Chapter 254: The Gift: Freedom From Slavery!

Faunia defended their 'Training Area' from intruders for another hour before Pedro had arrived. Unfortunately, it was already evening at that time—consequently making hunting difficult for Pedro. And since it was also difficult for other players to move at night, Pedro knew that the players would simply stay in their camps. So, he did not pursue any further, regarding the cleaning of players in the vicinity.

That said, he was angered by the fact that his Attack Damage Farm was almost destroyed. Thus, in order to avoid complicated matters to occur—such as requests on the Adventurer's Guild Baliu Village Branch to inspect the areas near the dungeon, Pedro had even consulted with Weyron for their potential course of action regarding that issue.

In the end, it was decided that the Adventurer's Guild would impose restrictions in the entrance to the Baliu Mountain due to the 'irregularities' detected at the said area. During that time, Pedro would seal the original entrances with boulders while, at the same time, creating a new path out of the dungeon.

Unfortunately, they cannot completely demolish the two original paths because the runic formation of the said dungeon would be damaged if they did so. Thus, they could only place boulders to block the entrance and make it blend naturally with the mountain so that the other players would not be able to locate it once again.

As for the new entrance, Pedro and Ragas worked together to dig a new entrance, which they also placed runic traps of their creation. With the use of newbie swords and an Aron Burner as traps, they were able to establish a hellish path that would certainly kill any player and prohibit them from entering the said cave.

Well, in the end, that said path would lead them to Pedro's group—which no player nor group of players can defeat. Thus, it was safe to say that the Spider Dungeon was under their control once again.

Unfortunately, the rate at which the Spider Queen could produce an offspring was reduced to one-tenth of its original rate two days ago and was irreversible. In fact, if Faunia had not arrived on time, there would have not been any Food-Transporting Spiders left—leaving the Spider Queen alone.

"It was commendable that the adventurers were able to find a way to eliminate the mobs of this dungeon in two days, at the most! They could even clear this dungeon if we did not interfere!" Pedro said with a smirk on his face. Then, he added, saying, "Unfortunately, for them, I found this dungeon first! And it's mine to clear no matter what! As for my Farm… It's not like we can't find another way to return the rate of production of an offspring of the Spider Queen to its normal. At worst, all we need to do is to feed the Spider Queen by ourselves!"

"Heh! Are you really a human?" Faunia asked with a smug on her face. Then, she added, saying, "You are secretly keeping a monster created by the Demons of Gluttony! Shouldn't you be the one leading the annihilation of such demonic beings?"

At this moment, Clara could not help but glance at Pedro—waiting for his explanation. On the other hand, Ragas and Sabrina did not give that much care about it. Sabrina has a complete trust in Pedro and is a player herself, while Ragas did not give that much thought about human lives like Faunia.

That said, Pedro simply smirked in response. Then, he said, "Don't misunderstand. I am not keeping them! I am using them to increase my strength in a certain manner, nothing more! And as my strength increases, so does the limit into which I can be of help to humanity—in fact, even to other races. So… I am just wisely capitalizing on this chance available right in front of me."

Faunia simply smirked in response. Then, her eyes glanced towards Clara, while saying, "Did you hear that, human? I have been sensing the unease in your heart in the past few days! If you think that we are conspiring against humanity… Then, you are mistaken! Although we act for our own benefits, it does not mean that we support any of the shitty acts of those bastard Demons! You got that?!"

After hearing what Faunia said, Ragas and Sabrina could not help but to steal a glance towards Clara—seemingly wary of her actions. That said, Clara simply shrugged their glares of and acted coldly as if there was no problem. Then, she said, "It's not my problem on which sides you are! And it's not like I am a part of either side! Whether it be good or evil, it does not matter to me! I am taking the side of those who I can call a family! So, remember that I am joining you in your journey to know whether if all of you can be really called my new family!"

Pedro simply smiled in response. Then, he glanced and nodded towards Faunia while telepathically saying, 'Can you break the slave collar of Ragas and Clara?'

Faunia chuckled deep inside in response and said, 'I know that you are going to ask me about that! Anyway… You don't need to worry! I can do that much! However… I might enter into a weakened state after doing so—considering that I am still under my recovery! So… If you really want to break their slave collars… Be sure that we could, at the least, escape from them when they became rogue!"

"Do not worry!" Pedro glanced to Sabrina—which was followed by Faunia. Then, he added, "If that happened… We still have her!"

Faunia simply burst into laughter in response. Then, when she calmed down, she said, "Indeed!"

In the next tick of the clock, Faunia appeared in front of Ragas—with her left hand tightly gripping the thick metallic collar on his neck. Then, Faunia's left hand was shrouded by a thick black aura that activated a weak red blood aura from the slave collar—which was somehow making Ragas choke.

Of course, in response, Ragas' skin changed as he transformed into his humanoid form—out of safety reasons. But before his worry and fears could even increase, the slave collar, together with the red blood aura around it, was crushed into pieces.

Ragas fell to the ground as he started coughing in response. On the other hand, Clara and Sabrina could only watch everything in response. However, before they could even make another sound, Faunia arrived in front of Clara and repeated the same procedure in destroying Clara's Slave Collar.

In turn, Clara also went to her knees, coughing furiously like someone who got choked. That said, compared to Ragas, Clara did not have a humanoid form, thus, a reddish mark on her neck could be found afterward—indicating that something tight wrapped around his neck recently.

However, such things were not important. When Clara was able to stabilize herself and was able to breathe properly once again, she glanced towards Pedro and asked, "W-What did you just do? W-Why did you destroy the slave collars in our necks? Are you not afraid of us, going against you?!"

"S-She…" Ragas coughed a few times. Then, he continued, saying, "She is right! W-Why did you set us free from our limiters!"

Faunia crossed her arms in response and grumbled, saying, "Can't you just be happy that we got rid of your curses! Why do you even need to ask too many questions after doing that? Besides… Is it just me, or are the two of you too blind to recognize our goodwill!"

Before the situation gets out of hand, Pedro shook his head and interjected, saying, "Just consider it as a gift from me. Besides… I don't feel comfortable just seeing the thick metals around your necks."

At this moment, Clara coughed one last time before standing up. Then, she said, "This would be a favor that I would owe you! But it does not mean that it would be enough to prove to me that you are credible enough to be considered as my new family! Well… Not yet at the least!"

Pedro simply sighed in response and said, "Do as you please! It's not like we expected anything in return when we released both of you from your slave collars!"

"Well… It good that we're clear about that!" Clara said before she took a deep sigh. At this moment, Ragas was able to calm himself and revert to his human form. Then, the two of them stretched their necks—as if weights have been removed from their necks.

"Young Master… I suggest that you don't do such things again." Ragas said in a cold tone. Then, he added, "Not all beings are like me and that human! You'd eventually get stabbed in the back if you continue to be this soft to other beings! Everyone is susceptible to all kinds of temptation after all!"

Pedro simply smirked evily in response and said, "You don't need to tell me! I, at the least, know that!"