Demonic Spider Siphon

Looking at the burning area not far away, Mo Shuying felt a bit regretful. There wasn't much high-proof alcohol in that izakaya, and the low-degree sake couldn't be used, so he had only made two bottles. Now it seemed that wasn't enough.

"Shua!"

The Wolf Spider Leader, still carrying flames on its body, charged out of the ring of fire. A faint black light flickered across its surface, barely able to block the scorching flames. As soon as it burst out of the fire ring, it rushed quickly toward the direction the Molotov Cocktail had come from.

The Wolf Spider Leader had made it out, but its four smaller spiders weren't as strong. They couldn't withstand the burns from the flames on their bodies and were quickly incinerated. Mo Shuying's end received a steady stream of experience notifications.

"Ding~ Congratulations on killing a Lesser Demon Spider. Gained 5 experience. Experience meets level-up conditions. Level increased."

Mo Shuying, who was in the middle of repositioning, trembled slightly. He had leveled up.

Reaching level two, he glanced at his stats.

[Mo Shuying]

Class: Assassin

Level: 2

HP: 3811

ATK: 998

Parameters: Strength E, Endurance E, Agility C, Mana E+, Luck C

Noble Phantasm: Madman's Pride (A).

Class Skill: Presence Concealment A+

Personal Skill: Gathering Storm A++

It had only been an hour since he obtained Gathering Storm. The one point of attack and one point of spell power it added had both been converted into 10 ATK.

"This... leveling up only added 100 HP and 100 ATK? That's so little!"

Mo Shuying remembered that in the games he played, when Servants leveled up, each level increased their stats by over 100 points. His own increase of exactly 100 points was already quite low.

And there was no improvement in his physical abilities either.

"Forget it, let's deal with the problem first."

Mo Shuying didn't dwell on the stat increase for long, because he knew there was still a big one to take care of.

"Shua!!"

The Wolf Spider Leader barreled straight toward where Mo Shuying had been standing, but unfortunately, it was destined to find nothing.

Finding nothing, the Wolf Spider Leader went berserk, shooting venom from its mouth in all directions, spraying wildly around, while the black light on its body rapidly dimmed.

Seeing this, Mo Shuying felt it was about time to finish off this demon. So, he pulled out the already loaded Revolver.

"I bloom in the midst of slaughter, like a flower in the dawn. Tch, suddenly I feel a bit like an assassin."

Mo Shuying was only thirty meters away from the Wolf Spider Leader, still within the effective range of the Revolver. He raised the gun, aimed at the Wolf Spider Leader, steadied his breath, and then—

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out! Echoing through the silent world and the silent street, followed immediately by the Wolf Spider Leader's scream!

"Shua!!"

The Wolf Spider Leader was hit. The bullet struck right in its fat rear, creating a bloody hole from which disgusting black fluid oozed out.

After that single shot, Mo Shuying's position was exposed. The enraged Wolf Spider Leader spun around! Its eight spider legs shot out like springs, launching its body like a massive cannonball toward Mo Shuying's location!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

What greeted it were four bullets gleaming with metallic light.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Of these four bullets, only two hit the Wolf Spider Leader. One shattered one of its front legs, and the other, by sheer luck, blew out one of its eyes! It drilled through the eye into its head, cracking the Wolf Spider Leader's skull open!

"Thud!"

The Wolf Spider Leader's massive body crashed to the ground and slid a short distance. With a fatal wound to its head, it convulsed but made no further moves.

Soon.

"Ding~ Congratulations on killing a Lesser Demon Spider Leader. Gained 25 experience."

Done!

"Whoosh!"

The moment the Demon Spider Leader died, a surge of power flowed into Mo Shuying's body. At the same time, a sound seemed to echo in his ears—the Voice of the World.

It was an indescribable sound, roughly conveying a reward for Mo Shuying repelling the first attack, a slight boost to his physical abilities. But this voice also told him one thing: he was the slowest among the seven guardians to eliminate his enemy, so his reward was the smallest.

Mo Shuying didn't care. For an ordinary person like him to take down these monsters was already impressive enough. Why ask for more?

As for the physical enhancement—

Mo Shuying clenched his fist and glanced at his stats. His hands did feel a bit stronger, but the stat panel showed no change at all.

So "smallest" really meant tiny.

Mo Shuying smiled indifferently. At that moment, as the dissipating corpse of the Demon Spider Leader faded away, something dropped out.

"Ding~"

It was a thumb-sized, faintly glowing crystal. Mo Shuying stepped forward and picked it up. It was hard to the touch, with considerable durability.

"Ding~ A Skill Stone has been discovered. Would you like to open it and acquire the skill within?"

A prompt tone sounded, and Mo Shuying's eyes lit up.

"Open!"

The moment the words fell, the Skill Stone vanished from Mo Shuying's hand. In an instant, countless profound insights flooded into his mind.

"Congratulations, host. You have obtained the innate skill [Demonic Spider Siphon D]."

Demonic Spider Siphon (D): Consumes mana to activate and maintain. Increases attack speed while active. Effective attacks restore 1% of damage dealt as HP.

A D-rank active skill!

Mo Shuying looked over the skill description and felt it was quite decent.

Don't dismiss it just because it's only a D-rank skill—for a Heroic Spirit, no skill is truly useless.

Mo Shuying activated Demonic Spider Siphon. A faint, shadowy demonic spider flickered across his body, and he clearly felt his body lighten. His punches became faster and sharper. As for the HP recovery effect, without a target, he couldn't test it for now.

"Not bad. The mana consumption isn't much either."

Sensing the drain on his mana, it was roughly the same as Presence Concealment—meaning as long as Mo Shuying was willing, he could keep it active continuously. With gains like this, this battle had been a huge win for Mo Shuying.

Soon, the last remnants of the Demonic Spider Leader vanished completely, and the Singularity space fell silent once more.

Mo Shuying thought for a moment, then walked toward the intersection where the spider had appeared, intending to see how these demonic spiders had entered this space.

But when he reached the intersection, the black vortex that had summoned the spiders was already gone, and the surroundings showed no trace of anything unusual.

"It must have appeared out of thin air around here. I wonder if there'll be a next time—and if so, whether it'll be the same spot."

Mo Shuying felt that an attack like today's definitely wouldn't be the last. The enemies would only grow stronger. For the sake of his own survival, he decided to take action. He had no intention of sitting idly by and waiting for death. Since he had crossed over to this place, he was determined to live on.