Chapter 182 Spiders



Unaware that Karin was watching him, Zayne advanced deep into Spider Nest. He had already killed several of the spiders that guarded the entrance, and his sword was almost entirely covered in purple runes.

[Whispering Shadows

Progress: 870/999]

'A total of 120... Is that a few medium-sized groups of spiders or one very large one like that time with the scolopendra... I wonder if that monster is still in the forest?' Zayne pondered inwardly when a multitude of red eyes appeared in the darkness, aimed at him.

Zayne smirked, scarlet wings opened behind him, and he lunged forward, cutting through several spiders at a time. He was lucky with his opponents since none of them had armor or any way to defend themselves against a sharp sword blade.

Though Zayne had to watch out for venom, he managed to find out that only some of them had venom, especially the stronger ones, they featured a black spot on their abdomen that was hard to see.

The spiders sought to protect their nest by any means necessary, they pounced on Zayne without giving him a moment's rest, trying to exhaust him even with the value of their lives.

'Hmm... How strange... Though I can't be sure of it, they act as if they're afraid I'll get to the center of the nest. They're acting too aggressive, just pouncing on me like meat.' Zayne muttered inwardly, swinging his sword and ending the life of another monster.

When all the spiders were dead, and no one else was in a hurry to attack, Zayne took a deep breath and raised his sword, which shone brightly with purple light.

[Whispering Shadows

Progress: 901/999]

'Not bad... I don't know what's in the middle of it, but by the time I get there, I'll definitely have time to unlock the sword skill.' Zayne nodded, brought himself to his senses, and sprinted forward.

Spider Nest was a veritable maze that only spiders could understand, however, Zayne didn't have to find the right path as the spiders themselves told him to.

The largest groups always came out of one direction and that's where Zayne aimed until he eventually encountered something new.

He paused, staring at the massive spider nets enclosing a wide passageway. In the center, an all-black spider hung from the ceiling, the likes of which Zayne had never encountered before. It looked like it was their leader or something.

[You ran into the Royal Warder!]

[Your resistance to poison has been reduced by 30%!]

[Your visual acuity has been reduced by 25%!]

[Your reaction time has been reduced by 30%!]

[Your Title is The One Who Seeks Fear, but it doesn't work because of the particular debuff!]

'What the hell...? Shouldn't my Title protect me from everything if I don't feel fear...? I'm definitely not afraid!' Zayne was puzzled as he opened the description of the Title, then his eyes went wide.

He realized that if the debuff wasn't aimed at lowering his stats or immobilizing him then it wouldn't be able to help him.

'Well... I guess that's fair enough. After all, when Nydan kidnapped me, I already had that Title, but I still fell asleep... Everything has its flaws, doesn't it?' Zayne gulped as he gripped his sword tightly.

He was not used to fighting weakened, though his stats were unaffected, and the debuffs were specific, it still impacted his perception.

Royal Warder slowly descended to the ground, staring intently at Zayne with his four green eyes, then his jaws began to move rapidly as if he was about to devour Zayne right from there.

Whooooooooooooooosh.

Royal Warder spat a green blob at Zayne that quickly reached him. Zayne's pupils narrowed as he barely had time to react and dodge the attack.

Zayne's back touched the cold stone wall, 'Damn... That was harder than I thought. I need to get used to it.'

The green clot, reaching the ground exploded, releasing a poisonous cloud that quickly began to cover the entire room.

Zayne covered his mouth, realizing it was impossible to inhale the poison, and was ready to activate his most powerful skill.

'Shit! Symphony of the Moon takes a hell of a lot of mana, I feel exhausted after this, but it seems I have no other choice!' Zayne gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Suddenly the ground shook as if from a very powerful earthquake. Zayne lost his balance as he struggled to stay on his feet, however, Royal Warder didn't budge, his eight legs allowing him to maintain his balance even in such difficult situations.

Cracks began to form in the walls, quickly spreading across the room and reaching the massive stalactites that covered the entire ceiling.

Zayne's pupils narrowed as he realized what was about to happen and scarlet wings appeared behind his back, allowing him to make a sharp dash forward through the cloud of poisonous smoke.

"Shiiihz!!!" Royal Warder rushed after him, but, just as he leaped forward, dozens of stalactites came crashing down on him, with massive rock debris, burying him beneath them.

At the last moment, Zayne managed to enter the passageway, where it was safe. He got a worried look, staring at the disaster that had occurred, and in an unusual way it turned out to be his salvation.

"Damn... Though I got no experience with this spider, I didn't want to fight it anyway. Poisons are too gross." Zayne smiled, bitterly while shaking his head.

Zayne glanced at the mountain of rocks from beneath which blue blood was gushing out, frowned, and looked up.

'Am I that lucky, and now there's been an earthquake... or is there someone fighting at the top?'

...

"Rooooooooaaaaarrrrrrrr!!!" A furious roar spread throughout the misty forest, causing shock waves that forced the trees to tilt.

The bleeding Scolopendra glared furiously at the girl, who was a hundred times smaller than the monster.

Karin licked her lips with a sly smirk, "This was more fun than I thought it would be. I didn't notice it at first, but you have Fate Energy inside you. You woke up when Zayne defeated Selania, didn't you?"

Whooooooooooooooosh.

The scolopendra wouldn't listen to Karin, and the monster roared at her with all its might, shaking all its hideous outgrowths with protective plates. The scolopendra's teeth were spinning, intent on turning Karin into mincemeat.

Karin nodded, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Absolute Zero..." then Karin clapped her hands together, covering everything around her with ancient ice.