Chapter 72 - Queen Spider (1/2)
With four days left in the three-week training period, the party had reached layer twenty-nine so far, and today they were to make their first attempt against the Swamp Layer Boss. The two Tanks had been getting better and better, having been training on their own, in their own time. The Attacker was still the same as ever, but at least he did not complain about the team moving on to layer thirty.
“By the way, Stephanie… On layer thirty, I will intervene whenever you are about to die, so please don’t worry and give it your best.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Stephanie nodded as Tsutomu handed her five clear vials of Blue Potion. After that was done, Tsutomu immediately stepped away from the group.
On normal layers, there would exist a Black Gate through which a party could return to the Guild at all times, but on a boss layer, no such Gate would be present. Either the Layer Boss was defeated, or the Explorers are annihilated. These were the only two ways for one to leave a layer on which a Layer Boss resided.
Once one of a party’s members entered a Black Gate, the others would be forcibly sent through it to the next layer as well, so Tsutomu also followed the others to layer thirty. Since Tsutomu himself did not want to die, he planned to step in and help defeat the Layer Boss whenever Stephanie was in a pinch.
Stephanie, after taking one last glance at Tsutomu as the latter walked away, started discussing the strategies she had planned in advance. The Swamp Layer Boss, the Queen Spider, was a monster unique to God’s Dungeon, unlike the Grasslands and Forest Layer Bosses. Or at least, its appearance in the other Dungeons had yet to be confirmed at this time.
With most people’s first experience against it being a direct encounter in the Dungeon, its difficulty level was much higher than those of the previous Layer Bosses. In addition to restraining its foes with spider silk, its bites were backed by powerful fangs, the tips of which secreted toxin that melted the victim into mush… which the Spider then slurped up. It was the first Layer Boss in line to use such an obviously instant-kill attack.
Another one of its moves involved it leaping onto its webs on the arena’s ceiling, making things difficult for those without long-ranged attacks. If it was left hanging up there for too long, it would expand its web and drop it down, immobilizing and quickly killing all who were below it. The move could be prevented by cutting the thick threads on the sides, which would in turn destroy the web, but continuing to attack it long-ranged was always the easier choice.
Additionally, when the Queen Spider was in trouble, its offspring would fall down from the webs above, which also had to be eliminated quickly.
With those assumptions in mind, Stephanie instructed the two Tanks to avoid being bound by the Spider’s silk after using <<Combat Cry>>. Their equipment loadouts were simple, being the standard sword-and-shield combo, but they would be immediately immobilized if the Spider’s threads were to land on them.
“Rigas and Dorssia, you two need to stay slightly separated from each other while keeping your actions in sync. Avoid the Spider’s silk as much as possible, and hurry to help the other if one of you is immobilized,” Stephanie said while taking some small fire-starting magic tools from her Magic Bag and handing them to everyone.
The binding thread that the Queen Spider produced was so strong that they would not break when pulled by hand, and even blades would not make the cut if they were not sharp enough. However, they were especially weak to fire, melting away at the lighting of even a small flame. With the fire-starting magic tool on the ready, one could easily escape if they only reacted sufficiently quickly.
The Spider’s webs were made with special thread, however, which the magic tool was not effective on. Although more powerful flames would work, such as ones produced with certain Beastkin’s flammable fur, such a method should not be considered, due to it being most likely to mess up their tails in the process.
“Also, please pay attention to the main thread — always be sure to cut it down. I will try to do so as well, but might miss it if I’m too occupied with something else.”
One Explorers appeared through the Black Gate, the Queen Spider would always launch a surprise attack while descending down, hanging by its main thread from the backside of its abdomen.
This main thread was connected to the webs above, and the Queen Spider could swiftly zip back up with it whenever it felt threatened. Therefore, it was important to cut the thread, eliminating one of the Spider’s easy means of escape.
Additionally, whenever it crawled on the walls, returned to the webs above, or stayed on the ground for extended periods, its main thread would drag along, swinging unpredictably. As such, it was one of the Attackers’ duties to keep an eye on the thread at all times.
However, after the recent argument with Stephanie, the Attacker had become more rebellious, not listening to most of what she had to say.
[…Perhaps I ought to pay extra attention to the main thread,] Stephanie thought to herself and proceeded with the discussions. The next step was about the actions to be taken against the baby Spiders, which Stephanie thought it best to have the Tanks distract them, then kill all of the wave at once. “The two Tanks will be in charge of the little Spiders. I’ll give you a sign whenever I’d like you to use <<Combat Cry>>, so please pay attention.”
“Yes!” Rigas promptly answered, his voice high pitched and excited.
“…Yes,” Dorssia said as well, her emotion not quite readable.
“As for the other things… First, I’ll intercept its opening surprise attack. After that, everyone will have to learn its telegraphs as we go along. I don’t expect us to win on our first try, but with repeated attempts over these remaining four days, we’re sure to get it right eventually.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
“All right, then, let us be on our way.”
Stephanie led the four others — Tsutomu included — into the Black Gate, teleporting to the thirtieth layer.
The location they appeared at was the inside of a dimly lit cave. The craggy, rocky ground glowed a faint white, acting as illumination. The walls emitted light, too, but nowhere near as bright due to the countless spider threads sticking to them, with giant spider webs on the top of the area.
The gigantic Queen Spider lurking on top of the webs, its eight eyes glowing an eerie red, slowly and silently approached the Explorers. And when, once it got within a certain distance, it quickly pounced at its enemies.
“<<Air Blades>>.”
A team coming in completely fresh surely would have lost one member to the surprise attack, but Stephanie had already experienced the fight. She successfully intercepted the Queen Spider with a bladed wind projectile, causing it to drop like a rock, mid-leap, to the ground.
As the all-white Queen Spider flopped around on the ground, the Attacker drew his swords and threw himself at it. But then a mass of threads shot out from the spinneret at the end of the Spider’s abdomen, knocking away the Attacker and gluing him to the wall.
“<
>. Rigas, get him out. Dorssia, use <<Combat Cry>>!”
“Y-yes!”
“<<Combat Cry>>.”
Rigas rushed to the wall on which the Attacker was stuck, and Dorssia unleashed her skill. The Queen Spider, hit by the red aura, raised itself up and quickly moved its eight legs to crawl towards Dorssia.
Its eight red eyes, lined up in two rows, locked on to Dorssia as if it was staring down its prey. The colorless venom from its sickle-shaped fangs dripped down like drool, melting the rocks on the ground while a sound not unlike water evaporating. Just as Dorssia gulped at the sight, the Queen Spider made its move.
Dorssia’s face turn redder the closer the Queen Spider sidled up to her, but she still managed to dodge the thrust of the Spider’s front leg… But then the monster swung another leg at her, knocking her away at the wall.
The spider silk on the wall was viscous and sticky, with the only way of breaking free it being brute force. Dorssia tried to cut her way out, but by now, the Queen Spider was already right in front of her.
“Ah… ah…”
Dorssia, whimpering like a broken apparatus, could do nothing but watch as the Queen Spider’s fangs closed in on her.
“<<Air Blade>>.”
From the side, the bladed wind projectile flew at the Queen Spider. The monster saw it coming, however, and pulled its main thread up to avoid getting it cut.
“Rigas, please take care of this one! Then, use <<Combat Cry>> when you’re ready!” Stephanie issued her order then shot an <<Air Blade>> at the Queen Spider as it zipped up to its web above.
As if mocking her efforts, however, the Queen Spider dodged it easily enough.
In the meantime, Rigas pulled Dorssia away from the wall by force, and then used <<Combat Cry>> to distract the Queen Spider as it continued to avoid the subsequent <<Air Blades>>.
“<<Heal>>. Dorssia! Cover Rigas!”