Chapter 132: Mortal Loss

Unranked Skills were created from the bodies of Warriors and Espers, pertaining to a collection of races, focusing at certain Tiers. The creation of each Unranked Skill required decades to a century of research, expending a tremendous number of bodies of the related races.

Each Unranked Skill used the bodies of a certain number of races as the core, forming the abilities it displayed as the end product. It then used many supplementary materials, all derived from the unique aspects of the bodies of numerous creatures.

The Unranked Skill of the Bone Family, Bone Devour used the bodies of three races to form the core of the Skill: Life Leech, Steel Porcupine, and One-Horned Rhino. The materials used were derived from the bodies of the three races at the Tier 4 level. Many other supplementary materials too were used to harmonise the three cores and create an overall ability.

When used as the core, their Skills—the abilities Nurtured by their Frenzy Parasite and them acting as a collective unit—were absorbed directly, creating slight modification as they ended up as the Unranked Skill. Therefore, unless it experienced too much of a variation, it was easy to figure out the core races that were behind a certain Unranked Skill.

The Floating Spiders were a special race, having given birth to an Ancestor during the Dark Ages. When Rhachis Ancestor Web was at Tier 4, it thought about many matters, having comprehended the essence of the Skills nurtured by the Frenzy Parasites.

It then launched a campaign, call forth all the species of spiders from around the world, converging them to one spot. It then induced them to cross-breed without restraint; adding onto the mutation effect caused by the Frenzy Parasite, a new race was birthed within three generations, becoming the current Floating Spiders.

They comprised the gene pool of all the various spider species, giving them numerous advantages, the effect even transferring to the Skills they nurtured, showcasing a greater variety than other Frenzy Beast races.

Having bordered Marble City for three centuries, the Floating Spiders had engaged in conflict with the humans on numerous occasions, experiencing both victories and defeats, with their victories numbering more than defeats.

When the Floating Spiders had birthed their second Ancestor, they experienced another boost of strength. Moreover, their second Ancestor was different from the norm, directing its gaze at Marble City, bringing the humans into its research.

Until that point, any race that dared to research on humans was besieged by humanity from all sides, annihilated in the blink of an eye. After all, humanity was the strongest race in the world.

If not for the presence of Rhachis Ancestor Parasite giving them grievous blows one after the other, striking at their foundations each time, humanity would have become the overlords of the world. But despite that, no race dared to experiment on the humans, all except the Floating Spiders.

Their second Ancestor researched on the humans for more than a century, eventually creating an Unranked Skill, displaying the prime traits of humanity. It then called itself Rhachis Ancestor Warlord, thanks to the Unranked Skill it created possessing the base abilities of humanity's Tier 5 Skill, Warlord Transformation.

The successful creation of the Unranked Skill was a massive slap to humanity. But, before humanity could proceed to attack the Floating Spiders, they birthed their third Ancestor, a Tier 6 Esper, providing them enough foundation to resist the attacks of humans.

Moreover, each human city was surrounded by powerful races; so, the Ancestors guarding their respective cities couldn't be away for long. That would give the perfect chance for the surrounding races to besiege their home.

The Floating Spiders had three Ancestors, the same as Marble City, leading to an impasse. An all-out war would only lead to mutual annihilation; hence, Rhachis Ancestor Warlord managed to survive until this day, having imparted the Unranked Skill to numerous Floating Spiders at Tier 4 and Tier 5.

Having completed their transformation, the four Transformer Floating Spiders flew towards Wunris Marble, laughing at his expression of fury. Among them, one fine humanoid Floating Spider charged forth, erupting with its aura, letting out a burst of cackling laughter.

"Wunris Marble, hope you bode farewell with your Ancestor. You won't be seeing him again." The humanoid Floating Spider talked, the language used being Modern Rodawri.

Hearing it speak their language, Wunris Marble felt shocked, feeling a chill creep up his spine. In order to prevent any information leakage, Rhachis Ancestor Light had created a new language, modifying it every decade, the records of its changes solely held in the hands of the Ancestors on the side of humanity.

"I am surprised at the fact that you feel surprised at this," The humanoid Floating Spider said with a shake of its head, feeling the freedom of movement thanks to its neck. "After all, despite the changes, Modern Rodawri has been in use for almost 190 years. It was bound to be unravelled one day."

The humanoid Floating Spider spanned a height of 20 metres; its giant form hovered in the air, each of its steps bringing it one hundred metres towards Wunris Marble, its pace slow and steady.

Stopping a kilometre before Wunris Marble, it performed a slight bow, mimicking the actions of humans.

"When I became a Shifter, Rhachis Ancestor Warlord personally bestowed me the name, Vi Ha Su Warlord."

"Vi Ha Su Warlord…" Wunris Marble's vision constricted, feeling a sense of alarm, thickening the marble barrier surrounding him. A tremendous force impacted the top of his barrier, creating numerous cracks, sending him reeling into the ground.

The force of the blow impaled his shielded body a hundred metres deep into the ground, forming a steep hole. The six psychic arms pressing on him never released their hold, seeping in through the ground with ease, raising the force they applied, varying the applications on all three areas his attention was diverted, trying to catch him off guard.

Wunris Marble tried to fly out, failing to lift his body. The psychic arm shielding his body was barely keeping up with the attacks, not having the leeway to lift his body against the force vectors pinning him down.

'Boom'

An explosion echoed in the surroundings, the source originating from the dome. Vi Ha Su Warlord slammed his fist into the dome, caving in its structure, the cracks spreading along its surface, turning it fragile. In order to resist the attack, the Ground Controllers inside had used up most of their energy, fuelling their psychic arms like crazy.

Before Vi Ha Su Warlord could mount his second attack, the dome turned yellow, turning sturdy, repairing the damage inflicted in his previous attack. When his second attack landed on it, a ringing sound was produced, the dome showing no signs of damage, having been supported by two psychic arms of Wunris Marble.

Vi Ha Su Warlord looked at the other three humanoid Floating Spiders, pointing towards the ground, at the hole were Wunris Marble was buried deep under. They nodded in response, plummeting towards the ground, landing with a loud bang, the impact due to their massive sizes rumbling the land.

Vi Ha Su Warlord then gazed at the Spider World arriving at the scene, having recalled all the Floating Spiders that were sent out. "Help me out a little."

The Spider World arrived next to the dome, spreading its silk ropes around it, forming numerous coils without actually making contact. It paused in place, taking a moment before contracting the coils, perfectly wrapping the dome.

The two yellow psychic arms wrapping the dome formed numerous items—spikes, chakrams, and drills—on its surface, spinning them at increasingly high frequencies, attacking the two psychic arms that blocked the dome, damaging them.

"Aaaargghh!" Wunris Marble let out a blood-curdling scream, the veins on his skin popping every second, spilling out puffs of blood. When the silk ropes came into contact with his two yellow psychic arms shielding the dome, despite getting damaged, they siphoned out frightening volumes of psychic energy.

The sudden seepage of psychic energy, the monstrous volume that had been siphoned out immediately put a strain on his Brain Crystal, affecting the surrounding brain tissues. To cope up with the massive loss, his Wisdom Parasite drastically raised its speed of Nurturing, converting his muscle mass into psychic energy, leading to a collapse of his body on the cellular level.

After the three humanoid Floating Spiders landed on the ground, one of them pointed at the other, "Vu He Su Warlord, charge."

The pointed humanoid Floating Spider, Vu He Su Warlord raised its arm, concentrating energy into it, activating a hidden Skill that came with its Unranked Skill. The Unranked Skill, Greater Warlord was different from the regular Unranked Skills, thanks to its core derived from humans.

It normally had three anchors; meaning, only Developers and above were able to inherit it. But, once it was activated, the anchors changed depending on the Tier of the Floating Spider—possessing four anchors for Shifters. This disabled them from using their Nurtured Skills.

But, there was a hidden Skill in Greater Warlord: it allowed the user to make use of a Skill similar to the ones used by human Developers, but adjusted to their Tier. Meaning, a Shifter would be able to invoke the human Developer's Tier 3 Skill, exhibiting power at Tier 4.

Purely speaking in terms of Skills, the Skills Nurtured by humans were superior to the ones Nurtured by the Frenzy Beasts, irrespective of the Tier. This allowed them to fight numerous foes of the same Tier and emerge victorious.

It also produced terrifying individuals like Anruhen Light, capable of killing Tier 5 Frenzy Beasts when he was at Tier 4. It was Marble City's greatest loss when he died in the Flying Signature Raid.

Using the exact time when Wunris Marble was distracted due to the pain, and having his psychic energy sucked in copious amounts, the two Sky Controller Floating Spiders expanded their domain, overlapping them over Wunris Marble's, obstructing his senses.

They also retracted the psychic arms stopping the dome, summoning them beside Wunris Marble in an instant, slamming them all onto his barrier, spreading the attacks even further, raising the dealt damage.

At the same time, the two humanoid Floating Spiders appeared beside Wunris Marble, kicking at the bottom; the force sent him reeling up through the hole, completely shattering the marble barrier covering him.

Wunris Marble sensed something amiss, thinking his actions through; it would take him a second to recreate his shattered psychic arm, leaving him defenceless. He quickly summoned his remaining four psychic arms, intent to shield himself.

If something happened to him, the soldiers in the dome would die. So, only when he survived would he be able to save them. It was a looping mental conflict. His psychic arms appeared around his body, beginning to wrap him up.

It was then; his body emerged out of the ground, arriving next to Vu He Su Warlord who had finished charging his attack. Vu He Su Warlord let out a mild shout, emitting a beam of energy towards Wunris Marble, impacting the barrier, allowing a trace of it to seep through the gaps that had yet to close up.

Tier 5 Skill—Mental Frenzy!

It was a signature Skill used by human Developers, allowing them to triumph against Frenzy Beasts of the same Tier. Now, a Tier 5 version of it had struck Wunris Marble. Despite most of it getting blocked, the trace of it that had seeped into his body affected his mental state.

Thanks to their improved mental strength, Espers were less prone to losing control at Tier 4 and Tier 5, the only cases leading to a loss of control was when they were invaded by the Essence of Frenzy and didn't have the leeway to treat it mid-battle.

The barrier had finished enveloping Wunris Marble, turning yellow, furthering his defence. He clutched his head, feeling his thoughts turn chaotic, causing his mental state to lose its firmness.

Unwilling to lose its chance, the Wisdom Parasite in him initiated its process, striving to gain control of his body. Faint scales covered his skin, creating tiny spikes across his joints. His vision turned hazy, forming cracks along his face.

The psychic arms bombarded his barrier, erupting with their full strength. Vu He Su Warlord and the other two humanoid Floating Spiders rained down punches one after the other, making use of his distracted state and the weakening of the marble barrier to shatter it.

Despite the flurry of attacks, Wunris Marble still resisted, slowing down the process of losing control, gaining the upper hand in recovering his mental state. He soon showed signs of defeating the Wisdom Parasite in him, on the verge of ending up as the victor.

The marble barrier sported numerous cracks, growing in pattern with each attack. But, Wunris Marble was steadily regaining his bearings, able to set aside some focus on recovering the marble barrier.

Suddenly, Wunris Marble hollered in pain; the cause of the pain resulted in his left eye exploding into a pool of blood. A thick silk rope had connected with the marble barrier, siphoning out his psychic energy, causing a sharp reduction in his strength.

The number of silk threads touching the marble barrier multiplied, increasing the avenues of his energy being siphoned out, stretching his consciousness thin. His body started to thin out, shrinking in mass.

"Aaah!" Wunris Marble screamed, looking at his chest, spotting a beating heart pierced at the tip of a sharp nail, attached to a long finger that pierced through his body. Wunris Marble gazed at his back, his right eye widened; his mouth opened, pronouncing each syllable of the other party's name, "Vi Ha Su…Warlord…"

Wunris Marble was unable to sense the other party's existence. Combined with his focus stretched thin between the various modes of attacks, his energy being siphoned, and preventing his Wisdom Parasite from gaining control, he was unable to react to the attack that aimed at his back the moment the defence in the area weakened.

Tier 5 Skill—Sensory Invisibility!

"I heard that only the elite Developers in Marble City were able to Nurture this Skill. Now, at Tier 5 level, even the illustrious Wunris Marble failed to sense my presence." Vi Ha Su Warlord let out a sinister smile, sporting an expression of jubilation.

Vi Ha Su Warlord flicked his finger, slashing Wunris Marble's heart into pieces. Getting his heart shredded was the final straw that broke his defence. His marble barrier soon crumbled under the resulting attacks, allowing Vi Ha Su Warlord the opportunity to crush his head, ending his life.