The foul, cold wind carried a dense aura of death as it slammed hard against Labrynth's pale, delicate face.
The massive body of the Shadow Webweaver Spider fully spread out midair. Its eight barbed, black spiked legs were like sharp spears, firmly locking onto the silver-haired loli who had fallen to the ground below.
The distance was too close.
So close that Labrynth could see her own small, fragile reflection in those eight crimson compound eyes.
Its grotesque mouthparts were wide open, dark green lethal venom dripping from its fangs, stretching into nauseating strands in midair.
In the spider's simple monster mind, the hunt was over.
This little snack emitting an enticing magical fragrance would soon be reduced to a puddle of nutrient-rich flesh under its venom.
However, it did not notice that at the very moment its massive body crossed a certain invisible boundary, the cold, damp currents in the surrounding air suddenly fell into absolute stillness.
A domain boundary with the ruined throne as its center, with a full radius of fifty meters.
All fear vanished without a trace, replaced by absolute coldness and arrogance.
"Welcome to my territory."
Labrynth's soft, crisp voice rang out abruptly in the darkness, like the whisper of death.
Within this sealed and silent dungeon space, those words—devoid of any hesitation, even carrying a hint of childish innocence—held a spine-chilling sense of control.
The Shadow Webweaver Spider's crimson eyes suddenly contracted.
As a top predator that had long dominated the sixth floor of the dungeon, it possessed extremely sharp danger instincts.
At the moment it heard that voice, its massive body instinctively stiffened midair.
Something was wrong!
Terribly wrong!
The weak prey before it, which clearly had no strength to fight, suddenly erupted with a terrifying presence that made even its soul shake.
It wanted to stop its attack, to turn and flee, but it was too late.
Suspended in midair, it had no point of leverage to alter its meteor-like trajectory.
Labrynth didn't even glance at the monstrous creature right in front of her. With a single thought, the semi-transparent sandbox panel that only she could see burst forth with dazzling blue light.
[Silver Castle Lord] skill activated!
[Mental Visualization] engaged!
Without the slightest hesitation, Labrynth locked onto the Common Solid Material she had just exchanged on the panel and spent 20 Emotion Points!
Buzz!
A sharp screech echoed through the air.
Boom!
Midair, at the exact moment when the spider was less than half a meter above Labrynth's head, its dripping venom nearly touching her silver hair—
Without any warning, the surrounding space twisted!
An enormous, heavy wall made of pure white stone suddenly materialized directly in the spider's path!
Bang!
Crack!
Accompanied by a terrifying impact.
The Shadow Webweaver Spider's hard, glossy black armor—untouched even by ordinary blades—shattered upon colliding with the massive stone wall, like a fragile eggshell!
The immense recoil snapped two of its front limbs on the spot. Dark green bodily fluid sprayed out like a burst pipe, splattering the pure white wall with stains.
This massive creature, weighing hundreds of jin, didn't even have time to let out a complete scream before being fiercely smashed down by the heavy wall.
Boom!
The spider's enormous body slammed onto the hard bluestone floor, forcefully creating a crater laced with spiderweb-like cracks. Broken stones and dust shot upward.
Skree!!!
Only upon hitting the ground did the spider release a terrified and shrill scream.
Its eight crimson eyes were filled with human-like fear and confusion. Its simple monster brain could not comprehend where this immovable, mountain-like wall had come from!
There had been nothing there just a moment ago! It had been so close to crushing the prey's throat!
This bizarre phenomenon, defying physical logic and monster understanding, utterly shattered the predator's mental defenses.
[Absorbed Fear Emotion from Shadow Webweaver Spider: Emotion Points +50!]
The pleasant notification sound rang out in her mind.
Hearing the increase in Emotion Points on the panel, Labrynth slowly sat up from the ground.
She paid no attention to the scrape on her knee, sitting casually on the cold floor, looking down from above at the ugly monster thrashing wildly in the crater.
The spider was dazed from the impact, its bodily fluid spilling everywhere.
Yet the monster's absurdly strong vitality kept it from experiencing a quick death.
It struggled to flip itself over. Its remaining six legs clawed frantically at the ground as it sensed severe danger.
This seemingly ordinary area was filled with some terrifying rule capable of arbitrarily rewriting reality.
Here, it was not a hunter at all, but meat waiting to be butchered on a chopping block!
Run!
It had to escape this cursed place!
The overwhelming sense of danger made it abandon any desire to feed. Dragging its broken body, it desperately turned, trying to flee the area.
"You think you can come and go as you please?"
Watching the spider's miserable attempt to escape, Labrynth gave it no chance.
She didn't even stand up. Still seated on the ground, she gracefully raised her slender, pale hand.
"Since you're here, you might as well become my food reserve."
Labrynth snapped her fingers.
Snap.
The crisp snap of fingers echoed through the empty hall.
With that motion, her thoughts surged as she connected to her skill once more, spending 50 Emotion Points!
The ground suddenly began to tremble.
Pshk! Pshk! Pshk!
Three thick, razor-sharp white stone spikes of the Silver Castle, each as thick as a thigh, burst upward from beneath the spider's abdomen, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek!
There was no suspense.
At vicious angles, the spikes pierced straight through the spider's relatively soft abdomen and the fragile joints connecting its legs.
Skree!!!
The Shadow Webweaver Spider let out an unprecedented, miserable scream.
The immense force of the spikes lifted the massive creature straight into the air!
Thick green bodily fluid gushed out from the pierced wounds like a waterfall, splattering onto the pure white spikes and the floor below, producing a scalp-numbing sizzling corrosion sound as waves of pungent green smoke rose.
The spider was pinned firmly in midair by the spikes, unable to break free.
Its remaining six long legs thrashed, the sharp barbs scraping continuously against the Silver Castle stone, producing ear-piercing grinding noises.
Agonizing pain tore through its nerves, and the despair of being unable to escape drowned its reason.
It struggled frantically, contributing a continuous stream of despair and pain emotions.
[Emotion Points +100! +150! +200!]
The system notifications rang out in her mind like the most beautiful symphony in the world, flooding her senses.
Sitting on the ground, Labrynth tilted her head up, her pure white eyes fixed on the panel where the numbers surged upward like a waterfall.
The wallet that had just been drained from exchanging materials now ushered in an unprecedented windfall.
Listening to the pleasant system chimes and watching the rapidly rising balance, Labrynth couldn't help but let out a soft, delighted laugh.
The intense pleasure of holding life and death in her hands and harvesting emotions at will coursed through her body like electricity.
She trembled with excitement, a faint, almost unhealthy flush appearing on her pale face.
After struggling in midair for several minutes, the spider's movements eventually slowed.
With one last gush of green fluid spraying from its grotesque mouthparts, its eight legs drooped weakly.
The spider died, and the danger was fully resolved.
[Level Up 1 → 2]
Labrynth let out a long breath, the tension in her nerves finally relaxing.
But the moment she relaxed, a wave of hunger ten times stronger than before came crashing over her like a tsunami.
Grrrr!
Her stomach let out a thunderous protest.
Clutching her belly, Labrynth struggled to stand and staggered toward the massive spider corpse suspended in midair.
Looking at this huge lump of flesh emitting a pungent smell, she found herself at a loss.
She realized she didn't seem capable of making fire.
This Silver Demon body certainly didn't know any survival techniques like starting a fire by friction.
Looking at the mangled flesh still dripping with green fluid, her rational mind screamed warnings that eating raw dungeon monster meat would definitely make her sick.
Despite that, she could only eat it raw. She was simply too hungry.
In the face of such hunger, the primal instinct hidden deep within her demon blood finally took complete control of her body.
Labrynth swallowed and reached out with trembling hands, tearing off a large chunk of raw meat from a relatively intact joint of the spider's leg that hadn't been contaminated by venom.
She closed her eyes, held her breath, and with the resolve of someone facing death, stuffed the raw meat into her mouth.
Chew.
In the next second, Labrynth's pure white eyes snapped open wide, filled with disbelief.
Unexpectedly, the texture of this monster meat was actually quite good!
The flesh was as tender and smooth as sashimi, and what shocked her even more was that as the raw meat slid down her throat, a really pure and abundant magical power burst forth in her stomach, transforming into a warm current that spread throughout her entire body.
The burning hunger and weakness were instantly soothed by this nourishment.
The shackles of reason collapsed.
Labrynth no longer cared about appearances. She pounced onto the massive spider leg and began devouring it ravenously.
Like a starving wild cat, she tore into the tender flesh with frenzied bites.
Her pale, delicate cheeks were inevitably smeared with traces of green fluid. Paired with her pure white silver hair and exquisite features, it created a striking visual contrast.
After who knew how long, Labrynth stopped eating and let out an unrefined burp.
With her hunger satisfied, most of her strength returned.
She casually wiped the fluid from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up, looking at the massive spider corpse before her.
Such a large, blood-reeking carcass hanging so conspicuously in the center of her territory was far too much of an eyesore. It had to be cleaned up as soon as possible.
She walked beneath the spikes and began laboriously pulling at the spider's remains, clearing away the corpse.
Just as she forcefully turned over the spider's abdomen, which had been pierced and torn apart by the spikes, Labrynth suddenly froze.
Inside its pierced abdomen, she discovered a metal ring emitting a red glow.
...
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