Chapter 14

“Johra, there are incredibly large cobwebs ahead.”

The forest before was covered entirely in white, there was even a giant termite hanging on one of the many webs.

‘How is this considered neutral? They captured one of my termites to feed on.’

I was also somewhat worried, after all, the spider queen Bianca was a level 70 monster. Be it in terms of stats or skills, it wasn’t very different from the previous king.

‘Still, since when has the outcome of a battle been decided solely by the Status page?’

Shuihhhhhh shuiiiiiiiit

Many spider webs, as thick as finger appeared out of nowhere.

Tsshhh~

Whenever any of them got close to my body, they would break apart and dissolve.

‘Seems to be the work of my Life Absorption skill, I’m glad I don’t need to deal with all these spiderwebs. Wait, why did all their statuses change from neutral to enemy all of a sudden?’

The monsters in this forests were spiders named Arachnids and until now they had been listed as neutral. One of them sprang up to a nearby tree and stared at me with its many eyes.

‘Are you guys truly trying to pit yourselves against me?’

The spider that was just slightly bigger than a giant termite fled instantly upon hearing my telepathic message.

“Huh? How did you do that Sir Johra?”

Kueeeeeek Kueeeeeeek

Ian and Mallepi were both stuck in a web behind me, jerking around. struggling to get loose.

Tsshhh~

Kuet?

I simply approached them and the web instantly turned to dust. Mallepi was staring at me, completely dumbfounded.

‘If you consider how easily I destroyed their webs, I just might be a spider’s natural enemy.’

“Whoa ~ I’m alive! I really hate spiders!”

I could understand Ian’s loathing and even shared it somewhat. It was more of an instinctive distaste for their species.

‘Ian, I’m afraid I won’t be able to solve this problem peacefully, please return to the teepee.”

“But… I want to help you.”

I shook my head firmly. In a battle with monsters there were simply too many variables to consider, and if I had to worry about protecting Ian, it would only be that much more difficult.

“Hee-Hee! Definitely I’m the most useful!”

‘You head back too Gwyn.’

“Why? I’ll be helpful!”

‘It’s too dangerous.’

“But I’ll be safe inside your skull.”

‘No, just listen to me alright?’

Tchhh! Tchhh!

Gwyn was staring at me with a pouty face while Ian looked at Gwyn with her arms crossed, giving off an “as expected” feeling.

“Sheesh! Ok, I’ll go back to where I always stay. Next time you come, you better bring a present, otherwise I won’t play with you!”

Gwyn seemed a bit more upset than usual.

‘Ian, head back now.’

“I’ll watch for just a little while”, she answered.

I couldn’t persuade her to go back right away after seeing her worried face.

‘Fine, just don’t stay too long.’

“Yes, in turn please promise that you’ll come back safe and sound.”

I moved into the forest of cobwebs, after giving Ian a nod.

Tsshhh

The spiderwebs around me disintegrated and scattered in the wind.

‘It’s really quite useful, with so many spider webs… it would be very annoying if I didn’t have my life absorption skill.’

Tsshhh Tsshhh

Dozens of webs were sent flying in my direction.

‘Haven’t they realized that it’s pointless? Wait… Damn!’

They weren’t aiming at me, but Ian who was holding the young dragon further back.

‘How dare they!’

I had finally lost my temper. Watching more than a hundred spiders running along their webs, I exploded my spells in their cluster.

“Inferno! Inferno! Inferno!”

Keeic

The spiders which were running along the webs suspended in the air, fell down heavily to the ground when their webs burned. I walked towards them, locking eyes with the few who dared to look at me.

Keeic Keeic

[+771 experience points]
[+1542 experience points]
…
[Acquired knowledge of Arachnids]

[Acquired ｟Title: Spider’s Bane Lv1｠]

[You have learned Death Stare Lv1]

‘Is it a new skill?’

I looked at the others with eyes full of anger. I also threw Infernos towards the ones running in the air and corpse explosions when they fell down to the ground.

“Inferno! Corpse Explosion! Inferno! Corpse Explosion!”

[+771 experience points]
[+1542 experience points]
…
[+394752 experience points]

[Level increased 32 ➢ 33]

[Acquired ｟Title: Spider’s Bane lv3｠]

My Death Stare seemed to be extra effective because of the spiders’ numerous eyes. Inferno was a great mid-distance spell and all the spiders running in the trees became offerings to the fire god as it ravaged their exposed underbellies. If they were lucky enough to survive and come down to the ground, a Corpse Explosion made quick work of them, resulting in a wealth of experience.

Kuwoong! Kuwoong! KyaOoO!

I heard a tree fall in the distance along with a strange roar.

‘It seems you have decided to fight me. Ian head back to the teepee now, I’ll join you soon.’

“Yes I am sorry, I will go right now”

Kueek Kueek

Mallepi seemed to really dislike all the spiderwebs.

After sending Ian back, I stayed at the outskirts of the forest, waiting for it to make its appearance.

KyaoOh~!

It had a huge body, but when compared to the King it was still quite a bit smaller.

Bianca, the boss of the arachnids appeared before me . Her hairy legs were about 2 meters long, which was relatively short compared to her large body, at around 5 meters high. Just looking at its appearance brought me a sense of disgust. I opened its Status page to have a look.

★

Status: Normal
Type: Arachnid
Rank: E
Level: 70/80
HP: 3600/3621
MP: 1229/1229
Attack: 800
Defense: 100
Agility: 216
Intelligence: 136
✧ Unique Skills
[Physical Resistance Lv 1] [Webs Lv Max] [Poisonous Bite Lv 3]
[Health Regeneration Lv 1] [Call to Arms Lv 1] [Telepathy Lv 1] [Mind reading Lv 1] [Last Stand Lv 1]
✧ Titles
[Mother of Arachnids]

★

‘Is it you, little boy? Are you the new king?’

Bianca communicated with me as I observed her stats.

‘Yes, and are you planning on being the first leader to fall at the hands of your king?’

‘Ha ha ha ~ funny guy, do you think I’m not aware that you only defeated the previous king due to luck?’

‘Good fortune is also a type of ability, are you planning to find out?’

‘I’ll try you out. My children have already informed about your battle with the King, and I won’t be falling for any of your little tricks. Once I kill you, I’ll be the new Queen and rule this area.’

‘Why are you so chatty, are you scared? Come at me, I’m busy and don’t have much time.’

I tried to provoke Bianca as much as possible. True, her power was considerable, but when compared to the King, she was weaker in every regard.

‘I’m not afraid, I always do my best when hunting my prey.’

Thud! Thud! Tsshhh~

Bianca raised her abdomen and sprayed a spider web towards me. The thickness of this web was on a completely different level when compared to that of its minions. Giant strands, almost 20 cm thick were flying my way. I lazily stretched out my arm and let my Life Absorption do the rest.

It disintegrated into dust and was blown away in the wind.

“Inferno!”

Kuwoong!

The spell appeared below Bianca’s abdomen creating a vacuum which sucked her in, effectively pulling down to the floor.

‘How dare you humiliate me like this, I am going to kill you!’

‘Ok, just try.’

I ignored her meaningless threats as I let loose a barrage of spells on her head.

“Inferno! Inferno!…”

Compared to when I fought the King, I had leveled up somewhat and more importantly my MP recovery had increased. This allowed me to spam spells more freely and use more combos. Also, unlike the KIng, Bianca didn’t have any magic resistance so she had to take all the damage head on.

‘Hmm… Now I understood why he was the King.’

Bianca’s health had already dropped by 30%.

‘Ugh… you!’

‘Stop being so noisy and come at me instead of complaining.’

I kept insulting her as I kept my distance and let my MP recover. She struggled to stand and gave me a venomous look.

Thud Thud!

Bianca stood up again while staring me down.

‘Will it try some assassination attack next?’

Its long range web’s were ineffective, whereas my magic was very strong. It would almost certainly try to make this a close quarter fight and use her Poisonous Bite.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

It rushed towards me but my MP bar was alrady half full.

“Inferno! Inferno!”

Kuwoong!

I was getting better at using my magic and was now aiming the inferno at the ground in front of her, causing her to lose her footing and stumble. All the while, I was creating some distance and filling up my mana. Of course, Inferno would also cause some damage, but in this case I was using its vacuum effect as crowd control.

‘This… this!’

I took the chance to back away even further, keeping a careful distance.

‘Coward! You’re the King, how can you run away!’

‘Why is it you refuse to accept me as your Lord?’

‘You’re just a coward!’

‘Well… I guess we will have to revisit this conversation after I beat you.’

Thud! Thud!

Bianca began walking towards me rather slowly . It seemed like she had learned her lesson, and didn’t want to overcommit until I had thrown my spells.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

‘Hmm…Seems like you’re finally using your brain, but don’t you know that my mana has been getting cold.!’

My MP bar was already full.

“Inferno! Inferno! Inferno!”

My first two missed due to her quick, sudden dodges, but the third one was accurate, forcing her back down to the ground.

‘Interesting, you’re quite the cunning one.’

“Inferno! Inferno! Inferno!…”

Hitting her once again with several Infernos, her HP dropped even more, she was now in quite the predicament with less than 40 % health.

KyaoOh~!

It’s color was changing as a narrow red band appeared on it’s black body.

‘Is it using its Last Stand already?’

She once again lifted up her abdomen, and after having locked onto me, shot out a web.

Tsshhh~

‘Don’t you know by now that it’s ineffective against me?’

Still, the color of this web was different. The fluorescent green gave off a very dangerous feeling when compared to the previous webs.

‘Let’s avoid it just in case.’

It was too late to dodge with just my body so I quickly casted Inferno on the ground nearby and let the vacuum effect pull me to safety. As I rolled to the side, I saw my previous position had completely melted.

‘Is it a Black widow?’

‘That’s too bad, it would’ve killed you in one shot’

Bianca tried to lock onto me again, clearly aiming to send some more corrosive webs my way.

“Fireshock! Fireball! Inferno!”

I cast all three spells to her lower abdomen, in order of the shortest casting time.

Kiiiiiek

Tsshhh~

My timing was perfect, intercepting her missile just as it left her spinnerets, her body suffered from the explosion of the spells.

‘Are you stupid, how can you use the same strategy twice?’

‘Cheater! I’ll hack you to pieces and hang them around my neck!’

‘Just try it!’

Bianca seemed to be in deep thought, contemplating her next plan of action. With only 25% of her health remaining, she probably knew it would be her last attempt. Using the Lord’s view I could see about 200 spiders hiding in the forest behind her.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

She retreated back into the forest.

‘Is she trying to lure me into an ambush? Good, I was hoping to end this soon enough.’

There were three reasonably high leveled spiders, and looking at their status windows I noticed they also had unique skills.

‘Bianca, you’re aware that if your next attack fails you will die right?’

‘What’s wrong with dying, I’d rather die than be under your command.’

‘But are you willing to gamble with the lives of your family hidden in the forest behind?’

‘Well… do…do you really think I would resort to such cowardly tricks?’

‘You just panicked, don’t be foolish and think that these small tricks could stay hidden from my sight. Also…’

Clap clap

I gently clapped my hands for effect.

‘Alpeon! Can you hear me? Bring over some children.’

‘Master I have been awaiting your instructions.’

Buuwoong! Buuwoong! Buuwoong!

Hundreds of flying termites flocked towards me.

‘What… weren’t you alone?’

‘Hey, you’re not alone either, so you can’t exactly complain can you. You’re aware that if they all use their acidic spit towards the forest, your children will die.’

I had instructed Alpeon to focus on hatching and feeding the nectar to the male flying termites, and was glad this squad had been produced in time. I might otherwise have had to force myself somewhat, to take care of all the spiders by myself.

Suppression through overwhelming power, it was my last resort to subdue the Arachnids, the last rebellious force within my Jungle Pit.

‘If you are set on killing, then just exterminate us all.’

‘Bianca stop being silly, don’t you see I am trying to give you a way out?’

‘I’m not willing to serve someone weaker than I.’

‘How am I weaker than you? We just fought one to one and you’re on death’s door.’

‘…’

Bianca seemed lost in her own thoughts.

‘I just don’t want to be your under command.’

Her pride simply didn’t allow her to bend the knee.

‘Fine, then how about as an ally?’

‘Are you willing to spare my children?’

‘Yes, but any form of betrayal won’t be tolerated. Also, Legol, Arin and Hattan must be sent to Alpeon’s hill as hostages.’

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I had asked Bianca for the 3 unique and high level spiders as collateral, so that she would have to think twice about betraying me in the future.

‘What? I can’t agree to that!’

‘If you agree, I’m willing to share with you a portion of the World Tree’s nectar. If not, I will wipe out your entire family on this very day!’

Bianca became silent as she weighed her options.