Chương 110: Chapter 109: Extermination

The Stalkers on the floor rushed us in a coordinated wave while the wall group tried to flank. I dropped a Web Trap at the mouth of the corridor behind us to cut off any retreat route they might try to funnel through, then switched to dealing rapid damage. I sent a Burning Arrow into the left wall cluster. The fire caught the webbing and spread, flushing three of them out of cover. A well placed Piercing Shot finished them off. Alice looked like a storm in the center of the chamber.

Lightning Steps let her close gaps instantly, and every strike from her sword carried enough force to stagger the Stalkers out of their attack patterns. She used Blade Spin when four of them attacked her at once, the dome of lightning arcing outward and catching all of them, buying her some space. She has a plethora of Lightning based attacks, I thought. Her build is very well put together. No wonder she's the Vice Guild Leader of King's Glade. A Stalker dropped from the ceiling behind me.

I would have noticed it just a second too late if it wasn't for Lune. She darted in, biting at its legs, and the half-second of distraction was all I needed. The 'most Pets can't fight' description is, for all intents and purposes, inaccurate. Shadow Travel pulled me backward through the darkness, and I put a Fan of Arrows into the Stalker at point-blank range. Eight mana-arrows, each one punching into its body. -109! -108! -109! …

"Behind you!" I called. Alice didn't turn. She activated a skill I had seen mentioned on the forums: Killer Instinct. It was a skill obtained from a Rare rune that had the chance of dropping from any and all Elites and above, but with an abysmal drop rate. I saw her movement change, like a switch had been flipped. She ducked under the lunging Stalker, let it sail over her head, and drove her sword upward into its exposed underside in a Piercing Stab that killed it instantly.

Killer Instinct gave the user something akin to Precognition. It had no class restrictions. It was something I desperately wanted. We fought in perfect rhythm for about six minutes. The last three Stalkers tried to flee toward the egg sacs along the far wall. I dropped them with three consecutive shots before they reached cover. The brood chamber went silent. Alice sheathed her sword and took a breath.

"That skill of yours. The shot that hit the ceiling before Burning Arrow. What was that?"

"Arrow of Ash and Flames. Boosts fire damage, and the combination works really well on environment."

"That was a smart play, completely foiled most of the ambush."

"Webbing burns," I shrugged.

"It does." She looked around the devastated chamber.

"But split second decision making is a way better skill than most would give it credit for. The parties that wiped here probably walked in and got swarmed from above. They didn't have anyone dealing with that this efficiently." I bagged the compliment. We took a minute to catch our breath and harvest materials, then we turned toward the tunnel at the far end of the chamber. The Broodmother was waiting.

The final chamber was different from the rest. Once again, it felt similar to the nest at Dusk Peak; the webbing here was architectural as well. I saw thick strands formed into geometric patterns across the walls and the ceiling, connecting at nodes that pulsed with a sickly green bioluminescence. And just like before, the Webspinner Broodmother sat on a raised platform of compacted silk, her massive body coiled in a resting position that did nothing to diminish her threat.

She was enormous, easily twice the size of her lower level cousin. Her carapace was dark green, almost black, banded with pale glowing lines. Eight eyes reflected the bioluminescent light, and her mandibles were the size of swords, dripping with venom. Webspinner Broodmother Level 28 Elite Four levels above us. This is going to hurt.

"Plan?" Alice asked, her hand on her sword. Stolen story; please report.

"You engage. Draw her attention, keep her facing you. I'll work from range and rotate around her flank. If she spawns adds, I'll handle them. If she does anything you can't tank, disengage and I'll pull aggro with a big hit."

"Simple. I like it."

"One more thing. Don't stand still. Broodmothers in this game tend to have ground-targeted AoE." She nodded.

"Fought with one before?"

"Yes, but she was level 18. It was a tough fight." I drew the Emberwood and activated Mark of the Eagle. The marker appeared above the Broodmother's head.

"Go." Alice exploded forward. Lightning Steps carried her across the chamber in a flash of blue-white light, and she opened with a Lightning Blade that struck the Broodmother's front leg. -496! The electrical discharge crackled across the carapace, and the creature screamed. The Broodmother lunged, mandibles snapping shut where Alice had been a heartbeat before. The Swordswoman had already used Quick Step, reading the attack pattern with the same instinct I'd seen on the ridge.

She answered with a Horizontal Slash across the Broodmother's face, then a Vertical Strike downward onto the joint of the nearest leg. I opened fire. Piercing Shot hit the Broodmother's abdomen, punching through the softer chitin between the armored plates. -387! Decent damage to an Elite four levels above me. But her health bar barely moved. This thing has an enormous HP pool. I followed up by activating Nature's Howl and pin-cushioning the Elite with basic attacks.

The increased damage from Howl and Mark was impressive, with each of my arrows dealing over 200 damage. Alice held the front. The Broodmother was fast for her size, lunging and swiping with her legs in wide arcs, but Alice's combination of heavy armor and mobility made her a nightmare to pin down. I wonder how she accessed heavy armor. She'd tank a hit with her absurd defense, then Lightning Step out of the follow-up, repositioning to strike a weak point before the Broodmother could turn.

The dance went on for two minutes before the monster changed tactics. She reared back, her abdomen pulsing, and sprayed a cone of webbing across the ground in front of her. The silk hardened instantly into a sticky field that covered a quarter of the chamber floor. Alice dodged out before it caught her boots, but the Broodmother had anticipated it. A leg swept sideways, catching Alice mid-movement. The impact sent her skidding across the stone, her armor sparking against the floor. -412!

I watched Alice's health bar drop to 10%. That single hit had done more damage than any of the Stalkers could have managed in a full combo.

"I'm fine!" she called, already rolling to her feet. She drank a large health potion without breaking stride. I needed to relieve pressure.

"Arrow of Ash & Flames!" The devastating shot struck the Broodmother in the side of the head. Fire erupted across her carapace, and she screamed again, recoiling from Alice and turning her massive body toward me. -938! That got her attention. She charged. The ground shook with each step, and she closed the distance faster than I'd anticipated. I Quick-Stepped left, then Shadow-Traveled backward through the chamber's darkness, appearing fifteen meters behind where I'd been standing.

The Broodmother's mandibles snapped shut on empty air. Alice hit her from behind. Killer Instinct was active, and the Swordswoman's attacks came in a relentless chain: Piercing Stab into the rear leg joint, Horizontal Slash across the abdomen, Steel Arc Strike in a wide, devastating cut that carved a visible wound in the carapace.

The Broodmother shrieked and spun, swiping at Alice, but the Swordswoman ducked under the leg and answered with a Lightning Blade that sent arcs of electricity crawling across the creature's body. Meanwhile I kept up the DPS, dealing even more damage. Burning Arrow and Piercing Shot were constantly on cooldown, and I used Arrow of Ash & Flames to increase the fire damage of the skill and my bow.

Whenever it switched its aggro to me, I met its charge with a Fan of Arrows before using Leap Attack or Shadow Travel to disengage. At ten percent health, the Broodmother stopped. The nodes on the walls started cracking, and I heard a clicking sound coming from them. The egg sacks are about to burst! A dozen of them cracked open simultaneously, and Webspinner Hatchlings poured out. They were small and fast, level 20, swarming toward us in a wave.

"Adds!" Alice called.

"On it!" I pivoted from the Broodmother and fired into the swarm. Burning Arrow hit the first cluster, setting them alight. Fan of Arrows caught the next group at mid-range, the spread shot shredding through their bodies, and Web Trap locked down a pack of five near the wall. But there were too many, and more egg sacs were cracking open. Alice made a decision. She planted her feet, raised her sword above her head, and electricity began building along the blade, the air ionizing around her.

"Thunderstorm!" The dome of lightning erupted outward. Arcs of electricity lanced from her blade to the ceiling and back, striking everything within ten meters. Hatchlings caught in the blast were incinerated, their bodies disintegrating before they could take a single step closer. That, I thought, is a scary skill. It was devastatingly effective, but it had a cost: the Broodmother used the opening to charge Alice from behind.

"Withering Light!" The beam of golden energy lanced across the chamber and hit the Broodmother in the face. -660! The Broodmother veered off course, mandibles snapping wildly, crashing into the wall instead of into Alice's exposed back. It blinded it! The tooltip didn't say anything about blinding enemies, but from the looks of it, the dark-delver Broodmother had an innate weakness to light. Alice spun, saw the opening, and didn't hesitate.

She closed the distance in a single Lightning Step, activated Killer Instinct, and unleashed everything she had. I put everything I had into the finish. Nature's Howl was still active. I drew the Emberwood to full, every muscle in my arms straining. I sent Piercing Shot into the open wound Alice had carved. -467! Burning Arrow. Same spot. -372! The fire spread inside the carapace, burning from within.

The Broodmother's legs buckled and she collapsed, her massive body hitting the ground with a crash that shook the chamber. Alice drove her sword downward into the creature's head. One final, definitive strike. The Broodmother went still. Quest complete: Webspinner Extermination Webspinner Broodmother slain 1/1 The bioluminescent nodes on the walls dimmed and went dark. The remaining egg sacs deflated, whatever life they held was extinguished with their mother.

Alice pulled her sword free and sat down on the Broodmother's carapace, breathing hard. Her health bar was at about twenty percent. Mine was in better shape, thanks to Nature's Howl's lifesteal, but I used up quite a few Mana pots. We sat in silence for a long moment, catching our breath in the dark.

"That," Alice said eventually, "was fun." I couldn't argue with that.