Born in Blood

Chapter 448 Spider Man

It went without saying that Rank 1 creatures were nothing in Liam's eyes.

Neither were Rank 2 or Rank 3's.

Only Rank 4 creatures could pose somewhat of a threat.

…Who was he kidding?

Not even Rank 4 beasts could do anything!

Not unless they outnumbered him one to a thousand.

But then again, Liam could just teleport to safety!

So, not even an enormous swarm of Rank 4 beasts could threaten his life seriously.

Not unless they had superspeed of some kind that could nullify his Shadow Blink.

Making another arc with his swords, crushing, ripping, slicing another wave of Red Fangs, Liam abruptly stored his swords back into his ring.

Just as fast, he rushed at the spiders' corpses, forcing them into his own body.

He was using Admit!

Liam's body naturally allowed the clawed limbs and viscera from the spiders to enter through skin.

He was like a sponge. A filter.

All their black blood, disgusting guts, and hardened pieces of crimson armor flowed into his body.

Liam felt his blood contents rise again.

Using so many Shadow Blinks back to back was tiring.

However, the blood wasn't purified and converted into his own.

Unlike consuming humans, drinking the blood of a magical beast or other race, didn't result in replenishing ichor.

Instead, it was simply stored until Liam decided to do something with it.

The more black blood and spider corpses Liam absorbed, the more he realized there was something strange going on.

A strange process.

Instinctively, precise knowledge about the Red Fang Spider's anatomy entered his head.

…His Triumvirate Body, paired with his blood, was studying the spider's composition!

As it did so, it felt like an invisible percentage bar was rising higher and higher.

A few moments later, it hit a strict threshold, and his Triumvirate body had completed its 'scan'.

Instinctively, Liam felt as though he'd 'unlocked' a different form he could slip into.

He could turn into a spider himself!

Liam's Shifter abilities had been enhanced when Liam's blood had reached a Zenith level.

Even before, he could take the properties of other magical beasts.

Not their cores, obviously, nor their inherent abilities.

However, back then, he could only take some of their defenses or physical powers.

They were separate identities within the same body.

Like having a mechanical arm as a prosthetic, despite the rest of the body consisting of flesh and bone.

It could still have the functions of a hand. It could grab, push and pull.

But it could never be the same as a real arm.

It was more of a substitute, not a replacement.

But now, Liam's entire body could become one with the mechanical arm!

His physical strength as an Ashura wouldn't go anywhere, either.

One had to remember that although the exterior of Liam's body was made out of a Shifter, the interior was still Ashuran.

Through the usage of his Rank 4 blood, the incredibly rigid muscles of his Ashuran side could change shape and texture.

'No reason to delay it then,' Liam thought with a slight smile.

The waves of spiders slowly lurched backwards as they sensed danger.

Liam contemplated whether or not to declare a cringey catchphrase as he transformed, but decided against it.

Liam's skin and body slowly cracked, changing color, texture and size.

His quad arms and human legs twisted and turned, shredding the clothes on his back.

His form slowly became thinner.

His skin turned a shade of dark crimson, gaining a hardened consistency that of stone.

Liam's torso turned flat and streamlined, turning into a cephalothorax!

His lower body expanded like a balloon, becoming an abdomen.

Thin and wide limbs emerged from his cephalothorax and abdomen.

Two red fangs burst from his mouth.

Eight beady black eyes fluttered open from his front.

Silence.

Becoming a spider was… strange.

Liam's perspective was parallel to the ground.

And he had several perspectives, as though he was looking through cracked glass.

One of his eyes was brighter than the rest.

It was the King's Eye, with a slit-like shape and miniature size.

Each of his irises twirled in different directions.

His Pearl and core were in between his thorax and core, nicely protected and fortified.

The two red fangs emerging from his gruesome maw had a vein of poison that led to its tip.

The source of the poison were two glands located in where Liam's shoulders were supposed to be.

At the same time, he felt… nimble.

Lethal. Hungry for blood.

Maybe that was just a side effect of turning into a predatorial beast.

His abdomen was filled with red silk, made from Liam's own blood. In fact, he could form Sanguine Strings from them!

Although the Red Fangs were fire elementals, since their strings could catch fire, Liam didn't gain their powers.

All he had was their form, and their bodily functions.

That was it.

Despite that, he wasn't uncomfortable in the least.

He didn't feel like a monster.

He didn't feel like a human.

He didn't feel like a demon.

'I'm a... spider man.'

Meanwhile, the spiders watching were visibly stunned.

They had no facial expressions.

But they were screeching violently earlier, and now they were abruptly quiet.

If they were to have a human-shaped face, it'd be one of pure confusion mixed with shock.

"Nothing to see here, folks," Liam said in his spider form.

His voice was unpleasant and sounded more like a hiss due to having no tongue.

"Don't mind me. Just another spider."

Silence.

Although initially confused, the spiders realized that this was not a member of their species.

Thus, they screeched in anger and encircled him.

'Worth a try,' Liam thought with an inward shrug.

The time to play was over.

Shrouded with shadow, Liam lurched into the crowd of spiders with a swiftness and speed he didn't have before.

In terms of size, he was still human shaped.

But his streamlined and narrow body gave him more versatility in terms of movement.

PKSH!

His abdomen shot out a streak of silk, which directly shot inside a Rank 4 Red Fang's thorax, killing it instantly.

Liam felt the Rank 5 creature's gaze burning into his back.

It was getting impatient!

'I wonder how long I have until he comes out.'