CHAPTER 95: CHAPTER 95: LEVEL 20!

"Splat."

Black liquid suddenly poured from the [Ice Spider Queen]’s belly wound, splashing onto the snow and filling the air with a sickening stench.

Ethan widened his eyes, staring at the wound he’d just made.

A twisted human face appeared there—eyes pitch-black, skin white as paper. Its facial muscles twitched stiffly, making it look hideous and terrifying.

Foul black liquid kept oozing from its nostrils and mouth, quickly soaking the snow beneath it.

Ethan felt something was wrong. He backed away fast, lifted his arm, and glanced at his watch.

[Name]: Windchaser

[Talents]: Pain Resistance (Blue), Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward (Unknown)

[Level]: Lv. 19

[Class]: Berserk Blood War God

[Status]: Poisoned

...

So that dizziness and weak hands just now—he really was poisoned.

While he could still control his body, Ethan didn’t hesitate. He pulled a pill from his [Inventory] and tossed it into his mouth.

It was the [Universal Antidote Pill] Shane had given him back in the underground cave.

[Universal Antidote Pill]

[Quality]: Blue-quality

[Requirements]: None

[Item Effect]: After taking it, it clears common poisons and boosts the user’s poison resistance for the next 30 minutes.

[Note]: A must-have for any adventurer.

After Ethan took the [Universal Antidote Pill], he felt a bit better right away. The weakness slowly faded.

He didn’t have time to think about when he got poisoned. He tightened his grip on his long blade and moved in to attack again.

With the [Universal Antidote Pill], his poison resistance would be higher for the next 30 minutes. Even if Ethan was poisoned again, he could still keep some fighting power.

But then, something unbelievable happened.

From the wound on the [Ice Spiders Queen]’s belly, a pair of sharp black claws suddenly pushed out and began to pry the cut open with force.

Something inside the [Ice Spider Queen] was desperately trying to crawl out!

The queen’s body convulsed beyond its control. Its black-red eyes blinked crazily.

It spotted the huge ice pillar behind it and, without hesitation, slammed itself into it.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Heavy crashes kept booming, and dark blue blood splattered everywhere.

Right now, the [Ice Spiders Queen] was actually trying to kill herself!

In the next moment, those black claws ripped a gash more than a meter long in the queen’s belly.

Even more black fluid poured out.

A naked black monster fully crawled out.

At first glance, its body looked about the same as a normal human, except there were six evenly spaced black eyes on its chest.

Serena had just seen Ethan put some distance between himself and the [Ice Spiders Queen]. She hadn’t even had time to breathe a sigh of relief when, the instant this monster appeared, all the nearby [Ice Spiders] started trembling like they had seen their natural enemy, nervous and afraid.

She didn’t know much about the [Ice Spider Queen]. The NPC who gave her the class change quest hadn’t told her much.

At this point, Serena refused to just sit and wait for death.

She gritted her teeth, pushed up her shaky body, and slowly crawled toward the base of the ice pillar.

On the other side, Ethan watched the black monster quickly stretch its body. He didn’t understand what was going on, but now he had to be decisive.

So he took a deep breath, raised the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife], and burst forward at full speed, charging the black monster.

He shot across the snow like an arrow—fast as lightning.

Right now, Ethan felt no fear of the black monster, only excitement.

This thing was clearly different from the [Ice Spiders]. If he killed it, it would definitely drop a high-quality Intel reward.

So he didn’t hesitate and kept pressing the attack.

But just as he was about to reach it, the black liquid at the monster’s feet suddenly floated up in a strange way.

The liquid moved like it was alive and gathered on the monster’s right arm.

In an instant, its right hand—once like a beast’s claw—turned into a pitch-black longsword and stabbed at Ethan.

Ethan didn’t dodge. He pushed off hard, leaped high, flipped in the air, and dropped toward the monster’s back.

The monster didn’t expect that and was still in its thrusting pose.

As Ethan was about to land, he brought his blade down.

"Clang!"

A sharp impact rang out, sparks flying.

The black monster’s body was hard as steel. The [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] couldn’t break its defense at all.

Feeling the strike from behind, it spun on the spot.

Its sword-like arm cut through the air, swinging fast toward Ethan’s head.

"Clang!"

Another sharp clash rang out, followed by the sound of something skidding over the snow.

At the instant the monster attacked, Ethan raised his long knife and blocked it head-on.

But the black monster was strong too, sending Ethan sliding backward four or five meters.

Still, that opened some distance between them again. Ethan stared at the monster, excitement burning brighter in his eyes.

For most players, weaker enemies are better.

But for Ethan, he hoped this monster was stronger. The stronger the monster, the better the Intel reward it would drop when he killed it.

Ethan took a deep breath and quietly looked at the [Ice Spiders] near the monster, all shivering with fear.

He also saw Serena slowly climbing down from the ice pillar.

A bold idea flashed in his mind. He let out a slow breath and charged the monster at full speed again!

Four or five meters vanished in a blink.

Ethan used the same trick, using the [Wolfskin Boots]’ Equip Effect to jump into the air at the key moment.

This time, the black monster didn’t wait for him to land. It sprang up hard and met him in midair.

The pitch-black eyes on its chest all snapped open at once.

At once, Ethan felt that familiar dizziness and weakness, though not as strong as before.

Only then did he figure out how he got poisoned.

Just meeting the monster’s black eyes made him dizzy and weak. This poisoning method was really strange.

Thankfully, the [Universal Antidote Pill] he had taken was still working.

Even though the monster’s way of poisoning was strange, the toxin itself seemed common. Otherwise, the [Universal Antidote Pill] wouldn’t have worked.

Ethan and the monster were both in midair, very close. The monster’s arm, like a long sword, sliced through a snowflake and kept thrusting toward Ethan’s chest.

Ethan didn’t panic. This was what he wanted.

"Ding!"

The blade of the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] once again blocked the strike in front of his chest.

An invisible force blasted the scattered snowflakes outward.

Ethan and the black monster were sent flying too.

But Ethan flew toward the shivering [Ice Spiders], who had no idea the danger was coming.

That’s right—his plan was to use these [Ice Spiders] to level up.

He was level 19 now and had already killed many [Ice Spiders]. He only needed a few more to reach level 20.

Once he hit 20, he could switch to Purple-quality gear and get stronger.

He had wanted to kill the [Ice Spiders Queen], but she was far too close to the black monster.

The monster could use that moment—while he attacked the [Ice Spiders Queen]—to seriously wound him.

Ethan didn’t want to take that risk. The most important thing was to kill the black monster and make it drop high-quality Intel rewards.

When Ethan landed behind one [Ice Spider] with his long knife in hand, it didn’t react at all. It was still shaking at the black monster.

Ethan didn’t hesitate. His blade struck fast and true, right into a vital spot.

Only then did the black monster realize what he was doing, and it rushed toward him.

Clearly, it had some intelligence.

But because of their clash in the air, there was still some distance between them. Ethan kept cutting down the helpless [Ice Spiders] around him while also widening the gap from the monster.

One [Ice Spider] after another went down, and Ethan was getting closer to leveling up.

Soon, he’d kill the black monster and get the Intel reward.

But the black monster suddenly stopped, opened its mouth, and let out a piercing roar.

The [Ice Spiders] around Ethan panicked, as if struck by a fear carved into their bones. They scattered in all directions. Only one slow [Ice Spider] was still within his attack range.

Ethan swung once and ended its life.

Then he stood still, slowly raised his head, and looked at the black monster.

At that moment, Ethan’s level rose from 19 to 20.