Hazel was the first to realize what the monster attempted to spray them with. “A-Acid...?!”
So, they weren’t just facing a giant spider but also a giant spider that could spit acid? Where the hell did this thing even come from? Well, aside from underground, anyway.
The other players aside from Astrid and Hazel were in a panic, their voices and yells overlapping one another from fear. However, they were all silenced at once as another voice shouted at them.
“Do not panic and get into positions, now!” The blond-haired knight named Zoe ordered. “All mages will attack from the back while vanguard players will draw its attention to them! Now go!”
The players who were previously panicking now regained their composure while following Zoe’s command. All the magic users, including the mage that bantered with the Brawler, got into formation, lining up in a single row. Then, while facing the giant spider, they raised their magic staves and wands and cast their magic spells.
A flurry of different spells from fireballs to Mana Bolts to other spells like sharp shards of rock or crescent blades made of pure water, were then hurled at the massive eight-legged monstrosity, barreling right toward it. The spells collided against it, sending the creature reeling back from the force.
It released an ear-piercing screech that shook the very ground beneath them. The players struggled to keep their balance, waiting for the Giant spider’s screech to cease, so they could continue their assault.
As Hazel covered her ears to avoid having them bleed from the sound as well, she tried to identify the creature, wanting to know what exactly they were dealing with.
Level: 32
One of the Spider Queen’s strongest soldiers that are normally sent out to weed out enemies that are a threat to the nest. They act as the spider queen’s wrath and bear their fangs at her enemies.
Reading the description, Hazel’s face grew pale. It wasn’t just the fact that this bastard was ten levels higher than her but something even worse. This thing served a Queen, which meant there was a stronger monster out in some kind of spider nest, the description stated.
Could the nest be within the sinkhole where Hazel used her Entropy spell? No, if that were the case, instead of the Sentinel, the spider queen would’ve shown up. But she had to have been close after seeing so many spiders crawl out of that damn hole and chase after them.
And if not...then how big was the spider queen’s nest to house so many of its children? Actually, now that the thought crossed Hazel’s mind, if the spider sentinel was this big...then how large was the Spider Queen?
Hazel pushed the thought aside for now while refocusing her attention on the battle, watching the other players continue their assault on the Spider Sentinel. More spells were hurled in its direction, and various explosions were made on its body upon them making contact. Meanwhile, the vanguard players charged and attacked the giant spider up close.
All of them carried various weapons, from spears, swords, axes, etc. They swung their weapons at the monster’s massive legs, attempting to cause some kind of damage. However, they only bounced off upon impact, barely doing any damage to them.
The Spider Sentinel angrily hissed while raising its two front legs high in the air. The other players knew what was about to happen and frantically retreated to avoid getting caught in its range. As soon as the sentinel slammed its pointed legs into the ground, bits of debris were flung in the air, hailing down on the players like rain.
A couple of mages conjured a Mana barrier to protect themselves while the rest ran around to avoid getting crushed. Hazel was one of the mages that summoned a dome of mana. She wasn’t alone as she pulled Astrid in to protect her under the barrier as well.
“This fight is only going to get worse if we don’t kill that thing now...” Hazel muttered to the dark elf.
“And what do you suggest we do? Take it on ourselves? This isn’t like our fight with the Jester Sub-Boss. Fighting that thing won’t be easy.”
Astrid wasn’t wrong about it being difficult to take on the monster. But they had to do something if they wanted to get out of this situation alive. Hazel was tempted to try her Evil Eyes skill again but wasn’t certain that she could pull it off because of what happened before. They might overload again or might not even work because they were still under the effects of the initial overload panel.
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She should be able to keep it restrained with Telekinesis, if only for a short while. Unlike with the horde, Hazel could at least handle the spider Sentinel. Even if its size was a problem, compared to having to control multiple things at once with the spell, she was more than capable of pulling it off. But to make sure that they could kill the monster, they needed someone to kill when the chance arose. Someone strong enough to strike down the sentinel in one blow.
And Hazel believed there was such a person...
“Vanguards, retreat!” Zoe ordered the players to attack the spider sentinel. “Focus on defending the mages while I deal with it.”
Making this declaration, the female knight charged forward, brandishing her blade in preparation for her fight. The sword began to pulse a vibrating blue aura radiating with power. Zoe dashed toward the sentinel before leaping toward it in a single bound.
Gripping her weapon with both hands, the knight delivered a heavy swing down on the monster. The blade made contact with the massive beast, creating a small shockwave that lightly breezed against Hazel and the other players. Aside from that, the monster was more or less alright. But the knight’s attempt did do something; it pissed the sentinel off.
Roaring deeply, the sentinel then spat more acid around, attempting to kill Zoe with its attack. One of the acid attacks barreled toward the knight before miraculously swerving down as if gravity increased tremendously on it and completely missing her. Zoe glanced down at the acid splashing against the ground, dissolving the concrete in seconds from the highly acidic substance.
Meanwhile, Hazel groaned after forcing the liquid to rapidly descend on the street. While it wasn’t difficult to manipulate the substance to follow her will, doing it so abruptly was a bit of a pain. And the problems didn’t end there.
Seeing that its acid attack didn’t do the trick, the spider sentinel then shot webs out of its mouth, attempting to restrain the knight to make it easier to kill her. The glob of web made its way toward Zoe, determined to hit its target and restrain the knight on the spot. But once again, the web blob unnaturally moved to the side, narrowly missing its target before hitting the ground next to her.
Much like before, Zoe stared at the web, clearly confused by what was happening. Even the spider sentinel was questioning what was happening. Despite not having an expressive face, Hazel noticed that its eyes narrowed while its head slightly tilted in confusion. Then it let out another screech of anger and glared at the knight, believing that she was the cause behind it.
In a fit of rage, the sentinel charged at the knight, lashing its arms at her with intent to kill. Before it could do anything to the knight, another barrage of spells struck it, sending its body to the side. However, once it readjusted itself, the sentinel glared at the mages that attacked it before turning back to face Zoe, recognizing her as its biggest threat at the moment.
The knight braced herself, lifting her sword in preparation for battle. The sentinel screeched once more while slamming one of its legs down on her. Zoe leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. While rolling along the ground, the previous spot where the knight stood before moving was now nothing more than a crater dug into the concrete street.
Just as the sentinel raised its limb out of the hole, Zoe took action and hurled an aura blade slash at it. The bright blue crescent-shaped attack struck the monster, sending it reeling back and howling in pain. The aura slash did enough damage to the monster to the point where a grievous wound was present, with emerald green blood gushing and dripping out.
Despite the injury, the sentinel was more pissed than ever and proceeded to charge at the knight, ignoring the other players that attempted to attack it. Each step it made dug a hole in the concrete as it got closer to its enemy.
It took a couple more steps toward Zoe, determined to kill her in an instant, but was caught off guard by the brawler player from before. He leaped into the air and barreled toward the spider sentinel like a bullet. Getting close, he reeled his arm back before delivering a powerful punch to its torso. The part of its body that was punch caved in while the sentinel was pushed to the side from the force.
Just when the monster oriented itself and turned to glare at the brawler, a barrage of mana bolts was hurled at it, striking its head and torso. The mana bolts were from the mage from before as well, who stood behind the brawler. The sentinel endured the shower of bolts before abruptly spitting more acid at the players that got in its way.
The brawler and mage backed away to avoid the acid, watching it splash against the stone and get dissolved in the process. Missing once again, the spider screeched in anger, slamming its legs down and causing a minor tremor in the process.
The brawler and mage players were unperturbed by this and resumed their assault on the sentinel. The brawler lunged at the beast and struck one of its legs, slightly bending it from the attack. An audible snap and crack were heard, resulting in the spider sentinel roaring in pain while stumbling back.
The players didn’t relent and pushed forward, assaulting the sentinel with everything they had. Even Zoe finally joined in and launched another aura slash attack at one of its legs, carving a good chunk of its joint, causing the monster to collapse slightly from the wound.
Just before the three players could finally finish it off, the sentinel, seemingly having enough of this nonsense, let out a powerful screech similar to the first screech that came from the sinkhole. The screech that summoned all of those Infant spiders from before.
“I have a bad feeling about this...” Hazel said in a low voice that only Astrid heard her.
Almost immediately after the sentinel’s screech, the ground beneath their feet once again began to tremble. Everyone within the vicinity tried to keep their balance while enduring the quake, waiting for it to cease.
As the tremors continued, the ground behind the sentinel soon burst as a new monster appeared from under the rubble. It was another giant spider sentinel like the first one. Hazel likely didn’t even need to try and identify it to know, but she did anyway, just to be certain. And sure enough, it was also a sentinel.
The second sentinel walked beside the first one, standing side by side of each other. The two eight-legged monstrosities then peered down at the players with their eight crimson eyes while releasing a duo screech at their enemies.
Hazel grimaced at their situation, knowing that things were going to get much more difficult than before. If one spider sentinel was bad...then two were even more troublesome for them.