Keizeix stared at the glowing blue screen hovering in the darkness.
**Searching for surviving Chosen Ones...**
The words pulsed several times before vanishing.
For the first time since awakening in this world, Keizeix felt genuinely nervous about something that had nothing to do with whether someone wanted to kill him.
A new notification appeared.
**Search complete.**
**Compatible Chosen One signatures detected.**
**Communication Network available.**
Keizeix's breath caught.
"Others..."
The memories came immediately.
Denver.
The mountains.
His friends.
The camps.
The last ten thousand humans gathered together while Zeithia prepared to devour them.
Earth exploding.
That gentle old voice.
*I'm sorry my children. This is the best I can do.*
Keizeix stared at the screen with wide eyes.
"Did she save them too?"
He focused on Communication Network.
The blue window expanded so quickly that he almost recoiled.
Messages appeared one after another.
Some were written in English.
Others Japanese.
Chinese.
Spanish.
Languages he couldn't even recognize.
**Where am I?!**
**IS ANYONE ELSE FROM EARTH?**
**I'M ALIVE!**
**I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM!**
**Can anyone hear me?**
**What happened to Earth?!**
Keizeix felt something tighten painfully inside his chest.
They remembered.
At least some of them remembered.
Earth wasn't simply a nightmare lingering inside his own mind.
Others had survived whatever had happened after their deaths.
He wanted desperately to answer.
To ask whether anyone from Denver was there.
Whether the four friends who had survived alongside him until the end had reincarnated too.
He focused on sending a message.
A prompt immediately appeared.
**Public Communication requires establishment of a personal System designation.**
**Current designation: Keizeix Silversilk**
**Would you like to use current designation?**
Keizeix hesitated.
If everyone remembered Earth, using the name Keizeix meant nobody would recognize Yuto.
But using Yuto could expose his previous identity someday if this network became dangerous.
He didn't know who else had been reincarnated.
Humanity had contained good people.
It had also contained monsters wearing human skin.
And now those people might have magic.
Power.
Entire new races.
Keizeix dismissed the prompt.
"Later."
It hurt, but he needed information before revealing himself.
He continued silently reading.
Some Chosen Ones had apparently reincarnated as humans.
Others hadn't.
One message claimed its sender was an elf.
Another was screaming about being some kind of slime.
Someone else insisted they had hatched from an egg.
Keizeix couldn't help himself.
He laughed quietly.
"So I'm not the only one who got screwed on the body selection."
Then he glanced at his eight legs.
"Though honestly I might've gotten lucky."
The network remained open for nearly an hour before Keizeix finally forced himself to close it.
He would investigate later.
For now, he had something equally important to do.
Beat Sia.
---
Morning arrived with Shirespoke discovering Keizeix already awake and stretching his legs.
"Good," Shirespoke said. "You appear considerably less exhausted."
"I learned my lesson."
"Truly?"
"Probably."
Shirespoke frowned.
"That answer concerns me."
Keizeix laughed and followed him outside.
Sia was waiting.
She looked irritatingly confident.
Keizeix immediately narrowed his eyes.
Sia returned the gesture.
Neither spoke.
Marike looked between them.
"Oh dear."
Shirespoke sighed.
"At least wait until after breakfast before trying to murder one another."
"I would never murder my brother," Sia said sweetly.
Keizeix nodded.
"Same."
They continued staring.
Marike leaned toward Shirespoke.
"They absolutely would."
"Without hesitation."
After feeding, the two groups prepared to depart.
Keizeix checked his system one final time.
His Mana had completely recovered.
He had also confirmed something important.
His Magic statistic and Mana capacity were directly connected.
Increasing Magic increased the amount of Mana available to power Shadow Mist.
That made Magic considerably more valuable than he'd originally realized.
"Today," he whispered, "we train everything."
Sia glanced toward him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Planning excuses already?"
Keizeix clicked his fangs.
"Planning how far ahead of you I'll be tonight."
Sia's entire posture stiffened.
"Keep dreaming."
They separated.
---
Keizeix approached the battlefield differently this time.
Yesterday Shadow Mist had been a toy.
Today it was a weapon.
He refused to waste Mana jumping randomly from shadow to shadow.
Instead he moved normally until reaching dangerous positions, using Shadow Mist only when it provided a clear advantage.
A mage released a lance of flame.
Keizeix sank into the shadow beneath a corpse.
The flame passed overhead.
He emerged beneath another soldier and killed him instantly.
**Kill registered.**
Another knight attacked.
Keizeix dodged normally.
He used silk to catch the man's sword arm, pulled him off balance, then drove a front leg through a gap beneath the breastplate.
**Kill registered.**
"No Mana needed."
He grinned.
That became his rhythm.
Physical combat.
Webbing.
Stinger.
Fangs.
Then Shadow Mist whenever the battlefield offered an opportunity worth the expenditure.
His Mana climbed steadily as his Magic statistic increased, even while he continued consuming it.
**Magic increased.**
**Mana capacity increased.**
Hours passed.
Keizeix began experimenting with how little time he needed to remain in shadow form.
A complete transition cost more than briefly allowing an attack to pass through him.
Short-distance travel cost less than crossing huge sections of battlefield.
Moving between connected areas of darkness seemed easier than forcing himself across isolated shadows.
"So distance matters. Duration matters. Probably complexity too."
He disappeared beneath a shield.
Reappeared behind three mages.
Killed the first.
Webbed the second.
Bit the third.
Then drove a leg through the trapped mage before vanishing again.
His guards struggled hopelessly behind him.
"PRINCE KEIZEIX!"
"I'm fine!"
"YOU ARE THREE FORMATIONS AHEAD OF US!"
"I SAID I'M FINE!"
A ball of fire exploded where he'd been standing.
Keizeix emerged from a shadow thirty feet away.
"Mostly!"
The battle continued.
His statistics surged.
Two thousand.
Three thousand.
Four.
The growth felt increasingly different.
His body became harder.
Faster.
His silk stronger.
His reactions sharpened.
Even his perception of magic improved.
By late afternoon his system displayed numbers that would have seemed impossible only two days before.
**Name: Keizeix Silversilk**
**Race: Spiderling — Silversilk Clan**
**Rank: Intermediate**
**Strength: 6,784 / 10,000**
**Health: 6,293 / 10,000**
**Magic: 5,917 / 10,000**
**Intelligence: 6,451 / 10,000**
**Mana: 5,917 / 5,917**
**Abilities:**
**Consumption Heal**
**Shadow Mist**
Keizeix stared at the numbers during a brief rest.
"Almost seven thousand Strength."
His original twelve suddenly seemed laughable.
Yet something else fascinated him.
The stronger he became, the harder each additional increase appeared to earn.
At low numbers, battlefield experience had sent his statistics skyrocketing.
Now thousands of kills didn't translate into equally ridiculous advancement.
"So the higher I go, the more experience it takes."
That made sense.
Otherwise someone could simply slaughter weak creatures forever and become infinitely powerful.
His system apparently didn't work that way.
Keizeix looked back toward the battlefield.
"Good."
If power was easy, it wasn't worth much.
He closed the window.
"And Sia is probably still fighting."
That thought alone sent him charging back into combat.
---
Sunset painted the battlefield red.
Keizeix's group finally withdrew when Shirespoke's orders reached his guards.
Keizeix protested until they physically surrounded him.
"I can still fight!"
"The army commander ordered withdrawal!"
"Five more minutes!"
"No!"
"Two!"
"NO!"
Keizeix reluctantly returned.
His first action at camp was to check his kill count.
He stared.
Then stared harder.
**Kills today: 18,764**
His excitement immediately transformed into suspicion.
"That's either enough..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"...or she's going to ruin my evening."
---
The joint dinner hall was almost painfully quiet.
Keizeix sat on one side.
Sia sat opposite.
Shirespoke ate calmly.
Marike was pretending to do the same.
Nobody mentioned kill counts.
Keizeix finally looked at Sia.
"How was your day?"
"Excellent."
"How excellent?"
"Very."
"Specific."
"You seem worried."
"I'm not worried."
"You look worried."
"I don't even have a human face. How can I look worried?"
"I can tell."
Keizeix clicked his fangs.
Sia's legs tapped smugly against the floor.
Then the reporting guard entered.
Both immediately straightened.
Shirespoke covered his face with one hand.
Marike smiled.
The guard bowed.
"Prince Keizeix. Princess Sia. Mentors."
He opened the first scroll.
"Princess Sia Silversilk achieved eighteen thousand seven hundred sixty-three confirmed kills."
Keizeix froze.
Sia's entire body lifted proudly.
"Eighteen thousand seven hundred sixty-three," she repeated slowly.
Her eyes locked onto Keizeix.
"How unfortunate for you."
Keizeix said nothing.
She leaned forward.
"Brother?"
The guard opened the second scroll.
"Prince Keizeix Silversilk achieved eighteen thousand seven hundred sixty-four confirmed kills."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Sia's smug posture collapsed.
Keizeix slowly turned toward her.
One of his legs tapped the floor.
Once.
"One."
Sia's eyes widened.
Keizeix leaned forward.
"One."
"You..."
"Single."
"You insufferable—"
"Kill."
Sia slammed several feet into the floor.
"ONE DOESN'T COUNT!"
Keizeix practically vibrated with satisfaction.
"According to mathematics, it definitely counts."
"You beat me by ONE!"
"Correct."
"That is barely a victory!"
"A victory is a victory."
Sia froze.
Keizeix recognized her expression instantly.
Those were her exact words from yesterday.
Shirespoke began laughing.
Marike tried desperately not to.
Sia glared at Keizeix with such intensity that Keizeix wondered if her mysterious black-purple lightning might spontaneously appear.
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
"I currently strongly dislike you."
"That's fair."
"I will destroy you tomorrow."
"Looking forward to it."
Their mentors finally lost control.
Shirespoke laughed loudly.
Marike pointed accusingly toward him.
"Do not celebrate! One kill is meaningless!"
"Strange! Yesterday you claimed victory was victory!"
"Different circumstances!"
"Of course!"
Sia continued seething.
Keizeix continued gloating.
Neither stopped until dinner ended.
---
That night Keizeix checked the Chosen One communication network again.
Thousands of messages waited.
He silently read several before closing it.
He still wasn't ready to announce himself.
But knowing they existed brought him a strange comfort.
Earth was gone.
Humanity wasn't.
Not completely.
Eventually he fell asleep.
---
"Young master."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Keizeix opened his eyes.
Morning again.
He crawled from bed as Shirespoke entered.
"Ready?"
Keizeix grinned.
"Absolutely."
Outside, Sia was already waiting.
She didn't greet him.
Keizeix didn't greet her.
They simply stared.
Marike sighed.
Shirespoke smiled.
The army began moving.
At the edge of camp, their assigned forces divided toward their separate sections of the battlefield.
Sia turned toward Keizeix.
"Today will not be decided by one."
Keizeix lowered himself, ready to sprint.
"I agree."
"Good."
"I'll make it two."
Sia hissed.
Keizeix laughed.
Then the prince and princess turned away from one another and charged down their separate paths toward the waiting battlefield.