Lucien felt his mind going blank, but his heart screamed.

No, not yet! The skill hasn’t fully failed!

Lucien immediately tried to fix the shattered image of the slime dungeon in his mind, but then...

The pupa moved.

Bump.

Blunt pain hit Lucien’s feet and his focus scattered, the shards in his mind drifting away, pain cut through his brain.

Throb!

Ugh...

Is he...being dragged?

Wait, where?

Don’t tell him...

No, no, he had to leave the pupa first!

Lucien opened his mouth, trying to tear through the web with his teeth.

Tak.

He felt a strong resistance.

His teeth couldn’t pierce through it.

Sting.

The teeth ached, the smell of blood wafted.

Outside, with Lucien’s aura weakening, the queen’s courage grew, and the pupa was dragged even faster.

Ten meters away.

The queen’s mouth slowly opened wide, upside-down curved fangs flashed with a cold glint.

Inside the pupa, sweat slid down Lucien’s forehead.

He can’t break free.

He can’t focus either.

Is there a way to break through the pupa with another force—

Just then, Lucien felt Mumu’s cold, slimy skin against his own skin.

His eyes instantly lit up.

Right! Mumu!

[Mumu! Mumu! Wake up! Corrode the web with your saliva!]

Lucien shouted through telepathy and Mumu immediately woke up with a start.

"Mu??"

[Quick! Corrode the web!]

Mumu was confused, but Mumu obeyed.

He immediately gnawed the web and corrosive saliva poured out, slowly burning and melting the web.

Sizzle.

The web charred, the ends slowly loosened— and fell apart.

The first layer, undone!

[Good boy, Mumu! Quick! Quick! Another layer!]

[00:40]

"Muuuu!"

Mumu gnawed through the second layer.

Outside, the pupa was five meters away from the queen’s body.

[00:30]

"Muuu....Mu...."

The third layer.

Mumu slowed down.

His teeth ached.

He forcibly pumped up corrosive saliva again and again, but now...he could feel the saliva slowly decreasing.

Sizzle.

Sizzle.

[00:20]

One meter.

Lucien’s pupa was already lifted high, slowly approaching the queen’s mouth.

The sour odor of poison and rotten meat wafted into the pupa.

Lucien felt his body floating up and a sense of despair washed his heart.

There wasn’t enough time.

He had to start repairing the skill now!

[00:15]

Tak.

Lucien’s pupa outside had already bumped into the spider queen’s teeth and Lucien could feel the force pressing upon his head.

No...he can’t calm down!

Lucien’s entire body turned cold, his breathing fastened, his chest ached.

Death had never felt so close.

Is this how he’s going to die?

Lucien could already see the death door opening, but Mumu’s scream suddenly snapped him awake.

"Muuuu!"

Bad uncle! Bad uncle! Mumu comes out! Mumu— Mumu fight!

Mumu tore a hole just big enough for his slimy body to break through.

[Wait, Mumu, no— ]

Outside is the spider queen’s mouth!

[00:10]

Mumu slid out and the moment he went outside, he saw the spider queen’s teeth already piercing through the pupa—

Just an inch, really an inch away from piercing Lucien’s skull.

!!

"Muuuu!!"

Mumu shrieked!

With his last ounce of corrosive saliva—

He bit the spider queen’s fangs, and corrosive liquid immediately burst out.

Sizzle.

"KIKKK!!!"

Startled, the spider queen subconsciously threw Lucien’s body away and the pupa landed on the ground with a loud noise.

Thud!

[00:08]

"Ugh!"

Lucien inside the pupa felt his bones creaking, his ribs snapped.

Blood surged to his head, his entire body felt like being crushed to pieces.

But—

Well done, Mumu!

[Mumu, come out! Quick!]

Mumu was still inside the spider queen’s mouth.

The moment he unleashed his last drop of saliva, Mumu’s body weakened.

He staggered out and jumped down, but the queen’s fangs still grazed his delicate skin.

Tear.

"Muu....!"

The skin tore open, blue essence spurted out and Mumu instantly fell to the ground, his body limp, unmoving.

[00:06]

Lucien’s breath hitched.

He could feel Mumu’s life force rapidly declining.

[00:05]

[Mumu?]

[00:04]

[Mumu!!]

Lucien’s heart stopped beating for a split second, his mind imagined the worst case scenario.

He had no time.

Mumu couldn’t wait!

Lucien bit his tongue until it bled and focused his mind.

The shattered shards of his slime dungeon floated in his mind, each edge stabbing his brain.

Throb. Throb.

Lucien slowly moved the shards and merged them together.

Tak.

Blood trickled down Lucien’s nose.

It felt like knives cutting his brain to pieces.

"Ughhh!!"

Lucien forcibly merged all the broken shards in his mind, and finally—

The image merged into an intact slime dungeon.

[00:03]

Shaaa...

The surroundings seemed to freeze in time.

Cold, slimy, damp cave.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

Blue, glowing crystals.

Shingggg...

[00:02]

Corrosive liquid burning through the cave’s wall.

Sizzleeee.

[00:01]

Slime dungeon!

Right before the skill failure countdown hit zero, the illusionary image of the slime dungeon behind Lucien became crystal clear.

DING! [Territory Descent (Legendary)]

[Estimated skill recovery time: 24 hours]

[Skill duration: 00:59]

At the same time, the toxin countdown hit the same countdown as the skill duration.

[00:59]

As the image behind Lucien’s became clear, the surroundings instantly changed.

Shaaa....

The temperature cooled down.

Drip.

A cold, slimy liquid slid down the wall behind Lucien.

The moment the liquid touched the ground around Lucien’s feet—

Sizzle.

The ground turned black.

The smell of burnt wafted in the air.

"Kikkk!"

The small spiders shrieked in fear.

D-dungeon Invasion!

Their dungeon is being swallowed!

The spider queen’s body trembled, but she raised her head, trying to resist the dimensional pressure.

"Kiiiiikkk!!"

[00:45]

Lucien was still inside the pupa.

He stood still.

He didn’t speak, but as his dignity recovered—

His Landlord’s aura surged wildly, like a tide about to swallow the entire cave.

For the queen, a crushing presence of a higher-rank monster pressed her down like a mountain.

Bang!

Her raised head was forcibly lowered bit by bit, her entire body shook, trying to resist.

"Kiikk! Kiikk!"

But...she couldn’t even move her legs.

Her body just froze.

Fear crept into the queen’s heart and the instinct to surrender towards a stronger being emerged.

The spider queen’s head was lowered even more.

Su...rrender...

Her attitude silently swept through the other spiders.

Green blood leaked out her belly, the small spiders scrambled to surround the queen, all heads down.

Even the gatekeeper spiders outside seemed to sense something, their bodies stiffened for a split second, allowing Lurenzo to deal a hard blow.

[00:35]

Inside the pupa, Lucien wished he could break out and punch the spider queen.

Ahhh! Release the pupa first! How could he ask for the dungeon core if he couldn’t speak??

Mumu is still waiting! Hurry!

Lucien was anxious, but if the spider queen saw this, all the dignity pretense he built would be gone.

So Lucien just closed his eyes, letting his landlord aura speak for himself.

The longer Lucien stayed silent, the more anxious the queen became.

The spider queen slowly dragged her body towards Lucien, her head pressed low to the ground.

"Kiiikkk!"

Spare...us...

The monster’s instinct to survive took over her body.

We....surrender...

[00:20]

Lucien was silent. Only his aura growing even more violent, as if saying—

Prove it.

The spider queen felt the message conveyed in the aura and she racked her small brain frantically.

Give...the most...precious...thing...

There’s only one.

The spider queen slowly swiped the void with her legs, heart aching, but for her race’s survival—

A glowing, green crystal slowly came out.

Shaaa...

The void around the crystal twisted and cracked.

For Lucien, it was a very, very familiar feeling.

It’s the dungeon core!