Law of The Web - Volume 1 Chapter 8 - The Pit IV

Gideon’s chest heaved as he tried to steady his breathing, but the phantom pain still gripped his body like icy chains. He wasn’t sure what had just happened. His vision swam behind the coarse ropes bound around his eyes.

He almost fell to the ground, but he managed to hold himself up; he had just died; he knew his reaction should be more human; he should be screaming, crying, or running away. Yet something in his soul was holding his sanity together—well, trying to keep it stable at least.

His mind went back to a familiar conversation he heard once.

“Ah, more contributions from the Black Web gang, egh?”

Bram said smoothly, his voice deep and velvety but carrying a cold tone behind it. He tapped the edge of his monocle, and a faint hum echoed as he examined each child.

“It seems the young master’s request has spread far and wide in such a short time.”

But at that moment he didn’t pay it too much mind; his thoughts were elsewhere at the time of his reset.

As such, Gideon looked around; he was trembling, his heart beating fast—excessively fast—the phantom pain could be felt all over his body.

His memories flash back to the last moment before his death.

The woman sighs.

The horrific screams of the children.

The unbearable pain.

He died at that moment.

But at this moment, his body felt alive.

Whole even, but every nerve screamed in protest as if remembering an agony that had already passed. His mind spun as the voice in his head spoke, calm and detached.

“Cause of death: You died by the <<Faceless>> ability of an unnamed Slaughter Route practitioner at the 4th Transformation <<Mistress of Death>> one of the evolution routes of the slaughter transformations. You have returned to a random checkpoint in time. The time till your fated death is 4 minutes and 18 seconds. Your objective is to survive and defy fate; only by succumbing to fate and defying it can you cultivate the Primordial Spider Lily.”

“Your sanity has permanently fallen slightly. Fated End 2 has been documented in the Thread of Fate.”

“Your Law Beast, Primordial Spider Lily, has grown slightly stronger. As a result, your soul has become more resilient.”

“You have successfully defied fate; your Law Beast, Primordial Spider Lily, has grown stronger, and as a result, so too has your soul. You have reached the third step of the Awakening Stage.”

“You have awakened a new Law ability under the Aspect of Fusion: <<Gore Web>>: This ability gives one complete control over the circulatory system of themselves. However, your blood vessels can also fuse and stick to matter like a spider web. Warning! It may Cause Anemia and drain one’s stamina.”

Looking at it, Gideon’s eyes open wide, as he said to himself.

‘I guess this confirms it… Every time I die, I go back in time to a random ass checkpoint.’

‘Sigh… What the hell was that? How did I even die? No, wait… Don’t tell me, could something like that actually be real?’

Gideon muttered to himself, the voice in his head confirming what he dreaded, yet it was still hard to accept. His mind replayed the woman’s chilling words just moments before his horrific death.

“Too late to ask, anyway… Such a pity this one seemed like a gem; shame he looked at my face.”

‘No way… hehehe… that can’t be possible, right?’

Gideon said to himself, yet he could not deny the truth before his eyes; if he could go back in time, then surely one could die by looking at someone’s face.

‘I guess it’s true then.’

He said to himself.

‘I died because I looked at her face… so that power of hers, <<Faceless>>, is a power that can kill anyone in a horrific manner. The condition of its activating, however, is that one needs to look at her face, and judging by her last comment, it’s a passive ability too, and by the looks of it, one gets that power when one reaches the 4th transformation of one of the evolution paths of the slaughter routes, <<Mistress of Death>>, meaning it can’t turn off… so once you look, you fulfill the conditions for it to work.’

Gideon inwardly thought to himself.

He paused, his thoughts delving deeper into the situation.

‘I looked at her, but unlike with Bram…

He frowned.

‘Well, sort of. With Bram, at least I could see some personal information using <<I Spy>>. But with her? Not a single trace of personal information showed up. Nothing. Not even the barest hint.’

“Well, at least I gained 2 things, at the cost of my life this time around… 1st was information, and 2nd is a new power.”

Gideon whispered his words, barely audible to the ear.

“Information-wise, I know how I’m going to die. That’s one advantage. Secondly, I’m beginning to understand this power system. Cultivation in this world feels like a game—or more accurately, like a class progression system through beast evolution. It seems there are various types of cultivation, all centered around beasts. So far, I’ve only learned about what’s called orthodox cultivation.”

Gideon softly said as he continued.

“From what I’ve gathered, orthodox cultivation works like class changes or progression. There are levels to it: transformations, and each transformation unlocks new abilities. The further one progresses, the stronger the powers become.”

‘It is like a level-up system in a weird way… but more evolution-wise.’

He thought to himself and then whispered under his breath once more.

“But it’s not limited to one type… for example, Clark and his goon seem to belong to a different type, while Bram and that four-eyed cat girl appear to follow the same route: the <<Slaughter Route>>.”

He affirmed to himself and continued.

“The voice in my head also mentioned that there are multiple variations of the Slaughter Route; this also means there should also be different variations of other routes as well, though I don’t fully understand how those work yet. However, judging by how my own Law Beast operates, it seems likely that these routes involve their own unique Law Beasts as well, which evolve and shape the practitioner through the transformations of their chosen path of evolution.”

Gideon said to himself, his whisper barely audible but still very noticeable.

On the other hand, he was knocked out of his stupor when he heard Clark’s voice call out to him.

“Oi, shut up, will you, brat?”

He said in a threatening voice, on the other hand, the same thing as before played out like before.

He passed Bram, who looked at him and asked him for his name, to which he replied in the same manner as before, introducing himself as Axter.

The same thing happened, like before.

“I’ll be watching you.”

On the other hand, after Bram spoke those words, everything unfolded just as Gideon remembered. Events seemed to blur together, yet he found himself once again swallowed by that suffocating darkness. The terrified screams of the other kids pierced the void, echoing as loudly as before, and the voice in his head resurfaced, calmly explaining the existence of the soul worm.

This time, though, something was different. His resistance had grown stronger. Where he once felt an overwhelming wave of paranoia; an all-consuming, mind-numbing dread.

He now found himself clinging to a fragile thread of clarity. The paranoia hadn’t vanished; it was still there, lurking, gnawing at the edges of his mind. But now he felt like he could fight back against the madness, just enough to avoid being dragged under.

The true test came when she appeared.

The same thick green-haired, barefooted cat girl that had a face to die for—literally.

She was a terrifying woman—well, her power at least; just killing with looks alone was a scary thought when you think about it.

Regardless, this time around he wouldn’t dare to look at her; after all, he did not want to die in such a horrific way again.

Although, just like before, Gideon didn’t lose consciousness, and the fear was not as bad as before, it was still very much there.

But this time around, instead of succumbing to fear or becoming an object of her curiosity, he made a conscious decision. He would avoid her attention at all costs.

Feigning sleepiness, he slumped against the floor with the other kids, forcing his body to relax while his mind stayed razor-sharp. Every muscle begged him to run, to lash out, to do something, but he knew better now. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He wouldn’t let her notice him. Not this time.

He had no intention of dying again, especially not in that twisted, nightmarish way.

‘Please don’t notice me, please don’t notice me, please don’t notice me…

That was the only thing he could think about at that moment, and like before, the sound of footsteps came closer.

As she walked past him, Gideon kept his head down, every fiber of his being urging him to stay still. He didn’t know exactly what she was doing, but if he had to guess, she was likely evaluating the children, sizing up their potential, much like Bram had been doing earlier.

He dared not make a sound, barely even breathing as her presence loomed over him. Then, just like that, she moved on.

The moment she passed, an overwhelming wave of relief washed over him, his tightly wound nerves loosening for the first time since her arrival. It felt as if his soul itself exhaled, but before he could fully savor the reprieve, the voice in his head interrupted.

“Your soul is being analyzed by the <<Eyes of Destiny>>; due to the unique status of your soul, the <<Eyes of Destiny>> cannot perceive your fate.”

Gideon froze, the weight of the words sinking in.

Then the voice continued.

“Your fate has changed once more. You have earned the interest of a Mistress of Death.”