A Web of Lies

Devotion, Alex, and Victor watched in horror as their exit was blocked off. They resolved themselves, knowing that they'd have to fight whatever they were stuck in here with or become one of those cocoons hanging above them.

The creature skittered from the ceiling into the center of the room, letting the three of them get a good look at what their assailant was. It was an immense, eight-legged, spider-like beast. It was a light blue color, and emitted a brisk, cold aura. It stood in front of them and roared, revealing two immense pincers. The spider was several times their size, towering over them.

"Yes! Look at my sweet and despair, fools! So many First Rank cultivators have been fed to it, it has almost reached the peak of its power!" That mysterious voice boomed in the cavern. "Do yourselves a favor and allow yourself to be consumed! You can die happy, knowing that your death leads to a glorious purpose! I have planted my life force into this beast, that's how powerful it is!" The voice laughed maniacally. "You are the last sacrifices I need before it will advance, and I will be unstoppable!"

Devotion thought for a second. Whoever owned that voice had planted their life force into the beast. That means that if they killed the spider, they probably would kill the owner. At least there was some good news.

"Oh my god, we're going to die." Victor was shaking and murmuring to himself.

"Pull yourself together, damn it. Just think of the points after we take this thing out. I imagine a Frostbite Spider corpse of this size would be quite valuable on the surface." Alex put a hand on his shoulder and calmed. Devotion noticed that she stealthily cast some sort of magical art as she patted his shoulder, calming him down. Devotion decided not to ask anything until later.

"Like I explained in the carriage. Victor and I will go forward, Alex hang back and keep us alive. Victor, just like the examinations." Devotion explained, switching into his battle ready mindset. He needed to focus. He mentally commanded Ysmir to take the rear, but Ysmir disobeyed. "Damn it, Ysmir, what are you doing?" Devotion yelled at it. Ysmir ignored him, running into the opposite tunnel. "Coward!" Devotion called. So much for Ysmir playing a surprise attack if things got messy.

Victor and Devotion ran forward, with Devotion slightly ahead of him. He summoned the staff form of Ghostwhisper and cast a quick fire bolt, temporarily blinding the creature. It roared a horrid, high-pitched screech and swung one of its claws, batting the bolt of flame away.

It retaliated by stabbing its front leg at Devotion, who blocked it with a wall of Earth.

Hold on, dear reader. Before I get further into this fight, allow me to clarify something. While each action in these fights takes quite some time to explain, nearly everything happens in the blink of an eye. In truth, it would be impossible to describe as quickly as they happen. Back to the mayhem!

Devotion's body shook and his organs flipped from the impact on his Earth Shield. That spider truly was powerful, it had almost instantly shattered the shield. Victor was behind currently huddled behind him, also borrowing the shield.

"You got enough adrenaline in you to summon that thing?" Devotion asked Victor. Victor nodded. "Alright. Get in front of me, I'm going to drop the shield. Be careful."

Victor stepped in front of Devotion, holding out his hands. He took a moment to resolve himself, and waited for the opportunity. The spider screeched once more, swinging its other leg at shield.

"Drop it!" Victor shouted. Devotion nodded and lowered the Earth Shield, leaving both of them defenseless. "Alex, now!" Devotion shouted. Alex had been ready, finally releasing her healing bolt that she had been holding. A bright white bolt of healing energy arced from Alex's hands towards Victor, but not before the spider's leg reached him.

"Augh!" Victor shouted in agony. His hands were still raised, but it was too late. The spider's leg had pierced his chest. He looked down and watched as blood trickled down, even leaking out of his mouth. He coughed out the words of power for a summon. The crimson sigil that Devotion had summoned in the exams appeared in front of him, and that immense Blood Crimson Ape appeared once more. It jumped from the sigil and began to engage that Frostbite Spider in a bloody, brutal fight.

The spider pulled its limb from Victor's chest, and he fell to the ground. However, just at that moment, the healing bolt that Alex had fired hit Victor. He was bathed in bright white light, and his chest wound instantly started healing.

"Did it work?" Victor coughed out, grimacing in pain.

"Yeah. You should rest while you heal. I'll protect you. Let Alex and I clean up." Devotion comforted him, started to cast multiple Earth Shields around where Victor lay.

"Sounds great. We're never doing that strategy again." Victor coughed out, before he passed out from the intense pain he was in. Getting stabbed hurt more than you might think.

Upon confirming that Victor was safe, Devotion turned around and saw the last thing he wanted to see. The Blood Crimson Ape that Victor had risked his life to summon was losing. Badly. It's already crimson fur was stained with golden blood, covered in multiple stab wounds from that spider. Just as Devotion turned around, he saw that Frostbite Spider sink its fangs into the Blood Crimson Ape's neck. The Ape thrashed around for a second, before it fell dead and vanished into dust.

It didn't leave without leaving its mark, however. The Frostbite Spider was covered in wounds, and two of its legs were broken. Cyan blue blood leaked out of those wounds, and it was moving much slower than before.

"You may have had some tricks up your sleeve, but it will never be enough to take out my beloved Frostbite Spider! Despair, for your death is near!" That voice boomed out again. The Frostbite Spider let out a ferocious roar, charging at Devotion.

"Damn it, Ysmir, what the fuck are you doing! I could really use some help right now!" Devotion yelled. He slung every magical art he knew at the spider, to very little effect. His Ice Knives seemed to bounce right off of it, and his Fire Bolts were effortlessly deflected away. The spider was closing the distance.

"Alex, any help?" Devotion called. Things were getting desperate.

"I'm thinking, hold on! If you have any more secrets, now would be a fantastic time to bring them out!" It was too late. The spider pounced on Devotion, shoving him to the ground and pinning him. Devotion summoned Earth Shields to block its pincers from sinking into him, but he was running out of Qi. Those shields were breaking nearly instantly!

"Alex! Get to Victor. He has a device on him, just insert some Qi into it and pull the trigger." Devotion shouted out in desperation. "And hurry! I can only hold on for a few more seconds!" As much as he hated to admit it, his life was in Alex's hands.

He watched as Alex nodded, clicked her heels together, and wings sprouted from her boots. Her running speed was several times faster than before, and she reached Victor in an instant.

"What was that about secrets you were pissed about?" Devotion couldn't help making a call. After all, it was only fair after she got so mad at him when he showed his staff.

"Shut up and let me save your life in peace." She replied, grabbing the Sparkthrower from Victor's robes. "Where in god's name did you get this?"

"Just take the shot, goddamn it!" Devotion shouted.

Alex raised the Sparkthrower and inserted her Qi. It lit up with bright blue, crackling energy. She aimed it at the spider, and squeezed the trigger. That blue bolt of energy crackled out like lightning, slamming into the Frostbite Spider and knocking it off of Devotion. He scrambled to his feet, panting. That really had been too close. One more second, and he would have been dead.

"Holy shit." Alex said under her breath. She was not expected that device to be so absurdly powerful. "You owe me so much of an explanation when we're done with this."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Can we focus on more important things right now?" Devotion panted, limping over to Alex. When he was pinned, that Frostbite Spider had injured his right leg.

"Just remember, you owe me." Alex demanded, casting a bit of restoration magic on Devotion's wound. She also casted a spell to restore a little bit of his Qi, but it wasn't a lot.

"I'm going to drop the shields around Victor to restore as much as I can. At least that spider isn't a prob-" Devotion's voice was cut off by that intense feeling of danger returning. It wasn't dead.

"Behind you!" Alex shouted, and as Devotion turned around, he saw the spider had pounced. It was too late to react.