The apes surged forward.
I kept scattering threads into their path.
It felt like a reenactment of the first wave.
But some things had changed.
The apes now understood the nature of my threads.
They knew that once caught, there was no escape.
So the ape at the front deliberately spread its body wide as it entered the thread-covered zone, taking as many threads onto itself as possible—so the apes behind it would have an easier time getting through.
That was why multiple apes were stuck flat against the wall in spread-eagle positions.
And they weren't just stuck there—they gripped the wall with everything they had, bracing against the possibility of a massive thread collapse.
Using the path created by those sacrificed apes, the ones behind pressed forward.
The following apes, the moment they got tangled in my threads, threw themselves forward too.
A selfless, mad kamikaze tactic that disregarded their own survival.
And yet they'd devised this strategy with frightening precision. It was genuinely annoying to deal with.
No matter how many countermeasures they employed, their approach relied on sacrifices—the further they advanced, the more apes they lost.
No new reinforcements had arrived since the giant ape showed up.
If this kept up, the apes would be wiped out before they ever reached me.
Assuming the giant ape didn't move.
I'd been keeping my guard up the entire time.
Fighting the regular apes while simultaneously staying vigilant toward the giant ape—it was a real nerve-grinder.
So much so that my Concentration skill leveled up again.
And then, finally, the giant ape made its move.
It was the lowest-level one.
It turned its back and began retreating toward the rear.
If it had just left, that would have been great, but the world wasn't that kind.
The giant ape turned to face me, then broke into a dead sprint.
No way—!?
My instincts screamed a warning that this impossible thing was actually happening.
I immediately prepared to intercept.
My impossible guess hit the mark.
The giant ape used a running start to leap over the mass of threads.
And with that terrifying jumping ability, it flew straight at me in one bound.
I barely managed to get ready in time, hurling a Casting Net at the incoming giant ape.
Trapped in midair with nowhere to dodge, the ape was caught without ceremony.
The Casting Net shifted its trajectory slightly downward.
It slammed into the wall directly below me.
With a dull thud, it tangled in threads and stuck fast against the wall.
Even in that state, the giant ape recovered immediately and began thrashing, trying to break free.
Not on my watch—I layered on more threads while simultaneously using Poison Synthesis to produce spider venom, which I dropped straight into that massive maw.
The giant ape writhed in the dual agony of threads and poison.
One dose of spider venom wouldn't kill it, and that fact sent a small jolt of panic through me—so I used Poison Synthesis again.
The droplets of poison were cleanly sucked into its enormous mouth.
《Experience Points have reached a certain level. Individual Small Taratekt has risen from LV7 to LV8》 《Various base stats have increased》 《Skill Proficiency Level-Up Bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『Visual Range Expansion LV1』has become『Visual Range Expansion LV2』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『Acid Resistance LV3』has become『Acid Resistance LV4』》 《Skill Points have been acquired》 The level-up made it clear—the giant ape had finally exhausted its strength.
I hurried to shed my molted skin.
There was no time to relax.
I turned back toward the advancing apes and saw the second giant ape standing there.
Using the first one as a decoy, it had climbed up along the same route as the regular apes.
It's that fast!?
It had been on the ground just moments ago, and now it was almost right on top of me.
The apes forming its path were mercilessly crushed underfoot.
With that kind of leg strength and grip, it tore through the distance in the blink of an eye.
I hastily fired threads at the giant ape.
Despite being on a vertical wall, the giant ape dodged with startling agility.
But the space it dodged into wasn't a cleared path for apes.
It was a wall completely covered in my threads.
The giant ape stuck to the wall.
It immediately tried to pry itself free, thrashing with all its might—but even with the giant ape's strength, my threads weren't easy to remove.
Before the threads gave way though, the wall itself started making ominous cracking sounds.
Of course, I wasn't going to stand for that.
I immediately fired additional threads to cover every inch of my body.
That should hold for a while.
I snapped my gaze back immediately.
If the second one had moved, the third had to be on its way too.
That prediction was correct.
I spotted the third one right away.
It was lunging toward me, its enormous jaws about to clamp shut.
!?
There was no longer any time to worry about falling.
Or rather—I was moving on pure reflex, without thinking.
I launched myself off the platform into empty air.
I couldn't dodge completely. My entire right set of legs and part of my torso were crushed between its fangs.
My HP dropped sharply.
Searing pain flooded through me, and my consciousness began to flicker.
But if I passed out here, I'd never wake up again.
In midair, I hurriedly shot threads outward.
The threads anchored to the wall caught my fall.
The recoil slammed me into the wall, and for an instant I nearly lost consciousness.
I clenched down and held on to my fading awareness.
《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『Stun Resistance LV1』has been acquired》 Whether it was the new skill's effect or sheer willpower, I managed to stay conscious.
I looked upward toward where my platform had been.
The third giant ape had destroyed the platform—and its body was now entangled in the remnants, the threads that had formed it.
Obviously.
I would never make a simple platform.
I'd rigged it to double as a trap if things went south.
I just hadn't expected it to get destroyed in a single hit.
I moved upward.
With half my legs gone, I used Thread Manipulation to reel myself up like fishing a line.
I positioned myself above the thrashing giant ape.
Using Thread Manipulation to the fullest, I restrained its body and forced its massive mouth to stay open.
Then I synthesized spider venom with Poison Synthesis and fed it straight down.
《Experience Points have reached a certain level. Individual Small Taratekt has risen from LV8 to LV9》 《Various base stats have increased》 《Skill Proficiency Level-Up Bonus acquired》 《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『HP Auto-Regeneration LV2』has become『HP Auto-Regeneration LV3』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『Life LV1』has become『Life LV2』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『Burst LV1』has become『Burst LV2』》 《Proficiency has reached a certain level. Skill『Endurance LV1』has become『Endurance LV2』》 《Skill Points have been acquired》 The level-up triggered a molt.
Whew.
I thought I was dead for sure.
That was way too close.
If I hadn't leveled up from that, I might have actually died.
But this was as far as it went.
The second giant ape was about to break free from the threads, so I added more.
The remaining apes hadn't advanced as far as I'd expected, since the giant ape had trampled its own forces' path in the process.
The time I'd lost dealing with the giant ape could still be made up at this rate.
If they had some other hidden trump card, that would be a different story—but as things stood, the apes had no chance of turning this around.
That said, I wouldn't let my guard down.
I'd learned that lesson the hard way too many times.
I had no intention of relaxing until the very end.