DARK ENCOUNTER

"Let's change things up," Leo said as he threw the gun towards a spider that was rushing towards him.

He threw the gun with such force that it penetrated the abdomen of the targeted beast, killing it instantly.

Leo jumped back as he noticed the two-meter-wide beasts with legs spanning almost four meters rushing towards him.

With his hands gripping the long sword firmly, he pushed forward, slashing crudely at the monsters in his sight.

African velvet spiders naturally live in colonies of about a hundred, and their current size was not making it any easier, even though they were weaker than him.

Leo continued to slash at them but soon felt overwhelmed as more of them came out of the room, trying to eradicate the being who dared to disturb them in their territory.

" Ahh" Leo winced in pain as the mandibles of one of the spiders sunk into his leg.

The momentarily halt in his action caused the rest to pounce on him injecting poison into his body while others tried to rip his skin.

His superhuman strength could not overcome their size and number as he fell to his knees, the spiders pinning him down. He remained immobile as they wrapped him in their webs preparing him for the Alpha females of the colony.

Slowly but surely they pulled him into the dark room, their nest.

Leo who had been immobilized by their numbers earlier felt lighter as they had as they we no longer on him allowing him to gain mobility.

He heard rattling sounds as he wriggled his body in the spider cocoon formed by the webs of his prey.

His poison resistance skill had completely neutralised the poison allowing him to have full control over his body.

"With full control over his body, he made use of the long sword he had held onto, despite being overwhelmed by the spiders earlier.

Meticulously, he cut open the cocoon, his vision still dark as the room was void of light.

Rattling sounds continued to echo in the dark room, yet he couldn't determine their source as they seemed to emanate from all directions.

He closed his eyes, feeling it was useless to keep them open, his breathing stable as he tried to calm his nerves and sense his surroundings.

He winced in pain as he felt a sharp bite on his shoulder. He was no ninja and thus could not dodge what he couldn't see.

With all his strength, he stabbed in the direction of the bite, his sword snapping on impact.

"What!" he exclaimed, flabbergasted by what had just happened.

The pain intensified, seemingly irritated by Leo's actions.

He felt a warm sensation as if a liquid was dripping from where he felt the pain—his blood.

"Sh*t, it's stronger than the average spider... Its mandibles should be in me, and thus its face should be closer..." Leo thought to himself, his mind racing as he tried to think of a plan to deal with this seemingly invisible foe.

"With a broken sword, he raised his arm a bit higher and stabbed towards the bite. The impact felt softer as the sword penetrated one of the eyes of the beast.

Leo felt his shoulder become lighter as the pain subsided, but the warm liquid sensation increased.

"Door!!! Door!!!" Leo thought to himself, his eyes darting for any form of light, the door he had kicked open.

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a blow to his side and then a thud as he was slammed against a wall, breaking it in the process.

"Ahh," Leo let out a painful cry as he felt his ribs break.

"Yep, that's painful... I can't give up!! Mark might have gone through this and much more," Leo said to himself, steeling his resolve.

He lay down flat on his stomach, trying to remain as steady and immobile as possible.

The room he had crashed into was also dark and devoid of light. Most spiders, despite their many eyes, cannot see in the dark; they are sensitive to light and can see in poorly lit rooms, but in pitch-black darkness, not too much.

Leo used that knowledge to his advantage, as he was sure the beast could only perceive him if he moved, given their extreme sensitivity to movements and vibrations in the air.

"This shouldn't be the ground floor," Leo thought to himself, his breathing steady and his heart calm.

He believed that the door he had kicked open earlier should have allowed a bit of light in, but that was not the case. The so-called alpha females did not reside in the same space as the rest of the spiders.

He remained motionless, trying to sense the spider's presence. Rattling sounds echoed through the dark room as the spider tried to locate its prey.

Leo could pick up on its movement as it was the only sound echoing through the dark room.

"How do I go about this?" Leo mused, considering ways to eliminate the hunter.

He patted himself and noticed that he still had the dagger he used for skinning the rat monster.

"That should work," Leo thought, an idea popping into his head.

He hit the ground, the impact echoing through the dark room.

The spider, responding to the sound, rushed toward the direction its mandibles opened.

Leo increased his breathing and heart rate, giving the beast its location and an echo image.

Leo stood up, his left arm outstretched. The monster grabbed the outstretched hand with its mandibles, ready to rip it off his body.

The pain Leo felt revealed the beast's position. With all the strength he could muster, he stabbed the beast directly into one of its many eyes, his hand entering the beast's body through its eye.

The beast let go of his arm as it thrashed in pain. Leo, unwavering in his actions, pulled out his hand and stabbed the beast again. The beast thrashed around, attempting to shake him off, but he continued to stab until the beast stopped moving, and he heard a notification in his head.

"Finally," Leo exclaimed, letting out a sigh of relief.

He broke a glow stick he had with him as he looked at his surroundings. His arm had a substantial bite mark, with blood oozing out of it, as did his shoulder.

He brought the glow stick closer to the dead monster, a greedy smile blossoming on his face.