19 19. Pride

The giant Arachne stared down at him from her web. Evan could see her eight ruby-colored eyes moving rapidly in different directions for a moment before settling on him.

"The Labyrinth would be upset if I did not at least offer you the chance to surrender. You still have something that belongs to it," the monstrous widow soothed.

Fenrir's chuckle started off low and grew in strength until it became demented laughter. "Why are you hiding inside a green portal, little spider? Scared of the humans?"

140 seconds.

Cho'Ga hissed and skittered forward a few steps before stopping. "This … dungeon is a fragment of my old world. It is all that remains now. I bring my young here to grow … to thrive. Perhaps I am homesick." There was a softness to her voice. An emotion that Evan understood completely.

The summoner gestured towards the dried and cocooned bodies of the Hunters. "And them? They are one step closer to losing their world because of you."

150 seconds.

"Casualties of a war that they have no hope to win. The Labyrinth always takes what it wants. You know that better than most," she seethed, venom dripping from her fangs.

"Tell me where the core is Cho'Ga," he whispered.

The spider queen screeched in something akin to a laugh. "Now, where would be the fun in that, God-King?"

Evan took a step toward the widow. His voice cracked as he spoke. "You know that I will kill you."

A moment passed as the spider considered his words. "Perhaps you will. But I would rather die here, where I belong."

160 seconds.

As her words ended, dozens of six-foot spiders skittered across webs and dropped down from their trees. He grinned as Cho'Ga's daughters surrounded him in the time it took him to blink his eyes.

A single shadow drifted from Evan's chest and down his leg forming a black hole in the ground in front of him. The black hole on the ground grew as it pilfered the surrounding shadows. Two of the smaller spiders broke formation and rushed the summoner.

He watched in slow motion as their huge size caused the smaller widow's legs to bite deep into the ground underneath them. There was a popping noise as one of the spider's legs pierced through the chest of a still-living Hunter and ruptured his lung.

170 seconds.

The pair of spiders were about half-way through the black hole in the ground when something pulled them under. It happened so fast that they hadn't even had time to make any noise. They were just gone.

Precious seconds passed, but the remaining spiders hesitated to attack. Cho'Ga hissed as Evan's manic laughter filled the silent space. "Enough. Come out and introduce yourself Tyr."

The black hole shuddered for a second before it began to rise. The blank darkness began to take shape as features were sculpted out of the shadows. A 20-foot behemoth stood in front of Evan. He noticed with interest that Tyr's evolution had been very different from the other shadow knights. Where their evolution had increased their strength and defense by gaining heavy black plating, and two-handed swords, Tyr's evolution appeared to be completely focused on speed.

The bulky heavy armor that had covered his whole body had been replaced with much leaner plate-mail that lessened the restriction on his arms and legs. Instead of the massive two-handed sword that he had become accustomed to seeing, Tyr wielded two long, one-handed blades made of pure blue mana.

180 seconds.

The cold in his chest spread to his shoulders and lower torso. It radiated off his body. Fleeting, misty clouds of air escaped his mouth every time he breathed.

"We have wasted enough time, my King. We must kill the bug and find the core. The humans are still fighting for their lives outside," Fenrir urged hungrily.

"Come Cho'Ga, you and I have some unfinished business," he smiled.

Tyr exploded forward, leaving a crater in the ground where he had been standing only a moment before. The shadow's movement was hard to follow even for Evan. Blue blades flashed periodically in the darkness.

The shadow severed the areas where the trees and the web that Cho'Ga was sitting on were connected. The large web began to collapse under the weight of the giant Arachne, but she managed to leap to the ground before it fell. Fighting a spider in her web would have been foolish.

Evan raced forward the second Cho'Ga landed on the ground. He summoned his shadow blade a second before he finished slashing at one of her giant legs. The spider queen screeched as the blade bit deep into the leg, green blood flowing freely from the wound.

190 seconds.

Half a dozen of the queen's daughters rushed towards the giant spider in an attempt to defend her, but Tyr cut them down before they could get close. The giant shadow eyed the spider queen's remaining daughters and laughed. "Come, come if you dare. Or will you watch as my King slaughters your queen in front of your eyes?"

Hisses filled the air as dozens of the young spiders rushed the shadow.

Cho'Ga raised her two front legs and brought them down on top of the summoner in a show of speed and strength that Evan had not been expecting. He dodged one of the legs, but the other managed to graze his side.

Sensing an advantage the widow lunged forward, fangs glistening in the purple twilight as they buried themselves in Evan's left arm.

200 seconds.

Evan felt the queen's venom enter his body and began to circulate. He plunged the sword into the side of her bulbous head. It sank in mere inches. But it was enough to force the widow to detach herself from his arm.

The spider queen screeched in victory as she pulled back. "What will you do now God-King?" she laughed. "My venom is the deadliest in the entire Labyrinth. Not even an Architect could withstand it."

The summoner lowered his head as the venom continued its way through his body. It ate at his muscles, organs, and bones.

[Black Blood]

210 seconds.

Moments passed as the spider queen continued to celebrate her victory. Her laughter turned into a screech of pain as Evan shot forward and grabbed one of her fangs. With a flex of his wrist, he ripped the fang from her mouth.

Fenrir's ancient voice rumbled through the forest even as the spider queen continued to scream. "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

220 seconds.