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“Eheh, you even figured that out? Our little brother is getting smarter by the day. Without anyone noticing, our little brother has grown up already, even setting up a harem isn’t far off anymore.”

Hmph… if we’re talking about improving, Ferti’nier’s skill at annoying me seems to have grown as well. But even if she had always gotten me into trouble before, she had never done so when we were in a life or death situation.

Well, with the situation as it is right now, there’s no point thinking about the whys anymore. I had better find a way to buy her ten seconds of time. But how…

Would Paliseth ever give me the time I needed? Clearly not. Blast it, If I had the Devil King Idol, I could at least hide inside while she created the gate.

As expected, Paliseth didn’t wait long before making her first move. She opened up her palm fully and a magical array appeared in front of it. Soon after, countless white strands started falling from the cavern ceiling.

With how fast these strands were falling, it only took a blink of an eye before I felt something landing on my hand. I had initially thought to fly towards her, seeing as the safest place was usually where the caster was, but I was still too slow. Paliseth had already predicted that I was going to fly towards her. With a quick glance, she had even the cliff walls spitting out white strands at me.

It was at that moment that I finally saw what those white strands were: those were made of the same material used to form spider webs! Speaking of which, they were already combining together to form a web!

I didn’t even have the time to react before a web came raining down on me from the ceiling while another came rushing for me from the cliff edge.

Curses… there’s nowhere to run to… Am I going to be caught again? That thought flashed through my mind in that instant, yet reality played out slightly differently than I had expected. The two webs combined together to form a cage around me instead.

So she isn’t going to bind me?

I looked at the sea of spider webs that was barely an inch above me right now and knew that there was no possible escape… as if!

I rapidly dove towards the one direction where there wasn’t any spider web. At the same time, I tossed a fireball upwards only to see it fizzle out before even causing a spark.

Fire resistant? Then I will use my Nether Flames.

Unfortunately, my Nether Flames had the same effect as well; fizzling out without causing any damage. In fact, the spider web didn’t even budge an inch from the impact.

Not even my Nether Flames?! What the heck, is this spider web trying to defy the laws of physics?!

Yet just as I was about to summon Shadowfang to try and slice apart those webs, Paliseth’s taunting voice came echoing from above. “Don’t waste your time. These webs are created from a clone of the Spider Queen. Unless you are a demigod or have a weapon of the same tier, you will never be able to break them apart.”

As soon as she said that, the color in those webs began to run off, leaving behind colorless, translucent strands. From her vantage point on the edge of the cliff, she could peer down at my helpless form, and with the change in the webs, I could clearly see the alluring grin on her lips. “Do your best, my dear, I don’t want to see you dead from falling later.”

Eh? I thought I was going to be sacrificed so what is all this talk about me falling to my death?

Even though I never got to voice that question out loud, my queries were answered a mere second later.

A strange sound similar to waves yet also similar to countless insect legs creeping along the ground began to rapidly get louder in my ears. I couldn’t wrap my head around what the heck could make such a sound but I knew that danger was coming.

Where I was right now could be considered the bottom portion of the cliff. Beneath me was a ground covered in spider silk that could roughly be considered clean, however I had no intention of landing there. That was why I kept beating my wings furiously to keep myself afloat while I stared up at Paliseth.

The path leading up to Paliseth had been sealed off by that strange translucent web. Even though it seemed so fragile like it could shatter with just the merest of touches, it managed to deflect all my spells, proving that it was unbelievably sturdy.

Paliseth did say that a demigod’s strength is required to break the webs, but like heck I’m believing her words. I don’t have a weapon at that tier, but how about an Epic weapon?!

Even now, that strange sound was only growing louder by the second. No matter how stupid a person was, he would have understood by now that danger was fast approaching. I must not linger in this place any longer!

Fert’ni’er’s gate was clearly not a dependable option -ten seconds was just too long. And since she dared to throw me down this cliff, she probably had another method of stopping my gate anyway. In that case, there was nothing left but to give it my all.

With a mere thought, I activated my Shadow Demon who promptly shot towards the web above. As it barrelled through the air, its right hand reached towards its chest and began pulling while gripping down. Soon, an ominous black blade could be seen rising from its chest!

Wielding the entire two meters of Shadowfang in its hands, the Shadow Demon viciously hacked at the web. Yet just when I thought this attack was enough, the predicted snapping of threads never happened. Instead, I saw the blade being entangled in its translucent threads. No matter how the Shadow Demon tugged, the blade was going nowhere…

How… my Shadowfang is an Epic weapon with the sharp attribute. It’s the sharpest weapon I’ve ever seen. And even though I haven’t seen all that many weapons, I know this to be true.

Yet as fate would have it, reality was right there smacking me in the face with a translucent spider web.

My Shadowfang isn’t working! How!

Unfortunately, no amount of mental screaming was going to work in this situation. That spine-chilling sound was almost by my ears at this point. I turned around to check and I was immediately frightened out of my skin…

Because I was so preoccupied with that spider web above me, I had never noticed the giant hole beneath me. Or rather, I knew instinctively that the hole was trouble so I chose to filter it out from my consciousness. I had no intention of checking out this hole and would much rather face the threat of a Matriarch than do so. Now that the hole was right before me, my instincts were proven true.

Countless head-sized spiders began swarming out from that hole like a tidal wave. The sheer number arrayed before me right now was enough to knock out any arachnophobic person before he could even spell the word.

A portion of the spiders ended up crawling around the empty ground and soon filled up any potentially clean spot there was before. Another portion began scaling up the cliff walls, surpassing that translucent spider web in an instant.

Honestly, I wasn’t afraid of spiders at all, but there were just too many right now…

The clicking sound produced by these spiders was enough to send chills down my spine. At the rate that these spiders were swarming out, it wouldn’t take much longer before this factory-sized pit was soon filled by them, not to mention that they were also scaling the walls right now so there was no safety to be had in the air as well.

“You understand now? There’s no escape, so just admit your fate and sacrifice your life to bring joy to the goddess.” Just as my soul was about to leave its husk, Paliseth’s voice came echoing from above to deliver its cruel verdict. “Do your best, try not to die too quickly.”

Having said that, Shadowfang suddenly came loose from the web. The Shadow Demon quickly sheathed the blade and darted back into my shadow.

‘She said to bring joy to the goddess. Does that mean the ritual has already begun? Doesn’t matter now. Ferti’nier can you get that gate up, there’s no time to lose.’

Ferti’nier’s unharried voice responded, “There’s no use. Putting aside whether or not that Dark Elf is still up there watching us, those spiders will interfere with any attempt I make. Little brother, I suggest you land quickly. You’re not a spider after all. If that webbing ever touches you, you will definitely get stuck.”

‘Blast! Have you forgotten that we share the same body? If I die, you die as well!’

Faced with my accusation, Ferti’nier simply said, “So being afraid of death is your reason then?”

‘Ferti’nier, what are you even talking about?’

“How long has it been since you last fought a battle yourself?”

‘Didn’t I just have a match with Mo Ning?’

“I mean a true fight with one’s life on the line.”

Ferti’nier’s voice had an unprecedented seriousness to it right now. Normally, she would always refer to herself as my big sis, but she was fully using the word “I” right now. Just from that alone, I could tell that she wasn’t kidding around this time.

How long has it been since I last fought with my life on the line? Since I returned from the Western Human Realms perhaps? One-eye and Nine-fingers doesn’t count.

“Realised where the issue is now?”

“In that case, do your best. Your big sis will never stop believing that you are the best!”

Ferti’nier wasn’t wrong; I had nothing to say to that. Yet why did it also feel wrong at the same time? Exactly what am I missing here?

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.