The Chitterbeast Nest had grown eerily silent. The echoes of scuttling creatures faded into nothing as the group reached the heart of the dungeon. Tommy could feel it—a presence that seemed to stretch out, suffocating the air. His breath quickened. It was here, the thing that had driven all the smaller Chitterbeasts before it: the Chitterbeast Queen.
As they entered the vast chamber, Tommy's eyes locked onto the creature. It was massive—larger than any beast he'd fought before. The Queen was a grotesque combination of predator and arachnid, its body resembling a huge fox, sleek and agile but twisted with horrific features. Eight long, spider-like legs, each tipped with sharp claws, extended from its body, while its thick, segmented tail lashed back and forth like that of a scorpion. Its eyes, glowing an eerie red, locked onto them, filled with malice and intelligence.
Tommy's heart pounded in his chest. He had faced monsters before, but this… this was different. He was almost out of his league, but he couldn't back down now.
Clinton was the first to react, stepping forward with a grin that made Tommy's blood run cold. "Step aside," he muttered, rolling his shoulders. "I've got this."
He raised his hands to the sky, chanting something low under his breath. A ball of fire began to form, crackling with energy, growing larger and larger until it reached the size of a boulder. The air around them shimmered from the heat as Clinton's eyes burned with focus.
"Flame's embrace" he shouted, hurling the fiery projectile straight at the Chitterbeast Queen.
The fireball hurtled toward the Queen with terrifying speed. Tommy braced himself, expecting an explosion of flame and fury. But the Queen was faster than he'd anticipated. In a fluid motion, it dodged the massive fireball, its body swaying to the side with unnatural agility. Despite its size, the Queen moved as if it had been born to dance with death. The fireball hit the stone wall behind her, exploding in a blinding burst, but the Queen had already vanished, leaving a streak of smoke in her wake.
Clinton stared in disbelief. "What the hell?" he muttered, his grin faltering for just a second. "How did it move that fast?"
Before he could recover, Tessy sprang into action. She wasn't phased by the Queen's agility; in fact, she seemed to welcome the challenge. With a sharp movement of her hands, she summoned a series of powerful wind slashes. The air around her crackled, and the winds coalesced into thin, cutting blades that sped toward the Chitterbeast Queen.
The Queen's reaction was immediate. With a screech, it reared up on its hind legs, dodging the first two slashes with terrifying grace. But Tessy was relentless. She sent a second wave of wind blades, sharper and faster than before, and this time, the Queen wasn't quick enough. One of the slashes hit its side, cutting deep into its thick, chitinous armor.
The Queen let out a furious screech, stumbling back as the force of the wind left a deep gash on its flank. Tessy's face lit up with satisfaction, but she didn't let up. "My turn to play, then," she said, her voice confident as she prepared for another round of attacks.
Tommy wasn't about to sit back and let Clinton or Tessy steal the show. He had seen the Queen's speed, and he knew it wouldn't be an easy fight. The Chitterbeast Queen was no mere beast—it was an apex predator, and it wouldn't go down without a fight.
Drawing in a breath, Tommy pushed aside his doubt. He had learned something over the course of his countless raids in the lower dungeons: when everything seemed hopeless, when the odds were stacked against him, it was then that he found his strength. He wasn't just the Glitch—he had something they didn't: resilience.
Without hesitation, Tommy raised his hand and called upon the mana that surged within him. He had never been able to fully control it, but he had learned to harness it in moments of need. This time, he wouldn't hold back.
"Mana blast!" he shouted, unleashing three consecutive shots in rapid succession, each one more powerful than the last. The first blast tore into one of the Queen's legs, sending it snapping backward with a sickening crack. The second hit another leg, leaving a gaping wound that oozed a strange, dark ichor. The third struck the Queen's back, causing it to stagger, throwing off its balance.
The Chitterbeast Queen roared in fury, its massive legs slamming into the ground as it lost its footing. But the monster was far from defeated—it was enraged.
The Queen let out an unholy screech and lashed out. Its tail whipped toward Tommy with terrifying speed, the stinger at the tip glistening in the dim light. Tommy's eyes widened as the tail came crashing toward him, but just as it reached him, Clinton moved with a surprising swiftness, his hands igniting with fire.
"Get down!" Clinton shouted.
Tommy barely had time to react as Clinton sent a fiery wave in front of him, blocking the Queen's attack just in time. The flames singed the Queen's tail, forcing it to retract with a screech. But it wasn't enough to stop it. The Queen seemed unrelenting, and Tommy knew they were running out of time.
"Watch out!" Tessy warned, pointing to the sides of the chamber. The walls began to tremble as the Queen began to summon more of her spawn—dozens of Chitterbeasts, the same small, scuttling creatures they had faced before, poured from the shadows.
Tommy felt a knot tighten in his stomach. He wasn't just fighting a monster; he was fighting an entire army.
"We've got to finish it, or we'll be overwhelmed!" Tessy said, her face set with determination.
Clinton nodded, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Fine. Let's end this."
Tessy shot a series of wind slashes at the **Chitterbeast Queen**, keeping it distracted. Tommy, feeling the weight of the moment, stepped forward. He needed to finish what he started. He couldn't just rely on his sword. His mana was his only weapon against this monstrosity.
Tommy closed his eyes and focused, willing his mana to surge through his body, channeling it into his arms. His muscles screamed in protest as he pushed harder than ever before. When he opened his eyes, a faint blue glow lingered around his hands. His sword felt lighter in his grip.
"For the future," he whispered to himself.
With a roar, Tommy surged forward, unleashing a powerful mana blast worth about three mana blasts at the Chitterbeast Queen. This time, the blast was different. It wasn't just an attack—it was a manifestation of all the pain, frustration, and determination he had felt since becoming an adventurer. He couldn't stay this way. He couldn't keep being a liability.
The blast hit the Queen square in the chest, the force of it sending the Queen staggering backward, its body cracking under the impact.
Clinton took the opportunity to launch a final fireball, larger than anything he had thrown before. The fireball collided with the Queen's head, exploding in a massive burst of flame that lit up the cavern. The Queen let out a final, anguished scream as it collapsed to the ground, twitching in its death throes.
For a moment, there was only silence.
Tessy, breathing heavily, stepped forward, inspecting the fallen Queen. "We did it," she said, a satisfied smile crossing her face. "I knew we could."
Clinton, still catching his breath, shot a glance at Tommy, his expression unreadable. "Not Bad, Glitch," he muttered, though there was a begrudging respect in his voice.
Tommy exhaled, his body aching from the effort, but a sense of victory filled him. He had done it. He had fought alongside them, not as a burden, but as an equal.
As the Chitterbeast Queen disintegrated into a cloud of smoke, Tommy knelt to collect the core, his hands trembling. He had completed the dungeon—not by luck, but by pushing himself past his limits.
But deep down, he knew that this was only the beginning. The world was vast, and the real challenges were still ahead.
"Let's get out of here," he said quietly, standing up.
As they exited the dungeon, the sounds of laughter and mockery from the adventurers waiting at the entrance greeted them. But this time, Tommy didn't care. He had won. And for the first time, he felt like he was starting to belong.