Demon King

Daishinjeon was a vast and odd structure, built to fit a spider’s body but not a human’s. As such, the corridor and ceiling were functionally indistinguishable as the spiders would have no problem walking anywhere throughout the temple. It was only natural they would have passages there meant only for them.

[Kiaahh!]

[You have gained 41 experience.]

[You have received 49 gold.]

[You have obtained a Red Blood Web.]

I wondered what kind of power other higher-level entities would have, and now in fighting these giant spiders, I was able to get some answers. They must have had more abilities once, but after losing their intelligence and becoming monsters, their power was now focused on their webs. The Spider’s Web was a powerful magical attack that could ignore the laws of physics and change its properties at will. It was remarkably similar to Jinma’s mana in a lot of regards, but ultimately it sacrificed the range of applications Jinma’s mana had for sheer power. I idly wondered how I could use it myself.

“Die.” After my evolution, I now had to control the balance between using Reaper and restoring my mana with Predation, which I hadn’t been able to use until now, without a break. It was working, though, as bit by bit, the energy I spread out created gaps between the spiders.

[Kiahhh!]

Reaper was a combat, stealth, and movement skill, as well as a skill related to all actions in killing the enemy. Unlike Jinma’s mana, it was my skill born through hard work and merit. It was a special skill born from all the power I gained since starting out as a goblin. Additionally, it was the skill helping me in gaining the upper hand over dozens of higher-level enemies, something that wouldn’t have been possible with just Jinma’s mana and Predation.

[Reaper became Lv2. You have gained a deeper understanding of death and have learned how to avoid it easier.]

It felt less like I gained a level and more like I had taken a step toward completing myself. Leveling up the skill increased the power of all the skills related to it and my characteristics that formed its essence.

[Level up!]

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy to finally be leveling up, but the psychological pressure that had been bearing down upon me since I evolved still didn’t subside as I went deeper into the temple. The monsters of the Red Blood clan kept appearing and swarming after me, seemingly endless in numbers.

[Kyahahah!]

‘This space is too wide.’ The battle reminded me of the mass haunts that would happen in the dungeon. Daishinjeon was wide like that place had been, and the spiders kept coming just like those undead had.

[Level up!]

I kept swinging my sword, no longer thinking of when this battle might end. A single stray thought would have been enough for a lethal blow to make its way through. Instead, I focused on expanding my sensory range to secure a safe place to move to with Ubiquitous and evading the spider webs.

[You gained 58 experience.]

[You have received 51 gold.]

[You have obtained a Red Blood Web.]

[You have obtained a Red Blood Shell.]

Amid this frantic fight, I suddenly felt tranquil as I tore through another spider’s abdomen. There were no more enemies in my detection range, and as I raised my head to look around, I noticed the temple was suddenly changing. It was because the spiders had all been killed that changes were taking place. The wide passage began to narrow, little by little, and something beyond it was approaching me. What awaited me was a huge, absolutely massive statue.

This must have been some magic they prepared in response to their death. Maybe it was their dying wish to the one who held the Web Key. If a human had obtained it instead, this temple would have remained closed forever. Or perhaps they had some sort of plan that I didn’t know about. As I considered this, the distance between myself and the statue gradually decreased. I didn’t even need to come forward; it was coming to me.

A temple is a place dedicated to worshipping a god or something similar. According to the giant spider’s words, the Red Blood clan was a race with high intelligence and strong magical ability. I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of existence they might have admired in the past. I was curious, but that didn’t fully overtake my suspicion. I had already learned to be vigilant and was on the lookout for the statue as it approached me. Keeping an eye on the statue, I decided to check how my status had improved after fighting for more than two days.

[Fate]

[Belkena Lv8]

[New Magic – 78, Soul Magic – 126, Luck-???]

[Skill- Predation Lv1, Reaper Lv2, Lunatic Trickster Lv1, Ubiquitous Lv2, Domination Lv1, Blackmine Lv1, Belkena Spell Lv2]

I was level 8. If that had been my progress from before, I would have laughed, but now I had been reborn as a Belkena. My new magic increased by 52, and my soul magic by 87. It seemed like a small number, but I could tell how much power was now overflowing from my body. Pulling out of my contemplation, I noticed the statue had stopped. It was an enormous red statue, right in the middle of the passage ahead of me.

‘What is it made of?’

I approached it with that question, examining it closer. It was made of some sort of stone that radiated a subtle light, and I wondered how expensive it might be. Its face was unrecognizable, and his body wasn’t particularly large. He was wearing some sort of light cloak, held a greatsword in one hand, and some kind of hook in the other. ‘It’s odd it has no specific features. Shouldn’t a god have his own personality?’

The light from the statue intensified, and I heard a sound.

[Thank you for coming here, great one.]

“…” I couldn’t tell if it was meant for me or someone else, or if it was even a conscious voice or some sort of magical recording, so I decided to keep quiet.

[Our attempts met only failure and frustration, and I couldn’t find the solution. So I asked a great person to do the work for me.]

‘Does he mean killing all those spiders left? It made me stronger, so I’m thankful if that’s the case.’

[I sent the key to the great one so that you may finish what those who have lost their strength cannot.]

The light from the statue only grew as I focused on the voice I could hear, withholding judgment for now.

[He who returns to the Elyos will only grow stronger. In order to usurp the king, he will have to kill everyone except himself.]

‘Elyos? Does he mean an elf? What does he mean?’ The statue’s size began to reduce as it was fully engulfed in the light now.

[The Great Fusion was meant to be the end, but the great one has made it a new beginning. Thus, we shall stand with him.]

The statue, which had initially been large enough to reach the ceiling, had reduced in size to be about as big as my fist. No, it wasn’t a statue anymore. It was being reconstructed according to the mana of the higher-level entity that remained in this temple. I felt some sort of potential from it. If I ate it, it would definitely make me stronger, but the potential I felt from it would disappear.

[The wish of our people to prosper will surely come.]

The light slowly faded away with the voice, leaving a red crystal in place of the statue. It was beautiful, with a spider web pattern engraved inside of it. I recalled something I had collected in my inventory and went to bring it out. Before I could, I sensed spiders approaching me from all angles.

[I think a little differently.]

I grabbed the crystal and leaped forward with Ubiquitous. However, a sharp sickle-like object fell toward where I jumped to. It was the leg of a giant spider.

[It is not a beginning, but compliance and defeat. You, who have lost all your strength and memories, are no longer a great one.]

“You…” I blocked the attack with my greatsword. I had killed all of the spiders within the temple and even claimed the statue that just transformed into a crystal. Therefore, nothing should be stopping me from using my Domination skill. But, in front of me was the giant spider that agreed to become my subordinate, and my Domination skill was useless against him, which meant that right now, he was refusing to become my subordinate. Listening to his words, it sounded like that was not the only lie he told.

“Did you know me from the start?”

[There is only one person who could come by that key, so I knew you the moment I saw it. You are the one our clan served, the one who failed miserably and was deprived of their strength. That is who you are.]

Indeed, I had been completely deceived by this guy. However, it didn’t bother me too much, as I had been planning on entering the temple from the start.

[You cannot beat them, it will only happen again. And the greater the fight will be, the greater the underground will suffer. I will not let you leave.]

I could feel his overwhelming flow of mana. He had been truthful when he had said the Red Blood clan had high-level magic. Before I was aware of it, countless wind blades rushed toward me, streams of lightning crackling off of them and licking at my face as I evaded with Ubiquitous. Even though I had been using Reaper, he knew where I would go.

[Your stealth won’t work on me. Your powers have not escaped the lower level; do you really think they can fool a higher-level entity? How pathetic.]

Thinking about it, he said it was a great stealth skill when I used it to enter the temple. I thought it was simple admiration, but it wasn’t. He had been looking straight at me back then, and I should’ve realized it sooner. The entire temple was now shaking from his mana; the spider webs filled the spaces where I could move. That was a weakness of Ubiquitous; I could not move to a place that already had something there. What was more impressive was that this one spider succeeded in cutting me off when dozens of them had failed to do so before.

[Did you really think you defeated the strongest of our clan?]

He didn’t halt his attack even while talking to me. Explosions sounded off as the spider webs he used still had the same properties as the other ones when it contacted my mana.

[I am sorry for those who left everything to you. Had I been able to open the door to the temple, they would not have suffered such humiliation. You must atone with your life!]

The elements attacked me, summoned forth by this spider at a speed I could not fully avoid with Ubiquitous. I had to admit that I was facing a higher-level entity now. I stowed the crystal containing the essence of the Red Blood clan in my inventory, deciding it would be safer there for now, and let my Wings of Jinma spread out wide. As he had said, I couldn’t exert the power of a higher entity yet. That feeling of becoming more and more of a whole as Reaper leveled up was all too accurate. But even though he was able to see through it, he didn’t fully understand it.

I would have to thank him for teaching me how to fight as a proper higher-level entity. I raised the energy of Predation and put it into my wings as countless types of magic collided with me and damaged my body. However, the energy of Predation began to eat away at the strong mana, swallowing, and digesting it to repair my body. I thought it would be impossible to eat someone else’s mana, but it wasn’t. It was no different from everything else I had devoured. I couldn’t devour everything, however, as Predation’s level was relatively low still.

Only

[To think the ability of the great one has fallen to this extent!]

I made full use of Ubiquitous to move forward. It wasn’t just me leaping through space; it was my ability to be there by him and stay there. He was quick in retaliating with his own power, death swelling in the area around me. I pulled Reaper around me, remembering its ability to help me evade death.

[I said your stealth wouldn’t work!]

Several spider legs flew in toward me, but I stepped forward and raised my sword. It cut through the spider’s legs and webs, erasing them entirely as it continued to pierce the giant spider’s body.

[What?!]

The spider’s legs began to slowly erode, as did the webs. I raised up my greatsword and stabbed into its eyes.

“I’m not using a stealth skill.”