Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Lame-Legged Agnea
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Chapter 8
Making loud noises while delving into a dungeon is something you avoid if at all possible.
Even novice adventurers know this basic rule.
Few know exactly how many pointless deaths it took for all adventurers to adopt it as the fundamental code of conduct for dungeon delves.
But even if those pointless deaths are forgotten, the phrase written in their blood is remembered.
Avoid making loud noises inside a dungeon.
“Haa… Haaaaaaaack!”
Just moments ago, Charma had broken that basic rule.
This scream was laced with all sorts of terror.
“Mon… Monster…”
The terror of beholding a bizarrely massive and grotesque beast right before his eyes.
And the terror of that threat arriving at a completely unexpected moment.
- Keeeeeek-!
[The neutral boss 'Lame-Legged Agnea' awakens from its long slumber.]
[Boss battle commencing.]
[Agnea's spiderwebs block the retreat path.]
[While the boss battle with the neutral boss is in progress, delving party members cannot enter the battlefield, but an equal number of defending party members may enter the battlefield.]
‘Damn it!’
It wasn’t carelessness.
He had actually taken out all the goblins he assumed were escorts, and the demonkin and beautiful woman just ahead were practically dungeon treasures within arm’s reach.
It was complacency.
The rare stroke of luck—massive rewards without great risk—had clouded his reason.
“You… What the hell are you.”
He couldn’t help but remember, even if he didn’t want to.
That the moment you reach the finish line is when you’re most likely to trip.
Still, thankfully, it wasn’t a complete ambush.
Fwoosh…
Charma thrust his torch forward and lifted his head toward the direction the monster had appeared.
- Keeeeek-!
He could only guess the thing’s size from the reach of the torchlight, but even that was enough to overwhelm him as the spider beast screeched ferociously.
[Agnea uses anesthetic silk spray.]
[Each hit from the anesthetic silk reduces evasion and accuracy by 3%. Stacks up to 10 times, and at max stacks, it forms a cocoon.]
[If cocooned, you fall unconscious.]
Churu-ru-ru-ru-ru-!
The silk sprayed out relentlessly.
‘Shit!’
Fwaaah-!
Charma rolled across the floor, barely dodging the spiderweb shot from Agnea’s mouth.
“I can’t die….”
Grit…
“I-I… I can’t die in a place like this!”
Charma shouted to shake off his fear. The unwritten rule against making noise had long since been shattered.
‘That damn demonkin bastard!’
This was clearly a trap set by the demonkin who’d come to retrieve the goblin corpses.
But what did it matter now?
Rage boiled within him, but he needed to regain his cool.
Any moment now, that giant spider would…
- Keeeek…
‘…Huh?’
Agnea didn’t move rashly and stayed in its web, warily observing Charma.
That behavior planted a question in Charma’s mind.
‘Why isn’t it charging right at me?’
His death had been postponed.
In this moment where he should have been crushed by the difference in species and size, he’d been granted a moment to breathe.
[Agnea uses anesthetic silk spray.]
……
Churo-ro-ro-ro-ro-!
Fwaaaaah-!
Charma rolled across the floor once more, dodging the barrage of spiderwebs raining down on him.
And he became certain.
‘This thing can’t move!’
For some reason, Agnea wasn’t leaving its web and was trying to hunt Charma from a distance.
Keeeek…
Charma nocked an arrow and fired an incendiary shot at the Agnea.
[Charma uses incendiary arrow.]
[Magical flames are imbued into the loaded arrow.]
[Targets hit by the magical flames take additional fire damage for up to 15 seconds.]
Twaaaang-!
The target was so massive that the incendiary arrow flew straight and true.
Screeeeech-!
Thud!
‘Hit!’
- Keeeeeek-!
The flames went out quickly, but in that brief moment when Agnea’s surroundings blazed brightly, the information poured in.
‘That thing… one of its legs is injured!’
Its right hind leg number two hung limply out of balance.
Probably lost in some past battle…
‘No, what matters is that right now, it can’t charge at me!’
The terror of facing a massive beast alone diluted slightly, replaced by a spark of elation.
‘Maybe… I can take it down….’
A beast that size would surely yield an enormous magic stone.
If he just kept his distance…
If he didn’t let it close the gap and kept attacking steadily…
It was right then.
- Keeek!
- Keeeek!
Charma looked not toward Agnea’s web, but in another direction. He’d definitely heard the sound from there.
“…Baby spiders?”
Agnea’s offspring, it seemed—spiders about as tall as Charma’s waist—began appearing from all around.
‘Of course….’
There was no way a spider beast that huge ruled this cavern alone.
Fwoosh-!
Charma shoved his torch at the approaching baby spiders, and they hesitated.
‘They fear fire. There’s still a chance. The problem is….’
Churu-ru-ru-ru-!
“Kh….”
Fwaaah-!
Dodging the silk from afar while dealing with the baby spiders’ attacks was quite the challenge.
“Don’t come closer!”
Swoooosh-!
Fwooooosh-!
“Hoo… Hoo…”
Charma swung his torch around and spotted something: the cavern was packed full of pure white objects.
And he realized instantly what they were.
‘Cocoons.’
Whether they held food or Agnea’s eggs, he couldn’t tell for sure.
‘…This might work.’
The pure white cocoons were astonishingly larger than Charma himself.
Which meant…
Churu-ru-ru-!
Thud…
“…Heh, so that’s how it works?”
The silk cocoons scattered throughout the battlefield, undoubtedly blocking paths and lines of sight before.
But now, they served as perfect cover for blocking Agnea’s spiderwebs.
‘Stay calm. Assess the situation coolly.’
With his back to a cocoon, blocking Agnea’s webs, he could deal with the baby spiders charging from the opposite side.
Fwooooosh-!
- Keeeek!
Fwooooosh-!
- Keeek!
It wasn’t optimistic.
‘This won’t end at this rate.’
He needed to strike back.
Kigigigik…
Twaaaang-!
[Charma uses incendiary arrow.]
……
Screeeeech-!
Thud!
- Keeeeeek!
Agnea thrashed wildly in its web.
‘It’s weak to fire. Just incendiary arrows are making it go berserk like that. Damn it… If only there were a fire mage or spiritist, this wouldn’t even be an issue!’
Pining for what wasn’t there would only shorten his lifespan by the second.
Whoooosh…
Fwooooosh-!
- Keeeeek!
“Get lost! You disgusting spider freaks!”
- Keeeeek!
Charma screamed at the spiders swarming around him, eyes bloodshot.
“You think I’m gonna die here? If I get out of here, I’ll bring every adventurer in Liudira! Tell that wicked demonkin and you gross spider bastards you’ll all burn in the dungeon together!”
[Agnea uses anesthetic silk spray.]
……
Churu-ru-ru-ru-ru-!
He wouldn’t fall for a pattern he’d already figured out.
“Damn you, at least…”
[Charma uses incendiary arrow.]
……
“Shut your trap!”
Screeeeech-!
Thud!
The same situation as before.
But this time, a slightly different result unfolded.
- Keeeeeek-!
Boom!
Rumble!
Agnea’s convulsions intensified.
As a result, the web it hung from shook violently, and several connections between the stalactites and the web snapped with creaks.
Crack-!
Rumble-!
“What the…”
The vibrations caused clusters of stalactites to rain down, forcing both the baby spiders and Charma to brace against the falling rocks.
“Grraaah…”
Crack!
- Keeeek!
Some baby spiders and silk cocoons were crushed.
Boom!
Boom!
In this hellish battlefield, Charma realized something.
‘That thing… it’s thrashing to keep from falling from the web!’
Agnea’s writhing in pain had endangered its own web.
‘…What if I can drop it to the ground?’
With a body that massive, the impact of the fall would be beyond imagination. Perhaps a single drop would be enough to end the beast.
Sizzle…
This was the turning point.
Charma sensed it instinctively.
Miss this, and the chance would be gone.
He fully drew back the bowstring and nocked an arrow.
[Charma uses rapid shot.]
[Fires an additional arrow at 80% of combat power during shooting.]
[Additional projectile has 10% reduced accuracy.]
Fwoosh-!
[Charma uses incendiary arrow.]
[Magical flames are imbued into the loaded arrow.]
[Targets hit by the magical flames take additional fire damage for up to 15 seconds.]
[Rapid shot is active. Incendiary arrow applies to the additional projectile.]
Kigigigik…
“Fall and dieeee!”
Twaang…
Screeeeech-!
Fwaaah!
- Keeek!
Splash!
- Keeeeeek!
Agnea writhed in agony, shaking the web.
Creak…
Crack!
Snap!
And finally, the moment Charma had hoped for arrived.
Craaaack-!
A corner of the web tore free, sending massive vibrations through the entire cavern.
Crack!
- Keeeeeek-!
Agnea plummeted vertically from the air toward the ground.
Upside down, utterly at the mercy of gravity.
“Uhahahahaha!”
Crack!
Charma curled into a ball to avoid the falling rocks and laughed loudly.
Victory.
‘My victory!’
As the dust settled, the wrecked cavern came into view.
The web was torn to shreds, and there was no place left for Agnea to climb.
And there it was: Agnea, belly up on the ground.
Sizzle…
Charma fended off the hesitating baby spiders and approached it.
It was dead, the thing.
“Keehihik… Serves you right for picking the wrong opponent…”
That was when.
Pffft-!
The supposedly dead Agnea twitched and shot something from its mouth.
[Agnea uses acidic venom.]
[A highly fast-acting venom contaminant shoots toward the target.]
[Deals strong acidic damage to the target.]
Splaaaash-!
It happened in an instant.
“…….”
Charma’s left arm, and part of his face, were drenched in acid.
“Wha… Whaa…? U, uwaaaaaah!”
Whish…
Agnea quickly flipped its body using its front legs.
It had laid this trap from the moment it fell, exposing its belly to induce carelessness.
Tap tap…
Agnea shot silk at the disoriented Charma.
Churu-ru-ru-ru-ru-!
[Anesthetic silk spray hits.]
[Anesthetic silk now at 3 stacks.]
The silk wrapped tightly around his legs first.
Charma’s mind went dark just as the silk reached his chest.
Was Agnea the final victor?
“Damn… you…”
[Anesthetic silk spray hits.]
[Anesthetic silk now at 6 stacks.]
It was right then.
Sliiiide…
‘…What?’
Splaaaash-!
The silk that had been about to cover his head stopped coming.
In his fading consciousness, Charma glimpsed the back of a mysterious woman with red hair and black horns.
“What are you…”
The woman turned and smiled brightly.
“Stay right there! It’ll be over soon! Master has some questions for you!”
“M-Master? Who the…”
He didn’t know anyone like…
More importantly… horns?
Was she… a demon?
…Damn.
Had he been played?
“Damn… demonkin… bastard…”
Thud…
Slam-!
The woman casually picked up the unconscious Charma and hurled him far away.
“Gasp, failed to control my strength! He didn’t just die from that, did he?”
The woman was Phenex, the demon of rebirth dispatched by Faust to guard the dungeon.
- Keeeeek-!
The wounded Agnea glared at Phenex, dragging its limp hind leg.
Thud thud thud…
The vibrations woke all the baby spiders slumbering in the silk cocoons, and they came swarming.
Faust watched the scene from his inner chamber via a vision.
“Phenex, show me.”
“…….”
“That you are a demon.”
Sizzle…
Fwoooooosh-!
[Phenex's basic ability: Burning Flames activates.]
[Phenex continuously recovers life force until the battle ends.]
[Effect increases based on lost life force.]
Flames erupted around Phenex’s body.
Grit…
She bit down on the strap of her gauntlet with her teeth and said.
“Yes, Master!”
All would proceed according to Faust’s will.