Chapter 22. The strange dark fog.

The queen, being the swiftest of them all, was the first to reach Li Chen. Without any hesitation, it charged at him with such velocity that it took Li Chen by surprise.

Normally, among beasts that dwell in packs, it is well-known that the leader doesn't strike first. They typically command from behind, so it was astonishing to see this queen take the lead in the attack.

However, with the queen rapidly approaching, Li Chen couldn't afford to dwell on his shock. He prepared for his counterattack.

Just then, the queen arrived with a piercing shriek, and at that moment, a silver thread shot from its mouth toward Li Chen.

Li Chen swiftly dodged, and as a second thread came flying, he sidestepped again, avoiding it with no time to spare. It seemed the queen could only shoot two threads simultaneously, but Li Chen remained vigilant, his theory was still unconfirmed.

After Li Chen evaded both attacks, the queen let out an enraged shriek, which caused a slight tremor in his consciousness. This was the same sonic attack he had experienced before, only less overwhelming since it came from a single silverhead spider, not hundreds.

The sonic wave momentarily disoriented Li Chen. As he regained his composure, he saw the queen leaping toward him midair.

"Damn, spider!" Li Chen cursed, throwing a condensed ball of flame at the airborne queen.

With no way to evade in midair, the queen was hit directly by the fireball.

BOOM!

The fireball exploded in contact with the queen's body.

Although the explosion wasn't as mighty as that from the fire claw, it was still sufficient to take down a beast at the queen's level.

As Li Chen anticipated, the moment the flames hit, they blew the queen's head off, splattering blood everywhere.

A smile crossed Li Chen's face, knowing the death of the queen would throw the spider group into disarray, giving him the upper hand.

But to his surprise, the system didn't announce his kill.

"What's happening?" Li Chen whispered in confusion, looking towards the queen's body that had landed not too far from him.

The queen's head had been decimated, a fatal wound by any measure. So why wasn't it dead?

While Li Chen was still in shock, the spider's body began to move, startling him.

Suddenly, a thick, dark fog enveloped the area where Li Chen's attack had struck. The fog lasted only moments, but when it cleared, Li Chen was stunned.

"The hell!" Li Chen blurted out, his mouth agape in an 'O' shape.

There, before him, was the queen he believed he had killed, completely unharmed. It was as if Li Chen's attack had never happened.

The queen, unfazed by Li Chen's shock, released another loud, angry shriek, causing Li Chen's consciousness to tremble once again.

"Freaking spider!" Li Chen cursed, his senses ringing with alarms, particularly after witnessing the queen's uncanny ability to heal—an ability that was beyond strange, it was downright bizarre. But Li Chen realized there was no escape for him now.

With the queen's superior speed, it would soon catch up to him, leaving his only option to continue fighting until he could decipher what had occurred.

He speculated that the queen's peculiar healing might stem from some ancient treasure or artifact. Given the numerous ancient ruins scattered throughout the realm, it wasn't unheard of for a beast to come across one. This could also explain the corpse flower's presence—perhaps there were hidden ruins within the cave that housed the silverhead spiders' nest.

This prospect sent a thrill through Li Chen's veins. Ancient ruins often harboured incredible treasures; many individuals throughout history had their destinies transformed after such discoveries. Although ancient ruins were rare, Li Chen considered himself extremely fortunate to potentially have stumbled upon one.

Yet, Li Chen tempered his excitement with caution, aware that his hypothesis might not be accurate. The only way to confirm would be to get past the swarm of silverhead spiders and their seemingly indestructible queen.

Lacking other explanations, Li Chen surmised that the queen's remarkable recovery must be linked to an ancient artifact. His current challenge was to uncover a weakness in this enigmatic ability.

Realistically, he knew it was an arduous task—akin to reversing death itself, which defied natural laws. Surely there had to be some restrictions or limitations to such power. His perseverance was key.

Still, the pressing question remained: Could he endure long enough to see the artifact reach its limits?

"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out," Li Chen muttered as he fortified his resolve.

At that moment, the queen, having finished its sonic attack, began its charge toward Li Chen.

Without hesitation, Li Chen once again formed a ball of flame and hurled it in the queen's direction.

The queen, seemingly confident, did not attempt to dodge. It collided head-on with the ball of flame, resulting in an explosion that repelled it and decapitated it once more.

Yet, bizarrely, the headless body did not lose its vigour, charging at Li Chen as the dark fog reappeared to mend the queen.

"Freaking headache!" Li Chen cursed, flinging another fireball at the queen, not allowing it to recover its head.

But suddenly, the fog morphed into the shape of a beast's head and consumed the fireball.

"Now that's frustrating!" Li Chen exclaimed, witnessing this.

He had planned to obliterate the queen's entire body to see if the fog could heal a completely destroyed beast. Astonishingly, the mist devoured his attack as if it were a delightful ball of tofu.

Li Chen refrained from attacking again, knowing it would be futile; his attention was fixed beyond the queen.

In the brief moments of his battle with the queen, the swarm of silverhead spiders had caught up. They rushed to their queen's side and encircled her protectively.

By the time the dense, dark fog had finished healing the queen, she had merged with her subjects, making it impossible for Li Chen to distinguish her from the rest. A chill ran through him as he realized the queen had vanished into the crowd.

With the queen's whereabouts now a mystery, Li Chen had to remain extremely vigilant to avoid any surprise attacks.

Without waiting for the swarm to reach him, Li Chen swiftly launched three consecutive fireballs at strategic points among them. These fireballs had a smaller blast radius compared to the fire claw, causing less damage, but they also consumed less of his Qi.

The shrieks of spiders being engulfed in flames filled the air, but the impending horde seemed undeterred, charging at Li Chen in a frenzy. Some launched webs while others leapt to bite, all seemingly driven by madness and rage.

Li Chen began to retreat, his sword cutting through the air to deflect webs and slice through the spiders leaping at him, all the while tossing one fireball after another at the oncoming beasts.

As he fought and retreated, Li Chen found himself advancing into uncharted territory, with no pattern to his movements due to the relentless attacks. Fortunately, they had not encountered any other beasts, for that would surely complicate matters further.

Suddenly, Li Chen's danger sense blared an alarm. Without hesitation, he sidestepped, narrowly evading an attack from the queen, who had chosen that precise moment to strike.

As Li Chen halted, some of the silverhead spiders closed in on him, and then, all at once, they leapt toward him.

"Damn it!" Li Chen cursed as he braced for their assault. Midair, about ten spiders opened their mouths and unleashed a piercing shriek.

The sonic waves, though not as overwhelming as the earlier collective assault, were nearly as debilitating due to the close range.

Li Chen felt on the verge of collapse, his nose bleeding from the intensity of the sound.

At that critical moment, Li Chen noticed a silver thread, shining with a deadly light, hurtling toward him at high speed. The queen had seized the opportunity to launch another attack.

"Damn it!" Li Chen cursed again, struggling to evade while still reeling from the sonic wave. By pushing his limits and ignoring the pain, he narrowly dodged the attack, though a few strands of his hair were not as fortunate and were sheared off, indicating just how close the thread had come.

Despite having avoided the thread, Li Chen's sense of danger continued to scream warnings at him.

"Fuck!"