Live Dungeon!

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.

“<<Protect>>. 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!”

Stephanie, seeing that the Queen Spider had landed closer to Rigas, healed the Attacker, who was bleeding from when he had been thrown against a wall. Dorssia, although still breathing heavily, listened to her instruction and rushed to Rigas’ side.

The Attacker clicked his tongue in annoyance while approaching the Queen Spider. He tried to go for its greatest weakness, the abdomen, but the Queen Spider kicked him away with its back legs.

With the Queen Spider’s abdomen being so soft, a hit hard could inflict a fatal wound. One should aim for it as soon as possible… if possible in the first place, since the Queen Spider knew its weakness well, being especially vigilant of attacks targeting that part.

The Attacker continued to go after the abdomen, but was time and time again blocked off by the monster’s legs and threads. The Queen Spider then stabbed Rigas’ stomach with its front legs, prompting Stephanie to hurry and heal him.

“You can’t get to its abdomen now! Start with the legs!”

“…Gah, I know!”

The Attacker, irritated, grumbled to himself and began to shift his focus onto the back legs. Although the Queen Spider had high attack power, its defensive capabilities were low — it was a Layer Boss that could be defeated quite quickly… provided that the challenging teams’ Attackers could do their jobs.

This Attacker, however, was performing even worse than usual — perhaps because of his bad mood — and was unsuccessful in cutting his way past the Spider’s hind legs. The two Tanks, on the other hand, were stabbed by the monster’s front legs; Stephanie hurried to cast <<Heal>> for the both of them.

Thanks to their high VIT, the Tanks were only bruised by the hits, but they would likely still be dead if hit on their heads or faces. With him already dying to critical hits so many times before, Stephanie could not take her eyes off them, and decided to join in on the offensive herself.

Although Stephanie cast <<High Heal>> for the almost-dead Tanks, they went on to take more critical hits, ending back at the near-death state once again. With Stephanie healing rapidly in quick succession, the Queen Spider eventually went after her, its eyes gleaming bright red.

The monster thrust its front legs forward, which Stephanie managed to dodge, but then it raised its upper jaw. Venom spit out from the tips of its fangs, hitting Stephanie’s right arm.

“Agh!!”

Although the venom would not do too much damage unless injected directly into the body, it still could burn the skin of even those with high base VIT. The long glove over Stephanie’s right arm was melted away by the venom, and the arm underneath turned red as if it had been hideously burned.

This did nothing to stop Stephanie, however, having already died hundreds of times fulfilling her role as a White Mage. Raising her now temporarily dead right arm, she waved her staff and cast <<Protect>> for the two Tanks.

“<<Combat Cry>>!”

The two Tanks, now healed up, took turns using <<Combat Cry>> to generate aggro, keeping the Queen Spider away from Stephanie. Amid the still-chaotic scene, Stephanie healed her arm and chugged down half a vial of Blue Potion.

“ORAHHH!!”

Finally, the Attacker managed to cut off one of the Queen Spider’s hind legs, the tip of which fell to the ground with a thud. The Queen Spider was utterly unamused, however, pouring its threads down on the Attacker and rushing down the two Tanks.

Rigas took a front-legged strike to his head and fell to the ground, hitting his forehead hard. Dorssia was blown away by a leg swing, and ended up being caught in the random bundles of threads on the wall.

The Queen Spider proceeded to grab Rigas with its two front legs and sink its fangs into his neck.

“<<Air Blade>>!”

Stephanie tried shooting the Queen Spider down, but it kept Rigas in its mouth zipping up to the webs above with its main thread.

Pumping out flesh-melting venom through its fangs, the Queen Spider melted Rigas’ neck and slurped up the resulting mush along with his blood. Rigas’ whole body was soon sucked dried, with what was left of it being dumped down below. His black armor fell to the ground, making a hollow, metallic impact. The dried-up corpse inside turned into light particles, which promptly dispersed.

“<<Raise>>.”

With Stephanie’s casting of the spell, the light particles began to gather on the ground, re-forming Rigas’ body, albeit in flaxen clothes. The resulting aggro caused the enemy to direct its intense murderous aura at Stephanie.

“<<Protect>>. Hurry, equip your armor! When you’re done, go help Dorssia!” With no time to spare, Stephanie immediately gave Rigas her new orders.

“Y-yes!”

Rigas hurried to pick up his pieces of armor, almost tripping on some rocks in the process. Stephanie looked up at the Queen Spider, now back on the ground. It approached, ready to crush Stephanie with its seven remaining legs.

Stephanie, despite her dainty appearance, moved swiftly to avoid the Queen Spider’s legs and shot back at it with <<Air Blades>>. The Queen Spider ducked low to avoid the projectiles, which could have been fatal if they had hit it in the abdomen.

The Queen Spider then zipped to a wall with its main thread, and then swung around like a pendulum to attack Stephanie, who crouched down to dodge the whip-like swings of its legs, then shot at its main thread with <<Air Blade>>. Despite managing to cut the thread, the Queen Spider did not lose too much balance, managing to land safely on the ground after it fell down.

“<<Combat Cry>>.”

Despite <<Combat Cry>> being used several times between the two Tanks, the Queen Spider paid no attention to them, wielding its needle-like legs in an attempt to kill Stephanie. It launched another surprise attack from above, which Stephanie narrowly managed to dodge.

Eventually, after a few more uses of <<Combat Cry>>, the Queen Spider looked away from Stephanie and rushed at Dorssia instead. But then it turned out that Dorssia was not being buffed by <<Protect>> at this time; she took a front-leg hit to her head and fainted. Then, just like Rigas before her, she was bitten and melted down to mush.

“Dammit–!”

The Attackers swung his swords with all his might, but the Queen Spider saw it coming, dodging the attack by hopping up, and then crushed him on its way down. The Spider then repeatedly swung its hind legs down at the Attacker’s head. With each swing, the man’s body bounced to the rhythm, until eventually it turned to light particles.

“<<Raise>>, <<Raise>>.”

After casting the resurrection spell twice, Stephanie held her aching head and tried to drink a Blue Potion. Before she could, however, she was shot at by a clump of spider silk, and ended up glued to a wall.

“Stephanie!”

Rigas turned around to look at Stephanie, and at the same time, the Queen Spider did not shift its attention to him, continuing to attack Stephanie. Readying its venom-soaked fangs, it climbed up the wall on which the latter was stuck to.

“<<Holy Wing>>.”

Tsutomu, who had been watching from above while levitating with <<Fly>>, sent a bunch of sharp white feathers flying toward the Queen Spider; the monster, sensing the vibration in the air with its hair, managed to dodge the spell.

With Tsutomu added to their ranks, the party then managed to defeat the Queen Spider with relative ease. It was only because Tsutomu took up the role of Attacker, however; Stephanie, knowing that all too well, pondered things over by herself, her face a blank expression, amid the cave filled with dispersing light particles.

[…I’ll have to make the best out of the time we have left. Those two Tanks, and the Attacker… we’ll have to figure things out somehow.]

Stephanie looked on at her three party members, who were gloomy despite their victory, then stretched to relieve some of her fatigue before returning through the Black Gate to the Guild.