Chương 63: Infernal Queen

"Alright, time to get this partay started!" Ari says and activates the door to the floor seven boss. I accept the join request, and we are both wrapped up in the teleportation. The sensation has gotten quite familiar as of late, I don't even suffer any disorientation anymore. The moment I appear, I am disoriented by an absurdly loud screech. You have heard the screech of Arachne The Infernal Queen. You are paralyzed for 35 seconds. Great, paralyzed again. Oh well, at least it gives me time to survey the situation.

We are in a large cave, matching the theme of the rest of the dungeon. Though this one has a ton of webs all along the ceilings and walls, made out of some really strong and fire resistant looking silk. However, the real attention grabber is the large spider sitting at the center of the room. It has far too many legs for my personal tastes. Oh and when I identify it, it has a name. [Arachne, The Infernal Queen (Elite floor Boss)] Now, I am no expert, but I do not like the sound of an elite.

Typically elite means stronger, a lot stronger, and it isn't as if we were clearing the previous bosses that easily.

"Fuck." Ari says from beside me, seemingly also frozen. We can still speak though, which is nice.

"What in the world is my luck?"

"Is this bad?" Ari sighs, "The last dungeon I did had an elite at floor seven too. It wiped me almost instantly. Also, I fucking hate spiders." I smile, "Sounds like a good challenge then." The spider has begun charging at us by now, but due to the distance, we unfreeze just in the nick of time. I Plane Step a ways behind it and ready Luxmore as it pivots around. All eight of its beady red eyes focus on me, a twinge of fear running through me.

But I ignore it and prepare myself as it raises its two forelegs and throws a veritable wave of fire from them. I Plane Step just to the edge of the wave, and raise my armguards to block the bits that I couldn't dodge. The fire washes over me, but thankfully my armguards nullify half of the effect. Plus my armor has an inherent bit of fire resistance, due to it being metal and all. The monster is smart enough not to just wait for the attack to hit me though.

I am immediately forced to raise Luxmore as it pounces on top of me. My feet sink into the ground as the weight of such a giant spider tries to crush me. With a grunt and directing a ton of stamina to my arms, I throw the spider off and it flies through the air for several seconds. It lands with a solid thud and is disoriented for several seconds. Which is just enough time for a crack to split the air from Ari's direction. The monster is relieved of two of its legs. But that only serves to enrage it further.

I leap in front of it mere moments before it reaches Ari. I activate Steel Form and brace myself as it crashes into me, sending me sliding across the floor until I finally get some good footing.

"My turn!" Dovey says from the skies. A violent windstorm is whipped up, blowing my hair everywhere. But I watch in awe as the spider is cut in several places by flying debris. It may be gigantic, but its armor seems to have been diminished as a result. Probably so that it can actually move. A screech splits the air, but that trick won't work on me again. I glance back to make sure Ari is okay, and she gives me a thumbs up, already setting up her rifle again.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I activate Luxmore's buffing aura and feel the power surge through me. Using my newfound strength, I rush towards the monster, however the moment I get within about five meters, the ground melts beneath me. I manage to get one foot on solid ground long enough to Plane Step backwards. Surveying the terrain, it would seem the spider used some ability to turn the ground around it into lava.

Oh, and it is also now charging right for me, mandibles twitching in a very unsettling manner. Does it have venom? I feel like a spider of this size would, but I also really do not want to find out. But, I have no way to play this safely, so I play it risky. I Plane Step, this time trying to be as precise as possible. It is a lot harder to teleport into midair, but I manage to appear about three meters above the monster.

Instantly, I start up a Spark Drill and push as much stamina as I possibly can into it as well as mana into the buffs from my hammer. My attack crashes into the monster's carapace. The armor around its head area is definitely a lot tougher, but basically nothing compared to a fully powered Spark Drill. I cut off a nice chunk of the side of its head. If it was human, I would imagine it being like half of its jaw is missing. However, I am currently in quite a bad position.

Luxmore is buried deeply in its body, and despite my tugging, it refuses to come out. I try to simply put it away in storage, but it seems the skill thinks I am trying to put the entire monster inside as well, and does not let me. The monster took a lot of damage, but it is most certainly not out of the fight yet. It turns its head all the way around, which I am not sure is the normal function of a spider. Then again, magic is a thing. You have stared into the eyes of a true monster.

You are paralyzed for five seconds. My body locks up the moment my eyes make contact with it. That look in its eyes… it is not natural. This is not a spider, nor anything of this world. Perhaps it resembles one, but this is a monster. Its head leaps forward, mandibles preparing to wrap around me and fill me with venom and who knows what else. Even if the paralysis wore off this instant, there would be no time to dodge. Time slows down as I watch it get closer and closer, guess this is the end for me.

Or so it would've been. Ari appears right in front of me, and raises her arm, glowing with a purple energy. The monster senses danger and tries to abort its movement, but Ari is faster and punches it right in the forehead. She did say she could do a bit of punching, but this is the first time I've seen it.

"<Structural Collapse>" Power ripples out from her technique, and I watch it flow into the monster. Total destruction is the only way I can describe the effect. It is like the monster just starts to collapse from the inside out. The paralysis wears off just in time for me to free Luxmore and jump out of the area. An explosion of blood and goo and all sorts of other nasty stuff shortly follows, covering me in it. I try really hard not to think about how disgusting it is.

Thankfully, my attention is taken by a bunch of dings. Naturally, the monster does not survive such a devastating attack.

'Ding', you have slain the floor seven boss, Arachnae the Infernal. For defeating an elite boss, bonus treasure will be provided. Please await teleportation to the intermission room.

'Ding', Magic Smith has advanced to level 50. Stat points distributed.

'Ding' Corestone specialization awakening now available.

'Ding', Dovey has advanced to level 44. Stat point distributed. …

'Ding', Dovey has advanced to level 48. Stat point distributed.

'Ding', Spirit Mage has advanced to level 48. Stat points distributed. I almost jump for joy at those messages. But a sigh of exhaustion overtakes my body first. Just as I am about to collapse to my feet, a shout from Dovey forces me to look over.

"Master, Ari ain't looking too good!" I quickly spot the bird and Plane Step over where he is standing next to Ari. She is definitely not looking too good. Her armor is severely damaged and I can see blood just about everywhere. Her blood too, not the monster's. I can feel that she is weak, but still alive, albeit barely. Whatever that technique she used must cause damage to herself too, if I had to guess.

I bite down my panic and start incanting Stabalization, I also bring Luma out of the phylactery to help with her nuzzles. Which despite her usual jealousy, she is happy to provide. But, no matter how much we try to heal her, it isn't helping that much. She is getting more stable, but not better. I pull out a healing potion and administer it to her, but it only seems to help repair the visible wounds on her body. Her vital energy remains extremely weak still. This is not something I can fix…

my knowledge and power is simply insufficient. Something else is wrong, something deeper. Did some of the spider's venom get into her? I don't have any antidote potions, which is really stupid. But how was I to expect venomous monsters in a fire dungeon? I bet she has some, but I cannot access her storage, and I doubt she will wake up. Which leaves only one option: I need to get her out of this dungeon.