Evan casually rolled the spider queen’s fang between his fingers. He watched as purple venom flowed from the open wound and onto the ground as the queen turned to flee.

“Where are you going Cho’Ga? Do you think the other Architects will let you live if they find out you ran from me?” he asked.

He rocketed across the floor, appearing in front of the spider queen in the blink of an eye. He rammed the queen’s fang into one of her eight ruby-colored eyes and smiled as the spider let out another blood-curdling screech.

“Did you think I would let you live?” he whispered to her — his voice cold and calculating as his rage cooled and Evan finally took full control of his emotions.

220 seconds

The spider thrashed underneath his grasp. Her previously silky voice took on a high-pitched whine. “I can help you, God-King! I can help you fight The Labyrinth! I am a member of the Council, I know the other member’s weaknesses and strengths, I can help!” she cried. Begging. Pleading. How unbecoming of a queen.

Fenrir growled at the fallen queen, the core’s voice filled with malice. “You are no help to us, little spider. Eons ago we fought your mother when she was also a member of the Council. It seems her foolish pride was also inherited by her equally foolish daughter.”

The queen whimpered. She used the last of her strength to impale Evan with one of her razor-sharp legs. The leg pierced through Evan’s back and jutted out the middle of his chest. There was a slight twinge of pain, but the summoner only smiled. At that moment the queen realized why the old members of the council had been terrified of this man’s return. She shuddered as she stared into the pitch-black eyes of Death.

“Your time is not done Cho’Ga. Like your mother before you, you will continue to serve me even after your death. Now you will help me protect the humans from losing their world as we have lost ours,” Evan whispered.

230 seconds.

Evan activated [Black Mana Threads]. Dozens of threads of black mana shot from the tips of his fingers and wrapped themselves around the giant spider’s legs, pinning her to the ground. Trapped by threads, just like the queen’s victims. He laughed at the irony.

The queen screeched and withered as he sliced her into pieces until, at last, the giant spider stopped moving.

240 seconds.

The cold that gripped his body pushed out further, numbing his hands and forcing him to drop the black blade. He reached into the dead queen’s thorax and pulled out a glowing red core the size of his head.

The core shifted and flowed more like a liquid than a solid crystal. He closed his eyes as he activated [Extract Shadow Core]. Evan’s will brushed up against the queen’s for only a fraction of a second before the spider retreated, unwilling to fight. The torment she had endured at his hands in the last seconds of her life had followed her into death. 

It took only seconds for Evan to overwhelm the queen. The red core shattered, and Evan breathed in the black mist.

250 seconds.

There was a moment of pause as the connection to the queen shadow formed in his mind. It was much stronger than any of the previous connections, including Tyr’s. While most of the shadows felt like spectators, Cho’Ga’s presence felt more akin to Fenrir’s.

He activated [Summon Shadow] and willed Cho’Ga to come out. The giant spider queen materialized in front of him. He watched with fascination as he studied the queen’s shadow. It looked quite different from the Cho’Ga that he had just slain. The 30-foot shadow widow’s entire body was covered in black, barbed metal plating. Her fangs had doubled in size, and pure black venom dripped from them. The eight ruby-eyes that he had been accustomed to seeing glowed a deep, bright blue.

The air around the shadow queen grew toxic as black venom excreted from her body in a black mist.

[Cho’Ga (Shadow Queen) - Level MAX]

[Rank: Hero]

This shadow was created while under the effects of [A God’s Wrath] and thus will retain all bonuses even after you are no longer under its effects.

The queen’s silky voice rang in Evan’s mind. “What can I do for you, my King?”

Evan looked into one of the shadow queen’s many giant blue eyes. “The core. Take me to it. Quickly.”

260 seconds.

Cho’Ga dipped her head in an awkward bow. “I will bring it to you, my King.”

The shadow spider turned and sprang into one of the massive purple trees around them. He watched her skitter across the trees until she disappeared.

The summoner turned to look at Tyr, who had finished slaying the rest of the spider queen’s daughters during Evans' fight with Cho’Ga. He threw the [Ring of Holding] at the shadow king. “Collect the rest of the cores,” he ordered.

Tyr nodded and sunk into the ground.

Cho’Ga returned moments later carrying an emerald-colored dungeon core between its fangs. The shadow spider set the core on the ground and slivered up Evan’s legs as he dismissed her.

Evan immediately felt Fenrir’s roaring hunger in his mind. The hunger threatened to overwhelm him, but he fought back against the core’s impulses. The years of imprisonment had regressed him back to when he and Fenrir had first bonded. Naive. Impulsive. Violent. Willful.

But that was not who The Labyrinth had grown to hate. To fear. It was only after he had mastered Fenrir’s rage and hunger that he had been able to begin to fight The Labyrinth with any real success.

He fought down Fenrir’s hunger as he latched both hands onto the green dungeon core. He grit his teeth as mana essence flowed from the core into his body. Fenrir rumbled in pleasure as the black core consumed the essence greedily.

Evan controlled the rate at which Fenrir fed. The core fought him at first, desperate to fill itself with essence, before finally relinquishing control. Several seconds passed before the glowing green core dulled and shattered in his hands.

You have consumed the essence of a green dungeon core. You have gained [50,000 total mana].

270 seconds.