"And how are we supposed to attack the broodmother?" Damian's voice sounded behind me.
I turned around and saw him utterly exhausted, his breathing ragged, sweat soaking his clothes. Despair was apparent in Damian's eyes, and not just his, but everyone's here. He strode toward me and grabbed my collar impatiently.
"Your brain better be useful. Think of something!"
His grip loosened when a spider lunged at us. Ash countered it with her power, but it wasn't fatal. She only sent the spider flying backward. Even Ash's strength had its limits.
I had to do something. Yes, I knew that. But that was all I could think about while cheating death in a place where it lurked everywhere. I ran toward a more sheltered spot, not to escape, but to observe. I had to know the broodmother's weakness. She had to have one.
As participants were slaughtered one by one, everyone scattered. Staying together would only make us easy prey for the broodmother. I stayed where I was, hidden, carefully watching her movements. Her attack patterns. How long she gathered saliva, because that mattered.
I kept counting. "One, two, three, four…"
Even though the broodmother's legs moved fast, she needed around ten seconds to reposition them. She gathered saliva for about 5 to 6 minutes, and when she launched it as an attack, it took about 7 to 8 seconds.
It was difficult for channelers to strike. It had to be shifters, far more agile, faster than the broodmother herself.
Then I noticed a strange glimmer beneath her abdomen. It was barely visible, but whenever she tensed before releasing her saliva, a faint light pulsed there.
Could that be her weakness? But who could tear open her belly? Wood would be useless, and earth elements wouldn't work either. It had to be something sharp enough to rip through that hardened hide.
"Maddie!!"
Ash's scream shattered my focus.
I saw her being dragged by the leg by one of the spiders, overwhelmed as three of them surrounded her. I grabbed a rock from the ground and sprinted after her as she was pulled away.
"Let her go, you bastard!" I yelled, throwing the rock with all my strength.
My throw barely mattered. It only made the spider stop and snap its mandibles. With the last of her strength, Ash blasted water at them, managing to break free. I grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the spiders chasing us.
"I can't…" Ash gasped, collapsing to her knees. "…I'd rather die."
"No, you don't!" I shouted.
What was heroic about dying slowly, trapped in spider saliva while your blood was drained until your body dried up? Or being torn apart and swallowed by the broodmother?
No. We had to survive this. At least die fighting, not surrendering.
I pulled Ash along, pushing through scattered, mangled remains of other participants. The stench and the horror were overwhelming. Not everyone could endure the hell of Phase One. But I had to stay sane. If I didn't, I would end up just like them.
Suddenly, a massive leg appeared right in front of me. A hairy limb with a blade-sharp tip. When I looked up, I saw mandibles and a mouth filled with sharp teeth dripping with saliva. The broodmother was right above Ash and me.
I kicked Ash hard, sending her rolling into the bushes. Instead of dodging away, I slipped beneath the broodmother's body. The smell of rot and heat was nauseating. Her massive abdomen pulsed and throbbed, making my skin crawl in disgust.
The broodmother emitted a strange sound and spun around, searching for me as I ran beneath her. I kept moving, dodging as smaller spiders began closing in.
This was the most epic way to die. Crushed under the broodmother's legs or pinned beneath her belly, scraping the ground. She stomped, shaking the earth violently, and I fell, crashing into one of her legs. Each step she took punched deep craters into the soil. If I stayed here without acting, I would be shredded.
Then I caught that familiar scent.
Even the broodmother froze, her mandibles clicking sharply as if ordering the smaller spiders to be alert. I crouched low, holding my breath, listening.
Then—
Boom!
A fireball shot straight at the broodmother. More attacks followed from the remaining channelers and shifters. The broodmother recoiled. There was something she feared.
Among the newly arrived participants, I saw Kael approaching her. I signaled to him, pointing at the glowing spot beneath the broodmother's abdomen.
"This is her weakness!!" I shouted.
A massive leg swept through the air, sending my body flying across the ground. Everything felt shattered. My vision blurred, my ears rang.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
I saw Kael shift into a massive wolf and charge beneath the broodmother's belly. A piercing screech echoed, followed by the sound of tearing flesh and a wet, disgusting burst. The stench exploded through the air, making it hard to breathe.
Then, from the treetops above, bodies began falling like rain. Dead spiders are raining down.
I couldn't move at all, not even to dodge. One spider fell straight toward me, and I accepted it.
Until something dark blocked it. It smelled like earth. The barrier shifted, and I saw Fredrick's face.
"Thank God. Just in time!" He reached out his hand. "Come on, Maddie!"
I took Fredrick's hand and struggled to stand. This time, I could clearly see the surroundings as the sun began to rise. Spider corpses were everywhere, along with the remains of unlucky participants.
The broodmother's fate was sealed. Her grotesque body lay collapsed on the ground, like a lump of black clay oozing a foul stench.
When my eyes met Kael's, I tried to approach him, but he had already run ahead of everyone else.
"Hurry. We have to reach the finish point," Fredrick ordered.
Wounded and exhausted, we forced ourselves to run, squeezing out whatever strength we had left. Behind the broodmother's nest was a narrow path, spider webs lining both sides. At the end stood a pair of rusted iron gates.
Kael was already there. He shoved the double gates open without hesitation.
"Kael, shifters, congratulations on completing Phase One."