Chapter 18: The Ruler of Pride
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[Based on Title effect, obtained skills:
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[Requirement met. Obtained Title:
[Based on Title effect, obtained skills:
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Two emotionless little spiders stared ahead at the monkey army rushing forward to their deaths, their lips curling into a gleeful arc. The system had aptly granted them the titles "Merciless" and "Monster Slaughterer." It had to be said—those titles were a perfect fit!
"Let's go. It's time for the next phase of the plan."
Shirazawa flashed a sinister smile, grabbing Shiro's spider leg as they silently vanished into the darkness. These traps were only the first half of the tunnel. While they could stall the monkey army, the traps would eventually be overwhelmed by sheer numbers as they were triggered. Shirazawa's estimate of ten thousand was just a guess; he couldn't guarantee the exact count, so he had prepared multiple backup plans.
Furthermore, Shirazawa's ambition didn't stop here. He wanted to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to evolve all the way to a Small Poison Taratect, or even beyond. However, once one hits the level cap, experience points go to waste. To avoid this, he had made extensive preparations.
[Experience points have reached the threshold. Individual: Small Taratect, Lv9→Lv10.]
[Basic stats increased.]
[Proficiency reached.
[Conditions met. Individual is ready to evolve. Please select evolution path.]
[Taratect / Small Poison Taratect]
Shirazawa knew their evolution route very well. The end of the former path leads to the Queen Taratect—the strongest monster in the labyrinth and their "Mother." The latter path leads to the Arachne—the half-human, half-spider form. There was no need to hesitate.
"Ready?" Shirazawa whispered.
"Mm!" Shiro nodded seriously.
"Evolve!" Shirazawa commanded without hesitation.
[Small Poison Taratect: Evolution initiated.]
A wave of intense drowsiness hit them. Moving quickly, Shirazawa spat out a massive amount of silk, wrapping the two of them into a cocoon and hanging it from the ceiling of the grotto. Once finished, he held the little spider close and fell into a deep sleep.
"ROAR—!"
In the narrow tunnel, the monkey army continued their relentless charge. They used the flesh and blood of their own kin to pave over the boulders, spikes, and webbing. One monkey after another fell in pools of blood; corpses piled high, and crimson liquid stained the first half of the grotto into a gruesome mess.
Was it worth sacrificing the entire tribe just to avenge one monkey? Well, since these monkeys don't seem particularly bright, it doesn't really matter. ╮(╯▽╰)╭
When the monkey army finally broke through the trap zone, hearts full of hope to make their enemy pay in blood, they tragically discovered that a far more cruel trial awaited them.
"Screech—!" One monkey wailed toward the ceiling. The others couldn't help but let out terrified shrieks.
What now? Do we keep charging?
The second half of the grotto was a sea of bugs composed of countless Elroe Gastruch. They were packed so densely the end couldn't be seen, their bodies hanging from every corner of the cave with countless small holes bored into them. Green corrosive fluid "drip-dropped" constantly like rain, hitting the ground with a *hissing* sound and melting holes into the floor.
The scene was nightmare-inducing.
*Snail-sensei has once again made an outstanding contribution to the growth of the two little spiders,* the monkeys thought. *Please, just act like spiders! Is this something a spider would do? Who did we even provoke?!*
"Screech—!"
A small monkey was the first to let out a roar of rage, followed by the others. With a death-defying resolve, they charged into the sea of corrosive bugs. Killing the marked target was their only conviction, even if it cost them their lives.
*Squish... squish...*
Amidst a series of eerie sounds, the monkey army thinned out wave after wave. Their bodies were gradually eroded away, turning into mangled skeletons. Of course, to ensure they didn't die *too* quickly—which would leave Shirazawa and Shiro with no XP packs after their evolution—Shirazawa had thoughtfully controlled the density of the corrosive liquid to delay their deaths.
In the eyes of the monkeys, this guy was a demon! *I just want to die a quick, painless death, is that so hard?*
However, they no longer had a choice.
After an unknown amount of time.
At the end of the tunnel, a giant white cocoon hung silently. Below it was a pool of poison gathered through Poison Synthesis. To be safe, Shirazawa had left several more backup plans. Even if the monkeys broke through the sea of bugs, victory wouldn't be waiting for them—only an exaggerated ocean of poison. If the nearby silk was snapped, the poison pool would tilt and pour down the slope, drowning the monkey army instantly.
While this would waste a lot of experience, it guaranteed their safety during evolution. Life is always the priority.
Shirazawa opened his eyes and stretched his limbs with a comfortable moan. "Whew... evolution is finally complete."
Shiro woke up beside him. Their sixteen eyes met, and both saw the excitement in each other's gaze.
"Come on, let's go check on our XP packs!" Shirazawa grinned.
"(^o^)/~ Okay~!" Shiro flashed a brilliant smile.
They left the poison pool and headed back toward the sea of bugs.
"Roar..."
As they approached, the monkey army—which had begun to lose its nerve—felt the fires of revenge reignite. *Brothers, victory is right in front of us! Kill these two campers!*
"Chirp-chirp!" The monkeys waved their claws, venting their fury as they pounced toward them.
"Hmph, it seems we didn't take long to evolve. There are still plenty of XP packs left." Shirazawa sneered and slowly backed away. He wasn't in a hurry to wipe them out; he needed to learn the core skills first.
[Pride: n% of the power to become a God. Greatly increases experience and proficiency gain. All ability growth values will increase. Furthermore, enables the user to surpass the W system and gain interference rights over the MA area.]
A massive amount of learnable skills appeared in the skill bar. They had saved up quite a few skill points, and today was the day to use them. First was this Ruler skill—one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Shirazawa clicked "Learn" without a second thought.
[Obtained skill
[Proficiency reached.
[Requirement met. Obtained Title:
[Based on Title effect, obtained skills: