Ch 191.
Matt stifled a laugh at the spider woman’s unexpected proposition; he had never imagined finding himself in such a bizarre situation. Her chilling offer felt surreal, even in this fabricated world where danger lurked at every turn. He had no intention of fertilizing anything—no matter how strange or fantastical the circumstances might be. Shaking his head slowly, Matt let out a heavy sigh, hoping to buy himself just a bit more time for his HP to recover before he had to confront the looming threat before him. The tension in the air was palpable, and he could sense the spider woman's impatience as her many eyes studied him intently.
“I have a feeling that agreeing with you will not end well for me. So, how about I don’t kill you here and now, and you look for a different man to force yourself upon? I suspect there are even some who would find you attractive.”
“You shouldn’t threaten me when you are clearly doomed,” the spider woman replied, her form shifting from a seemingly human figure above the waist to something more akin to a humanoid spider below. Her many eyes glimmered in the dim light, and as they opened wide, her pincer-like mouth began to move, articulating her chilling words. “I would prefer you come willingly; then I can enjoy myself much more. But if you choose to resist, this is the side of me you will see as I take what I need from you.”
“Let me guess, you have some kind of toxin to ensure that I can perform as well,” he shot back, eyeing her warily, his heart racing at the thought of his fate if she captured him.
“Of course, my kind would never survive if we didn’t. Now, this is your last chance before I command the lesser ones to capture you!” Matt paused, pretending to weigh his options while discreetly assessing the positions of each spider lurking in the shadows. He considered how best to confront the multitude of threats surrounding him. At this point, he realized that escaping without a fight was unlikely, but he was torn between fleeing and engaging in a brutal confrontation with the creatures around him. Given that he was in a trial where his primary objective was to locate a hidden door, he questioned the necessity of exterminating every foe he encountered. The oppressive feeling of being hunted gnawed at him, however, and with a sudden burst of determination, he slashed his arm outward, activating his new attack that used a disposable puppet. The spider woman reacted just in time to dodge, though not entirely unscathed; she lost the lower half of her legs on her right side, leaving her momentarily off-balance as she hissed in fury.
The injury to the spider woman had a noticeable impact on her agility, yet it was insufficient to prevent her from slipping behind the nearest spiders as Matt redirected his attention. He could sense that all of the arachnids were alarmingly feeble compared to him, and with a swift motion, he transformed his arm into a sharp blade, striking at the first spider that dared to approach. Unfortunately, every passing second brought an influx of at least a dozen more, their grotesque forms swelling in size as they swarmed toward him. It was as if his instincts were guiding him, allowing his body to react with uncanny precision to the onslaught.
Moving with an almost prophetic grace, Matt's form kept pace with the relentless tide of spiders, and he began to whittle down their numbers. Yet, the exertion was taking its toll; his stamina was draining faster than he could manage. Even as his body morphed to adapt to the demands of battle, it sustained injuries with each frantic movement. A nagging part of him questioned the feasibility of such a situation—while his body healed injuries almost instantaneously, each wound still siphoned away precious HP, and he was in no condition to afford such losses. To complicate matters further, he suddenly found his attacks thwarted as a monstrous spider, easily the size of a shopping cart, collided with him, blocking his path and forcing him to reevaluate his strategy.
Unlike the other arachnids he had faced, this new opponent exuded a level of intelligence that piqued Matt's curiosity about what set it apart. As he focused on the creature, he noticed its eight limbs were sheathed in a gleaming metal coating, glinting ominously in the dim light. To make matters worse, the front two and back two legs resembled razor-sharp swords, poised for an attack. When Matt attempted to block the first strike, the spider’s blades sliced through the hardened exterior he had conjured with alarming ease, taking off half of his forearm in a single, brutal motion. A frown creased his brow as the pain surged through him, forcing him to reconsider his approach. He instinctively felt the need to dodge, searching desperately for an opening to counterattack, but all the progress he had made in thinning out the swarm surrounding him seemed to evaporate in an instant.
“You don’t need your limbs for what I am after,” the spider woman taunted, her voice laced with manic glee. “Even if you can grow them back eventually, that just means I’ll keep cutting them off over and over to feed our children. I’ll get years of use out of you, and only when I can no longer breed will you know the sweet release of death!”
Matt was convinced that she had slipped into madness of the most disturbing kind as he resolved to put an end to her. Ignoring the peril surrounding him, he turned his back on the monstrous arachnid blocking his path and charged straight at the spider woman, unleashing two more puppet attacks to clear the way. Despite his efforts, a searing pain shot through him as her minions severed his right leg below the knee. Yet, in a heartbeat, he felt the familiar sensation of regeneration, his leg and missing arm reforming just in time for him to close the distance to the spider woman as she transformed back into her alluring guise.
“Please, I just want to feel loved as I embrace a mate—”
Her desperate plea was abruptly silenced when Matt lunged forward to strike. With remarkable agility, she countered, ensnaring his bladelike arm in her sticky webs just before it could make contact. When he attempted to retract his arm, he discovered he was trapped; the silken strands clung tightly, refusing to yield even as he struggled to shift his limb. A triumphant smile spread across the spider woman's face as she ensnared his other arm, pulling him close as if wrapping him in a twisted embrace, her breath warm against his ear.
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“Does it truly feel that different to hold me than to hold a human woman? Don’t worry, while I know you don’t want this now, I believe that in a few years, you will—Aaahhhhh!”
The spider woman never finished her desperate plea as Matt contorted his body, allowing jagged spikes to erupt from his skin and pierce through the front of her human-like form. Though she didn’t succumb immediately, the agony etched across her face was unmistakable, prompting Matt to thrash violently, pouring every ounce of strength he had into ending her life. Simultaneously, the horde of arachnids that had surrounded them began to react; instead of targeting Matt, they spiraled into chaos, attacking whatever was closest in a frenzy. The outcome was evident as the number of spiders dwindled rapidly, their numbers thinning while the spider woman weakened, her piercing scream devolving into a heart-wrenching sob.
“I just wanted to become a mother and know love.”
With those haunting last words, the spider woman stilled, and a pang of regret shot through Matt, as if he had snatched away a dream from an innocent soul. That fleeting thought vanished quickly, dismissed as he reminded himself that she had never truly been real. Yet, as silence enveloped the scene moments later, Matt realized he needed to act fast. The problem was that his arms remained ensnared in sticky webbing, and he struggled against the bonds as the blade-wielding spider he had been battling approached him with deliberate slowness. It bore a few injuries, but the sight did little to bolster Matt's confidence; he twisted and swung the lifeless body of the spider woman in a desperate bid to create a distraction, hoping it would buy him precious seconds to escape.
If that something was to shred his body to pieces, he was successful, even if it cost him both of his arms in the process. Yet, despite that brutal sacrifice leaving him with less than 10% of his health, Matt felt a surge of satisfaction as he managed to conjure a puppet right on top of the spider, targeting its vulnerable eyes. A moment later, the puppet lunged forward, raking at the spider's eyes with frenzied determination. Shortly after, with his arms restored, Matt charged in, unleashing a final flurry of strikes to end the fight decisively. However, he now found himself in even worse shape than he had been before the encounter, and he quickly concluded that lingering in this dangerous territory was not in his best interest. Instead, he scaled a nearby tree, leaping from branch to branch, each movement a desperate attempt to avoid any lurking threats on the ground as he searched for a safe place to recover.
Even though it felt like a futile dream, with little hope of finding success, Matt understood that rest was essential. He moved cautiously, ensuring he didn’t tire himself further, focusing intently on that singular goal. Thankfully, over the next few hours, he encountered only a handful of monsters that posed minor challenges. Eventually, he stumbled upon a shallow river. After surveying the area for a moment, Matt felt a wave of relief wash over him; it seemed safe enough for a quick dip to cleanse himself of the blood and guts that clung to his skin. Yet, even as he prepared to immerse himself, he remained acutely aware that if any monsters were lurking in the water, they could prove to be an even greater threat than the surviving spiders he had fled from.
Despite the possible danger, Matt plunged into the water, the coolness enveloping him like a fleeting embrace. Within thirty seconds, he emerged, gasping for breath as he began to peel off his blood-soaked clothing. The crimson stains clung stubbornly to both fabric and skin, driving him to work swiftly to reduce the gruesome evidence of his recent battle. He dunked his clothes repeatedly into the river, the water swirling with dark red as he fought to cleanse them. After shedding the last remnants of his garments, he took a deep breath and dove back in, now completely exposed to the elements.
In total, he spent another four frantic minutes submerged, pushing himself to move as quickly as possible, driven by the urgency of his situation. A flicker of frustration crossed his mind as he longed for a more magical solution to his predicament, but he knew that time was of the essence. As he finally emerged, still clad in his drenched attire, he noticed a grim sight at the water's edge: over a dozen fish, each the size of a dog, their razor-sharp teeth glistening ominously. They had attempted to attack him while he swam, but thankfully, they had approached him one at a time rather than as a coordinated swarm, which would have been overwhelming.
Yet, much like the spiders, Matt sensed that the frequency of their attacks escalated the longer he lingered in one place. He quickly deduced that he could remain stationary for no more than two minutes before the creatures would come at him in waves, their strength increasing with each successive assault. Outside of that, he only had to remain vigilant against random encounters as he navigated through the area. With a renewed sense of purpose, he set off in search of the exit, carefully monitoring his surroundings while gradually regaining his health and pausing for a minute to catch his breath and restore his stamina after five minutes of relentless movement.
Two days slipped by in a haze of frustration as Matt trudged through the unfamiliar terrain, his spirits sinking with each passing hour. He had yet to discover an exit or spot any landmark that might guide him. Just as despair began to settle in, he collided with something unexpected—a solid, invisible wall that abruptly halted his forward momentum. Stumbling back, he reached out to feel along its surface, his fingertips brushing against the cool barrier, confirming it was indeed the border of the trial. The realization struck him: if there was a border, then there had to be a limit to the expanse he needed to search.
However, a troubling thought gnawed at him. If he had started at the center of this maze, and it had taken him two long days to reach this point, how many more days would it require to thoroughly comb through the entire area? The weight of that possibility threatened to crush his resolve. For a moment, he considered the tedious option of conducting a grid search, mapping out every inch of the space. But he quickly shook off that notion, telling himself that the exit must be located somewhere along the border. If he focused his search within a few miles of this boundary, he might still find a way out.
Moreover, he recalled that he hadn’t been moving at his full speed, nor had his path followed a straight line. This flicker of logic ignited a spark of hope within him. With renewed determination, he turned away from the wall, inhaling deeply to steady his nerves, and began moving forward again, his hand gliding along the unseen barrier to ensure he remained on course.
