The apes are climbing the walls.
I use Thread Manipulation to stick adhesive thread onto the walls in their path.
This isn't good.
My MP reserves are looking pretty thin.
I might have overused Poison Synthesis.
But if it comes down to it, I'll just have to hold on without threads.
A rock comes flying at me, so I quickly hide behind a boulder.
The apes still on the ground keep lobbing stones nonstop.
Getting hit wouldn't be fatal or anything, but it's incredibly annoying.
The lead ape charges into the zone I covered with adhesive thread.
Of course, the apes stick to the adhesive thread and come to a halt.
If the lead gets stuck, the ones behind it will pile up and I'll buy some time—ghh?!
Those bastards are using their allies' bodies as stepping stones to keep climbing!
There's still plenty of adhesive thread zone left, but at this rate, they'll break through faster than I expected!
Damn it!
There's no more room to hold back.
I fire a Casting Net at a cluster where the apes are particularly packed together.
The apes caught in the net are left right where they are.
The more they struggle, the more the adhesive thread tangles around them, making it even harder to move.
If a clump of apes like that ends up on their path, it'll serve as an obstacle.
I basically ignore any apes caught in thread.
I checked the Status of a few I could read, and I'm confident those guys can't escape my threads.
This time, I won't use Slashing Thread.
For now, the surest method is to incapacitate every ape with adhesive thread.
I can finish them off slowly afterward.
I fire off a second Casting Net.
A few more apes get caught in it.
Just as I'm about to fire a third, a volley of stones comes at me.
I scramble to dodge.
Damn, nice timing on the support fire from the enemy.
And now the apes seem wary of my Casting Nets—they've started spreading out to the left and right to avoid clumping up.
At this rate, even with the Casting Net, I'll only catch one or two.
These guys are different from any Monsters I've fought before—they're smart!
If you're so smart, then figure out that I'm not worth hunting as prey!
You won't gain anything from killing a tiny little spider!
But the apes press forward with unwavering resolve to take me down no matter what.
I wish they'd stop.
Seriously, spare me the whole passionate obsession thing.
Channel that energy into something else, would you?
Like, I don't know, self-improvement or something.
While I'm having these pointless thoughts, I keep scattering thread around.
Since the apes have spread out left and right, I have to scatter thread evenly everywhere.
I keep Thread Manipulation on conserve mode as much as possible.
Running out of MP in this situation would be seriously dangerous.
Now, the reason I don't just hole up in my makeshift nest is because I'm a hundred meters above the ground.
My thread is strong, but it's not invincible.
It's weak to fire, and the Earth Dragon blew it away with ease.
I have high defense, but any force that exceeds that will punch through.
I don't think the apes are capable of that, though.
If I were on the ground, I'd definitely choose to fortify and stay put.
But this isn't the ground.
What if the apes attacked the makeshift nest and latched onto it?
The weight of their bodies would obviously put stress on it.
If more and more of them piled on and the nest couldn't handle the load…
The makeshift nest has no foundation.
It's just adhesive thread holding the ceiling and walls together.
The weight of me and a rock or two is fine.
But I have no idea how much weight it can actually bear.
I considered expanding it to improve stability, but I decided it was better to keep the apes from getting close instead.
I figured expanding would only increase the load capacity, and that's all.
Still, maybe I should have considered the number of apes more carefully.
At least at the start.
The thing is, the number of apes isn't going down at all!
I thought maybe the ones I knocked off with poison hadn't been finished off, but there are clearly ape corpses piling up at the base of the wall below.
They don't seem to have revived or anything.
It's simple, really—there are just more apes than when I started.
Reinforcements, in other words.
Haha, who knows where they're pouring out from, but their numbers just keep growing.
There were only about fifty at first, but now there are easily double that.
And they're still increasing.
A marathon with no finish line in sight is a terrifying thing.
What do I do?
Seriously, what do I do?
Forget MP—even my red Stamina bar is looking dangerously low.
I've been firing threads nonstop this whole time.
If my Stamina runs out, it's over.
I won't be able to shoot threads anymore.
That's the one thing I absolutely have to avoid.
I ready my Spider Morningstar.
My target is the ape in the nearest position to me.
I hurl it.
It hits.
Good—now I use the adhesive force to forcibly reel it in.
The thrashing ape gets quickly bound with thread.
I sink my Poison Fang into it.
Right in the middle of that, a stone hits me.
Ow!
But my HP only went down by five.
As expected—from this distance, even thrown from ground level, the stones don't pack much power.
It hurts, but Pain Reduction and my pain-nullifying ability let me forcefully ignore it.
I use Poison Fang's power to stop the ape's breathing.
Then I eat it!
This is all about speed.
I have to finish quickly and get back to the fight.
The apes are still struggling with the adhesive thread.
Quite a few are completely incapacitated by sticking to it, but those stuck bodies are forming a path.
They're steadily getting closer to me.
I could wait for Stamina recovery and do one more round, but I should treat this as the last one.
So I need to be quick and eat every last bit without leaving anything behind, converting it all into nourishment!
Gulp!
Eaten!
I feel like the apes have somehow gotten even more fired up to kill me, but it's too late for that now!
I'm the one doing the eating!
There's no way I'm letting the likes of you devour me!