Demon Immortal

Duncan clashed with the Spider Queen with even more ferocity.

He swung his sword wantonly chopping away the silk strands shot out by the Spider Queen. With the addition of sword qi, Duncan's attacks were incredibly sharp. He cut through the sticky strands without much effort causing the SPirder Queen to retreat continuously.

Just as Duncan closed in on the Spider Queen, a hair-rising screech emanated from it causing every other spider in the vicinity to rush madly towards Duncan and attack him with abandon. Duncan was immediately immersed in the tide of attacks that came at him.

Duncan didn't hesitate and immediately employed the sword domain he had grasped recently. The moment the sword domain came out, a dome-shaped structure stretched out of his body for a few meters apart.

Any attack that entered the dome was shredded to pieces by the countless sword qi swimming in that region. None of the attacks by the surrounding spiders even managed to touch him.

However, Duncan also realized that the qi in his body was also being depleted in a rapid manner. This was the first time Duncan had employed sword domain in an actual fight. Till now, he had only tested it in safe conditions.  So, Duncan experienced the rapid decline of the qi in his body for the first time.

The rapid consumption of the qi in his body while employing the sword domain wasn't that noticeable to Duncan before this. He had never needed to keep track of the consumption before this. But, the situation was different now.

He was still surrounded by a large number of spiders. Duncan didn't take them seriously. But, getting swarmed by them was not a good thing to experience. Moreover, there was still the Spider Queen to deal with. She was the only creature in this cavern that had the ability to defeat him. So, not taking her into account would be suicidal.

Duncan frowned as he realized the predicament he was in. While employing the sword domain will negate all the attacks by the other spiders, it will also reduce the qi in his body at a rapid rate. He couldn't keep going on like this.

If he ran out of qi, then he would be akin to a sitting duck amidst this horde of spiders and the Spider Queen commanding it. So, Duncan had a decision to make. Either to tank the attacks that were incoming and rush toward the Spider Queen while not employing the sword domain or to find another alternative soon.

Duncan didn't think much. He decisively retracted the sword domain and started attacking the spiders in his vicinity with the intent to kill. Earlier, he didn't attack back as he was intent on collecting as many silk strands as possible. But, this time, he decided to take care of these nuisances first.

Duncan didn't use the new sword art he created. He still kept to the old attacks that had worked for him so far. Absolute Severance Slash after Absolute Severance Slash was sent out after the spiders in his vicinity in quick succession.

However, there was a difference between the Absolute Severance Slash he used prior and the one he used now. Earlier, his Absolute Severance Slash was integrated with sword light. This time, it had sword qi integrated into it.

And the results were not disappointing either.

Wherever the slash passed by, severed limbs and heads of the spiders can be found. Some spiders had their entire body cut into two. Duncan was very brutal towards the spiders that were attacking him.

He swung his sword relentlessly and reaped lives without any burden. He also employed <Wind Chasing Steps> to not get bogged down by the numbers. Pretty soon, a gap started forming around him with no spider daring to come any further. 

Duncan breathed deeply and looked into the distance.

The Spider Queen was raging in the distance. It was clear to anyone it saw that it was completely mad at him and wanted to tear him from limb to limb. Duncan looked at the surrounding spiders one last time and started walking towards the Spider Queen.

The Spider Queen was completely enraged by now. It screeched madly and dashed towards Duncan as well. This time it joined the other spiders and attacked him while taking the task of meeting him head-on.

Duncan wasn't deterred by this new strategy employed by the Spider Queen. He eagerly clashed with it, while still reaping the lives of other spiders in the vicinity. Duncan's sword was like a death reaper's scythe. Wherever it passed by, a spider lost its life.

Soon, the number of spiders surrounding him also began dropping as well.

But, what amazed Duncan slightly was the kind of command and control the Spider Queen had over its subjects. Any creature had an inherent instinct to save its life. Even in such a situation, none of the spiders who were being killed turned their tail and ran away.

And the Spider Queen itself wasn't looking very well either. It had several sword marks on its body as well. Its tough hide provided it with enough protection for it to last long in the fight.

Duncan frowned slightly as he realized that such a scenario couldn't be maintained for a long time. The qi he had available in his body was running out rapidly. He had been performing Absolute Severance Slash nonstop for a long time now. 

Even though it was very effective in reaping the lives of the spiders that surrounded him and injured most of the spiders as well, the numbers on the other side meant that he would be the first to run out of qi soon.

Duncan gritted his teeth and retreated.

While Duncan felt unwilling to retreat, he also knew that he needed to change his way of attack. Getting entangled with the horde was not the best option currently.  He needed to find a way to end this fight and not think of prolonging it.

Duncan escaped the encirclement swiftly and retreated back to a higher ground in the cavern and looked down on the assembled spider horde in front of him. The horde parted to the side right before his eyes and the Spider Queen emerged to the front looking at him venomously.

They both eyed each other for a few moments before Duncan realized that he had been going about this the wrong way. The best option was always to kill the Spider Queen and let the horde start fighting to crown the new queen. 

He knew this. And yet, in the heat of the moment, he had forgotten about this tried and tested strategy. Taking a deep breath, Duncan contemplated how to accomplish that. 

Duncan knew that the Spider Queen also knew its importance to the horde. If not, it wouldn't have retreated and ordered the horde to attack him together earlier. So, trying to kill the Spider Queen first wouldn't be something easy to accomplish.

What he should have done after finding the cavern and the Red Spotted Spiders inside it was to lay low and assassinate the Spider Queen first. But, he had already clashed with the horde. So, trying assassination right now was not going to pan out as well. The Spider Queen will be on guard after this.

While he could retreat completely with what he had gained for now and come back to assassinate the Spider Queen later, Duncan didn't want to do such a thing. He didn't like the idea at all. Neither retreating nor resorting to assassination appealed to him. In his mind, it was the coward's way.

Duncan preferred fighting head-on. He didn't like things like ambush and assassination. He felt those avenues were beneath him. In his mind, a true cultivator shouldn't be so cowardly.

Clenching his fists, Duncan checked the condition of the qi inside his body. Only a little more than a quarter of the total qi in his body was left. Looking ahead, Duncan found more than half the horde still remaining alive. He knew he wouldn't be able to last long if he followed the previous approach.

It was fine as well. Duncan wasn't out of cards yet. 

Duncan's twitched and he sneered at the horde arrogantly. He felt that it was time for him to use his own sword art and see its effect. Duncan gripped his hand, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the horde and the Spider Queen leading it with determination and anticipation in his eyes.

Seeing Duncan not retreating and preparing to attack once more, the Spider Queen got enraged as well. With a loud screech, its sleek body started bulging rapidly. The surrounding spiders immediately retreated as if they were afraid of whatever the Spider Queen was doing.

Duncan noticed it in the corner of his eyes and waited patiently for the Spider Queen to attack. He wanted to see what more the Spider Queen could do after this. The Spider Queen didn't disappoint him either.

The Spider Queen spat out a large mass of web made out of the very silk strands he wanted to obtain. However, unlike the other silk strands, this one was gleaming green and was glowing eerily as it came out of the Spider Queen.

Duncan didn't like the look of the green web one bit. An uneasy feeling emerged in his heart as he saw the Spider Queen launch the web towards him. Duncan didn't hesitate one bit. He didn't want to witness what this web could do to him. 

"Severance!!!"

With a loud shout, Duncan swung his sword and unleashed his self-created sword art for the first time in combat. A thin streak of sword slash, which gleamed brightly in juxtaposition to the eerie green web, rushed out of Duncan's sword towards the green web and the Spider Queen.

*****

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