The Spiders' Trap
The fourth floor of the Ice Citadel (4)
“Who was it that said these things were no big deal?”
“Right? I’d like to know who spouted such nonsense.”
The spider monsters we’d assumed would be easy. Sure, they were dangerous, but we thought we could handle them if we were careful. Dealing with creatures that dropped from ceilings or walls without warning wasn’t exactly simple, but after the flashy disaster at the start, everyone now understood exactly what they needed to watch out for.
“They’re coordinating their attacks. Heh heh.”
The spiders were working together. They seemed to have decent intelligence. Otherwise, how could they pull off something like this?
“Left!”
“Right side too!”
“The real threat is the ceiling!”
Venom and webs flew in from every direction, leaving the party scrambling. There was only one reason for this mess.
‘We’re outnumbered.’
The spiders’ numbers far exceeded what we’d anticipated. With so many of them, dodging attacks from all sides left no room to launch our own.
“We should probably fall back.”
The leader was about to agree with the team member’s suggestion when the mage suddenly stepped forward.
“If we retreat now, who knows how far we’ll have to run! We need to end this here.”
“We don’t have a way.”
“These things are scattered everywhere, which makes them hard to deal with. If we can gather them into one spot and hit them all at once, we should be able to take them out.”
“They’re spread across the ceiling and walls. How are you going to gather them?”
“Have you forgotten who I am? I can do it. But after that, I won’t be able to do anything else.”
“If you can pull them together, we’ll handle the rest.”
Was this what a real mage looked like? He spoke with such confidence about something that sounded impossible, yet it didn’t feel like empty boasting. I found myself believing him.
‘That’s pretty cool.’
It was strange that mages like him—and priests, who were treated as even more valuable—received nearly the same respect. They were so capable and impressive. Did we really deserve equal treatment? All I could really do was…
“Thank you, Priest. I feel completely recovered.”
The man who had been doused in venom and nearly died from frostbite earlier had apparently pulled himself together during the ongoing battle. He approached me and spoke.
“I’m glad to hear it. Any discomfort?”
The only issue during his treatment had been his body temperature not returning immediately. There were no other problems, so he could jump back into combat without issue.
“None at all. I think I can fight again now. Those bastards got me so easily before—I need to get revenge. I can’t just sit here; it’s too embarrassing.”
Since he felt fine, it seemed he planned to rejoin the fight the moment he recovered.
‘Why is everyone on our team so aggressive?’
Being overly cautious was annoying, but being this battle-hungry was equally worrying. Neither extreme was good.
“Be careful. Since your body temperature dropped so sharply before, there might still be some lingering effects.”
“Understood. I can’t afford to get hit by the same thing again. That would be humiliating.”
He flashed a grin and charged back into the fray. Just as he reached the front line and adjusted his grip on his weapon, the mage finished his preparations. A fierce wind began to swirl.
“Everyone, watch out!”
The mage, who had yet to use his staff until now, unleashed an unbelievable amount of power.
“Whoa.”
Kiiiiiiieeeek—
‘How do I describe this… like a swarm of cockroaches scurrying around?’
It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight. A purple orb floated in the air, violently sucking in spiders from every direction. The spiders were drawn toward it as if pulled by an invisible force.
“Ugh…”
“That’s horrifying.”
When we first saw them, their white fur looked fluffy and their ruby-like eyes sparkled beautifully. But now that they were all clumped together, they were nothing but grotesque. Especially those wriggling legs—they made my whole body itch just watching.
The party members unleashed a barrage of attacks on the gathered spiders.
“Their bellies are the weak point! The axes sink right in!”
With so many spiders crowded together, some had been knocked onto their backs. One swing of an axe into an exposed belly killed it instantly. The problem, of course, was how to flip them over in the first place.
“How are we supposed to flip these things!”
“Leave that to me.”
At that moment, the second mage in our party—who hadn’t done much until now—stepped up.
“Huh? Really?”
“With that in place, flipping them is easy. A little wind manipulation will do. Just make sure to finish off the ones that get turned over.”
“Of course! That’s no problem at all!”
The mage waved both hands through the air. A group of spiders suddenly lifted as if caught in a gust, then flipped completely over.
‘How do mages make even that look so easy?’
If it weren’t for their short mana reserves, mages would probably rule the world. The spiders struggled and writhed, trying to break free from the magical force, but they couldn’t escape. They were quickly wiped out by the coordinated assault.
‘So this is what mob gathering looks like.’
It was much more satisfying to watch. Every time an attack landed, multiple spiders exploded at once. It felt incredibly refreshing. The desperate attacks the monsters launched in their struggle to survive also lost most of their threat.
Of course, there were still occasional close calls.
“Ow, damn it! Why me again?!”
Someone nearly fell victim to their attacks.
‘It’s that guy again.’
It was the same man I had healed earlier, the one who had rushed back into battle. This time he barely dodged, but he had come dangerously close to needing another trip to me for treatment. It seemed he and these monsters were simply incompatible. Or maybe he was just having an unusually unlucky day.
“It’s about to disappear!”
The mage maintaining the orb announced he could no longer hold it.
“You’ve already done more than enough!”
“Once this vanishes, I won’t be able to do anything more either.”
The other mage, who had been flipping the spiders like pancakes, said the same. Yet the expressions of the team members fighting the spiders remained bright. It was only natural—the tide of battle had completely turned during the mages’ brief intervention.
At that moment, covered in spider blood, Melody approached me.
“Could you take a look at my arm? It’s frozen and I can’t move it.”
“!!”
Had she really fought until it got this bad? I was stunned. I quickly examined her and saw that not only her arm but parts of her legs were frozen solid as well.
“Come here right now!!”
“I just need a quick treatment and then I’ll go back…!”
Melody normally stayed close to me, but this time she had no choice but to fight alongside her comrades. The spiders swarmed from ceilings, walls, and every direction while launching long-range attacks, making close protection meaningless. As a result, her body was covered in injuries from what must have been an intense fight.
“No. This is severe enough that full recovery will take time.”
“Ah… is it that bad?”
“The external wounds aren’t large, but your insides are frozen. Your blood is probably circulating very slowly right now. The truly dangerous thing about these monsters’ attacks is that they gradually erode your condition without you realizing it.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t have a way to instantly raise her body temperature. It was a good thing I had kept spare heat stones on hand. I had her sit down and instructed her to rub the heat stones primarily on her frozen legs and arms. Meanwhile, I used my divine power to neutralize the poison lowering her body temperature.
“The detoxification is complete, but it will take quite a while for your body to move smoothly again.”
“Understood.”
“If you start fighting again the moment you feel even slightly better, it will be disastrous. You know how easily mistakes happen in combat when your body feels even a little different from normal, right?”
Having watched several battles myself, I had picked up on the important points. Just like athletes, the team members needed to understand their own physical condition well. Otherwise, mistakes during combat were inevitable. The reason combat jobs were so dangerous was precisely because a single momentary error could lead to serious injury. And now she had frostbite making her body stiff and difficult to move?
“Ugh!”
I pointed to a spot for Melody, who looked like she would rush back into battle the second she felt even a little better.
“Look over there. That was an attack he could have dodged, but he hesitated and got hit, didn’t he? Please move that person over here!”
“……”
“All of that happened because he didn’t properly understand his own body’s condition. The scary thing about this poison is that at first it doesn’t hinder movement much, so people ignore it and keep fighting—only to end up like that. Before you know it, your legs stop obeying you. So why don’t we trust the rest to our teammates?”
We had already killed more than half of them. The remainder should fall quickly. Melody seemed to reconsider her physical state after hearing my words and nodded obediently.
“Understood. I’ll do as you say.”
“Once your body warms up a bit, could you help move the injured?”
Evacuating the wounded from the battlefield was just as crucial as fighting. Some might wonder why carrying people was so important, but it was precisely because someone was doing this job that the others could fight aggressively with peace of mind.
‘Huh?’
Now that I thought about it… was it because of me that they were fighting so recklessly? I hadn’t seen many other teams, so I wasn’t entirely sure, but throwing oneself into battle without regard for personal safety couldn’t be common. Who wouldn’t value their own body? Yet our party in particular charged in without holding back. I had thought it was simply a quirk of our teammates, but…
‘It was because of me all along?’
The realization hit me only after I finished treating Melody and began healing the next injured team member who had been carried over. The reason they could throw themselves into danger like this was because I existed in this party.