"This new skill is pretty interesting. But still these Evil Eye skills…oh I tell ya…if I had an evil eye…that's a one way ticket to edgelord status!" Kumoko said. "And say cool stuff too. But…do I really have to pick just one?"
"Why not pick a whole bunch? We have 8 eyes so…that's a whole lotta evil." Body Brain said.
"Haaaa! Are you…a genius? We'll pick one for now and then go with them as we go. So which one strikes your fancy?" Kumoko asked.
"Why not go with Cursed Evil Eye for now. Evil Eyes and curses go hand in hand." Body Brain said as they bought the Cursed Evil Eye. Spotting one of the evolved frog monsters, the cursed evil eye was tested out on it as the frog soon died before it could even land a single attack on her.
"Man, that Evil Eye skill she got is no joke." Ethox said.
"Yeah…they're pretty badass." Subaru said.
"Let's hope she doesn't use it on us." Theo said.
They watched as Kumoko continued to level up her skills before she maxed out Detection.
"Woohoo! But…sucks I don't get anything from maxing it out. Same thing with Appraisal. It would be cool if I got something like Ruler of Wisdom or something." Kumoko said as she heard a sound similar to static.
Administrator D has accepted your request
Skill Wisdom in development.
Development complete!
Obtained Title Ruler of Wisdom
Obtained Skills!
Wisdom
Height of Occultism
Celestial Power
Rista was watching as she groaned. "D…of course she would be involved with this." Rista said.
"D?" Theo asked.
"Yeah…she's a deity like us…except she's someone who loves nothing more than to be isolated and shirk her work. She's the one who's supposed to monitor this world along with other gods." Rista said. "She's even lazier than Aqua."
"I'm not even gonna disapprove of that, you're right, Rista." Aqua said. "D's been MIA for a long time now. Nothing but a big work shirker."
"Seems like she's doing her job now." DJ pointed out.
"Yeah…what's up with that?" Aqua wondered aloud.
"Maybe Violet finally got on her to do something." Rista guessed. "Though why she'd reincarnate someone as a spider is beyond me."
"Almost everything she does is beyond us." Aqua said. "I can't even tell what she's thinking sometimes."
Kumoko was taking this intervention another way however….
"Rahhhh! This is some lame freaking bullcrap man! I don't give a crap about some administrator or something like that! They may drop me into the pits of hell but I don't care!" Kumoko cried out. "I'll keep doing my thing and say screw everything else!" she said. "I am on fire right now!"
"Yeah cause you are literally on fire!" Body Brain said as Kumoko found she was literally on fire as she panicked and ran around before synthesizing some weak poison as the fire went out but she had to use MP to keep alive.
"So…any intel on her new title?" Theo asked.
"Let's see…it's new but I think I do have some info." Rista said. "Seems the mental effect will make the user more curious about the world. It seems Wisdom will grant her encyclopedic knowledge of all non-restricted info and even layouts of mental maps and mark targets. She can even appraise other beings with Ruler titles. As for Height of Occultism…it gives her the ability to cast magic without having the associated skill and even add extra MP to increase the power."
"So…that means she'll be able to cast magic now." Emilia said.
"Yeah, but will she be able to figure out how to cast it, even with an extra mind?" Ethox asked.
They watched as the lone spider tried to cast Abyss Magic, only for it to backfire as she was blown back. They saw her argue with her Body Brain for a bit before in her mind, a wizard's hat flew before it was caught by another spider. Yes, this was the level up needed for another Parallel mind…the birth of Magic Brain 1. However, the celebration was short-lived.
Kumoko ventured towards a loud sound where she happened upon the corpses of dead monsters on the ground.
"Whoa…what happened here?" Theo said.
"Hmm…only one thing could have caused this." Gabiru said, as emerging from the magma was a very hurt Fire Dragon. "A dragon!"
"A Higher Ranking Fire Dragon at that! Danger Level...is probably close to S. But…looks like its taken a lot of damage from all the battles from the other monsters." Ivy said.
That was evident by all the wounds it had. Half its face was missing flesh, showing only bone, the same for a part of its chest. But though he was damaged so much already, he still had the upper hand over Kumoko in speed and skills, demonstrated by attacking her as soon as the wounded creature spotted her.'
"This thing has me outclassed in speed and stats. And it's got Status Condition resistance, so anything I throw at him is useless." Kumoko said. "Still, I can't back down now. My chances are slim, but if you're looking for a fight, you've got one, dragon breath! And there is no way I'm gonna die today just because you're pissed off! Give me everything you've got!" she said as she started firing multiple poison shots at the dragon through the use of magic.
The flame dragon known as Rend then breathed in.
"Weak Poison Synthesis!" Kumoko said creating a barrier of poison as the flames hit her as she protected herself. "That worked well e…nough?" she said, seeing no place to land as she clung to the ceiling.
"Damn it…the dragon's a lot more clever than he looks. He deliberately forced her into a trap." Cobalt said. "Open air…no way to dodge."
"Of course…this was what she was hoping for." Theo smiled.
"Deadly Spider Poison! Followed with some Poison Magic!" Kumoko said, synthesizing the poison as she forced it down the dragon's open mouth. During this, she gained a new Parallel Mind in Magic Brain 2. However, this came to a surprise as Rend went and blasted through the poison with fire.
"He saw right through all of that." Theo said. "And now she's trapped."
"No…she's not…" Naofumi said as the Kumoko on the rock vanished before the real one rapidly attacked Rend once his guard was dropped.
"Little sneak. She used an illusion to trick that big lizard." Emerald said.
"Of course…I could have used my Phantasm Skill to escape but that would mean I haven't grown at all. I'll live with pride cause behold, I am the Ruler of Pride!" Kumoko said as light shined on her. "Hmm? A spotlight?" she said before seeing it was Rend once more on the attack only to miss. "Okay…time for my second secret weapon. Magic Brains 1 and 2. Let's do this!" she said, jumping to the ground. "Abyss Magic LV1! Come forth, Hell Gate!" she called out as a large gate emerged right from the ground. Lava began spewing into the open gate, drying out the small area and leaving Rend barely hanging in there.
"The next move will settle this." Theo said.
Kumoko then leapt at the dragon and webbed him up before dealing the killing blow. That was that. The Fire Dragon Rend had then fallen right there and then.
Experience Threshold reached!
Lv15 to Lv 19
Obtained Title Dragon Slayer
"She…actually slayed a dragon." some of them said in surprise.
"I can't believe we just saw that." Sally breathed. "The real world out there is full of surprises…."
As Kumoko was preparing the dragon, she felt a disturbance as did the others as a portal soon opened as a man in red armor walked out.
"What the? Gulie's here?!" Aqua said in fear.
"Another god?" Theo asked.
"He's the Dragon God, Guliedistodiez. He's in charge of all the dragons and wyrms." Rista said.
"He must've sensed that Fire Dragon being defeated by Kumoko and came to investigate." Mirror Match theorized.
Guilestodiez was about to question Kumoko, but then he felt the presence of Rista and Aqua before approaching the group.
"Oh…uh…Hi." Rista said.
"I know you. The novice healing goddess tasked with Gaeabrande. And…who are you?" Gulie asked Aqua who facefaulted.
"Come on. You know me! I'm the most popular goddess in Axel…you know! The most popular one!" Aqua said.
"Hmm…ah. Yes. It's nice to meet you, Miss Eris." he said.
"Ack…!" Aqua was stunned.
"I see. So you two are being kept by humans." Gulie said.
"Uh, d-don't misunderstand, Lord Gulie, sir! We're not holding them hostage or anything, they're just part of our guild!" Darkness said.
"So uh, what brings you here?" Rista asked.
"I came personally to confirm if the spider killed the fire dragon. And it looks like I'm correct. I couldn't believe it at first. There is a non-aggression pact between spiders and dragons…and she just broke it." he said. "I'm here to destroy her."
"H-Hey, hold on a second!" Ethox spoke up. "We saw the whole thing! The dragon attacked her first, she was fighting for her life!"
"That does not matter." Gulie said.
"Wait…don't…she can't be reincarnated again!" Theo said.
"Reincarnated? Explain." Gulie said.
"She was reincarnated by D." Rista explained.
"D…of course she'd do this. If this…reincarnation could do this to a dragon, the rest of them could also be threats to this world." Guile said.
"Wait…the other students in the classroom, of course!" Ethox realized. "Once we get out of here, we should go find them and-"
"We won't find them…they haven't been around for that long. If they are humans, they'll still be babies. Not much use in an adventurer's guild." Rista said.
"Wait, so…being a spider is actually giving Kumoko a head start on getting stronger?" Kazuma said. "That…that's just…what makes her so different in this D lady's eyes?"
"Why don't you ask her?" a voice said as a phone was seen lying on a rock.
"A smartphone?! Where'd that come from?" DJ asked.
"D…" Gulie said, picking up the phone. "You better have a good reason for this."
"Trust me…this is all for the sake of the world…just believe me." the voice said.
"Hmm…I'll trust you for now. I'll overlook this seeing as how my subordinate was the one who attacked." Gulie said, dropping the phone as he created a rift. "And healing goddess…you are running out of time to kill that Demon Lord. Don't let it cause more problems for us." he said with a glare before walking out.
"(He's talking about Zenos Road…but what did he mean by 'running out of time'?)" Rista wondered.
"Well, that was…weird." Grantz summed up the encounter.
"Anyone else think we've stumbled onto something much bigger than us…again?" Ultra asked.
"You could say that." D said. "Nice to hear your thoughts again, Rista."
"Hey, what about me!" Aqua said.
"Sorry, but I don't converse with the homeless." D said.
"WAH! Kazuma, everybody's picking on me!" Aqua cried.
"Even though she's a goddess?" Kasumi asked.
"In our line of work, you tend to lose faith in gods pretty fast." DJ shrugged. "Give it a while, the cynicism will get to you eventually."
"Anyway," Rista steered the conversation as she picked up the phone, "what's going on here, D? This is the first time I've seen you actually send someone to this world, let alone take an active interest in someone. What changed?"
"I'm just doing this for my own amusement. Nothing more." D said. "Though if the spider lives long enough, you may get more answers. Oh, and did you enjoy the shrink trap you all walked into?"
"Wait, that was you?!" Theo said.
"It certainly was. And it was very entertaining." D said.
"You know, you're kind of a dick, you know that?" Subaru said.
"And I am proud to be one. In fact, I've put you and that spider in a number of humorous situations since you entered this labyrinth." D said.
"All the monster encounters she's been through, you caused them. The massive Anogratch troop for one." Mirror Match said. "But you also granted her the Ruler of Wisdom skills upon her request. That begs the question, what is your true goal? To help, or hinder?"
"Whatever makes things more interesting to watch." D said. "Please try your best to entertain me, okay? I'd hate for this to get boring when I pushed myself so hard to set this up."
"Set this…" Theo said as he realized. "You were the one who sent the job to our guild!"
"Yep." D said.
"You have to be kidding! Do you know how many rules you've broken?" Rista asked. "If Violet hears about this, you…"
"Oh, she's not going to find me. I've hidden myself pretty well. Though surprised you're talking about the rules of the gods when your clock is ticking." D said.
"What are you talking about?" Rista asked.
"Oh…guess Gulie didn't explain it. Okay…so here's the deal. The gods upstairs are getting impatient with how long it's taken you to finish Zenos Road. So…there's a deadline now. Kill him before next year…or you get barred from heaven and the god realm like that one loser with the water fans." D said.
"I have a name!" Aqua yelled.
"Banished?" Rista said, breaking out into a cold sweat. "T-That's…"
"Well…think I've said all I want, so I'll be going now. See you soon." D said as the phone vanished.
"...I'm gonna dropkick that bitch." Kazuma said. "I'm gonna find her, and I'm gonna dropkick her so hard, she'll fall from the heavens."
"Kazuma… This is kind of on us." Tanya said. "We've allowed Zenos Road too much leeway. Come to think of it, why do you think Eraser Kaiser was in the Resident Evil world?"
"...He must've found a fourth Heavenly King." Mirror Match realized. "And now that he has them all…he can focus on regaining his power."
"Agh, we've been complete idiots!" Ethox said. "I shouldn't have let Zenos go in Wano! While we were out adventuring and being carefree, he…" the Nobody said before Theo smacked him.
"Calm…down. She said the deadline is the new year. That gives us time to settle all of this." Theo said.
"We will preserve your standing among the gods, Rista. And we apologize for delaying your mission for so long." Mirror Match said.
"One year? That's plenty of time." Seiya said. "I've got time to prepare for the fight against Zenos. Then we can get that chore over and done with."
"You guys…" Rista said. "...Thanks."
"You're a member of the guild, RIsta. God or otherwise. We weren't gonna leave you hanging." Legolia said.
"Before we talk about finally defeating a demon lord… first we should probably focus on getting out of this labyrinth, right?" Michiru asked.
"Yeah!" they all cheered, unaware that Kumoko had been listening in on them after having her own encounter with D.
"These guys…aren't from here…like me. They may seem like creepy fan guys but…they're perfect. I may have use for them in the future…when I get ready for my grand escape!" she said.
