but also took the meat from her mouth. She could no longer tolerate it and, with permission, came here, where she saw the reason for her pain and loss of much food.
Watching these cowards hiding under her belly, she angrily jumped and, pushing her legs aside to fall on her spider belly, said, "If you want to be so close to my belly, then take it all."
When the queen jumped, Vallynor immediately understood her plan and quickly began to create the "Land of the Dead." But Archana was faster than the spell, and Anino took Vallynor back into the shadows. After that, a strong earthquake spread from the place where the spider fell.
She was starting to lose her mind from the pain that never ended, from the fact that killing two insects was harder than killing a dragon, and from the fact that her spider army was decreasing permanently with each passing second.
Vallynor felt the hostile energy of magic directed against him or his spell. He couldn't understand exactly what was happening, but he realized that the Queen was trying to destroy his spell. For several seconds, he tried to stop the spread of this energy, which began to interfere with his spell, but he couldn't. This energy was like poison, which, if not sucked out within a few seconds, becomes useless. Instead of interfering with the Queen, he filled the spell with necro-energy from the book and ordered the skeletal hands to catch the Queen and drag her into the ground.
She could no longer bear it and restrain herself. Let her lose a few centuries since the curse fell on this world. New souls can no longer be born, and her huge army of spiders, which had dwindled for centuries and recently reached several million, is now melting away before her eyes. She could no longer bear it and restrain herself. It's better to lose a few centuries of life than to lose all the food and then fall herself.
Feeling skeletal hands emerge from the sand and cobwebs, the Queen snorted, pierced the ground of the dead, and directed her energy into the enemy's spell. Infusing her energy, she began to interfere with the construction of the spell, destabilizing the enemy's spell and forcing it to malfunction, and ultimately to destroy it if possible without an explosion.
In a blink of an eye, all seven legs were caught by bony hands and started to pull Arhana into the ground, including her eighth leg.
The queen was surprised and stood still for a few seconds, not knowing what to do - cry or laugh. The worm tried to interfere and attack her. "Arghhh! The emotional pain did not stop," she thought. The pain was not too much of a bother but it was irritating. She could no longer tolerate the pain and decided that the only way to stop it was to devour the enemy's soul.
She tried to free herself, but even the spiders that had become part of her legs attacked the bony hands. Unfortunately, there were so many hands that even the spiders stuck to the queen's legs were caught.
A bright light engulfed the Dead Earth, after which a huge explosion occurred, which was stronger than the previous one. This time, the Spider Queen suffered significant damage. In addition, two more legs were completely torn off.
She screamed in pain and suffering. Horror enveloped her; the larva had caused so much damage that she could no longer bear it. Letting out a strong scream that covered a thousand kilometers, she fell to the ground.
If Vallynor were alive, blood would have flowed from his ears. But for Annino, things were not so bright: he fell to the ground, and blood began to flow from his ears and mouth. Vallynor comforted the poor man, took his scythe in his hands, and headed towards the Spider Queen, who had not yet recovered from the damage.
As Vallynor approached, he ordered the undead to attack the queen. Throwing away some weapons that were unnecessary to him, he gave them to the undead, who looked like humans. They took the weapons in their hands.
As Vallynor gave orders, he thought about how to pierce Arhana's armor. The spell was too long, and the weapon in his hand was not sharp enough. Just when he was about to give up, he saw some kind of energy enveloping the queen, which began to heal her wounds.
It felt very similar to the hostile energy that the queen had poured into the spell "Dead Earth." Then mana - the energy that they all use to create spells - struck him. And if spells could be so destructive, what if they enveloped weapons with necro-energy? Necro-energy would be even more destructive than mana.
Approaching the queen, he gathered the souls of spiders and heard the weak moans of the queen with her. He remembered how he learned to control necroenergy and created runes with its help. Now he directed threads of necroenergy into his scythe, causing it to wrap around all of his weapons, accentuating the blades. The scythe, dimly glowing with a dark green-blue color, was ready to be tested on the queen.
"Well then, let's see how much more effective the scythe has become," he said, reaching five meters from the queen.
The Spider Queen felt the intruder and opened her eyes. She could no longer tolerate it. Let all her plans for rebellion crumble, but today she will kill and devour his soul.
Five of her legs and an incomplete one filled with energy. Raising her leg, she tried to strike him. At the same time, she created two spells that quickly formed. The first was a small drop of acid, and the second was threads of spider silk, which were sharp. When the leg was supposed to reach Vallynor, several undead spiders appeared in front of him, spitting spider silk on the leg. It didn't stop her, but it made the queen change her target. Striking the spiders, the leg entered the sand, emitting a weak rumble.
At the same time, Vallynor struck the leg with his scythe, severing it. When he cut the leg, he felt less resistance than the first time.
He didn't even have a second to think as a huge shadow descended on him and only grew larger. He didn't even need to look at the source to understand that it was another leg of the enemy.
In the last moment, he managed to dodge, jumping to the side, but still getting slightly caught. He had never been so grateful for playing sports... although only for a second. After which he began to hate again and dream of how in the future, he would solve all problems with a snap of his fingers... But now is not the time.
The queen raised her other paw to attack, but felt the undead rising on all of her limbs. "What are my slaves doing?" she asked, looking around. She saw the number of her children decreasing every minute, and now the army of the dead was larger than her own. "All because of this man," she thought.
She blamed Vallynor, the one who collected the souls of her children, not allowing them to be reborn. Because of the insane pain and hatred, she forgot that these were not all her children, but only a quarter. Meanwhile, all the others obeyed her orders. She completely ignored the undead and attacked the man. "He must die," she thought.
The Spider Queen ignored the undead and cast various spells at Vallynor, directing them straight at him. However, he always dodged or used the "Small Fireball" or "Necrotic Sphere" spell. And when it became really difficult, he created the "Land of the Dead."
At the same time, the undead, rising on the queen's limbs, were met with resistance from the spiders. Their legs entered the bodies of the undead, tearing their flesh. In response, the undead, having arms, held weapons in them.
They struck at the spiders or the queen's limbs. Some even attacked directly at the joints, where the protection was weaker. Soon, one of the undead fell to the ground, and in its place appeared a spider-undead.
Vallynor tried to approach the queen or catch her with the Land of the Dead, but Archana always moved away, not giving him a chance to get closer. And when she saw that Vallynor was creating the "Land of the Dead," she immediately left.
She no longer tried to pour energy into the spell to make it disappear. She realized that physical contact was needed for this.
Archana screamed, receiving a Necrotic Sphere in the wounded limb of the undead. The limb was torn off from the body, completely depriving her of her third paw. From that moment on, her movement speed decreased, and she began to limp.
The Invisible, with 50 soul hands, relentlessly gathered the souls of spiders and even took the souls of the wounded spiders immediately. You may wonder why he doesn't try to take the queen's soul? There are several reasons for this: firstly, her soul is too strong and has strong connections. Secondly, upon contact of their souls, she can attack directly. And thirdly, in every game, everyone knows that you need to get rid of the boss's subordinates first before killing the boss himself.
As long as she still holds on, if Vallynor tries to take her soul, he will have to start a new battle with the soul. While the physical body remains motionless, one spider is enough, and everything will be lost.
And for now, we must gather the souls of spiders while they are without a body. Without a body, they are easy prey, but easy souls are hard to come by. And I also reduce the number of spider army. Two birds with one stone.
"Aaaa!" screamed the queen when her other leg was cut off. She lost control of the spell, and it exploded in front of her, causing her a lot of damage. Because of the damage, she lost sight of the enemy, and there was no possibility even to think about it when waves of pain enveloped her one after another.
When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the flying spheres that hit her - fiery and necrotic - until one of the undead quickly climbed onto the queen's back and rushed at her human part with an axe in hand.
One blow to the abdominal area reached 1/5 of her body. Black blood slowly began to flow from the wound. She didn't scream, as expected. Instead, she grabbed the axe of the dead and struck the impudent undead. It tore apart, leaving only a mess of bones and flesh.
"How can she still hold on?" - He couldn't understand how she was still alive when four of her legs were completely destroyed and one was injured. She had received two explosions from the Dead Earth, another from her own magic, and several magical orbs to the face. In the end, she was also hit with an axe on her human body part.
The Spider Queen, wanting to take a step, fell to the ground... There it was, his chance.
Seeing her fall, Vallynor didn't rush towards her, but ordered all the undead to leave the spiders and attack the queen.
While the undead left the spiders, the latter sat still and watched their mother. What to do? Obey the order or help their mother?
Most of them were just mindless servants and immediately followed the undead. For now, the strongest ones could have at least a tiny bit of intelligence. Some wanted her dead, others wanted to save her. She was not only their Mother but also their Queen, as well as a tyrant.