WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom

Chapter 94: Almost

Their gazes locked, but neither made a move— their extra limbs did the fighting for them.

Venom's eight tail-like appendages lashed forward, moving with terrifying speed. Ben's four scythe-ended limbs met them head-on.

CLANG! SLASH!

The battlefield blurred around them as blade clashed against blade, the air itself screaming from the sheer velocity of their strikes.

Ben gritted his teeth. He was losing the exchange—Venom had the numbers advantage. Each attack came at an unpredictable angle, pressing him further and further back.

One tail slipped through.

Slash!

A sharp tip sliced across Ben's cheek, black venom sizzling against his skin. He clicked his tongue in frustration, his mind racing. 'Shit. I can make more, but—'

The thought flickered, but he immediately crushed it.

More limbs wouldn't help him win. They'd only slow him down. This fight wasn't about quantity, it was about control.

Instead of creating more appendages, he changed them.

Mid-battle, his scythe-blades warped— shifting, reshaping. One became a drill. Another, a serrated whip. The third retracted, then extended into a barbed spear. Venom attack but this time, Ben was faster.

WHIP!

The serrated limb snapped forward, coiling around one of Venom's tails like a vice. Venom's eyes widened.

Ben yanked.

CRACK!

The appendage ripped free, Dark green blood splattering across the ground. Venom hissed, its remaining tails whipping toward Ben's throat.

'DRILL ARM.' Ben thrust forward. The spinning drill pierced through three of Venom's tails at once, shredding through its flesh in an explosion of chitin and blood.

Venom screeched.

Ben's grinned. "What's wrong? Not used to fighting someone who adapts faster than you?"

Venom's mandibles clicked violently, its body shuddering, its form shifting again. But Ben didn't let it finish. With a burst of speed, he closed the distance. "Stay the fuck down."

SLASH!

His barbed spear drove into Venom's torso only for sparks to erupt upon impact. The blade skidded off, failing to penetrate. The armor was too thick. Ben's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. 'Shit. I need the pickaxe.'

Venom's eyes gleamed. It lashed out. A poisonous tail shot forward, grazing Ben's ribs. He twisted at the last second, but the tip barely missed puncturing through his chitin armor. The sizzling heat of venom brushed against his flesh.

'Too close.' Ben clicked his tongue in irritation, leaping back just as another strike came for his throat. He parried with a newly formed jagged blade, but Venom didn't let up. It pressed forward, its attacks relentless.

The more they fought, the more Ben realized he was on a timer. Every single hit, every tiny scratch mean more poison enter his blood stream.

He could still fight. His body was resisting it, but the constant regeneration was draining his biomass like a leaking fuel tank. Ben exhaled sharply, gripping his pickaxe tighter. 'If this keeps up, I'll bleed myself dry just from healing.'

Then, an idea come up on his mind. Ben's lips curled slightly. A new appendage sprouted from his back. Unlike the others, its tip didn't form a blade.

Instead— it's A closed, bulb-like structure, looking like closwed flower petal.

Venom hesitated, its six eyes flickering with sudden caution. Ben grinned, blood dripping from his lips. "Here!!! Take this BACK!"

The bulb twitched—then bloomed. A thick jet of condensed dark poison erupted outward, spraying in a violent arc.

Venom recoiled. Its body instinctively shifted, appendages curling inward to shield itself from the sudden torrent. The poison wouldn't harm him, but he didn't expect this. And for a split second—his vision was completely blocked.

Ben's grin widened. "DIE!"

His pickaxe swung forward in an instant, aiming straight for Venom's throat. The moment felt frozen in time. The poisoned mist still lingered in the air, the battlefield wrapped in a suffocating haze. Ben could already feel the impact—the sensation of metal tearing through carapace, the satisfying crunch of a clean kill.

Then at the last second Venom moved. The pickaxe missed its neck by mere inches. Instead, it sank deep into Venom's torso.

CRACK!

Carapace split. Thick, black green blood gushed out, hissing against the ground. Venom's body jerked violently, its mandibles clenching.

Ben gritted his teeth, forcing the weapon deeper, twisting it to tear more of the wound open.

Venom shrieked.

Its tails lashed out in a blind frenzy, forcing Ben to disengage. He ripped his pickaxe free just in time to dodge, flipping back to gain distance.

Venom twitched violently, its form shuddering, the deep wound in its torso knitting itself back together far too quickly. The dark green blood that dripped onto the poisoned earth hissed as it met the ground, burning into it like acid.

But the creature didn't wait for the wound to close. It moved. One moment, it stood hunched over, mandibles clicking in agitation. The next— it vanished.

Ben's eyes sharpened, his instincts roaring.

CRACK!

A split-second too late—he twisted his body just as a tail struck like a battering ram. The force sent him reeling, skidding across the battlefield, his heels digging trenches into the scorched terrain. His entire side burned from the impact.

No time to breathe.

Venom was already there.

A claw lashed out. Ben blocked—only for another attack to slam into his ribs from the opposite side. The strike carved through flesh, sending Black green blood splattering into the air.

Ben growled, muscles shifting, forcing his wound to close mid-motion. He tried to retaliate—but Venom didn't give him the chance.

A razor-sharp tail whipped toward his throat. He barely tilted his head, feeling it graze his cheek, cutting deep.

A second tail followed up, aiming for his ribs. Ben twisted, but another claw was already incoming.

BAM!

The impact drove him back again, his feet barely keeping him upright. His breath came in sharp gasps. Venom wasn't just attacking mindlessly anymore. It was reading him. Adjusting. Predicting.

'This damn thing had evolved again.' Ben wiped the blood from his chin, his smirk returning despite the pain. "Getting serious now, huh?" He rolled his shoulders, his muscles shifting unnaturally. "Good."

His back rippled. Four scythe-like appendages reformed into serrated, flexible whips. Ben smirked, "Come on then." And they clashed again.