I'm scattering thread like a maniac.
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Concentration LV2』has become『Concentration LV3』》 My Concentration skill level must have gone up from how intensely focused I've been.
That doesn't matter right now.
I'm genuinely running out of room to breathe.
Below me, the monkeys are piling on top of each other, getting coated in thread.
And yet their numbers aren't decreasing.
They're increasing, if anything.
The number of incapacitated monkeys is growing too, but the reinforcements are coming in even faster.
It's like every single monkey in this area has converged on my position.
My MP is down to just 2.
I don't know what kind of adverse effects will kick in once MP hits absolute zero, and I can't afford to spend any more.
Thread Manipulation is completely unusable now.
But the impact has been surprisingly limited so far.
Because the monkeys at the front are already practically on top of me.
They've closed the distance to the point where I don't even need Thread Manipulation.
I shoot out thread.
One more monkey gets snagged.
And then it did something unbelievable.
It jumped.
A dull thud as the monkey slammed into the ground below.
At this height, even a Monster can't survive that fall.
The monkeys weighed dying against moving into the path of their allies and becoming an obstruction—and chose death.
Impossible.
That sheer abnormality, so far beyond anything you'd consider normal, sends a chill through me.
I'd held this faint hope that if I kept up my counterattack, eventually the monkeys would give up.
That hope has been thoroughly crushed.
The monkeys won't stop until I'm dead.
This can only end one of two ways: I kill them all, or they kill me.
A stone strikes me.
But I don't dodge.
I don't have time to dodge.
The rock hits my body.
My HP drops.
But I endure it through Pain Reduction and Pain Nullification, ignoring the sensation.
I leave my lost HP to auto-recovery.
Even as the stone connects, I keep scattering thread.
If I don't, there's no way I'm getting through this.
Somewhere along the way, I'd been underestimating the monkeys.
Thinking they were nothing compared to the Earth Dragon.
Sure, compared to that thing, most opponents are nothing special.
But that didn't make it okay to look down on them.
Am I an idiot?
Had I forgotten how weak I am?
When compared to the weakling that is me, everything around me should qualify as a deadly enemy.
What was I thinking, treating them like fodder?
And on top of that, these enemies—far below me in the hierarchy—are launching themselves at me in a suicide charge, not even flinching at death.
There's no way I could blithely coast through an opponent of higher rank staking their life on an attack.
If that's how it is, then I need to steel myself and fight with everything I have.
Another stone hits my body.
For an instant.
Just for an instant, I flinch from the impact.
In that opening, a monkey finally grabs my foot.
More than half its body is entangled in thread, but it extends its free right arm.
A creaking, deeply unpleasant sound echoes from my foot.
I endure the pain—it feels like it could be crushed at any moment—and drive my Poison Fang into the gripping hand.
The monkey losing its strength and my foot being torn halfway off happened almost simultaneously.
Pain.
Excruciating pain.
Pain that cuts through even Pain Reduction.
Limb loss—will auto-recovery handle it?
Or maybe leveling up will restore it.
But right now, I can't afford to worry about my missing leg.
That bought me a good chunk of time.
Another monkey is climbing up immediately.
I shoot out thread.
Desperation creeps in.
My remaining Stamina is running low again.
The monkey that catches the thread hurls itself out into the void.
Without watching where it goes, I launch the next strand.
《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Small Taratekt has gone from LV4 to LV5》 《Various base stats have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Concentration LV3』has become『Concentration LV4』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Accuracy LV3』has become『Accuracy LV4』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Durability LV2』has become『Durability LV3』》 《Skill Points acquired》 The moment I hear that voice, I quickly retreat to my makeshift nest.
Good timing, but also bad timing.
It's molting.
I irritably shed my old skin.
The severed foot has recovered without issue.
I strip off the old skin and immediately return to the front line.
Even the brief time it takes to molt can be fatal in this situation.
Just as I predicted, monkeys have latched onto the makeshift nest.
Finally, the monkey threat has reached my last line of defense.
Both my MP and SP, nearly depleted by the level-up, have been restored.
But we may have long since passed the point where that makes a difference.
No.
I still have options.
I extend a leg from the edge of the makeshift nest.
A monkey grabs it—but I don't care!
I reach out and touch the massive, accumulated clump of thread that I'd been scattering this whole time, now merged into one enormous mass.
Pouring every ounce of strength I have left, I activate Thread Manipulation.
My power gradually seeps into the thread.
My skill level has gone up, so the number of threads I can control has increased considerably.
I can't control the entire mass, of course, but that's fine.
Given the sheer volume, my recovered MP starts draining at a terrifying rate.
And then, the grabbed foot starts making that awful sound again.
At the same time, my entire body is being pulled outward from the nest.
An arm reaches in from outside.
I manage to avoid getting my head grabbed.
But it catches my torso.
The monkey mercilessly squeezes, trying to crush my body.
My HP plummets, and searing pain shoots through me.
《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Life LV1』acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Magic Power LV1』acquired》 Along with the provisional Voice of Heaven, the thread is ready.
I squeeze out the last of my strength and manipulate the thread.
Obeying my command, the thread peels away from the wall.
Along with every monkey that had been clinging to it.
With a thunderous roar, the massive wall of thread—along with the swarm of monkeys stuck to it—topples toward the swarm of monkeys still on the ground below.
《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Small Taratekt has gone from LV5 to LV6》 《Various base stats have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Thread Manipulation LV6』has become『Thread Manipulation LV7』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Overeating LV3』has become『Overeating LV4』》 《Skill Points acquired》 《Experience Points have reached a certain threshold. Individual, Small Taratekt has gone from LV6 to LV7》 《Various base stats have increased》 《Skill Proficiency level-up bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Pain Reduction LV5』has become『Pain Reduction LV6』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Stealth LV5』has become『Stealth LV6』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain threshold. Skill『Evasion LV1』has become『Evasion LV2』》 《Skill Points acquired》 I successfully slaughtered a massive horde of monkeys in one fell swoop.