abcnovels
Chapter 167
Chapter 167
??ROSE, THE SPIDER QUEEN
Under the gaze of everyone, the Spider Queen’s body shrank even further and transformed into a human form.
However, what was surprising was that she did not evolve into a complete humanoid figure. Instead, a portion of her lower body retained the appearance of a spider, while only the upper half transformed into a human-like female form.
Essentially, she became a genuine monster girl.¹
Her upper half resembled that of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl. Perhaps influenced by the power Evé infused upon the Spider Queen, she had also acquired some elvish features, such as pointed ears resembling those of an elf, along with delicate and even somewhat cute facial characteristics.
She possessed a mesmerizing pair of crimson eyes that inherited certain traits from her previous spider form and appeared somewhat translucent, akin to sparkling gemstones of the purest ruby.
Additionally, on both sides of her cheeks right below her eyes were three interceding curved lines that looked like pairs of unopened eyes, and these thin lines became completely invisible whenever these eyes were closed.
Her hair cascaded down to her shoulders, flowing behind her in a curtain of jet-black strands. Its obsidian hue perfectly complemented the color of her exoskeleton, creating a striking harmony between her lustrous locks and her otherworldly appearance.
Her skin was exceptionally pale, almost translucent, creating a striking contrast against her dark hair and exoskeleton.
Her upper body was not yet clothed, revealing her pure white alabaster skin and a small navel. However, two rows of shiny and deep-colored carapace covered her sides, extending all the way up to her chest, obscuring the more private areas and forming a spider-shaped pattern upon her chest…
This was the current appearance of the Spider Queen.
Having transformed into a human form, her face still carried a hint of confusion at the moment.
However, she quickly noticed the changes within her body and excitedly stretched out her fair arms while curiously checking herself like an innocent child.
Her eight spider legs gracefully spun beneath her body, synchronizing their movements with the graceful twists of her upper torso, which caused her entire body to rotate as well.
The Spider Queen kept turning her head to inspect her new appearance with an expression of joy that made her look somewhat cute, completely unlike her previous terrifying countenance when she was still a towering behemoth.
“What the f*ck!”
“What the f*ck!!”
The players who were watching from a distance were all shocked, with their mouths wide open in sheer disbelief.
Then, a strange excitement filled the air.
“A monster girl! She has completely turned into a humanoid monster girl!”
“Hmm…you know, she’s kind of cute.”
“Dude, snap out of it! Her true form is a scary giant spider!”
“She’s still a spider loli!”
“Should we now consider her a young girl?”
“Nah man, her figure doesn’t meet the standard. She looks way too flat.”
“Maybe it’s the pair of steel plates on her chest that’s hindering her development! Ugh… The upper body armor is so distracting!”
“What a shame, why didn’t the lower body transform along with the rest?”
“Isn’t this even better? I prefer monster girls over normal-looking girls!”
“Dude, your tastes are so weird…”
“Speaking of spider monster girls… I think I’ve seen a similar doujinshi² before…”
“Cough… May I know what’s the title…”
“Hey, can you guys stop being so creepy?”
Evé: “……”
A slight twitch appeared at the corner of her mouth as she idly listened to the increasingly excited and ‘cultured’³discussions among the players.
At this moment, the Spider Queen confirmed her new form and looked at the goddess floating in mid-air once again.
With her body shrinking, she could only look up to Evé now.
Of course, the equipment that had been entangled in her legs had already fallen to the ground due to her transformation.
The Spider Queen then bowed deeply to the goddess, and following suit, thousands of crypt spiders also bowed once more with their heads stooped in utmost reverence…
In the midst of this moment, Evé suddenly sensed a new star forming within her celestial domain as it shone brightly within the imaginary skies of her mental domain!
This particular star was the Spider Queen’s symbol of faith!
In just an instant, Evé received a feedback of three points of divine power from the Spider Queen’s faith, and the intensity of her belief surpassed even that of a shallow believer, directly reaching the level of a devout follower!
Indeed, beings of legendary-rank is an existence that transcends mortal limitations.
Reaching the legendary rank not only refines a person’s level of existence but also significantly extends their lifespan. It enables a person to forge a profound connection with the essence of the world itself, harnessing the magnificent power of the governing laws of nature!
For every high level monster that somehow managed to awaken their intellect, becoming a legendary is the rank they truly aspire to!
And Eve’s bestowal had instantly captured the heart of the Spider Queen.
Eve discovered with joy that, despite the Spider Queen being only at the level of a devout follower, the power of faith she can provide was already comparable to that of Alice, who was a Saintess.
As expected of a hivemind, the quality of her soul is indeed strong.
Evé felt very satisfied.
“Sss… Ah…”
At that moment, Eve noticed the Spider Queen’s attempt to open her mouth, as if trying to speak for the first time.
In contrast to her previous form, her voice now held a much more pleasant tone, resembling that of a teenage girl.
Still unable to speak properly, huh…
Evé pondered.
Not all monsters are able to speak like the black dragon.
Despite dragons being magical creatures, they possess inherent sentience right from the beginning of their lives. They are born with the remarkable ability to speak, largely owing to the practices employed by the dragon clan, where knowledge inheritance, including the common language, is imparted to their newborns.
However ordinary monsters can’t do that.
Generally speaking, only after advancing to a high rank, can ordinary monsters finally gain the telepathic communication ability and exchange thoughts with different species.
During telepathic communication, even if they don’t share a common language, they can still understand each other’s intentions because this telepathic communication relies on emotions as its foundation similar to the earlier conversation between Evé and the Spider Queen.
Only after advancing to the legendary rank, can ordinary monsters have the mental capacity to learn language similar to other intelligent races.
However… they have to learn the language from scratch.
But for Evé, who is a true god, such tedious method can be effortlessly simplified.
She descended gracefully from mid-air and once again approached the Spider Queen, before extending her hand to touch her head.
The Spider Queen’s body trembled, and her head bowed even further, displaying her submission.
“Universal Language Inheritance…”
Evé silently recited within her mind.
Following her intention, the divine power within her instantly activated as a gentle spiritual energy poured into the Spider Queen’s mind…
After a few seconds, Evé released her hand.
The Spider Queen then raised her head, her eyes clouding for a moment, before a flicker of joy emerged.
She once again bowed to Eve and clumsily praised:
“Praise… you, great… World Tree! Thank you… for your… gift of language…”
Her voice was youthful and melodious, reminiscent of a singing bird.
Eve’s heart fluttered slightly, and then a sudden idea sparked within her mind.
She gently lifted the corners of her mouth, and a dignified and sacred voice echoed in the area;
“Now that you have become my servant and been promoted to the legendary rank… I shall bestow upon you a new name.”
“From this day forward, you shall be known as Rose.”
“The Spider Queen – Rose!”
Hmm, not bad…not bad at all!
Since she appears to be young, instead of calling her (??) Lolth, she will now be called (??) Rose instead.?
Of course, they sound the same when pronounced.
Upon hearing the goddess’s naming sense, a veteran fantasy enthusiast amongst the players couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ahha… only the Sylvan Elf? is missing.”
However, he was quickly startled by the hissing threats of the surrounding crypt spiders and hurriedly closed his mouth…
Upon hearing Eve’s words, Spider Queen Rose bowed once again.
“Rose… thanks…her Divine Majesty… for bestowing me a name…”
Evé felt satisfied.
“From now on, you shall continue to reside in Rivendell and assist my other servants in exploring the underworld.”
After saying that, she transmitted the mount system she had prepared beforehand right into Rose’s mind and granted her some administrative authority, marking her as the second purple NPC right after the Saintess Alice.
Rose’s body trembled as she respectfully bowed to Eve and replied:
“Rose… faithfully obeys… the divine decree!”
Seeing Rose’s behavior, Evé nodded in satisfaction.
Then, she turned her head and glanced at the onlookers, giving them a slight smile with a hint of playfulness in her words.
“Please continue to work hard, o’ brave chosen ones!”
After saying that, her figure slowly shattered, transforming into numerous particles of radiant holy light as it arose upwards before disappearing into the heavens and earth.
As Eve’s incarnation dissipated, the air gradually lost its sacredness and majesty, and the players started engaging in loud yet excited conversations with one another.
“Oh my, the goddess just smiled at me!”
“Not you idiot, she clearly smiled at me!”
“The goddess’s smile is so beautiful!”
Amidst their discussion, the system’s notification sound also followed:
?? ?
?Hidden BOSS Quest Completed!?
?All players who participated in the quest will receive 3 perfect revival chances, 10,000 experience points, and 1,000 contribution points?
As the players’ strength increased, Evé also increased the experience and contribution points of the mission to meet their growing needs.
However, the system notifications were not yet over…
?? ?
?Crypt Spider status changed to friendly, Spider Queen Rose’s favorability rating can now be seen ?
?? ?
?Mount system activated…?
Watching the series of system notifications appear right before their eyes, the players let out shouts of excitement.
“Haha, the quest is complete!”
“10,000 experience points and 1,000 contribution points, not bad!”
“The important thing is that we can now ride a mount!”
“Quick, let’s take a look!”
Every player within the vicinity eagerly checked their own status screens and sure enough, there was a new mount function in their panel!
At the same time, some players also noticed that the Crypt Spiders had become like the indigenous elves, and they couldn’t attack them anymore.
Whenever the players harbored the intent to attack, they found themselves paralyzed, unable to act.
The only mount currently available in the system was the Crypt Spider.
However, in order to truly acquire the mount, they had to first locate Spider Queen Rose and fulfill her corresponding tasks.
Yet, the most crucial requirement was the matter of favorability.
They needed to raise Spider Queen Rose’s favorability to at least 20 points!
Wait… raise her favorability?
The players were momentarily stunned, with each of them actively checking their favorability rating with Rose the Spider Queen.
When they saw their favorability rating, they were all taken aback, but at the same time, a sense of “just as expected” washed over them.
“What the heck! Minus 50 points!”
“What the heck! I have the same!”
“Oh f*ck… How am I at -100?”
“Pfft… Bash, isn’t it obvious? It was your team that provoked her in the first place. I mean, seriously, what did you guys even do to make her so furious?”
“Cough… We just threw a few homemade explosive packs into their lair…” Calabash stammered, rubbing the back of his neck.
Other players: “…..”
“Then you guys can forget about having a spider mount for the rest of your lives…”
Calabash: “…..”
Boxlunch: “…..”
Upon seeing their individual favorability ratings…
The players finally grasped the true meaning behind the goddess’s parting words, which urged them to persevere until the very end.
¹ (???) – Monster girl is a fictional trope of a female who is or shares visual traits with a monster.
² (??) – B?nzi, is the Chinese term for self-published print works, such as manga or novels. I used the word ‘doujinshi‘ since it’s the more widely known term for such derivative works, at least within the anime community.
³ (?????) – The author used the term ‘gentlemanly discussions’ on this part which have the same connotation with the popular meme ‘Man of Culture‘
? (?? / ??) – This is a chinese word play. The two is pronounced the same but the former refers to ‘Lolth‘ the Spider Goddess from the game Dungeons and Dragons while the latter is the character typically used in female names that has ‘Rose‘ in it.
? Slyvan Elf – A term used in the game Dungeons and Dragon referring to elves.