LCD Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

I'm pretty sure the misunderstandings here are coming from the fact that there's both a Hero/Demon King Title and a Hero/Demon King Skill.

Frankly, I don't recall which one is the unique one (I think it's the title). Whichever one isn't unique can be obtained by anybody (I think it's the skill, because if I'm remembering correctly Shiro purchased the Demon King [skill?] from the skill catalogue with points).

 

from chapter 240

even shiro/kumo got the title.

granting the titles drains the system of its (already depleted) energy
this was why ariel commanded the demons to leave the hero (julius) alone and lashed out when one general disobeyed her order.

 

Thanks. You guys saved me some time.

 

..... the novel is dead again lol

 

rip

 

The author's busy with the Light Novel, I take it?

 

Yeah, the author's likely busy with the Light Novel.
That makes sense, considering the Light Novel diverges a lot from the Web Novel, after volume 3, so the author is basically rewriting a ton for each volume.

 

What part is vol 3 ?

 

Volume 2 ends at the point Shun receives the Hero title.
Note that the "War" chapters that came before it weren't in Vol 2.

In any case, both Vol 1 and 2 have plenty of differences (mostly on the Shun-side timeline), but I'm told those changes become much more apparent in Kumoko-side by Vol 3, which IIRC is the fight against the Fire Dragon, resulting in the first meeting with Kuro.

 

I think the shift of focus from kumiko in the labyrinth to the focus on administrators and the outside made me lose interest in the story.

 

It's the shift and the resulting mystery that drew me in.... What happened? who is the demon lord? Where is our cute spider and so on...

 

I wrote some summaries of the LNs some time ago:

1-3: https://pastebin.com/i6wjAhBS
4: https://pastebin.com/HZDM9tb9
5: https://pastebin.com/qBDTZUZJ
6: https://pastebin.com/Rdg361UL

I should really write up a proper summary of 7 and 8 sometime...

 

Man, those are long.
Good job.

 

It has been years since I last read the story so I am rereading it now. And now that I am in the middle of it, I remember how much I hate the SS chapters. Specifically when Shun is the narrator. It just becomes a generic reincarnated Japanese who is all goody-goody and naive as fuck. He thinks everybody should be friends and enemies shouldn't be killed. Even though they killed your parents and hurt your friends. Gahg I want to skip all those SS chapters, but I know I'll miss something important if I do, but at the same time, my interest in the novel drops to almost zero when I read Shun's part. Too generic for me that I want to puke rainbows.

 

Yeah, but it will make you misunderstand him when he meets our spider, if you skip his chapters.

 

Please PLEASE do that!!! im dying for any information!

 

Can't understand why, you are seriously overacting, there isn't that much SS to begin with and they're also not that bad, I would even go as far as saying that I enjoyed reading them. The only reason you failed to see that is because people always associate naive MC = unlike able. Drop that mentality or it's gonna ruin a lot of your reading experience.

 

Some people are just allergic to cliche I think, they react strongly to things going according to expectation.

 

Hmm. I wrote up some stuff for LN8 that I could re-arrange at some point. I thought I had written something for LN7 but if so I can't find it.

Okay, here's a short summary, going from memory. You could say that it's a bit like a warm-up for the elf-village battle (in terms of scale) but the real developments are that Ariel and Shiro properly become friends (in LN6 things were somewhat strained between them) and Shiro becomes a god at the end. It's also a rather unusual volume in one way: apart the epilogue, everything takes place during one day.

Spoiler: LN7 summary

The LN starts 1 year on from the end of LN6. Ariel, Shiro, Sophia, Mera and the Puppet Taratect Sisters are continuing their walk to the demon territory and are approaching a large open plain. In the last year the scythe that Shiro had made out of her own forearm has become a living weapon that has some crazy stats (I think it had intrinsic darkness and decay attribute attacks or something). Shiro is pretty sure D did this and is actually somewhat nervous about it. Shiro senses something deep underground and starts digging. They find a large underground installation that's obviously hi-tech. After exploring for a bit they get attacked by some autonomous tanks and the like. I think there was an anti-magic field too so things got a bit dangerous.

After the group gets back outside, it seems that the place Shiro had dug into was just a tiny part... and it's actually a huge "UFO" type space ship that was buried underground. Shortly afterwards, a bunch of people start teleporting in - starting with Gyurie. Potimas and Dustin also teleport in. Potimas says it's not something he himself built - he gave the plans as a joke to some nation in the past and didn't realise that they'd actually built it for real. The UFO is not alone - there's a large army with it, including airplanes and spaceships. It's also apparently loaded with a "GMA bomb" which is something that's designed to kill gods and would likely go off if Gyurie approached - meaning it's too dangerous for him to help out (instead he takes care of the spaceships out in space). So these various groups have to work together to take it down. Of course, it's obvious that Potimas wants to take control of the whole thing but he's also the one who came up with the designs.

The first thing to do is smash a hole in the side of the UFO for Potimas, Ariel and Shiro to be able to go inside and disable it (getting to the control room). This means getting past the aeroplanes protecting it. Shiro gets a bazooka like weapon from Potimas and hitches a ride from a local dragon. The bazooka does its job but it was also designed to kill the user. Shiro is pretty pissed off and literally tears an arsehole in Potimas's robotic body, much to his humiliation and Ariel's amusement. The trio fight their way through to the center. The GMA bomb is guarded by a robotic centipede. I can't remember all the details here but Potimas's current body is designed around hacking electronics and tries to take over the systems. When things are going well for him he tries a sneak attack and tries to shoot Shiro but Ariel jumps in the way and takes the shot, hurting her badly. There's a heavy anti-magic field but I think Shiro was able to use her scythe to "kill" Potimas or something. However, the GMA bomb is active and about to explode.

Due to the anti-magic field Shiro can't teleport out and they don't know how to disable it. Up in space Gyurie has finished taking care of the space ships and stuff and D's smartphone appears, basically ordering Gyurie to stay here for now since things seem to be getting interesting on the surface. Meanwhile, Shiro is panicking and gets the idea of how Ariel can "eat" things with Gluttony so she eats the bomb and tries to consume all the energy. This causes her immense pain and also triggers Divinity Area Expansion to hit LV10 and apotheosis to begin. Shiro blanks out. Later she wakes up and can hear D talking to her in person right behind her. D is chatting about various things like how Shiro always surprises her with her actions and that D had teleported Shiro out from the UFO as an emergency measure. The scythe is still with Shiro and D says Shiro should hang on to it since it should be useful (very suspicious). D also gives Shiro an official name - Shiraori. Shiro knows she shouldn't but can't help turning her head around to look at D.

The next time Shiro wakes up she's in a white cocoon. She breaks out and comes face to face with Ariel, who seems a bit uncertain for some reason (its because Shiro's pupils have changed, like in the WN). Anyway, Shiro tries to get out of the cocoon only to realise that she's now "human". She also can't walk properly at all - every time she tries to stand up or walk she falls over (she misses her 8 spider legs already). She also has no status and can't use skills at all. Gyurie turns up and it seems he's not surprised she can't use skills. While the Puppet Taratect Sisters dress up Shiro, Ariel tells Shiro what had happened in the 46 days since the battle. Gyurie considers it to be normal that Shiro can't use magecraft (as opposed to magic or skills) since that normally takes a very long time to learn and Shiro became a god in a very irregular way. Shiro is quite nervous since she's basically super weak and is afraid Ariel might use the opportunity to kill her, but Ariel immediately says she'll support Shiro until she regains her powers. Shiro is quite moved by this and decides she's okay with leeching off Ariel.

Meanwhile, Potimas has noticed Shiro has become a god is is rather annoyed by this. He wonders about using Oka to try to attack Shiro.

Here's some stuff I wrote up about LN8 previously, in two separate chunks:

Spoiler: LN8

It's a fairly simple story, again covering just a relatively short period. It's set 2 years after LN7. Shiro and co arrive at a town near the border to the demon territories and the Demon Mountain Range (aka Magic Mountain Range). So similar setup to before except Wrath's little rampage is going on at the same time. We get to see things from his POV, but it's from the "present" (ie doesn't start from the moment of his reincarnation) so his exact circumstances aren't quite so clearly laid out as in the WN but there's enough flashbacks etc that it's somewhat explained what's going on.

Shiro still can't use any magecraft at all (it seems Gyurie made no attempt to help teach her). Also, her body is weaker than even a normal person's. Remember how Wakaba Hiiro was said to be terrible at sports etc? Well, it seems Shiro's body is quite feeble. Previously the group relied on Shiro's space magic to transport all their stuff but that's no longer available and so they bought a high end carriage to travel in. But Shiro gets motion sick etc from the ride - she's practically a wreck at the end of a day of travel and can't even walk. So Mera princess carries her into the inn in the town (which triggers major jealousy from Sophia).

Even worse, because Shiro is albino she's very sensitive to sunlight. Even more so than the vampires - direct sunlight burns her skin! She has to be healed a lot even though she tries to be careful. Even worse... she can't eat much food at all! (she's really upset about this, lol).

After arriving in the town they find out about the "ogre" on a rampage and that the roads are blocked until the army arrives to take care of it. Since they don't want to stand out the group doesn't get involved with the subjugation. Ronant and the loud old guy get involved though, like in the WN. Oka-chan briefly shows up and tries to grab Sophia - it seems they planned to snatch her directly using teleportation magic (ie some else would cast teleport while touching Oka and Oka grabs Sophia), but it doesn't work because Sophia reflexively tries to kill elves - Oka might have died if the teleportation had been any slower.

Oka tries to contact Wrath too but he's completely berserker at this point. Also, Dustin arranges for him to be driven to where the elves are laying in wait for Ariel and co and they mostly get wiped out and after that evolves into an oni and takes on the name Wrath.

Shiro and co head out into the snow covered mountains. Shiro is in the carriage still despite the terrain - it's simply being carried by one of the Taratect Sisters. However, they get surrounded by a large hoard of revenge monkeys. Ariel tries to drive them off but triggers a huge avalanche. This separates Ariel from the rest of the group. When Shiro wakes up from this (she was healed by Sophia or Mera), they're in a sort of igloo to protect them from the cold while waiting for Ariel to find them. However, Wrath finds them instead. I'll write some more about the fight tomorrow perhaps but since it occurs on top of a glacier all sorts of issues occur - in the end Wrath falls down into a crevice and they lose sight of him. Shiro manages to activate her threads (ie magecraft) to save Sophia from falling but hasn't shown any other abilities yet.

Incidentally, Sophia doesn't care that the oni who attacked them (ie Wrath aka Kyouya) is a reincarnator because she's pretty much forgotten about all her classmates and is very upset about what he did to Mera (cut him up very badly) and she's gone full yandere mode. She's also tsundere over Shiro. She had originally been happy that Shiro became weak because she was jealous but also because she wanted to pay back Shiro for saving her so often, but never really got the chance. Shiro actually helped out Sophia quite a bit in the battle despite being super weak and Sophia re-determine her efforts to get stronger, including mentally stronger, based on Shiro's example.

Spoiler: more LN8

Sophia is strong enough to do a mock battle with one of the Puppet Taratect Sisters (Ael, the oldest one). Of course, Ael is not going all out but it's quite an intense battle. She doesn't do mock battles with the others as they're not mature enough to hold back - they are liable to unintentionally kill Sophia. (The Sisters get a fair bit of characterisation).

Shiro is sort-of treated like a noble girl and keeps herself covered and the Sisters seem to enjoy attending to her. Shiro feels like a dress-up doll at times but quite enjoys being pampered (though doesn't want to admit it). She can't magically control her hair so the Sisters put it in a braid for her.

Shiro gets groped by a drunk adventurer, like in the WN and gets the same "looks slender in clothes" line. The circumstances are different though - it happens at the inn they're staying at and only Sael (one of the Sisters) is with her. Sael tends to either do nothing or go crazy and crush everything. Her puppet body also took some damage during the battle in LN7 but Ariel wasn't able to repair it (Shiro's thread weaving is better than Ariel's it seems), so she tends to be more reclusive. Anyway, because Shiro and co are trying to avoid trouble, Shiro actually stops Sael from killing the drunk, although she's not particularly happy about having to do so. She also praises herself for not fainting.

The day after they arrive at the town Ariel and Sophia go to the adventurers guild to get info and find out about the abnormal ogre that's killed a lot of adventurers and about the roads being blocked. There's a high level adventurer there and he notices that Ariel and Sophia are much stronger than they look. Because he had acted suspicious, Sophia leaves a rat/mouse familiar behind to eavesdrop. After they leave, the high level adventurer tells the receptionist that he thinks they (Ariel and Sophia) are demons (mazoku) and goes to report to the guildmaster and the church. But it's not a problem because Dustin already knows and will sort things out.

Going to the battle at the end, the setup is that the group are travelling through the ice covered mountains and encounter a large group of revenge monkeys. It's suspected that they moved due to the rampaging ogre (ie Wrath). They can't be avoided so Ariel blasts them with her magic but that triggers a huge avalanche. Ariel tells everyone to jump to avoid the avalanche. But Shiro who is in the carriage gets tossed out by this action. Ariel tells Sael to grab Shiro. However, the monkeys are still attacking, even though it's the middle of an avalanche. This distracts Ariel, Sophia and the others.

Shiro wakes up in an igloo type thing with Sophia, Mera and Sael. Sophia is watching over Shiro. Shiro's wounds have been healed (she thinks that one of her arms had been broken). Shiro thanks Sophia who gives a tsundere reaction. Mera goes outside to fire off a signal so that Ariel can find them. Meanwhile Sophia is toying with the bodies of one of the monkeys and seems to want to eat it. But Shiro knows that it's not really edible stops Sophia. Shiro considers that while Sophia's fighting strength and adaptability are improving her feminine side is weakening.

Shiro finds that her white scythe is with her. It had gained all sorts of strange powers in the past and would act on its own. She suspects it has teleported to her or similar for some reason. She knows that it never acts without a reason so she feels a sense of danger because of it, and stands up while holding it. Which saves her life.

There's a sudden explosion and Shiro finds herself outside the igloo thing - which has been blown apart. Shiro thinks that the protective abilities of the scythe had saved her. There's a half-naked person or rather "oni" there and Shiro thinks he looks familiar. Sophia tells Sael to attack and they're surprised when "oni-kun" is able to withstand the attack - and the follow-on attacks. Shiro suspects that the ogre evolved into an oni by a special evolution and that considering all of its apparent abilities clearly suspects that its a reincarnator.

Sophia notices that Mera had been badly injured by the initial blast and shouts out loudly and goes to heal him. Shiro gets a bit tsundere about being ignored (since she's injured too). Emitting a black aura, Sophia then moves towards oni-kun but then Mera notices Shiro and because he calls out Sophia notices too. Sophia goes over to heal Shiro and Shiro tells Sophia that the oni is "Sasajima-kun". Sophia doesn't get it so Shiro repeats "Kyouya Sasajima-kun". However at that point Wrath, who had been fighting well with Sael but slowly losing, starts fighting more powerfully and uses his swords to put a massive crack in the glacier they're all standing on and Sael falls down into the crack.

Shiro runs away so that she doesn't get in the way of the others fighting. (Nope, totally not for self-preservation!) After going as far as she can run until exhausted (not very far), Shiro starts thinking about oni-kun and suspects he has lost his reason due to a skill from the Anger series. Sophia happens to get sent flying Shiro's way in the battle. Sophia has taken a fair bit of damage but regenerates fast. Sophia's main weapon is still in the carriage so she creates swords from ice, even though they're weak. Before Sophia rejoins the battle Shiro grabs her leg. Sophia is annoyed but Shiro tells her "Appraisal" and Sophia goes "Huhh??... Oh". Clearly Sophia had forgotten about Appraisal-san. Shiro tells Sophia to try looking for an Anger type skill. Sophia says there isn't one but there's the Wrath skill. Shiro tells Sophia to use the Jealousy skill on Wrath (note, not Envy as Sophia doesn't have it). It can also seal other skills, like Envy, though it takes time. Shiro would prefer for oni-kun not to die (on the assumption that he's a reincarnator) but it seems unlikely, particularly since Sophia seems to be a battle junkie - she's fighting with Wrath with a smile on her face despite being in a bad situation.

The fight is going badly and since they're on a glacier the battlefield is getting damaged and the footing is becoming unstable. Sophia takes a bad looking hit and Mera desperately tries to protect her despite losing both his arms. Shiro knows that Sophia wouldn't die from that as her Immortal Body skill can revive her once a day, though Sophia is unconscious. However, Wrath notices Shiro and heads towards her. Shiro desperately stands up using her scythe and the wind pressure of Wrath rushing towards her and stopping blows off her hood. He seems to recognise her and stops and Shiro calls out to him but after a while insanity takes over again. Shiro decides to bet on swinging her scythe with her weak arms but suddenly Sophia is there biting into Wrath's neck. Shiro is somewhat amazed by this spectacle - of a vampire ("blood-sucking oni" in Japanese) sucking the blood of an oni.

Wrath starts raging around to try to throw off Sophia and this breaks the ground and the two fall down into a large crevice. Shiro shouts out to Sophia and unconsciously/reflexively tries to save Sophia by wrapping her with her spider threads. It actually works, to Shiro's surprise. So Sophia is saved but Shiro is too weak to pull her up. Sophia is able to climb up though. Shortly after the whole glacier starts collapsing but the three are saved by the return of Sael.

The last chapter is from Sophia's POV and covers what I had said before - it's basically Ariel and Sophia talking about the recent events (Shiro is sleeping). Sophia is burning for revenge on Wrath and doesn't care about him being a reincarnator.

PS LN7 images here:
https://fioret.wordpress.com/2017/11/11/kumo-desu-ga-nani-ka-vol-7-illustrations/

 

Yeah I remember it like that when I was reading it before when Turbo was still pumping out chapters at QI's speed. And that is why I am fast-reading SS chapters to get the gist of what is happening.

It is not only his naivety you know. I am only at SS22 and I am already very annoyed at him that I went to NU to rant. So his father has died, his friends were manipulated, yet what does he want to do with Yuugo? Nothing? He even felt scared that Oka wants to kill Yuugo? What the toot? If that Shun has even a hundredth of a ball of Shiro-chan, then he would've crushed that ant without questions. Also, doesn't he has other pressing matters to do other than save his "friends?" He already haven't seen them for what? 15 years? At best they are acquaintances. At worst, they are strangers. Who are more important? Those so called "friends" you haven't been in contact for more than a decade, or your brother, loyal subjects and your country? Shouldn't he be finding a way to save his country first before those "friends?" To add to that he is a fugitive so he is putting himself and the people joining him in danger just to save some "friends." Can anyone honestly tell me a class you were in 15 years ago and tell me you are still friends with all of them? Or at least you see all of the as good acquaintances? Good enough that you would risk most of what you have? Feels really retarded to me to the point that I ranted it out here. If only Kanata and Shun's personality was switched or maybe even give Shun a bit of brain cells from Kanata, the SS would've been great. Yet the author gave us a generic piece of toot.

Also, I wouldn't be "overreacting" if I wouldn't need information from those SS chapters to make sense of what is going to happen in the main story-line. I could've just skipped them all.

Well true, I am allergic to cliches after reading so much of it. But the thing is, it is not going as expected. I was expecting him, as prince of a country, and a hero, to act accordingly. Save his country first, his "friends" later. Yet he is acting unbenefiting of his position. I would've accepted it if the MC was an adventurer or mercenary. But as a prince and a hero, he has responsibilities, and saving his "friends" he knew 15 years ago, isn't one of them.

(At this point I am using 15 years ago but I am actually not sure lel)

Now that I have typed all that, I feel so retarded but feels lighter to rant it out. I mean I was engrossed in reading a cute spider become stronk and then I was slapped in the face with a boring generic character.