Chapter 93 - Hidden Mechanic

Using that window of opportunity he created, the Shadow Clone quickly moved and skirted away from where the Spider Champion was standing.

And to not let it notice the Shadow Clone, Aldrin, along with the Guardian Ant that already returned from where it was sent to, went in towards the smoke from the Essence Grenade.

From inside, Aldrin saw the crystal silk slowly burning and losing its sharp edge and further from it, the Spider Champion had its arm raised once more, covering its body from the explosion.

Since the Guardian Ant was faster than him. Aldrin commanded it to use the Fatal Shriek and its other ability.

The Spider Champion only shuddered slightly from the shriek that could stun even the Spider Sentinel. Due to that, before being hit by the full brunt of the Guardian Ant's other ability, it had successfully dodged and another crystal silk was spewed out from its spinneret, trying to cut down the Guardian Ant.

CLANG!

The Guardian Ant's shield took another hit but still successfully saved its little life.

Following up from the Guardian Ant, Aldrin that's brandishing Winterthorn sent another Shadow Blade and the accompanying Essence Grenade!

As another explosion ensued, Aldrin who's sharing the Shadow Clones vision saw that it's about to reach the Broodmother.

It's his suspected hidden mechanics of this Wave Survival.

Compared to the Ant Queen that completely disappeared from his sight, Aldrin already noticed that despite being at the same place, the Broodmother was being protected by an almost invisible energy barrier. As to what kind of Energy was that, most likely a refined Dimensional Energy.

That's the reason why he didn't go and kill it during the first nine waves.

However, as soon as the 10th wave started, that barrier protecting the Broodmother silently disappeared.

If he's not looking closely or if he hadn't noticed it during the first time, he would completely miss that detail.

Right now, with the barrier down, the Broodmother was vulnerable!

And what better way to kill it instantly without too much of a hassle?

Explosion.

A quick and powerful explosion.

He's not entirely sure if the Spider Champion would go out of its way to protect the Broodmother if it saw it being targeted. However, without any time to contemplate about it or even try if his theory was correct, he just rolled with it.

Instead of getting killed by the insanely powerful Spider Champion that clearly outclassed even his summoned Extraordinary Rank Dimensional Creature, he'd gamble on a thin chance that his theory was correct.

He only has this one chance. Among every type of spider and ants, only the Champions could exhibit intelligence. Perhaps if it's not something created by the IDLE Database, it could think properly and decide intelligently.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds…

As he began his countdown for the Shadow Clone reaching the Broodmother, the smoke and dust from the explosion created by the Essence Grenade suddenly got blown away, revealing the furious Spider Champion.

"DIE!"

Although the voice was extremely grating, Aldrin didn't hear wrong. It's truly capable of speech! Nonetheless, that discovery was useless.

Aldrin instantly noticed that its numerous eyes focused on him. He's the one who threw those Essence Grenades so… the Champion treated him as the biggest threat and nuisance.

From those words it said, it already decided to kill him first before the others.

Upon noticing that, Aldrin was robbed of the time to analyze what the Spider Champion did to clear away the smoke faster than the first one.

His mind once again whirled nonstop, like a gear running at its maximum output.

The Shadow Clone was estimated to reach the Broodmother in ten seconds. He already counted to three.

Unfortunately, seven seconds before that, Aldrin was greeted by the ugly and disgusting mug of the Spider Champion. The crystal silk it produced hummed along with the wind as it aimed at his neck and not only that, if the silk didn't do the trick, its arm was also more than ready to throw a devastating punch that would Aldrin him point black.

Naturally, Aldrin still struggled to break away from the situation.

Shadow Clone!

Shadow Steps!

He quickly activated two Concepts successively. He let the Shadow Clone be cut down by the crystal silk and the Shadow Steps to send him away from the Champion's punch range.

However, as soon as his feet landed on the ground, Aldrin felt a pang of headache assaulting him.

"Damn timing! I'm about to run out of refined energy!"

If he continued using his refined energy, he'd once again collapse after ejecting out of the Idle Adventure.

"It's all or nothing!"

Because of the sudden headache, he became immobilized. Due to that, he could only call on the Guardian Ant and his Dimensional Clones to shield him for the next three seconds.

Guardian Ant was the first to arrive but like soggy paper because of its extremely weakened state after defending from the two attacks of the Champion, it got ripped apart by the insect, leaving behind a glinting Core that also disappeared instantly.

[Guardian Ant received critical damage]

[Guardian Ant has expended its Essence]

[Recalling the Core]

[Accumulated Core Experience: 1502/10000]

Aldrin had no time to read that notification as the Spider Champion once again appeared before him.

Unfortunately, Hitter was too far away from him while the other two were still lying down somewhere they were sent to.

Aldrin raised his sword in difficulty and defended against the Champion's fist.

But as he expected, the crystal silk instantly followed to cut his head off.

As if a miracle, he successfully dodged it by pulling his whole body back, letting himself fall down. Even if he wanted to throw another Essence Grenade, his arms broke from trying to defend against the Champion's fist.

As the ceiling of the place came into view, it was instantly replaced by the leg of the Spider Champion stomping right onto his face.

However, instead of despairing, Aldrin began to laugh maniacally.

"I win." He declared while displaying a wide grin.

Through the shared vision of the Shadow Clone, Aldrin saw the hideous appearance of the Broodmother closely.

A split second later, the loud explosion of the Essence Grenade rang out. The leg that was about to stomp his head was replaced by a series of system messages.

[Congratulations on unearthing a hidden Dungeon mechanic!]

[You have been awarded a Black Spider Broodmother's Egg]

[You completed the Dungeon: Broodmother's Cradle #3]

[You received Grade 2 Weapon: Obsidian Blaster]