"Hello Grammach, its been a long time." Mason whipped towards the sound of the voice and grabbed his sword.

  "you must have been truly desperate to bring a human here with you to try and defeat me." Stepping out of the shadows, a slender woman with shiny black carapace like skin stepped out of the shadows. She had spider legs growing out of her back, but still, she was the most beautiful woman Mason had ever seen. Maybe if he gave up now she would forgive him?

  No. Mason squeezed his hands so tight they almost drew blood as he came back to himself. I'm not going to be controlled that easily. Mason looked over at Grammach who seemed to be completely under her control and wondered if he just didn't know her mind control was this powerful, or if he was just stupid. Looking at Mirstra, he decided to check what he was dealing with.

  [Mirstra Web Sewer (Level 25)]. It was just like Grammach had said, she was E-grade. He didn't exactly know what that meant but he could guess it was bad news. He needed to come up with a plan if he was going to beat her without Grammach who looked to be out of commission. For now, he would have to pretend to be under her control and see where she led them.

  Mason had [Focused Sight] and [Dark Vision] running as he followed Mirstra through her domain to try and spot any traps ahead of time. But he never saw anything, they just kept walking. Something was gnawing at him as they kept going but he couldn't tell what.

  They had been walking for what felt like hours, still not having reached wherever they were going. Also, he swore they had passed the same walls over and over again even though they were walking in a straight line. Wait, wasn't Grammach with me when we left? Where did he go? looking around, Grammach was nowhere to be seen. Mason had no idea when he had left, he felt like he was in a daze still trying to resist Mirstra.

  I can't let this go on any longer. Stopping, Mason drew his sword and spoke out to Mirstra. "Where are you taking me? Where is Grammach?" Mirstra turned around and smiled. "Grammach is gone, as you too soon shall be" With that declaration, Mirstra lunged at Mason, pulling out two daggers from somewhere, the legs on her back slicing at him.

  Mason pulled out his sword and tried to block her attacksbut there were too many. His mind felt so hazy, he felt so slow. He could barely block her daggers, her legs were slicing him up. Even when he tried to block her legs, it felt like they slipped through his guard with no resistance at all.

  He was pushed back, Mirstra cutting him down little by little. His arms were crisscrossed with wounds and dripping blood, same for his torso. It was all he could do to protect his head. He had to do something and fast. Mason gave up on defending and went all out on offense. he activated [Inner grit] and [Power Strike] letting Mirstra pierce his torso with all of her legs and both of her daggers.

  [Retribution]. With that much damage taken he was certain this skill would be active. He sliced down at her neck, aiming to cut her head off of her shoulders. Mirstra dodged backwards to try and avoid the blow. *SLICE* Mirstra let out a scream, most of the right half of her body now missing. Mason hadn't managed to cut her head off, but she was as good as dead now.

  Pulling her legs and daggers out of his chest, Mason lifted his sword up and looked Mirstra in the eyes. "Fuck you for messing with my head, spider bitch." Then he finished the job he had started and lopped her head off.

  [Mirstra Web Sower (Level 25) Defeated]

  [Enemy of higher grade defeated solo, enhancing rewards]

  [Level up!]

  [Level up!]

  [New Achievement unlocked:

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  Grade breaker: +50 Vitality, +50 Resistance, +50 Strength, +30 all other stats.

  ]

  Mason basked in the feeling of his three highest stats nearly doubling. He felt unstoppable. he just beat someone a grade higher than him, Imagine what he could do with his soul power. With that power up he would be truly unstoppable against anyone his grade, or even maybe those above.

  Mason smiled and sheathed his sword, feeling surprisingly tired after his fight. Mason walked out of Mirstra's former domain and back to the entrance of the dungeon. he turned off [Focused Sight] and [Dark Vision] on the way back. After all, he beat Mirstra, so what else could possibly harm him here?

  Once he made it back, he found a new safe area, his new perception must be pulling its weight, he didn't even need his ocular skills to find it. He went inside and started to relax.

  Man, that was a great fight, that was the first time in a while that he fought a human like enemy, though Mirstra definitely wasn't fully human. But still, it was nice to fight a non-monster for once. Made it feel more real that way. Mason let out a large yawn. Man he was tired, he seriously felt so bad after the fight. he probably hadn't felt like this since he got poisoned by those cacti.

  Something about that struck a cord within him but he couldn't quite figure out why. Whatever, its not worth worrying over. Mason laid down to take a nap before he left the dungeon. After all it couldn't hurt right? To help himself fall asleep, he thought about the fight some more and some ways he could've done better. it was something he used to do a lot before the system.

  He tried to think of ways that he could've avoided her daggers and arms more, but he couldn't really think of anything. He just felt so sluggish and slow during the fight which isn't normal for him at all. And it really felt like her arms just slipped through his guard. It was almost like she wasn't real.

  That thought was the crack that brought everything crumbling down. Mason realized thats because she wasn't real, that was an illusion of Mirstra, this whole thing has been an illusion mixed with mind control, all of it so strong he never even noticed. But when did it happen? When he walked in the door to her domain? Before then?

  None of that mattered now, the world itself started crumbling around Mason as the illusion faded and as he closed his eyes in the dream, he opened his eyes in the real world. Trying not to draw any attention to himself, Mason opened his eyes as little as he could and tried not to move.

  He looked around and saw he was strung up in webbing stuck to the wall of the cave. He didn't see Grammach anywhere, thouhg there was some broken webbing to his right that could have been where the gorilla was previously housed like he was now.

  He gently tried testing how strong his restraints were. He couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like he could break out if he really tried, which made sense since it seemed like most people who were tied up couldn't fight back. This notification also explained why he felt so bad.

  [You've been inflicted with Mirstra's venom!

  This venom causes extreme drowsiness and haziness, made to help keep Mirstra's victims in her illusion and mind control, slowly draining them until they pass away in good enough condition to still be food.

  ]

  That would explain how he's feeling. He's lucky he's just feeling drowzy instead of dead. [Poison Resistance] must be pulling its weight. He needed to choose what to do quickly, he didn't know when Mirstra or her followers would come back.

  He needed to either break out now and try to catch her by surprise, or pretend to still be under and catch her off guard when she comes back. In the end, he decided to wait.

  The longer that he delayed the more [Poison Resistance] should clear his system. He also had no idea where Mirstra is, or even where he is. It would be easier for her to come to him, or for him to be brought to her.

  Witht the time he had alone, Mason summoned his sword out of his spatial storage and sliced the webs holding him slightly so it would be easier to break out of later. He tried to make it as subtle as possible so they wouldn't notice but its a risk he would have to take.

  He put his sword away, closed his eyes and started to wait. Hours passed and he was starting to wonder if he had made the wrong choice. What if Mirstra had left, or what if she knew he had broken out and was waiting for him?

  But before he could let that thought spiral out of control for too long, he heard the sound of scuttling in the tunnel leading to the chamber. He stilled his breathing and relaxed as best he could before they walked in.

  He did his best to understand what was happening with only his hearing. It sounded like at least two rock spiders came in, and judging from their size, they were adult ones. He heard them climbing closer and he had to do his best not to react at all.

  He almost jumped when one of them grabbed onto his arm. The pain of it digging into him actually helped him not react to it grabbing him. He felt them both lift him onto their shells and start to carry him out of the room.

  it was time to go see the big boss, and put an end to this in the real world this time.