Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.
Aesop:
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Each punch landed with brutal precision, striking faster than the sound that followed. By the time the shockwaves rippled through the air, the creature was already a frozen monument, its form splintering and collapsing into shards of ice. The boy turned toward his next target, his flames glowing colder, his expression untouched by anything but quiet amusement.
The second creature stood motionless, its clawed strike still suspended mid-air. The boy approached casually, seemingly unbothered by the looming threat. As he drew closer, the spider-leopard burst apart, dissolving into a gooey, adhesive substance that splattered in every direction.
The boy could have evaded it with ease, but he didn't. Instead, he let the sticky mass cling to him, binding him in place.
The first creature, standing in the distance, seized the moment. Its eight legs braced as it plunged its fangs into the ground with terrifying speed. Using the shadows as a gateway, the fangs disappeared into the earth, only to erupt directly beneath the boy.
The attack was so swift that even the air seemed paralyzed, sound lagging behind the monstrous strike.
As moments latter "Booom"
Dust and debris filled the air, obscuring the scene for a moment.
As reality caught up with the attack, the dust settled, revealing the boy standing firm, his feet planted on the beast's fangs. Cold flames flickered around him, gripping the adhesive substance and freezing it instantly before shattering it into countless fragments.
The creature attempted to retreat, desperate to salvage its prized fangs, but it was too late. The boy's hand lashed out, gripping the fangs with a crushing force, and with a single motion, he tore them apart.
A piercing screech erupted from the beast—"SCREEEECH!"—so deafening it made the boy's ears bleed.
"Damn," he muttered, wiping the blood from his ears, "that's some attack."
But the monster didn't falter. Its screech was not one of pain but of defiance. As its fangs began to regenerate at a rapid phase.
As the boy hurled the severed fangs in his hand, they pierced the air like missiles before embedding themselves into the ground with a resounding thud. He stood ready, his senses keen, anticipating the next assault. But nothing came.
The monster, defying all logic, began to sink downward, its body appearing to dissolve into the solid ground. Shadows leapt upward, enveloping it in a cascade of darkness that swallowed the beast whole, pulling it out of this reality.
Before the boy could act or follow, the myriad of spiders surrounding him began to converge. Like a tide drawn toward an unseen force, they merged into an enormous, pulsating mass, towering far higher than the previous monstrosity that had vanished into the shadows.
The boy, unfazed, watched the transformation with idle curiosity. He crouched to sit on the ground, and intending rest his bum, to observe the grotesque spectacle as it unfolded. Just as he was about to settle, his own shadow convulsed, twisting unnaturally. Without warning, a torpedo of black energy erupted from the shifting darkness beneath him.
This energy was not venomous—it was pure, unfiltered corruption. The force was so intense it tore through the boy, carving a straight, grotesque path from his lower Bum to his Face.
The sight was truly disturbing.
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"That was easy," the towering creature thought, its many voices blending into a singular tone of smug satisfaction.
Using this corrupted energy, had seemingly been enough. The boy lay motionless. Dead from the impact alone.
As the beast began to relax, savoring its victory, reality itself wavered.
"Crack."
A sound broke through the stillness, followed by a ripple that spread across the forest like shattered glass.
From the boy's lifeless form came laughter, a chorus of unhinged mirth that resonated through the woods. At the same moment, an ear-piercing screech echoed, a collective cry from millions of spiders writhing in agony.
The towering mass of merged spiders began to fracture, chunks dissolving into the air as if their existence was being erased.
Standing amidst the unraveling chaos was the boy, unharmed, his eyes blazing with amusement.
The monster felt it then—a cold, suffocating DREAD creeping into the very core of its being.
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The fight—what should have been a grand spectacle, a dazzling display of power so intense it could bring spectators to tears in awe—was nothing more than amusement for the boy.
This wasn't a battle; it was a massacre.
The forest, which had regenerated to its lush, sinister state, was now eerily silent. Even the grotesque spider monstrosities that had once crawled and lurked within were gone. The boy stood alone amidst the unsettling quiet, surrounded only by the absence of life.
"Hmmm…" he hummed idly, growing bored as he waited for the spider beast to reappear. With nothing to occupy his attention, he sat down again, this time undisturbed.
No attacks came. No movement stirred. The spider beast, once a calculating predator, had retreated into the depths of the shadow realm. It wasn't plotting or strategizing—it was hiding, praying the boy would not find it.
The beast, despite its terrifying strength and the trillions of spiders that had merged to, had been obliterated in an instant. Even its strongest attack, which couldn't so much as scratch the Merged Beast, had proven useless against the boy, who had destroyed it effortlessly. Now, Fear now ruled its every thought, compelling it to wait, to hope that its hidden refuge would keep it safe.
As time passed, the beast observed the boy sitting motionless in one spot. Watching from the cold void of the shadow realm, the spider began to relax. Its defenses faltered ever so slightly as it dared to believe in the safety of its concealment.
And then, it heard something.
A voice, faint at first, calling out.
The beast focused, straining to understand the sound.
'Hey… why didn't you come out?'
The words reverberated through its very being, a chilling resonance that froze it in place.
The last thing it saw was not the boy—but the forest itself, came into its view….
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