Clenching his jaw, Jack steadied himself and unleashed a rapid series of forceful spear strikes, each targeting her weak spots. He succeeded in landing several more blows, each one causing blood to spill or fracturing the Matriarch’s tough exoskeleton. Then, focusing his mana, Jack unleashed a barrage of Overcharged Ember Darts, aiming not at the Matriarch, but at the webs that surrounded her. The fiery projectiles exploded on impact, igniting the sticky threads and sending flames racing along the walls and ceiling. The cavern was soon filled with the acrid smell of burning web, and the flickering flames cast eerie shadows that danced across the walls.
The Matriarch hissed in anger, her camouflage disrupted by the firelight. She lunged at Jack with ferocious speed, her claws slashing through the air. Jack blocked the first strike with his spear, but the force of the blow sent him staggering back. The Matriarch pressed her advantage, unleashing a flurry of strikes that forced Jack onto the defensive. She had apparently given up on stealth in favor of a direct assault.
He could feel his stamina draining as he parried each attack, the Matriarch’s relentless attacks pushing him to his limits. But Jack wasn’t out of tricks yet. Timing his moment, he activated Berserk, a surge of power flooding his limbs. His next strike was a counterattack—a savage, sweeping blow aimed at the Matriarch’s midsection.
The shaft of the spear connected with a satisfying crack, the force of the blow sending the Matriarch skidding back across the cavern floor. For a brief moment, Jack had the upper hand. He followed up with a Flame Gout, the fiery torrent engulfing the Matriarch and forcing her to retreat further.
Her Health bar dropped significantly, but Jack knew it wasn’t over yet. The Matriarch’s eyes burned with fury as she let out an ear-piercing screech that reverberated through the cavern. The flames flickered and died as she activated her Regeneration, her wounds beginning to heal at an alarming rate.
Of course, Jack did not intend to simply stand idly by while the monster's wounds healed. With a roar, he activated Berserk, feeling the surge of power course through his veins. He countered one of her lunges with a brutal strike to her side, the tip of his spear piercing her carapace. The Matriarch let out a high-pitched screech of pain, but before Jack could press his advantage, she retaliated with a vicious swipe of her jackal claws, catching him across the chest. The blow sent him staggering back, blood trickling from the fresh wounds.
Gritting his teeth, Jack regained his footing and launched a series of quick, powerful thrusts, each one aimed at her vital points. He managed to land several more hits, each one drawing blood or cracking the Matriarch’s exoskeleton. Despite the damage he was inflicting, she remained a formidable opponent, her movements becoming more frenzied as the battle wore on.
As the battle reached its fevered pitch, Jack's breath came in ragged gasps, his heart pounding in his chest. He could see the Matriarch’s dark form glimmering with a strange energy, her movements becoming more erratic, more desperate. It was as if the force within her was straining to be unleashed, a power on the verge of breaking free.
Suddenly, the Matriarch reared back on her hind legs, her ten glowing eyes narrowing to slits as a dark, pulsating purple aura enveloped her. The very air around her seemed to distort, thickening with a suffocating tension. Jack felt a cold shiver run down his spine as the shadowy energy coiled and writhed around the Matriarch like living tendrils, the darkness seeping into every crack and crevice of the cavern.
The Matriarch let out a bone-chilling shriek that reverberated through the cavern, a sound that seemed to pierce the very fabric of reality. Her body began to tremble violently, dark purple energy surging through her with a ferocity that made the air crackle with power. Jack watched in horrified fascination as the Matriarch’s sleek form began to distort and fracture, the once-unified body splitting down the middle with a sickening crack.
Where there had been one creature, now there were two, each half of the Matriarch’s form tearing itself away from the other in a grotesque display of separation. The process was gruesome, like watching a wound being forcibly torn open, the flesh and exoskeleton of the Matriarch’s body splitting apart with a nauseating wet sound. Dark, viscous liquid oozed from the splitting form, pooling on the ground and bubbling with unnatural heat.
As the Matriarch’s body tore itself in two, the halves began to take on new, distinct forms, the dark energy around them warping their appearance into something even more monstrous.
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The first form that emerged from the split was a massive spider, its body swollen and grotesque, covered in thick, chitinous armor that gleamed like polished obsidian. Its eight legs were long and spindly, yet they moved with terrifying speed and precision, each ending in razor-sharp talons that clicked ominously against the stone floor. The creature’s abdomen was bulbous, pulsating with a sickly green glow, indicating the venom sacs within, ready to spew forth lethal poison at a moment’s notice. Its eyes, once the gleaming orbs of the Matriarch, were now a cluster of smaller, multifaceted lenses that glowed with a malevolent red light, surveying the world through a thousand fractured perspectives.
From its maw, long, dripping fangs jutted out, glistening with venom that hissed as it touched the air. The spider’s movements were unnaturally fluid, its body twisting and turning in ways that defied the laws of nature, as if the very essence of the creature had been corrupted by the dark energy that birthed it.
The second form was a shadowy jackal, its body sleek and muscular, yet ethereal as if it were made from the very shadows themselves. Its fur was a deep, inky black, absorbing the light around it, making it appear as though it were a living silhouette, barely anchored to the physical world. The jackal’s eyes burned with an intense, feral light, glowing an eerie, unnatural purple that cut through the darkness like twin embers. They were the eyes of a predator, intelligent and cruel, filled with a primal hunger that could never be sated.
The jackal’s legs were strong and powerful, built for speed and savagery, each muscle rippling beneath its shadowy fur as it prowled the cavern with deadly grace. Its claws were long and hooked, leaving deep gouges in the stone as it moved, and its fangs, sharp and gleaming, were bared in a vicious snarl. This creature radiated an aura of malevolent power, its very presence exuding a dark, suffocating dread that seemed to swallow the light and warmth from the air.
Both of these monstrous forms, the spider and the jackal, were connected by a thin, shimmering thread of dark energy, a spectral tether that linked them to the remnants of the Matriarch’s soul. The thread pulsed with a faint, sinister light as if it were the lifeline that bound these two abominations to the same cursed essence.
Jack’s blood ran cold as he realized the true horror of what had just occurred. The Matriarch had not just split her body; she had divided her very soul, creating two powerful entities, each embodying a part of her formidable strength. The spider and the jackal, though separate, were two halves of the same dark whole, and together, they were more dangerous than ever before.
The jackal lunged forward, slavering mouth open and ready to crush flesh and bone. Jack barely managed to dodge the lunge in time, the creature's jaws missing his face by mere inches. He rolled to the side, quickly scanning the cavern. The spider form, with its grotesque swollen abdomen and gleaming chitinous armor, had scuttled off to a corner, its multifaceted red eyes glinting as it began to weave a massive web. The strands of silk glistened with a faint greenish hue, likely laced with potent venom, and it was clear the spider intended to fortify its position, making it a deadly stronghold from which it could launch further attacks or summon reinforcements.
The jackal, meanwhile, continued its relentless assault, using its Shadow Step ability to blink in and out of the shadows, appearing unpredictably around Jack. Its aura of dread hung heavy in the air, making it difficult for him to focus, and the creature’s regeneration had already begun to heal some of the damage he’d inflicted. Jack knew he had to act fast. If he allowed the spider to complete its web fortress, he’d be facing not just two enemies but a veritable army of spiderlings. But the jackal wasn’t giving him any breathing room. It darted in again, its fangs bared in a vicious snarl. Jack barely parried the strike, the force of the blow reverberating up his arms.
The jackal's ferocity was overwhelming, each of its attacks a blur of shadow and fangs. Jack could barely keep up, his spear a mere extension of his will as he parried and dodged with every ounce of focus he could muster. The creature was relentless, its glowing purple eyes locked onto Jack with a predator's instinct, calculating each strike with deadly precision. Still, Jack managed to shoot an Identify off at the creature confirming that its health was only half of what the originals had been. That was something at least.
The jackal lunged again, claws slashing through the air with lethal intent. Jack sidestepped, barely avoiding the blow, and countered with a quick thrust of his spear aimed at the creature's flank. But the jackal was too fast, its body shifting into shadow just before the spear could connect. It reappeared behind Jack in an instant, snapping at his legs with its fangs. Jack leaped forward, feeling the rush of air as the jackal's jaws closed where his ankles had been a heartbeat earlier. The creature's claws, however, raked across his side, leaving a burning sensation that made him wince.
"Too fast... it's too fast," Jack thought, his mind racing as he tried to find a strategy that could counter the jackal's speed and agility. The creature's Shadow Step made it nearly impossible to land a solid hit, and its regeneration was undoing whatever damage he managed to inflict. His options were dwindling, and he knew he couldn’t afford to drag the fight out much longer—especially with the spider form fortifying its position in the background.