His determination was unwavering, his resolve was unshakable but even he would not dare to ignore the cruel reality of the phenomenon called life.
The arachnid—a tyrant leader, was a thing of the past. Right now he was just like another creature of the forest.
Helpless against the merciless game of life.
Years back in his battle against Sophia, aside from his army he had lost many more things.
The fact that he lost two of his limbs alone made him more helpless than most of the creatures.
Thanks to his intelligence, he had enough food to keep him alive but the water, that was a challenge.
He could drag his body and set up traps slowly in order to lure small nocturnal creatures into his cave. It wasn't difficult but to procure water he had to journey a long distance.
There was a lake closer to his cave but he did not dare to visit that. Because the lake belonged to a creature of mist, a soul creature but that was alright,
The problem was, that creature was believed to be helping humans in some manner. However, it was just a rumor, even then, he wasn't going to risk his life like that.
Thankfully, being a spirit creature he needed to drink water only once in six months. Evolution does come with its perks after all.
And unfortunately the time he would run out of water into his body was nearing fast.
So, the arachnid started his journey to the river that he visited twice a year after his failed siege on the human town.
The day was young and perfect for a recovering creature like him to move. In the light of day, there were few threats to his life as compared to the night.
Dragging his huge body he walked slowly between the tall trees. The vibrations were to be felt on the ground as his huge figure moved across the forest.
There were no creatures on his path. Then again only a fool would like to voluntarily reveal itself to a terrifying creature like him.
Albeit fallen, but Arachnid was once a king. So, he knew the forest all too well. And also knew there were no forces capable of challenging him.
Many of the small creatures hid as they sensed him approaching, many knew him from back in his glory days. Most of them were ignorant but that's fine.
The young generation, it seems, doesn't remember the legend.
However, tales, stories and impressions were all temporary. They can be created again, can be forged but power was the ultimate truth.
Arachnid was silent, waiting for an opportunity to achieve that power. He wanted to level himself up.
He wasn't someone short sighted. He never was.
Even now, he walked into the forest, his presence screamed of the tales of unchallenged tyranny he had left behind.
That was something no one can steal from him, no one can forge, and no one can impersonate.
The experience was the important thing and the rest was just garbage.
Armies, tyranny, crown even his own worthless body—all temporary garbage.
After dragging his limping body throughout the day, he had finally arrived at the river.
Before him was the familiar sight. The river spread wide and long into the forest. Crystal clear water revealed the rocks at the bottom.
The small aquatic creatures were to be seen occasionally on the water surface.
The arachnid sat on the ground, folding his long claws like legs.
Then he opened his enormous maw revealing a pair of mandibles. There was a time when these teeth were sharp as a blade but now they look pale with the blunt tip.
The water was flowing directly into his mouth as he put his maw against the flow. Finally his hard work paid off it seemed.
Like always, tonight he would rest here, drink all the water he needs and leave tomorrow.
The place was calm and he had already visited it many times before so without thinking much about the danger he slowly fell asleep.
The sound of the clean water flowing above the rocks settled an unknown uneasiness in the depths of his heart.
Life was unpredictable.
Even for the fallen tyrant.
Perhaps, the reason was too much comfort of the cave, or perhaps it was his existing reputation that made him complacent towards a new threat.
That he, who used to plan about dealing with everything in advance, was not able to see beyond his own limit.
Not that he could be blamed for that.
He had a resolve and determination that far surpassed the state he was in, but life demanded change.
Only the ones quick to adapt will survive and the rest will be nothing but cannon fodder.
Just around midnight, he was visited by a swarm of new species. That originally did not belong to this part of the forest.
There were newcomers and Arachnid was right now surrounded by them.
He opened his eyes quickly as the sound reached his ears but it turned out the enemy was quicker than him.
Before he could even move a muscle his vision went blurry. Suddenly he felt tired, and the unnatural urge to sleep.
He saw colourful dust falling on the ground before his mind gave up and he fell into a deep sleep.
After that everything felt like a dream. A helpless desperate dream in which he was paralyzed, tied and being dragged through the dirt and rocks.
Sometimes he would feel the warm light of the sun on his wounded skin and sometimes the chilling coldness of the winter nights.
The only thing that remained constant was the feeling of being dragged against his will. However, he was helpless, unable to move a muscle.
Occasionally when a bit of sense happens to find its way back to his mind he heard noises, strange noises which felt like conversation.
He was unable to understand but he eventually figured out there were more than two or three of them dragging him along.
The question was, who were these creatures.
What do they want from him?
Why didn't they just kill him?
Well, it made sense that they wanted to keep the food fresh by keeping him alive and would kill him after reaching the destination.
It was winter and everyone was procuring food after all.
But Arachnid couldn't possibly let himself be killed that easily. So, he started to scheme in his mind—of course only when his dazed off state allowed him to.
He thought of many things, came up with different plans but the thing he faced turned out to be completely out of his expectations.
After being dragged by what felt like days for now it seemed they had finally arrived at the destination.
He immediately came back to his senses as the creatures splashed water on his face.
Gasping for air, Arachnid slowly opened his eyes.
Suddenly someone spoke in a female voice, in the intensity that sent chills down his very spine.
A terrifying sound that reminded him of human mage Sophia who nearly took his life last time.
However this was different, the voice was even,
"Ah… the infamous Arachnid. Welcome to my humble abode."
His blurry vision was slowly clearing up. Then, finally after so much time he saw the ones who brought him here.
And the one who commanded them to do so.
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