Seeing half of the Bruisers go after the Ash Spider Queen, the Ash Spider Lords no longer tried to stall for time. Instead, they went on the offensive in order to defend their queen.

Over 100 Ash Spider Lords shot spider silk at the 35 Bruisers to try to ensnare them.

Raaaah!

The Bruisers let out annoyed roars as they became entangled by the massive amounts of spider silk. They tried to rip apart the spider silk, but they couldn’t keep up with the rate at which they were being entangled since they were being outnumbered three to one.

Splash! Splash!

Long range acid attacks from the Devourers shot towards this group of Ash Spider Lords.

Skree!

Some of the Ash Spider Lords that reacted too slow let out blood-curdling screeches as their bodies got hit by the green acid. The deadly green acid quickly melted through their bodies, leaving them with an incomplete corpse.

The rest of the Ash Spider Lords managed to dodge in time; however, this gave the Bruisers enough time to free themselves from the spider silk.

After these 35 Bruisers threw out the fresh Ash Spider Lords’ corpses outside the Poison Bog, they joined up with the other 35 Bruisers and went after the Ash Spider Queen together since they didn’t have much time left.

At the same time, the 70 Flickers circled around the Poison Bog and headed for the Spider Queen.

Skree! Skree!

All the Ash Spider Lords let out furious screeches and tried to rush back to their queen to protect her. While moving, over 200 Ash Spider Lords shot out spider silk in a coordinated manner and created a massive spider web even bigger than the ones before.

The massive spider web that blotted out the sky quickly descended upon all the Bruisers.

Splash!

Green acid projectiles shot over from afar and melted through many parts of the spider web, causing it to become almost useless by the time it landed on the Bruisers.

SKREE!

The Ash Spider Lords screeched franticly upon seeing their spider web getting destroyed. The Bruisers were fast approaching their queen, while the Flickers had cut off any escape routes. Left with no choice, the Ash Spider Lords sprayed spider silk directly at the Bruisers.

With over 200 Ash Spider Lords spraying out spider silk, the 70 Bruisers were quickly overwhelmed and became completely ensnared by the spider silk.

Skree!

A short distance in front of the Bruisers, the Ash Spider Queen screeched in panic and flailed her reinforced spider silk wildly at the 70 Flickers that surrounded her. If she was in perfect condition, she would have chosen to go after a portion of the Flickers while tanking the hits from the other Flickers with her tough carapace. However, since the Bloaters from before had managed to melt through the carapace covering her underside, she couldn’t just allow the Flickers to hit her anywhere they want anymore.

Seeing their queen in danger, all the Ash Spider Lords frantically crawled forward and converged on her. The Ash Spider Lords sprayed out massive amounts of spider silk all around the Ash Spider Queen to force the Flickers to back off.

With hundreds of strands of spider silk being shot out each second, the Flickers found it a lot harder to engage the Ash Spider Queen.

With less pressure on her, the Ash Spider Queen spun her body around and whipped her reinforced spider silk around in a circular motion.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

The reinforced spider silk clashed against the claws of dozens of Flickers, forcing them to retreat a short distance away.

At this moment, the Ash Spider Lords had finally reached the side of their queen. They quickly took up defensive positions all around her.

Thump! Thump!

All 70 Flickers activated their innate abilities and raised their speed to the max. Despite being outnumbered and outranked, they had no intentions of running away. Bob had instilled a single thought inside their minds.

FOR THE HORDE!

The Flickers bravely charged forward. Hundreds of spider silk shot towards them, but they maneuvered around the battlefield with their agile movements and dodged everything.

Slash! Slash!

A pair of Flickers swiped their claws at one of the Ash Spider Lords simultaneously.

Skree!

The Ash Spider Lord let out a dying screech as its waist got sliced in half.

Just as the two Flickers were about to retreat, the Ash Spider Queen’s reinforced spider silk slithered its way towards them.

Whoosh!

The reinforced spider silk cut through the air with lightning speed and managed to wrap itself around the two Flickers. The two Flickers struggled to free themselves from the reinforced spider silk and only caused it to wrap even tighter around them. The reinforced spider silk cut deeply into the Flickers’ flesh, causing blood to ooze out.

Puchi! Puchi!

Several nearby Ash Spider Lords pierced their sharp legs through the two immobilized Flickers, turning their bodies into sieves.

The death of the two Flickers did not deter the remaining Flickers in any way; it only made them attack in an even more frenzied manner.

While the Ash Spider Queen had her attention on the pair of Flickers, another pair of Flickers sunk their claws into an Ash Spider Lord elsewhere. The nearby Ash Spider Lords tried to retaliate, but the Flickers managed to dodge all their attack through sheer speed.

This pair of Flickers moved onto their next target and bisected another Ash Spider Lord by working together.

Whoosh!

The reinforced spider silk made a high-pitched sound as it seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Its speed had surpassed the pair of Flickers and cut through their body like a hot knife through butter.

Splat!

The two Flickers’ bodies got sliced in half. Their blood and guts splattered all over the ground.

Each time a Flicker died, the pressure on the Ash Spider Queen and the Ash Spider Lords would decrease by a noticeable amount. With four Flickers dead in less than a minute, the remaining Flickers went all out and activated their innate abilities nonstop.

Thump! Thump!

A third pair of Flickers zipped through the Ash Spider Lords that were protecting the Ash Spider Queen’s backside. Their razor-sharp claws tore through the waists of over a dozen Ash Spider Lords.

SKREE!

The Ash Spider Queen let out an enraged screech. She inhaled deeply, then breathed out massive amounts of dark green gas all around her.

Poison Bog!

The dark green gas washed over the surrounding Ash Spider Lords harmlessly. However, all the Flickers fell under its effects. Combined with the fact that the Flickers had been putting enormous amounts of strain on their bodies by continuously activating their innate abilities, their bodies started to rot at the speed of the regular zombies.

Knowing that they only had a few minutes left to live, all the Flickers rushed straight for the Ash Spider Queen without regard for anything else. The Flickers’ strenuous movements caused their muscles to tear, while the effects of Posion Bog caused chunks of rotted flesh to fall from their bodies; however, they never took their eyes off the Ash Spider Queen as they sped towards her.

The surrounding Ash Spider Lords all became panicked at the Flickers’ desperate final attack. They tightened their formation around the Ash Spider Queen and sprayed out hundreds of spider silk in retaliation.

Faced with massive amounts of spider silk, all the Flickers leapt up in unison towards the Ash Spider Queen.

SKREE!!!

The Ash Spider Queen let out an infuriated screech and swiped her legs at the airborne Flickers that were hurling towards her.

The Ash Spider Lords also reached up with their legs to try to intercept the Flickers.

Just as everyone had their attentions focused on the airborne Flickers, the ground underneath them suddenly started to tremble.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

One Bloater after another emerged from underground in rapid succession, causing dirt and grass to fly up everywhere. An eerier green glow could be seen from inside their bellies that had ballooned to a massive size. They had a crazed look in their eyes as their minds were filled with a single thought.

FOR THE HORDE!

BOOM!!!

All 40 Bloaters detonated in the midst of all the Flickers, Ash Spider Lords, and Ash Spider Queen. Massive amounts of deadly acid exploded everywhere.

SKREE!!!

All the Ash Spider Lords screeched out in agonizing pain as they got soaked thoroughly by the deadly acid. Their flesh made sizzling sounds as it was being dissolved rapidly. Their green blood and guts fell out of the partially dissolved bodies and splattered all over the ground.

The valiant Flickers that used their own lives to distract these spiders also got drenched by the deadly acid. They didn’t even have time to scream before their bodies got dissolved into bits of flesh and guts.

SKREE!!!

The Ash Spider Queen screeched in great pain as her underside got splashed by the deadly acid once more. However, using her fast reaction and speed, she took off with her nimble legs and jumped up and away from the explosion radius of the Bloaters. She barely managed to prevent herself from getting completely doused by the deadly acid.

The Ash Spider Queen tumbled across the ground when she landed. She rolled on the ground wildly as she suffered from the immense pain of having her festered flesh dissolved. Her reinforced spider silk whipped around randomly, causing dirt and grass to fly all over the place.

A minute later, all the acid had finally been used up. Bits of dissolved flesh could be seen all over the ground. A putrid stench came from the Ash Spider Queen. Her underside looked like a disgusting mess, with large cysts and boils appearing all over the place.

SKREE!!!

The Ash Spider Queen was thoroughly enraged. A violent aura suddenly burst out from her body. Her original emerald-colored eyes turned completely crimson. She looked around with thick bloodthirst in her eyes, wanting to kill everything in sight. However, everything around her had already been killed by the Bloaters’ acid.

The Ash Spider Queen shifted her gaze further away and saw the Devourers that were still alive.

Skree!

She let out a murderous screech and rushed towards the Devourers with an even faster speed than before.

The remaining Devourers noticed the arrival of the Ash Spider Queen. Knowing that they could never hit her due to her insane speed, they aimed their bodies towards the Ash Spiders that were still fighting against the regular zombies.

Massive amounts of green acid were shot into the air. The Ash Spiders saw the incoming green acid and wanted to retreat, but the regular zombies held onto them tightly.

Splash! Splash!

The torrent of green acid poured down on the Ash Spiders and regular zombies, dissolving everything in its path. After their deaths, the Ash Spider Queen had finally arrived in front of the Devourers.

Puchi! Puchi!

Snap! Snap!

The Ash Spider Queen stabbed her sharp legs through the heads of two Devourers, while whipping her reinforced spider silk around and slicing another two in half.

The remaining Devourers did not panic nor retreat even after seeing four of their fellow Devourers die in a matter of seconds. They bravely faced the unstoppable Ash Spider Queen with only one thought repeating in their minds.

FOR THE HORDE!

The Devourers shot out green acid in all directions in the hopes that one of them will get a lucky hit. However, the Ash Spider Queen dashed around the battlefield with her incredible speed and dodged everything. Every few seconds, a Devourer would get its skull smashed in or its body cleaved in half. The remaining Devourers kept shooting while clinging onto that final strand of hope. Alas, Lady Luck did not smile upon them this day.

Puchi!

The Ash Spider Queen stabbed four of her legs into the final Devourer’s body and tore it into four pieces. Blood and guts splattered all over the ground.

SKREE!!!

The Ash Spider Queen let out an unsatisfied screech. She glanced around and saw that the entire zombie horde had been eliminated, but all her brood had also died. Frustrated and with nothing else left to take her anger out on, she decided to turn around and head towards Milton once again. With an abundant supply of humans still in the city, she would be able to nurture another batch of Ash Spiders and Ash Spider Lords once more.

A few kilometers away, inside the small town, Bob had just swallowed a bite of the 100th Ash Spider Lord’s flesh when the monotone voice of the System sounded inside his mind once more.

[Conditions fulfilled. Evolution will commence in one minute.]

A hint of delight could be seen on Bob’s face. However, his joyful expression soon turned gloomy as he looked outwards in the far distance. His 4000-strong zombie horde had been completely decimated. The Ash Spider Queen had just finished off the remaining Devourers and turned her attention to Milton.

“Eight-legs… I’ll be back for you…”

“The horde… will rise again…”

After giving the Ash Spider Queen a hateful glare, Bob gave a command to the Flicker that stood beside him. The Flicker picked Bob up and retreated swiftly in the northwest direction.

…

Some time earlier.

An invisible Starpho had quietly floated above the battlefield between the zombie horde and the beast tide. Its Shared Vision skill had been activated, which allowed Kaius, who was still back in Milton, to observe the battle from afar.

“This giant spider is going to be troublesome to deal with,” Kaius frowned deeply as he watched the Ash Spider Queen easily kill off numerous rank 1 zombies. Some suspicious movements suddenly caught his eye. Several Flickers were constantly snatching up Ash Spider Lord corpses and bringing it into the small town nearby.

“What are these things up to…?” Kaius commanded Starpho to move towards the small town.

Inside the small town, a familiar big-headed zombie could be seen chomping down on all the Ash Spider Lords’ corpses.

“It’s this zombie again!” Kaius was surprised at seeing Bob once more. While watching, Kaius suddenly had a thought, “I wonder if this works…”

Eye of Truth!

Kaius had activated his skill while looking at Bob through Shared Vision. To his surprise, Bob’s status window popped up!

Name

Bob

Class

Rank 1 Evolved Zombie

Level

45

Health

Normal

Mana

90/90

Strength

15

Vitality

30

Dexterity

70

Intelligence

180

Skills (active)

When Bob Calls, You Come (10MP): releases a piercing shout that places all undead within a 20km radius under Bob’s control.

Skills (passive)

The Chosen Bob: able to evolve by consuming the flesh of the living.

Survival Of The Fittest Bob: after suffering from a near-death experience at the hands of a certain human, Bob has developed a special type of armor that allows him to miraculously escape from certain dangerous situations.

No Bob Left Behind: it's not easy for a lowly zombie to climb up the food chain in this cruel world. Greatly increases the speed and magnitude of Bob's evolution process after consuming the flesh of the living.

Humans Get Nothin' From Bob: all zombies under Bob's control have their item drop rate decreased by 99%.

Bob’s Patented Radar: able to build a Flesh Radar using biological parts. Flesh Radar can only be built in an area that has at least 100 biological organisms within a (10km + Intelligence/50km) radius. Flesh Radar is able to emit a signal to all zombies within a (40km+Intelligence/30km) radius, luring them to come eat the biological organisms that are around the Flesh Radar. Zombies can become stronger when they eat biological organisms while inside the Flesh Radar's radius.

“What’s up with his ridiculous skill names?” Kaius almost laughed out loud.

Reading through Bob’s status, a particular skill description caught Kaius’ eye. Flipping through the original host’s memories, a specific term emerged in Kaius’ mind, “Special armor… You can’t be serious…”

Kaius felt depressed upon this realization and couldn’t stand looking at this chubby little zombie any longer. He shifted Starpho back to the battlefield with the Ash Spider Queen.

Kaius activated his skill once more while looking at the Ash Spider Queen through Shared Vision.

Eye of Truth!

Name

Ash Spider Queen

Class

Rank 2 Evolved Cursed Beast

Level

50

Health

Injured

Mana

223/500

Strength

197 (+17)

Vitality

136 (+6)

Dexterity

161 (+11)

Intelligence

59 (+19)

Skills (active)

Reinforced Thread (10MP): able to produce a strand of reinforced spider silk with extreme durability and sharpness. Duration: 10 minutes.

Poison Bog (50MP): breath out poisonous gas that covers a 1km radius. All biological organisms that touched the poisonous gas will become poisoned and take continuous DOT damage. Ash Spiders and Ash Spider Lords that are part of the castor's brood are immune.

Relentless Hunter (100MP): increase all attributes by 20. Duration: 10 minutes.

Skills (passive)

Regal Blood: all Ash Spiders and Ash Spider Lords feel an innate sense of absolute loyalty to the Ash Spider Queen and will automatically become part of her brood.

Hive Mind: able to communicate telepathically with all Ash Spiders and Ash Spider Lords within her brood.

Hardened Carapace: increases physical resistance by 10%.

Expandable Brood: all Ash Spiders and Ash Spider Lords within the Ash Spider Queen's brood have their item drop rate decreased by 99%.

“Her attributes are insane even though she’s in an injured state!” Kaius snapped out of his gloomy mood and became shocked after looking through the Ash Spider Queen’s status. “I hope the zombie horde can kill her off. We’re going to be in big trouble if she survived with only this much injury and decided to come back here.”

Standing beside Kaius, Lieutenant Bennet suddenly had a bad premonition, “Hey, remember when we first encountered that Stonetusk Sow in Georgetown?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember what happened after you said things couldn’t possibly get worse, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m going to need you to stop talking, right now.”

“Oh, come on, that was just a coinci… uh oh…” Drops of cold sweat formed on Kaius’ back.

“What do you mean ‘uh oh’? Don’t tell me…” Lieutenant Bennet looked at Kaius with an interrogative gaze.

“That giant spider just killed off the last remnants of the zombie horde and is headed our way,” Kaius confessed with a guilty look on his face.

“Like I said last time, would it kill you to say less…?” Lieutenant Bennet wanted to facepalm hard.

“Alright, stop complaining and go help me gather the Ash Spider Lords’ corpses outside the city,” Kaius coughed softly and tried to change the subject.

“You have a plan to deal with that giant spider?” Lieutenant Bennet asked.

“Yeah. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use this plan since it would hurt a lot, but I don’t have a choice now,” Kaius grimaced at the thought of how much pain he’ll have to endure to execute his plan.

The duo ran outside the city and quickly arrived at the first location where the zombie horde faced off against the beast tide.

Lesser Reanimation!

Several dead Ash Spider Lords rose up once more and gathered around Kaius.

Kaius retrieved Bloodthirst from his inventory and stabbed it hastily into one of the reanimated Ash Spider Lords.

Blood Absorption!

Green blood continuously flowed into the sword. Within seconds, all the blood from the corpse had been drained.

“I have 14 Blood Essences now,” Kaius examined the Blood Essence counter on Bloodthirst. He commanded the Ash Spider Lord that just got its blood drained to go bring him more corpses, then stabbed his sword into the next Ash Spider Lord.

At the same time, Lieutenant Bennet had been continuously running around the area and brought Ash Spider Lords’ corpses to Kaius as well.

In a matter of minutes, Kaius had reached a total of 68 Blood Essences. He also had 28 reanimated Ash Spider Lords under his control.

Just over the horizon, the tall figure of the Ash Spider Queen could be seen.

“Shit! There’s no time left! I hope this much Blood Essence is enough,” Kaius frowned as he noticed the appearance of the Ash Spider Queen. He retrieved the Nether Pact Token that he obtained a while ago in his left hand, while his right hand wielded Bloodthirst.

Kaius examined the token one last time before activating its ability.

Name

Nether Pact Token

Category

Consumable Item

Use Restriction

Class: Nether Lord

Minimum stats requirements: Intelligence: 50; Vitality: 50

Description

Sacrifice caster’s health to summon a Netherfiend. Strength of the Netherfiend summoned depends on the amount of health sacrificed. Summon duration: 120 minutes.

0/20 Health Sacrificed

Health Sacrifice!

Kaius felt his health getting drained by the Nether Pact Token at rapid speed. Within seconds, his faced turned pale and cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Kaius gripped Bloodthirst tightly and activated its other skill.

Blood Revitalization!

Extremely potent life force flowed into Kaius from Bloodthirst. For every bit of health that was drained by the Nether Pact Token, Bloodthirst replenished it at the same rate.

The next few minutes felt like an eternity to Kaius while his body acted as a conduit. His health was continuously being drained by the Nether Pact Token and then restored by Blood Revitalization.

The counter on the Nether Pact Token went up slowly while the Ash Spider Queen was getting closer and closer.

1/20

2/20

…

19/20

20/20

“Finally!” Kaius breathed a sigh of relief and immediately used the Nether Pact Token.

Pa!

The Nether Pact Token cracked in half.

Boundless streams of life force exploded out from the cracked token and shot up into the sky. These streams of life force crisscrossed each other and formed a complex magic array.

Crimson blood oozed out from the magic array and formed a portal that connected Earth to the Netherworld.

A large skull poked out of the blood portal, followed by the rest of its skeletal body. Pale blue flames burned inside each of its eye sockets. The blood portal turned back into a pool of blood and coagulated around the skeleton creature, forming a full suit of crimson armor around its body.

The skeleton creature descended from the sky and lowered its head to face Kaius.

“Greetings… master…” A coarse voice came out of the skeleton creature.

“This thing can talk!” Kaius was inwardly surprised as he gazed up at the six-meter-tall skeleton creature that towered over him. He quickly examined its status, hoping that it would be strong enough to face the Ash Spider Queen.

Name

Bone Forger

Class

Rank 2 Evolved Netherfiend

Level

50

Health

Normal

Mana

400/400

Strength

185

Vitality

135 (+15)

Dexterity

130

Intelligence

50

Skills (active)

Bone Forging (10MP): able to forge bones into weapons. Strength and effects of the forged weapon depends on the bones used.

Bone Refinement (20MP): temper a skeletal creature with the pale blue flames of refinement. Increase all attributes of the skeletal creature by 1 every 15 seconds, up to a maximum of (level/2). Duration: 30 minutes.

Unlimited Bone Works: (100MP): caster must chant the required incantation to invoke the skill. Upon successful activation, imprint a bone domain upon the world with a radius of (level * 100) meters. Caster’s attributes increase by (level/5) while inside the domain. Caster’s other skills cost no mana while inside the domain. At the end of the duration, caster will enter into a weakened state for 240 hours. Duration: (10+level) minutes.

Skills (passive)

Reinforced Bone Plating: increases physical resistance by 15%.

Bone Puppetry: able to control nearby skeletons of deceased beings. Max limit: (level*5).

Bone Absorption: able to absorb bones to regenerate health and missing body parts.

Infinite Bone Control: will only take effect while Unlimited Bone Works is active, and caster is inside the bone domain. Able to control any number of bones inside the bone domain through telekinesis.

“A genuine rank 2!” Kaius couldn’t help but exclaim happily. “And its stats are on par with the Ash Spider Queen!”

Skree!

A few kilometers away, the Ash Spider Queen noticed Kaius’ group and let out a bloodthirsty screech.

“It’s coming!” Kaius’ expression became serious. Then, he turned to the Bone Forger and commanded, “Go squash that spider.”

“As… master… wills…” Bone Forger gave a respectful light bow and went to engage the incoming Ash Spider Queen.

Standing beside Kaius, Lieutenant Bennet watched the departing Bone Forger and asked hesitantly, “Can that thing kill the spider?”

“With our support, it should have a pretty high chance of winning,” Kaius replied after giving it some thought. “Let’s just hope the Ash Spider Queen doesn’t have any sort of crazy innate ability.”

“Was that last sentence really necessary…?” Lieutenant Bennet suddenly had a bad feeling.