As Chegyaeyi watched over Hazel, the witch carefully planted multiple curse bombs all over the street of Forest Avenue near Two-nine-five Interstate. Each bomb she created was around the size of her skull or bigger.

  While doing this, Hazel learned that she could adjust the size of the bombs however she wished. From her little experiments, while placing the bombs on the street, she discovered that they could be made as small as a pea or as big as a watermelon.

  However, the bigger the curse bomb was, the more mana was needed to make it while it was the reverse when she created tiny bombs. To cause as much damage as possible, Hazel made the bombs as big as she could; practically draining her mana to the point where she needed to take a few breaks to allow it to fully replenish before proceeding to make more bombs.

  This process took around half an hour or so before she finally managed to blanket not only a good portion of Forest Avenue that was right in front of the interstate but also the grass parts right next to it that was connected to the path that led up to the entrance of the interstate.

  Hazel made sure that the bombs were far enough away from the open parts of the interstate to avoid the structure from collapsing upon the various kabooms that were about to occur.

  Upon planting her final bomb, Hazel exhaled a sigh of relief while reveling in her diabolical work.

  “That should do it,” She declared with a slight grin on her face, marveling at her curse minefield.

  The entire area was now covered in dark purple balls of cursed energy just waiting to be blown up. It was a sight that Hazel couldn't help but evilly grin at.

  “I have been meaning to ask this, but...how are you able to see with that blindfold?” Chegyaeyi suddenly inquired, startling Hazel.

  She hesitated to answer, unsure of how to explain her circumstances. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t acting blind while in front of Chegyaeyi. Hazel wasn’t sure why, but she somehow noticed that she wasn’t keeping up her act with the Lizardfolk warrior.

  That was a mistake on her part. Sadly, there was no way for her to play it off and try and act blind. So, Hazel decided to change things up.

  “My other senses are heightened to where they allow me to perceive my surroundings. Like Daredevil.”

  Chegyaeyi leaned her head to the side skeptically. “Who is this Daredevil person? Is he some kind of demon with a similar condition in your world?”

  Hazel paused before immediately remembering that much like Astrid, this Lizardfolk warrior wasn’t from Earth, so she wouldn’t understand the reference. It was days like this that reminded her that despite being back home...she really had no one who could fully understand her references.

  Of course, there was her brother, Damien, but she still had no idea where he was and every time she thought about it...she could only fret over his safety. And considering her current situation, she couldn’t let her emotions distract her from her tasks. She would find Damien soon enough. She had to.

  But for now, her main priority was preparing for the spider swarm. That was all she could do at the moment.

  Hazel glanced around, taking a look at the progress that the other players with her were making. The second lane of the interstate was already destroyed, and there were multiple cars placed at the front to serve as barricades against the spider swarm.

  Since they mainly had long-range players like Archers and mages along with a few support classes like the Clerics, this group's main focus was attacking at a distance and keeping the swarm from getting close. As for the ones that do, those will be dealt with by the few close-range players like Rogues and Warriors to deal with.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Hopefully, Hazel’s plan would work and they would be able to at least deal with the first wave of spiders. She could worry about the second wave afterward.

  Once she believed everything was set for the upcoming battle, Hazel pulled up the Chat Room to see how everyone else was doing.

  [Hazel Thatcher: We just got done here. How is it going on your end, Astrid?]

  [Astrid Skogr: We’re about ready as well. And according to John, so are the other three at their checkpoints.]

  At the moment, there were five checkpoints since there were five players cursed by the spider queen. Hopefully, having five routes was enough to split the swarm up to a manageable amount for them to deal with.

  But they could only know for sure when they began with Hazel’s plan. Which would begin shortly.

  Knowing that their preparations were nearly complete, Hazel walked a little closer to the border where the Queen’s range was. If their prediction was right regarding the radius of the queen’s detection, the border should be around where the first entrances and exits of the interstate were.

  Hazel walked into position, waiting until she got work from Astrid that everything was completely ready for them to proceed. All the while, Chegyaeyi stood next to her, waiting for when she needed to carry Hazel away upon seeing the swarm approaching them.

  “You have faced this swarm before, yes?” The Lizardfolk questioned.

  “Twice, actually. The first time was a bit daunting since I was completely off guard, but the second time went a lot better.”

  “Then I guess it is because you have experienced the swarm’s overwhelming numbers before that you are capable of standing here without fear.”

  Hazel shrugged. “I guess you could say that, yeah.”

  It wasn’t like this was Hazel’s first time dealing with a Horde of monsters before. The Tutorial Dungeon she got sent to was filled with monster hordes, which were mainly the Fractured humans. She could still perfectly remember that sea of Fractured humans swarming the northern district of the City Island. There were so many of them that Hazel believed that it would’ve taken her months to completely clear them out.

  However, if it was the current version of her, then it was likely possible for her to easily eliminate the horde within a few days at most. Of course, that was because she had her curse bomb spell in her arsenal. If she possessed this spell back in the tutorial dungeon, then that horde wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Regardless, it was almost time.

  “Alright, so once we trigger the Queen’s detection, you need to carry me back over to where everyone else is so we can safely wait for them.”

  Chegyaeyi nodded firmly. “Understood.”

  Once the Lizardfolk warrior knew her task, Hazel waited for Astrid to call. A few moments passed before receiving the message.

  [Astrid Skogr: We’re all set. Wait for the cue.]

  [Hazel Thatcher: On it.]

  Hazel calmly stood in place, staring ahead of her into the streets of Portland from within the Queen’s domain. The moment it was time; all she needed to do was step forward so the Spider Queen could detect Hazel along with everyone else.

  She gripped her hands tightly, feeling beads of sweat build up from her nerves. Despite already dealing with the swarm twice, Hazel couldn’t help but fret over what was about to happen. But unlike before, she was much more prepared. And, she reminded herself that all of this was for their upcoming battle against the queen herself.

  By killing all of her children, everyone will be able to level up and get stronger. That way, there was a chance for them to win against the queen when she finally left her nest to attack them.

  A little while later, another message popped up.

  [Astrid Skogr: Do it, now!]

  Upon reading the message, Hazel immediately moved forward. She didn’t stop until she crossed the border and instantly triggered the queen’s detection. Upon doing so, a familiar panel appeared.

  [You are within range of the Spider Queen! The Spider Queen has now sensed your presence and is sending her children to hunt you down!]

  Almost immediately after reading the message, Hazel suddenly felt the ground beneath her trembling like mad. It got to the point where her knees buckled under the shaking, making it difficult for her to properly stand.

  Thankfully, Chegyaeyi was there to keep her from falling, firmly wrapping her arm around Hazel’s. Despite wearing sleeves, she could still feel bits of the Lizardfolk’s scaley skin that wasn’t covered in armor. She also noticed that there was a firmness when her arm pressed against Chegyaeyi’s. It was likely her muscles since she was a member of a warrior tribe.

  Before she could delve further into the Lizardfolk’s muscles, the tremors from before became stronger, quickly alerting Hazel as she reeled her head over at the source. A chorus of familiar yet grim hissing sounds followed by numerous stomping noises could be heard ahead of them. And they were getting closer.

  A few moments later, the first thing Hazel could see was practically a sea of spiders suddenly appearing in her view and getting bigger and bigger the closer it got to her and the others. Upon seeing the black sea of spiders, she knew then that the real fight...started now.