Kumoko watched from the side as Elliot began his evolution.
She knew the evolution process involved falling asleep, so someone needed to stand guard. If a monster attacked while he was unconscious, who knew what might happen?
"Earth Dragon, you protected me last time. Now it's Kumoko's turn!"
"I definitely won't let anything hurt you, not even a little bit! Don't worry!" Kumoko puffed out her chest proudly.
Then immediately deflated when she remembered she was a spider and didn't actually have a chest.
….
To stay hidden, Kumoko had built their nest high up on a cave wall. At this height, many of the labyrinth's monsters couldn't reach them.
Kumoko glanced towards the corner of the nest where the Earth Dragon was encased in rock. An incredible aura pulsed from the rocky shell. She could only imagine how terrifyingly strong his stats would be when he hatched again.
"So strong... As expected of an Earth Dragon. Even while asleep, his presence is this intense," Kumoko muttered to herself. She felt a pang of envy. Why did he get to be reborn as a cool Earth Dragon while she became a spider?
"Besides me, I wonder if anyone else got reborn as a monster," she pondered. Usually, in these kinds of stories, humans reincarnated into other worlds as humans too heroes, priests, princes, princesses, that sort of thing. Surely no one got turned into a goblin or a... hilichurl, right? Kumoko thought.
Man, this is kinda boring. Standing guard at the entrance, nothing to do. Plus, she was getting hungry again.
"Guess I'll go catch some food."
After evolving into a Small Taratect, her size hadn't changed much, but her appetite had grown significantly.
Just yesterday, she'd eaten an entire adult Elroe Basilisk. Keep in mind, those things could grow as long as several train cars! Even after eating all that, she was only about 80% full.
"Ugh... I used to be a cute teenage girl, and now I eat this much? If I keep this up, I'll end up with a truly monstrous figure," she grumbled.
"Wait, I guess I already have a monstrous figure... Who'd guess a sixteen-year-old girl's soul is inside this body!" Kumoko sighed, looking down at her spidery form.
Rumble rumble... Her stomach growled.
She was hungry. So hungry.
Just then, down below in a dark corner, a monkey emerged. Kumoko recognized the species. These monkeys were social creatures, usually traveling and hunting in packs of hundreds. This one must have gotten separated from its group.
Using Appraisal, Kumoko quickly checked the monkey's stats.
"Eh? So weak. Its base stats are nothing compared to the Earth Dragon!" She automatically compared it to Elliot. Of course, there was no comparison. This monkey's stats weren't even close to a fraction of the Earth Dragon's, maybe even a little lower than her own.
"Alright! You're today's lunch!"
Kumoko leaped down from the nest, executing a perfect Mother Spider Pounce! The monkey had no idea a predator was lurking above and was instantly tangled securely in her webs.
Prey secured! Kumoko opened her fangs wide. "Time to eat!"
"Chomp!"
She bit down hard on the monkey. Splat. The monkey's HP dropped instantly.
"Blech, kinda sour... but edible, I guess." It didn't taste great, but Kumoko stuck to her principle of not being picky and not wasting food. She took another bite. The Demon Monkey immediately dropped to critical health.
What Kumoko didn't know yet was that these pack-living monkeys had a Death Rattle skill! This special type of skill only triggered upon death or near-death. It was this very skill that made these seemingly weak monkeys incredibly dangerous.
[Screech]: Activates upon near-death. Summons all kin within a 5-kilometer radius.
Every Demon Monkey had this same Death Rattle skill, and this one was no exception. As soon as Kumoko's poison fangs bit down, dropping its HP to near zero, the skill activated.
"OOOOOOH-OOOOOH-AAAAAH-AAAAAH!!!"
A bizarre, ear-splitting shriek echoed through the cave.
Kumoko covered her auditory organs (wherever they were), completely baffled. "What? What's going on?" She thought the monkey was making a last desperate struggle and braced herself for a counterattack.
But unexpectedly, after screeching about ten times, the monkey seemed to use up all its strength and just... died. The EXP gain notification popped up beside her ear.
"What the heck? Scared me for a second," Kumoko blinked. "Was my poison bite just that painful?" She puzzled over it for a moment but couldn't figure it out. "Ah well, eating is more important."
So, Kumoko started munching, devouring the Demon Monkey until only bones remained. She rolled onto her back, playfully kicking the monkey skull around with her eight legs, and let out a satisfied burp. "Burp~ Didn't taste great, but I'm full now. Got my energy back!"
However, at that very moment...
Countless Demon Monkeys heard their comrade's dying screech. Their eyes instantly turned bloodshot. They began moving towards the location where Elliot was evolving. They could clearly sense that one of their own had been killed there.
Whenever a single monkey used its Death Rattle, the entire species would converge on that spot, throwing all caution to the wind. They'd attack relentlessly, whether it was an Earth Dragon or even the Spider Queen herself.
"ROOOOAR—"
"ROOOOAR—"
Innumerable roars echoed throughout the Elroe Labyrinth.
Near the Upper Stratum entrance, the humans who had secured the Earth Dragon egg suddenly heard the agitated, furious cries. Captain Gordeau frowned and immediately gave the order, "All adventurers, retreat!"
The other team members were confused.
"Captain? We just got the Earth Dragon egg. We're leaving already?"
"Yeah, Captain. Maybe there are more eggs around here? Shouldn't we look a bit more?"
Gordeau shook his head firmly. "No. Those cries just now were the Demon Monkey Death Rattle. Once that's triggered, we can't stay here."
"Demon Monkeys?" The others looked at each other, puzzled. They'd seen those monkeys before; they seemed weak and insignificant. Many adventurers in their group were Level 20 or 30. Even a few dozen monkeys wouldn't pose a threat.
But Gordeau explained gravely, "Once a Demon Monkey uses its Death Rattle, the entire species gathers recklessly at the spot where their comrade died. One monkey isn't scary. What's scary is their numbers there could be thousands of them."
Hiss—
Everyone sucked in a cold breath. A few dozen posed no danger, but thousands? That was practically an army!
They shivered, feeling a sudden wave of pity for whatever poor creature had triggered the Death Rattle. Against those numbers, even a powerful Level 20+ monster would probably be torn to shreds.
"Let's go," Gordeau waved his hand, urging them to leave quickly.
….
Meanwhile, Kumoko, full and content, patted her belly and was about to take a little nap. But then she heard the incredibly loud, frantic roars echoing through the entire labyrinth.
"Eh? Ehhh???"
"What's happening?!"
She quickly scrambled up and peeked out from the nest entrance. Looking down, she saw the cave floor below completely swarming with Demon Monkeys, surrounding the entrance to their nesting area. Their eyes were blood-red, each one looking utterly crazed.
The most terrifying part was their sheer number...
Easily in thousands!
….
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