The molting from leveling up freed my torso and legs from the apes' grasp.
The monkeys' hands clutched two layers of old skin stacked together.
The great collapse of threads managed to knock most of the apes down to the ground, but those that had latched onto the makeshift platform were still going strong.
That said, their bodies were already caught in the platform's threads.
I added more threads to immobilize them completely, then finished each one off with Poison Fang.
The moment I drove the last one home, I let out a long breath of relief.
It wasn't over yet, but I'd survived one wave.
I whipped the part of my mind threatening to relax back into shape.
It wasn't over yet.
The apes weren't all dead.
I couldn't let my guard down until every last one of them was gone.
I immediately left the makeshift platform and looked down at what was happening below.
A staggering scene spread out before me.
The remains of apes pinned by threads and slammed into the ground, and the ones crushed beneath them.
And even amid that grisly tableau, surviving apes who had yet to lose their will to fight.
I set to work installing new threads on the wall right away.
The apes hadn't given up.
Once they regrouped, they'd come at me again.
Before that happened, I needed to have my own preparations in order.
More reinforcements were still pouring in.
Seriously, how many of these things are there?
Give me a break.
And among those reinforcements, something that absolutely should not have been there had appeared.
《Bagragratch Level 3 — Appraisal of Status failed》 《Bagragratch Level 4 — Appraisal of Status failed》 《Bagragratch Level 6 — Appraisal of Status failed》 A massive, crocodile-like maw.
Countless saw-like, vicious teeth were visible inside it.
Their body length looked to be about twice that of the regular apes.
They were thick, too.
Deformed giant apes stood there.
This was the first Monster in this wide area that I hadn't encountered before.
The apes' species name was Anogratch.
I should've caught on when I saw the similar name.
Those giant apes were the evolved form of the apes.
A Monster that should never have shown up as part of the apes' reinforcements had come after all.
There were three of them, lumbering into view.
Their Levels were on the lower end compared to what I'd seen, but since they were a higher-tier Monster, I couldn't afford to count on low Levels meaning much.
For starters, even regular apes were tough opponents in a straight fight, so there was no way their evolution would be weak.
From their looks alone, they were incredibly menacing — far beyond anything the apes could compare to. I'd better treat them as something on an entirely different level.
They probably weren't on par with an Earth Dragon, but three enemies stronger than the apes was no joke.
The difficulty had just ratcheted up again.
I froze for only a split second.
The surviving apes had started moving again, and that jolted my consciousness back to reality.
The apes dodged the collapsed clumps of thread, took wide detours, and began scaling the walls once more from both sides.
Their movements made it clear just how wary they were of the threads.
Truly annoying opponents.
I kept a close eye on the giant apes while continuing to lay down additional threads.
The giant apes still hadn't moved.
Were they not that proactive about coordinating with the regular apes?
I could only hope, but I couldn't afford to be optimistic.
I had to stay alert to their every move at all times.
The apes didn't seem to be throwing rocks anymore.
It either wasn't effective enough, or the collapsed clumps of thread were getting in the way and the rocks couldn't reach me.
They'd apparently ditched the rock-throwing and were focusing on climbing the walls instead.
That was fine by me.
That rock-throwing had been genuinely troublesome.
It chipped away at my HP, disrupted my movements, and was just an all-around nuisance.
Good riddance.
Then the giant apes made their move.
With a deliberate motion, one of them lifted a boulder.
Wait — a boulder!?
It lifted it easily just now, but was that boulder the same kind that was embedded in the walls of this makeshift platform!?!
It should've been buried deep in the ground, yet it tore one out with barely any effort!!?!
The thin-sliced versions of those boulders had been absurdly heavy!?!?!
What was it planning to do with that thing?
Hold on — why was it winding up to throw?
No way!?
I scrambled to evacuate from the makeshift platform.
A split second later, the boulder smashed into it like a cannonball.
When the billowing dust finally settled, the makeshift platform had been beautifully flattened beneath the rock.
You've got to be kidding me.
What kind of insane strength was that?
If I'd taken a direct hit from that, I'd be dead on the spot, no question.
Fortunately, there were no more conveniently sized boulders near the giant apes.
That ridiculous cannonball wouldn't be coming my way again.
But my last line of defense — the makeshift platform — had been obliterated in one shot.
From here on, I had to fight without it.
That was bad.
Losing the platform's defensive cover was a problem, sure, but the lack of footing was the biggest issue of all.
The reason I'd been able to counterattack the apes was that I had a solid platform beneath my feet and could focus entirely on offense.
Without footing, my body could plummet at the slightest misstep.
I was tethered to the ceiling by threads, so I wouldn't fall all the way to the ground upside-down, but I'd be left completely vulnerable all the same.
If I showed even a sliver of an opening like that, the apes would be on me in an instant.
I made my decision quickly.
I'd throw together a makeshift platform — something rough, anything to stand on.
I wouldn't be able to spend that time installing threads elsewhere, but if the apes closed in, I wouldn't have time to build footing anyway.
If I didn't do it now, I'd regret it later.
Alright!
A platform roughly large enough for me to stand and move on — done!
I'd meet the apes head-on from here.
Defense battle, round two — begin.