Adam traversed the uneven, muddy terrain. The sticky earth gnawing at him at every pull, as if walking through a pile of semi-solid glue, causing nerve-racking discomfort. The tunnel widened with every step, the rough jagged walls slowly peeling apart into a vast chamber. The air shimmered faintly with red lines, pulsing in rhythm. Every surface. From the walls to the ceiling, and even the ground, was laced with webs that glowed faintly, strands of crimson illumination coiling through the atmosphere like dark blood. The smell. Pungent against his lungs like rotten flesh, foul and decaying, forcing a cough as the intense sensation penetrated deeper into his chest.
Adam's steps slowed. His antennae trembled, brushing against strands that quivered at his touch. The faint hum of mana crawled along his carapace, pricking his senses like static. He could almost feel the energy pulsing within these threads.
Adam's chest tightened. Marching his way through the choking clouds of rot.
He took a step forward.
SWISH!
A blur of motion tore from the ceiling. Red webs lashed downward, gleaming like molten chains. Adam reacted on instinct, mana surging through his body. Blue light flared across his body, his mana armor forming in a burst of shimmering force just as the silk struck.
The impact rang out like a bell. Sparks and mana splintered through the air. The threads tightened around him, pulling, tugging, trying to reel him upward. His feet dug deep into the ground, mud shaking beneath him as he resisted the pull.
Adam growled low, a rumble vibrating through his mandibles. He twisted his body, shaking violently. Sending a ripple of pressure through the webs. They hissed and loosened, but only barely.
Mana manifested at his mandibles. His focus sharpened into a single point.
"Mana Slash!"
The air screamed. A crescent of blinding blue energy ripped upward, slicing through the webs and racing toward the ceiling like a flash of lightning. The attack struck hard, but the figure was faster.
Yet his Mana Slash struck only stone, one of many loose rocks suspended in crimson webbing. The explosion split across the ceiling, shards and dust cascading down in a blinding storm. Severed webs drifted through the air like falling threads of blood. The chamber shook under the blast, cracks spidering across the floor.
Adam's eyes narrowed, fixing his gaze upon the creature within the settling haze.
And then he saw it.
That Ghost Spider emerged. But no longer the creature he once encountered.
Its body, once ghostly white, now dripped with patches of red, its once rotten flesh now enveloped with bright red blisters, each one trembling faintly with its every motion. The spider moved along the ceiling, studying the prey it once lost, its fangs clittered together in a menacing harmony. Glowing red eyes dotted its face in uneven clusters, each one swirling faintly with red lines manifesting around it. Every breath it took released a faint hiss.
The two locked eyes, once prey to predator, spider to ant, ready to end it once and for all.
Adam's heart pounded. His mandibles tightened. This was the moment he had dreamed of. Now it was up to him to finish that nightmare.
The spider responded with a sound that split the air. A shriek of fury. It scraped the edges of thought, a sound that clawed its way into the mind.
Adam flinched, his vision blurring for a heartbeat. The air vibrated, heavy with killing intent. The webs around him trembled, swinging wildly, recoiling from the monster's screams. It leapt, faster than his eyes could track, a streak of pale motion through the red haze. The webs followed, snapping taut as it launched itself from one strand to another. The wind howled with its speed.
Adam braced himself, mana surging. His armor flared in response, but he could already see the incoming shadow descending.
The chamber exploded into chaos as they clashed.