Weave Shadow Nest! Cave Lord!

As Leon sat cross-legged to meditate and rest, in a corner of the Maze's first floor, in a nest resembling the Weave Shadow Nest, the chirping of insects sounded like a surging tide.

Dense spiderwebs intertwined in the narrow space, weaving into interconnected bridges in the air.

Tens of thousands of Cave Spiders moved through here.

Some were large, two-meter-long behemoths, while others were palm-sized younglings... The sheer number of insects was enough to make anyone's SAN value plummet with just one glance! Even the most daring and experienced adventurers from the Sword and Broken Sword Pavilion would not hesitate to turn and run upon seeing this scene...

If they could still escape.

Clearly,

this place had gone beyond the scope of a Maze and had completely become a monster nest... This was no longer a problem that adventurers could handle; it was something that the local lord should resolve.

For adventurers who made a living in the Maze, there was no need to share the Lord's worries and risk their lives for it.

It is worth mentioning that although Cave Spiders belong to the category of monsters, can be summoned by the Maze core, and drop Magic Crystals upon death... they also possess certain biological attributes, and this does not conflict with their monster attributes.

Moreover,

powerful Cave Spiders can even develop near-human intelligence and even overcome the "loner" racial trait, evolving into "social tribes" with civilized characteristics.

Especially when the monsters in the Maze mix with monsters in natural conditions, the latter will naturally bring the "advanced ideas" from the outside into the Maze, accelerating the transformation of these little bugs from "primitive spiders" to "civilized spiders."

Usually, a qualified Demon Lord would avoid this from happening.

After all, only obedient monsters are good monsters; monsters that unite are not only useless but also become pests in the Maze.

Cave Spiders are not the only monsters with the potential to establish their own order.

Once these monsters form their own order, they will no longer actively respond to the Demon Lord's summons, and there may even be signs of separation and division, establishing independent "nests" in the Maze and preying on other monsters within.

In a sense, the Slave Rats that fled to the North Peak Mine were victims of this situation.

When Reggie Dragon was alive, they lived quite comfortably in the Maze, not only having a stable food supply but also occasionally sneaking out to steal the farmers' grain, infuriating the latter to no end.

However, since the Lord Demon Lord died, this situation has undergone earth-shattering changes.

Originally the lowest-level slaves in the Demon Lord Territory, they were directly demoted from "cannon fodder" to "food."

In contrast, the Cave Spiders, one of the Ratfolk's natural enemies, thrived due to the lack of basic order in the Maze.

A mother spider named Arachinos crowned herself as the "Cave Lord" with the support of her thousands of offspring and established a kingdom called "Weave Shadow Nest" in the northern part of the Maze's first floor.

Unlike the "loners" wandering in the Maze,

they are not only stronger and more diligent but also have a clear social division of labor.

They move in groups through the caves, some responsible for taking care of the spider eggs, some responsible for packing the captured prey, and others responsible for feeding the fat maggot larvae, or digging the Maze walls, moving soil, and expanding the nest outward... as busy as worker bees in a hive.

In addition, under the leadership of the Cave Lord, the Cave Spiders of Weave Shadow Nest also quickly assimilated the "loners" wandering in the Maze, as well as the large and small Cave Spider tribes that rose up during the same period, through a combination of carrot and stick, and became a local tyrant in the underground world of Thunder City with the status of rising stars, creating a miracle-like prosperity!

People's ambitions will swell, and so will bugs'.

Especially since Arachinos is well aware of how powerful the Lord Demon Lord's claws are, and how weak the seemingly burly self is in front of them.

Those demons are not as easy to bully as the little rats.

Although they are temporarily unable to take care of the first floor near the surface, it is only a matter of time before they set their sights on this place.

Moreover, Hell will send new Demon Lords.

That guy won't care who is innocent and who deserves to die.

If they want to obtain true freedom, the Weave Shadow Nest must expand its territory outward, expanding its living space while expanding the size of the population, until they establish a vast "hive city" in the depths of the mountains that far surpasses the underground Maze and even Thunder City—

By then.

Neither Hell nor the human kingdoms will dare to underestimate them! However, just as the noble Cave Lord was implementing its great plan, a group of corpse-reeking fellows stepped into its web...

Hurried footsteps interrupted Arachinos's contemplation, and a strong, gray-shelled male spider prostrated itself at the entrance to its palace.

"Your Majesty, the people we sent to the 'frontier' have been slaughtered by adventurers from outside! The outpost has been destroyed, and the ground is covered with the corpses of children, not a single one survived!"

That "chirp chirp chirp" of insect song was full of anger and sorrow.

If it weren't for the fear of the invaders' strength, it would have rushed up to tear them to pieces immediately.

The mountain-like Arachinos looked down at its servant, its scarlet pupils flashing with disbelief and fear.

"How is that possible... Why would adventurers target the northern entrance? That place... haven't they stopped coming there a long time ago?"

Long before its people arrived in that area, unknown little spiders had already spun thick webs there.

It was precisely for this reason that it chose that area as an outpost for developing a new nest.

The gray-shelled male spider prostrated itself, burying its huge head even lower.

"I... don't know... but recently, it seems to have become lively again!"

Speaking of this, it seemed to remember something and continued to add.

"The previous 'great harvest' seemed to be related to those adventurers!"

Arachinos's gaze darkened, and its scarlet eyes flickered with looming ferocity.

Adventurers.

These guys never came early or late, but suddenly appeared at this time.

For the Weave Shadow Nest, which is actively expanding to the northern mountains, this is definitely extremely bad news.

After pondering for a moment, it gave the order.

"Arakdo, take a few hunters over to scout and see what the situation is with that group of adventurers... We must first figure out what they are and what their purpose is."

"As you command."

The black-shelled, patterned spider prostrating in the corner of the palace bowed slightly and went outside on its thick and flexible eight legs.

As for the burly and extraordinary Arachinos, it waved away its servant and turned back to the depths of the nest with a group of trembling male spiders.

Danger is approaching.

As the mother of the Weave Shadow Nest, it must have more children...

On the other side, Leon, who had finished meditating and resting, stood up again and continued to grind monsters.

Although he told the players to grind, he didn't actually plan to leave all the trouble to them while he sat back and rested.

As the BOSS of the Great Cemetery, he needed to level up more.

He couldn't let the players catch up.

Hard work pays off.

Before evening, Leon, his hands covered in blood, finally reached level 33! Thanks to him.

The five players also gained varying degrees of improvement.

Among them, the Dragon Travel trio and little brother Hu Wan had filled their experience bars, and with enough Contribution Points, they could officially advance to Black Iron! Becoming Skeleton Soldiers with extraordinary power, just like One Leaf Knows Autumn! As for One Leaf Knows Autumn, this guy's brain was too flexible. After figuring out how to deal damage and leech experience, he simply leveled up again, and was now LV5.

This time, not only the other players, but even Leon felt that it was a huge loss to let this guy play the game for free.

ID: Leon
Race: Human
Soul Level: Steel (Level Cap LV50)
Level: LV.33 Experience: (112/330,000)
Constitution: 13 Strength: 13 Agility: 13 Intelligence: 38 (+2)
Spirit: 39 (+1)

Taking a glance at his attribute panel, and then at the spider corpses all over the ground, Leon couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

"Truly, one general succeeds on ten thousand bones."

Is this how the High-level Demons on the front lines are killed?

How many cities would that take to destroy...

At this moment, You You interjected inappropriately in his ear.

"Lord Demon Lord, arthropods don't have bones, right?"

Leon knew that this guy would complain, and chuckled.

"Not so, chitinous exoskeletons are also a type of bone. I can even summon skeletons from their corpses."

Before You You could speak, Leon continued.

"And You You, you'll have no friends if you keep this up."

You You: "Ugh!"

You You: "QAQ"

Perhaps because the last sentence broke his defense, the deeply affected You You transformed into a kaomoji he probably learned from the Official Website, and floated away from the mirror he casually took out...

Calamity Online Official Website.

Today's liveliness is out of the ordinary.

The Closed Beta server has only been open for two days, and while most players have just barely scraped together a three-digit Contribution Points total, someone has already accumulated 1000 Contribution Points and broken through the level 3 level cap! If this isn't a shady deal, what is?!

Boar-Headed Knight: "Shady! It's definitely a shady deal!"

One Gulp of Septic Tank: "That's right! Even if it's not a shady deal, it must be a bug!!! I suggest the devs investigate thoroughly!"

One Gulp of Septic Tank: "Damn it?! The dog devs, which authority dog changed my ID?!"

Knowledge Explosion: "Pfft hahahaha... Wait, your matter is very funny, but let's put it aside for now, let's talk about the shady deal first!"

Boar-Headed Knight: "That's right! I'm still LV0, how did this guy get to LV4! (Screaming)"

Minotaur Warrior: "You have the nerve to say that... I wanted to take you to level up, but you were either in the small black room, or on the way to the small black room. (Sweat)"

Dragon Slayer: "Nerf it! I don't care! Nerf it! (Frantic)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "It's fine if they're just joking around, but you haven't even entered the game yet. (Sweat)"

Unruly Life: "Heh, pretending to be quite the expert, making me laugh."

One Gulp of Septic Tank: "Dog Devs, come out and face me! Speak! Are you feeling guilty! If you don't feel guilty, if you didn't One Gulp of Septic Tank, why did you change my name!"

[Player "One Gulp of Septic Tank" has been silenced for 24 hours, please speak politely.]

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Where did this mad dog come from. (Sweat)"

Boar-Headed Knight: "Trembling.jpg"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "Calm down, brothers, the methods for leveling up are all written in my guide post, anyone can use them, but it tests awareness and micro-control. Also, to be precise, I'm not LV4, but already LV5."

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Damn! So fast?! (Vomiting blood)"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "There were indeed some coincidental factors, but that's not the point, let me talk about my experiences... Sure enough, mages are the ultimate version answer in this game!"

Knowledge Explosion: "Wait, you can cast spells?!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "No, but NPCs can."

Without hiding his opportunity, One Leaf Knows Autumn recounted what happened in the afternoon, especially vividly describing the handsome figure of Lord Demon Lord summoning wind and rain.

Lord Demon Lord just waved his hand, and the Cave Spiders that they Skeleton Soldiers needed to use all their wits and courage to kite for half a day, died in piles...

That exaggerated description even made Leon, who was secretly watching the screen, blush.

At the very end, One Leaf Knows Autumn also specifically mentioned the changes when breaking through the LV3 bottleneck.

Especially the changes in Spirit and Intelligence attributes!

He is no longer a brainless Skeleton Soldier, but has transformed into a wise elite monster!

Old Man at the Village Entrance: "Speaking of which, with an MP bar, you should be able to learn skills, right?!"

One Leaf Knows Autumn: "If there are no accidents, that should be the case, but I haven't figured out how to learn skills yet."

Looking at the players' exchanges on the forum, Leon's thoughts also became active.

"You You, is there any way to let players learn magic?"

Now that the players have MP bars, it would be a waste not to utilize them.

Moreover, in Leon's impression, the world of the undead has beings like "Skeleton Mages."

Although they cannot produce human voices, they can still communicate with the elements of nature in their own way, calling upon their own extraordinary power.

Similarly.

Although players don't know the language of the other world, language shouldn't be an obstacle to casting spells.

You You in the mirror pondered for a while, giving Leon a pleasant surprise.

"Yes, there is... Well, although I was wondering if it's a bit too early, since Lord Demon Lord, your image is already deeply rooted in the hearts of the players, I think it's about time for you to add some settings for your players."

"Settings? What do you mean?" Leon asked, puzzled.

You You said as a matter of course.

"It's about adding creeds to your followers, whether it's personally delivering divine revelations or through the mouth of a spokesperson... Isn't this kind of thing very common for gods?"

Common? Maybe it's more common in this world?

Seeing that Leon still didn't fully understand, You You jumped up and down to continue explaining.

"For example, the followers of Saint Siss say that Saint Siss brought Holy Light, so there is Holy Light in the world... This is the most typical kind of setting!"

Leon was slightly stunned.

"You mean... Holy Light was defined? It didn't exist before that?"

You You nodded her abstract head: "Of course! How can there be such convenient light in the spectrum of nature? People in this world don't know, but you should know, right?"

"In fact, most of the magic in this world is like this. The essence of communicating with elemental spirits is actually praying to the elemental spirits, summoning elemental fire, elemental wind, elemental water... You should have noticed it too, right? For example, elemental fire is actually different from real fire, right?"

Indeed.

Leon nodded with deep feeling, he had been curious about this question for a long time.

The essence of real fire is high-temperature gaseous or ionic matter, and what people see more is the phenomenon displayed by the matter.

However, the fireball he conjured with spells was different.

That kind of flame does not depend on the existence of any substance, but burns in the void, burning an abstract power called "extraordinary power," not depending on a specific substance, and even the oxidation reaction may not be happening.

"I roughly understand what you mean, that is to say... the essence of extraordinary power is actually a kind of faith?"

"That's right! Extraordinary power and the power of faith are actually the same thing! Or to put it more bluntly, the so-called gods are gathering the power of everyone to materialize what mortals firmly believe in into actual existence!"

Speaking of this, You You couldn't help but complain a little.

"By the way, Lord Demon Lord, are you only realizing this now? The setting of Calamity Online has been hinting at this from the beginning."

Uh...

Is that so?

If it's the sentence "People in the First Era used extraordinary power to forge Divinity," this expression is too abstract.

Leon rubbed his brow, cutting straight to the point.

"So what exactly should I do? Create a magic system like Saint Siss or the Demon God? Wouldn't that be too difficult for us?"

He only had a hundred or so followers.

Aside from the players, there were probably just the few locked in cages, and the poster girl currently working the convenience store shift.

If even a god like him could create something from nothing and invent a magic, wouldn't the species on this planet have already ascended to the heavens by stepping on their own feet, achieving spiritual ascension, and mastering mind over matter? You You said, "It doesn't have to be that complicated! You see, Lord Demon God didn't actually invent a new magic system, did he? You should know best, the magic system used in Hell is still the one from the God of the Underworld era, just with some improvements."

"The Second Era is different from the First Era. Predecessors and former gods have already established a large number of rules, which is equivalent to perfecting the underlying code of this world!"

"So, you don't need to create a non-existent magic from scratch. At least for now, you only need to refer to existing magic or martial techniques and directly set them on the players!"

"You can even let your players use Holy Light! However, Holy Light includes the restraint of undead in the rules, and considering that you have already attached yourself to the God of the Underworld's system, You You doesn't recommend you do that!"

"Directly set it?! You mean, just update these things in the setting collection? It's... that simple?"

Leon found it hard to believe.

However, You You confidently nodded its abstract head.

"That's right, that's right! It's that simple! After all, when players release skills, they are using their own extraordinary power, consuming their own MP, and calling upon the 'code' that already exists in this world. Strictly speaking, they are not borrowing your power! Rather, you are all borrowing the power that exists in this world itself!"

"Once the setting of the creed is completed, you just need to find a master to teach them a few times, let them know what the skill looks like and what effect it has. Then, You You will add a 'UI' for releasing the skill to the players' operation interface, or you can personally teach them a 'spell' to focus their mental power, and your little players can use the skill normally!"