Shameless retreat

I can't help but feel a bit smug, as I face down this horrible creature several times my size now obviously wounded and infuriated by me I feel just a little bit like a badass for the first time since coming here.

The creature seems to be viewing me in a different light as well, no longer blindly charging at me and instead seems to be regarding me as an actual threat now.

Well I think it is at least, its missing even more of its face now and it looks like most of its useless eyes popped like grapes when it smashed into that wall so it's hard to be sure…

Well regardless even with my injuries i'm in a much better situation than when this fight started im mostly unaffected by mine but my opponents got a ton of new vulnerable points hanging out of its shattered carapace.

Eager to continue, I decide to make the first move quickly to close the gap between us rushing straight ahead as if to repeat the same tactic I used on it earlier. The creature not willing to fall for the same thing again rears back before bringing its foremost legs crashing down to intercept me, just what I was hoping for.

As soon as I see the creatures commit to its strike I break to the right, easily avoiding the strikes while also flanking my opponents side with the largest weak spot, a fleshy sac hanging from the lower-middle half of its carapace covered in a thin layer of fuzz which pulses a dull blue from within every few moments.

Yep that'll do, the second I'm in range I leap up and hang onto the growth for dear life while tearing the vulnerable flesh up like a cat on a scratching post.

Streams of disgusting blueish ichor spew from the wounds my talons leave painting the walls of the cavern as the creature thrashes around trying to throw me to the ground or scrape me off on the nearby stone walls.

Just as I start to think that i'll be able to shred the creature to death with impunity thanks to this blind spot the creature surprises me as instead of focusing on stopping me, it stops moving altogether…

*SNAP*

Suddenly dozens of strands of the same mycelium the creature's legs are woven from snake their way out from around the wound I have been savaging until now drawing the whole mass back into the creature's carapace.

They then begin rapidly weaving the wound shut before more durable looking yellow fungal plates grow providing a layer of armor far too hard for me to damage.

Unable to continue I scurry up onto the creature's back as it stirs back to life from the brief pause, thankfully it only seems to have reinforced the area I was actively assailing leaving the rest of the exposed points untouched.

Not good, the only reason I'm able to hurt this creature at all is because of the exposed points if it can seal all of them up the fights as good as over.

This signals the start of a long and frustrating game as I fight my way to every break in the creatures defense.

Everytime I find a weak spot I attack it with as much ferocity as I can muster and each time the creature reacts the same way calling forth the mycelia to suture and reinforce the wound, this cycle continues several times until I find a particularly nasty open wound atop the creature's abdomen…

Entrapped in a lattice of atrophied organs and growths is a single mass of flesh a similar blue to the creature's blood pulsing like an oversized heart glowing in time to the beats.

*CHK* *CHK*

As I stab both of my front claws straight into the exposed tissue they punch clean through with surprising ease sinking deep into the mass which bleeds profusely as soon as I tear my talons free.

I don't know enough about spiders or biology to have any idea what any of these organs that I'm attacking are, nor do I really care, but from the horrible screech the creature lets out when I slash it I'm guessing this one is important.

The creature desperately tries to escape as I carve my way into it until i'm buried up to my neck in its bluish viscera.

At first it seems like I may be able to just rip and tear my way into this thing and kill it from the inside, that is until the squealing starts.

The sound started like a small but sharp whistling which rapidly ramped until it was like some oversized kettle left to boil too long as the same mass of flesh I have been savaging began to rapidly convulse and swell.

When parts of the chitin near me begin to show small cracks and the creatures cries change to a strained whimper like tone I decide to jump off and try to get some distance, but before I even hit the floor a massive force blast me from behind making my vision blur as im sent rocketing into the cavern wall.

*BOOOOOOMF*

It takes a while for the shock to wear off as my vision slowly clears to see the cavern now splattered with ichor and a dense cloud of spores now saturating the atmosphere.

Looking over where my foe was I see nothing but a large splatter of gore and viscera alongside what looks like one of the creature's legs severed and extremely frayed.

Feeling a burning pain setting in I look down to see several small black shards embedded in my flesh when that spider blew up its carapace seems to have shattered acting alot like a fragmentation grenade.

Thankfully my natural healing is slowly removing them on its own though I do make a note that it seems to be going much slower when the wounds are not clear of debris.

*Shk shk shk shk*

Oh maybe that's the entrance opening good this place needs some ventilation for these damn spores and…

My thought comes grinding to a halt as I find that not only has the entrance opened but also a second larger passage on the opposite side, this one leading upward at a sharp angle and more importantly painted with a trail of blue ichor leading up and out of sight.

That bastard is still alive! And he bailed?! He can't run away now, he owes me a lot of xp for this mess!

With the most impairing fragments already forced out of my body I'm able to stagger to my feet and scurry "albeit at half the speed I normally can uninjured" my way to the tunnel and begin my pursuit.