章節 17: Chapter 17: Battle Between Beasts

The desert stretched endlessly under a scorching sun, its heat waves shimmering in the air. Golden dunes rose and fell like frozen waves of an ocean made of sand. A faint wind carried the sharp tang of desolation and the soft hiss of shifting grains. Amid this barren wasteland,

A fierce battle was taking place.

Kael stood motionless atop a jagged outcrop of rock, his skeletal frame gleaming white in the harsh light. His hollow eye sockets gazed down at the scene below. A giant spider, its carapace glinting like dark armor, fought desperately against a swarm of smaller spiders. Its massive limbs slammed into the sand, sending up clouds of grit, while the smaller creatures darted in and out, their movements eerily coordinated.

Kael's bony fingers tightened his grip on his scythe as he watched the chaos. The giant spider was bleeding, thick black ichor dripping from gashes in its exoskeleton. The fluid clung to the sand, turning it into a sickly paste. The smaller spiders, undeterred, swarmed with relentless precision, their needle-like legs skittering over the battlefield. Each bite they landed caused the larger spider to thrash in pain, its cries echoing across the dunes like a haunting melody of despair.

Kael shifted slightly, the dry wind whispering through the gaps in his ribcage. His jawbone tightened as if to express emotions his empty visage could not convey. He saw in the giant spider's unyielding defiance a reflection of his own will to endure, despite the odds stacked against him.

In his past life kael suffered pains of loved ones dying, but showed it, he always use a smile to hide his pain.

The fight raged on. The giant spider's limbs grew sluggish, its once-powerful strikes now slow and clumsy. A sharp screech escaped its mandibles as it stumbled, its legs trembling under the weight of its own exhaustion. The swarm pressed harder, sensing weakness. The air around them seemed to thrum with the sound of their clicking mandibles, an eerie chorus of impending doom.

Kael stepped forward instinctively, his skeletal feet crunching against the gravelly surface of the outcrop. His gaze remained locked on the giant spider as it faltered. A pang of something perhaps empathy pierced the emptiness in his chest. He didn't have a heart, but the memory of what it once felt like to care for something stirred within him.

Below, the spider let out a guttural screech, its legs giving out one by one. Sand sprayed upward as it collapsed, its body shuddering. Kael's fingers twitched as if urging him to kill the small camel spiders and also put an end to the giant camel spider suffering, by also killing it too.

'Cause in the end, it will also die'

But he remained frozen, unsure whether it was time to intervene. The desert was a place of merciless order, where only the strongest survived. Yet, there was a raw beauty in that order, even if it came at such a cost.

Then, just as death seemed imminent, something shifted. A guttural growl emanated from the fallen spider, low and resonant, reverberating through the air. Kael's hollow eyes widened as the spider pushed itself upright. Its trembling limbs steadied, and its gaze fierce and unwavering locked onto its attackers. A sudden burst of energy coursed through its body, as if fueled by sheer determination or an unseen force of nature.

The smaller spiders hesitated, their movements faltering in the face of this unexpected resurgence. The giant spider lashed out with renewed vigor, its legs slicing through the air with a ferocity that belied its earlier weakness. One of the smaller spiders was caught mid-dart, crushed instantly under the force of a powerful strike.

Kael stepped closer to the edge of the outcrop, his skeletal frame casting a long shadow over the scene below. His jaw shifted slightly, a faint clinking sound escaping as if he were muttering a silent prayer for the embattled creature. Around him, the desert held its breath, the wind falling still. Every grain of sand seemed to watch the unfolding spectacle.

The fight was almost over...

Then something changed.