WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 111: Close Quarter

Ben's pickaxe slammed into the barrier—but instead of shattering, it recoiled like rubber, absorbing the impact with an unnatural elasticity.

The ground beneath him shook from the force, cracks spidering out across the battlefield—but the shadow wall held.

Ben muscles tensing as he pressed harder, pouring more strength into the swing. The barrier stretched, resisting, refusing to break.

Then the tendrils came. Whipping around him, twisting like snakes, trying to coil around his limbs, pierce his armor, drag him down into the dark.

Ben gritted his teeth, eyes blazing. "You're not stopping me!" With a snarl, his blade-like appendages shot out, slicing through the tendrils with rapid, precise strikes.

Each cut tore through the living darkness, black blood spraying into the air as the tendrils screeched and writhed. But they kept coming.

The Krell Alpha clicked its tongue, a sound of pure annoyance. Its six glowing eyes narrowed, and its mana spiked—a sudden, violent surge that sent ripples through the air.

The ground beneath it cracked, shadows pouring out in thick waves, racing across the battlefield like a flood.

Darkness exploded outward, engulfing both Elvira and Ben in an instant. The world vanished beneath a curtain of black.

Ben lost sight of everything. One second, he was slashing through tendrils, the next—he was blind. The darkness wasn't just visual—it was total, a suffocating field that deadened sound, dulled instinct, and made mana sluggish to use.

"Elvira?!" he shouted, but his voice was swallowed whole, like the shadows were devouring sound itself.

From somewhere within the void—a vibration of movement.

Ben turned just in time to see a claw of solid shadow streaking toward him. He ducked, barely dodging, and countered with a wide arc of his pickaxe, but the Alpha was already gone, shifting through the black like a wraith.

Meanwhile, Elvira floated in the dark, her vision limited to the faint glow of her own mana. She than create a sphere of light—but it only managed to carve out a few feet of visibility.

Suddenly, something struck from behind.

A shadow spear raked across her barrier, sparks flying as it tried to pierce through. She spun, casting a spell.

Flaming shackles shot outward, lashing at the shape—but the Alpha dodged, melting into the dark.

Elvira grit her teeth. "It's using the shadows as cover. It's everywhere and nowhere at once."

Ben wasn't faring much better. Three tendrils shoot at him from different angles. He blocked one, spun to cut the second, but the third wrapped around his leg, yanking him into the air.

CRACK!

He hit the ground hard, but rolled with the impact, slicing the tendril clean off. "Enough of this!" he roared. He slammed his fist into the ground, creating a shockwave that blast all the shadow around him away.

A narrow clearing opened, just long enough for him to see the Alpha materialize from the darkness, claws coming to his throat.

But he didn't back down.

Instead, his appendages snapped forward, launching like spears from his back, their tips twisting mid-air as they wrapped around the Alpha's limbs.

"Got you now!"

The tendrils tightened, yanking the Krell Alpha straight toward him.

The Alpha snarled, a deep, sound that echoed across the battlefield like a warning.

In response, the shadows beneath it shivered, then surged upward in a violent bloom of darkness.

They twisted into spikes, barbed chains, and razor-edged blades, each formation more vicious than the last. They shot forward, dozens at once like a storm of death.

But Ben—he didn't flinch. "Come on then!" he roared, eyes blazing with fury.

From his back, a dozen more appendages exploded outward, fanning into a protective shield.

They clashed mid-air, appendages and shadows colliding with a deafening noise .

CLANG! CRASH!

The battlefield lit with sparks and arcs as metal met shadow, the two forces grinding against each other

Every blade of darkness that came too close was sliced, deflected, or crushed by Ben's living weapons.

Yet the Alpha didn't stop.

More shadows rose behind the first wave, twisting into serrated disks and writhing tendrils, aiming for every blind spot.

"Dammit!" Ben raises the numbers of his appendage to create some makeshift shield.

Even so—some got through. A spike pierced his side. Another stabbed into his thigh.

A blade slashed across his chest, tearing through flesh and armor alike. But he didn't slow. He embraced the pain. Blood streamed down his body, but his eyes never left the Alpha. "Come here!"

He gripped the tendrils still holding the Alpha, and with a roar that shook the earth, he yanked it forward, slamming the two of them together in a thunderous clash.

The Alpha lashed out with a claw, but Ben caught it mid-swing. "Not so fast huh," Ben growled—then swung a punch with his free hand, aiming straight for the Alpha's head.

The Alpha ducked low, the punch whistling past its skull, missing by inches. Its form twisted like smoke—then it's mandible shoot forward.

CRUNCH!

Its teeth sank into Ben's shoulder, tearing through armor and flesh, shadowy fangs locking down with terrifying strength.

Ben let out a snarl of pain—but didn't falter. His knee snapped upward, smashing into the Alpha's gut. As the beast recoiled, Ben grabbed it by the throat with his free hand, lifted and slammed it to the ground with a deafening crash.

CRACK!

Dust and debris shot up from the impact, the ground fracturing beneath them.

The Alpha twisted violently, its shadows forming sharp spikes that burst outward, trying to skewer Ben at point-blank range.

Ben reacted fast—his appendages snapped into motion, some deflecting the shadow spikes mid-air, others wrapping around the Alpha's arms and legs, locking it down. "You're not slipping away this time!"

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The Alpha shrieked, body contorting, forcing more tendrils to rise from the ground, slicing and slamming against Ben from all directions. He took the hits—let them pierce him. Blood sprayed across the crater, but his grip didn't weaken. He pulled the Alpha close—so close they were nose to nose.

Then, with a roar, Ben drove his head forward again, smashing into the Alpha's face with another headbutt.