He drew Erebos again.
"Come on then! Let's get this over with!"
The Queen didn't wait. She moved with terrifying speed for her size.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
She shot three massive balls of webbing at him. These weren't normal webs; they were thick as steel cables.
"Shadow Flash!"
ZAP.
Lysander blurred, appearing on a branch five meters to the left. But the Queen anticipated it. She slammed two of her spear-legs down exactly where he landed.
CRASH
Lysander blocked with his Greatsword, but the impact was heavy. His knees buckled. Even with Strength 75, holding back a Rank-C Boss while tired was brutal.
"Heavy..." he gritted his teeth, sweat stinging his eyes.
The Queen pressed down, her screech echoing in his face. She opened her mouth to spit a torrent of acid.
Lysander's eyes widened. "Not this time!"
[Dark Moon Spin]
He didn't spin to attack; he spun to create air pressure.
WHOOSH!
The vortex of black mana blew the acid stream sideways, splashing it onto the tree trunk, which hissed and melted instantly.
Lysander used the momentum to disengage. He leaped backward, landing on a higher branch.
"My Mana is dropping," he analyzed, glancing at his status. "I'm at 45% now. If I drag this out, I pass out."
The Queen charged, crawling up the tree trunk like a demon train. She stabbed wildly with all eight legs, turning the battlefield into a chaotic storm of spikes.
Lysander dodged, weaved, and parried.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Sparks flew. He was being pushed back.
"Annoying!" Lysander roared.
He stopped retreating. He waited for a leg to stab at him.
NOW
He didn't dodge. He tanked the hit. The sharp leg grazed his ribs, cutting through the Night-Viper Armor. Blood flowed.
[Pain Resistance Activated]
Lysander ignored the wound. He grabbed the Queen's leg with his left hand, digging his fingers into the chitin.
"Got you"
He swung Erebos with his right hand, channeling every drop of his remaining Mana into the blade.
"BLOOD WAVE: POINT BLANK."
BOOOOM!
The crimson energy didn't travel; it exploded directly on the Queen's leg joint.
CRACK
The massive leg was severed cleanly.
SCREEEEEE!
The Queen shrieked in agony, losing her balance.
"I! AM! HUNGRY!" Lysander shouted, his voice cracking with fury.
He didn't let her recover. He jumped.
With Agility 72, he launched himself like a missile, straight at the Queen's head.
The Queen tried to bite him, her jaws snapping shut.
But Lysander was already inside her guard.
He grabbed one of her fangs with his bare hand to stabilize himself.
He raised the sword high, the red eye of Erebos glowing like a dying sun.
"Go to hell."
He drove the blade downward, plunging it deep into the cluster of eighteen crimson eyes.
SQUELCH
He didn't stop there. He dragged the sword down, ripping through her skull and splitting her armored head open.
The massive body of the Queen went rigid. Then, it slumped
Gravity took over. The massive carcass, with Lysander still pinning the sword in its skull, fell from the canopy.
THUD.
They crashed onto the forest floor below, shaking the earth.
Lysander lay on top of the dead Queen, gasping for air. His vision was blurry. His mana was at 0%. His side was bleeding. He was on the verge of fainting.
"It's... over..." he whispered.
Then, Erebos woke up.
[PASSIVE SKILL: SOUL DRINKER]
The sword was buried deep in the brain of a Rank-C Boss. The amount of Life Force inside was not a stream; it was a tsunami.
VOOOOM
A blinding red light enveloped Lysander and the dead spider.
"Ghh...!" Lysander arched his back, his eyes snapping open.
It didn't feel like healing. It felt like resurrection.
The Wound: The gash on his ribs hissed. White smoke rose from it as the flesh knitted itself together in seconds, leaving not even a scar.
The leaden weight in his muscles evaporated. It was as if he had slept for a week in a soft bed. His mind cleared instantly.
His core, which was dry and empty, flooded with blue energy. It overflowed, coating his skin in a faint aura.
[Health: 100% Restored]
[Mana: 100% Restored]
Lysander sat up. He looked at his hands. They weren't shaking anymore. He felt invincible. The irritation was gone, replaced by a cold, powerful calm.
He pulled the sword out of the Queen's skull. The massive white spider turned into grey dust and blew away in the wind, leaving only a glowing purple item behind.
Lysander stood up, cracking his neck.
"Rank C Life Force..." he whispered, looking at the sword with a twisted smile. "That tasted better than the fruit."
Lysander sheathed Erebos, feeling the hum of the blade slowly fading against his back. He was at peak condition—100% Health, 100% Mana—but his mood was still foul.
He crossed his arms, tapping his armored foot on the branch.
"System," Lysander said, his voice dripping with annoyance. "We need to talk."
Ding!
Lysander pointed a finger at the blue screen.
"You could have told me sooner that Erebos has a 'digestion period'. When I fought the Wolves and the Python, the absorption was instant. I killed them, and boom—I was healed."
He narrowed his eyes.
"But back there? I killed a hundred and fifty Rank-D Spiders, and I didn't get the full recovery until after the fight with the Queen. I entered a Boss battle exhausted and hungry because I was waiting for a refill that didn't come. Why was there a lag?"
Whirrr...
The System window expanded, displaying a detailed analysis of the sword's mechanics.
[You are mistaken, Master. The sword is not broken; it is simply obeying the laws of density]
[Rank E monsters have thin, watery Mana. Their life force is simple. When Erebos drinks them, it is like swallowing water. It is instant]
[Rank D monsters have complex, dense Mana. Furthermore, you did not kill one; you killed 158 in rapid succession]
[Imagine trying to eat an entire banquet in one minute. You would choke. Erebos was 'full'. It needed time to break down and process the massive amount of dense life force you fed it]
[That is why I advised you to Retreat and Hide]
[If you had rested for 10 minutes, the sword would have finished processing the 'backlog' of souls, and you would have faced the Queen at 100% capacity.]
Lysander stared at the explanation, his irritation slowly turning into understanding. He rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a sigh.
"I see," he muttered. "So the sword got indigestion because I fed it too much, too fast."
He looked at the black blade over his shoulder.
"Fine. It makes sense. Next time, just say 'The sword is full' instead of giving me a vague warning."
Lysander stood up from the corpse of the Spider Queen, wiping his blade. He looked toward the Abandoned Tower. It was so close—maybe only two miles away.
"I can make it," he thought, taking a step forward. "I have full health. I should just push through and..."
Howl.
A long, bone-chilling sound echoed from the deep jungle. It wasn't a wolf. It sounded like something much larger, something that only woke up when the sun died.
Lysander blinked and looked up. For the first time since the fight started, he noticed the sky. The light was gone. The purple haze of the Abyssal Wilds was turning into a suffocating black.
"Wait," Lysander muttered, looking around. The jungle was changing. The trees seemed to be moving closer together. "When did it get so dark? I was so focused on the slaughter... I lost track of time."
Ding!
[Warning, Master. The sun has set.]
[ENVIRONMENTAL SHIFT: THE DARK HOURS]
[Visibility: Reduced by 90%]
[Monster Aggression: Increased by 200%]
[Monster Stats: All nocturnal creatures gain a +30% Stat Buff under the moonlight]
"Entering a confined structure like the Tower at night without a map or light source is classified as: SUICIDAL."
Lysander froze. He looked at the Tower, then at the pitch-black darkness swallowing the path ahead.
His grip on Erebos tightened. He wasn't afraid, but he was smart. His Intelligence screamed at him to stop.
"The System is right," Lysander whispered, stepping back. "I got arrogant because of the level ups. I almost walked into a death trap."
He shook his head, scolding himself.
"If I go there now, I'll be fighting in the dark against boosted monsters. I don't know what's inside that Tower. Traps? Ghosts? A Rank-B Guardian?"
He sheathed his sword with a sharp click.
"Carelessness gets people killed. I won't die because I was too impatient to wait for the sun."
He turned his back on the Tower.
"The Tower isn't going anywhere. It has stood there for centuries; it can wait one more night."
Lysander pulled his hood up, activating the [Silent Step] on his boots.
"I'm going back to the cave," he decided firmly. "I need to sort my Inventory and plan a proper raid."
He glanced over his shoulder one last time at the ominous silhouette of the Tower against the moon.
"Sleep tonight. Prepare tomorrow. Conquer the Tower in the daylight."
With that, he vanished into the shadows, moving swiftly and silently back toward the safety of his cave.