Volume 7, Chapter 18 – Dominic’s Crisis

After a quick change of disguise, Yisi approached the room where the twelfth-floor guardian was, using the name Viel.

Looking down from her position on the ceiling, she saw about a hundred adventurers in the football-field-sized hall. The main force fighting the Frost Spider at the front line consisted of less than thirty people. The rest were all weak adventurers below level 10, who could only provide support with long-range magic and arrows. Although their arrows only left small dents when they hit the Frost Spider, their constant fire distracted the creature, reducing the pressure on the main force at the front.

“Although it feels like walking on a tightrope, it seems there are no major problems overall.”

Just as Dominic had said, besides his own squad, there were three other Mithril-rank adventurer parties. Although none of them had someone as high-level as Dominic at level 28, the average strength of their teams was comparable to his. The four squads covered for each other. When the Frost Spider focused its attacks on one team, the other three would attack from its flanks, forcing it to change its target.

In addition, Yisi noticed many bonfires burning around the room. The originally bare ground was now covered with a layer of what looked like moss. And because of this moss, the Frost Spider often lost its balance when moving and couldn’t move too quickly. The adventurers, on the other hand, moved as if on flat ground, able to perform all sorts of evasive maneuvers at will.

The moss was likely one of Dominic’s preparations to limit the Frost Spider’s speed. For it to be effective against even a large monster like the Frost Spider, the moss was either an alchemical product or a type of cultivated monster. To come up with such a countermeasure in such a short time, it had to be said that Dominic was quite intelligent.

In the short time Yisi had been observing, the Frost Spider’s HP had already dropped by 5%.

“That bow… is it a magic weapon?”

Yisi’s gaze fell on the elf named Nana. Every time the flaming arrow from her bow struck the Frost Spider, it dealt significant damage—each arrow reduced the Frost Spider’s HP by 1%. For other adventurers, even if they all attacked together, it would take several minutes to deal the same amount of damage. Now, the Frost Spider’s HP was less than 30%.

“I don’t remember seeing her with that equipment before.” Yisi used her appraisal skill on the elf Nana’s flaming bow. “[Deteriorated God’s Arrow]? Just from its power, I can tell it’s a Mithril-grade weapon. If this is considered ‘deteriorated’, I wonder what a real God’s Arrow would be like—ah.”

With a soft gasp from Yisi, the battle, which had been progressing steadily towards victory, suddenly changed.

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“Huh?”

“Where did it go?”

“Where is it?”

Without any warning, the Frost Spider suddenly vanished from the sight of all the adventurers. Those who had been swinging their heavy weapons at it all missed. Even the low-level adventurers far from the battle, who had a clear view of the entire field, could only look around, searching for any trace of the spider.

“Magic…”

Readjusting his sword stance, a sweat-drenched Dominic, like all the other adventurers, cautiously scanned his surroundings. The current situation could only be explained as the Frost Spider possessing some kind of special magic. The crisis was not over.

Subconsciously, he glanced at the ground.

The ground, which had been covered in [Green Velvet Moss], was now coated with a thick layer of ice. Aided by the light of the fires scattered around the room, he could see his own reflection in the ice.

This is bad.

Without the slightest hesitation, Dominic looked up towards the elf Nana. His pupils instantly shrank to the size of a needle.

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The vanished Frost Spider was standing right behind Nana, its leg descending silently, aiming straight for her head.

“Nana, watch out!”

“Eh?”

Nana tilted her head in confusion, but the authority Dominic had built up over a long time made her choose to trust him. She took a step forward.

Then.

Bang.

The Frost Spider’s leg grazed Nana’s back and smashed into the ground. The immense force caused the ground to tremble, and the hard layer of ice shattered and flew in all directions. The violent impact sent Nana flying several meters forward, and the flaming bow in her hand slipped from her grasp.

“Show weakness first, then neutralize the effect of the moss without anyone noticing, and wait for the right moment to strike a fatal blow. What a clever monster.”

Even a human would have a hard time making such a calm judgment.

If the Frost Spider were an ally, Yisi might have applauded it. But unfortunately, it was a non-biological monster. It had neither a cute appearance nor soft, fluffy ears, and its body was made entirely of solid ice. It held no appeal for her whatsoever.

Yisi frowned.

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“This is going to be difficult now.”

Although Nana had escaped a fatal blow thanks to Dominic’s shout, she hadn’t completely avoided the attack. Just a slight graze had reduced her HP by 40%. It was a struggle for her to even get up, and she was clearly in no condition to continue fighting.

And with the loss of their main attacker, Nana, and without the moss to restrict the Frost Spider’s speed, the rest of the battle would surely be extremely difficult.

“Damn it.”

“Axis, don’t be reckless! This thing is toying with us! Everyone, stick together, don’t separate!” Dominic shouted, gathering his companions. As he led them in a retreat, he turned his head and yelled at the low-level adventurers waiting at the entrance, “Abandon the subjugation! We’ll discuss a new strategy later! Leave the room and escape to a safe area!”

“Dominic, what about Nana?”

A male adventurer with a panicked expression roared at Dominic. If it weren’t for Dominic’s authority, he probably would have already rushed out to rescue Nana on his own. That was the impression his expression gave Yisi.

“Nana is my team member. I will go and save her. The rest of you, cover the people at the entrance as they retreat. In our current state, we have no chance of defeating the guardian.”

“Just you, Dominic? That’s too dangerous! We’ll go together!”

“It’s coming!”

“Prepare to defend!”

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Amidst the panicked cries of the other adventurers, two shield-bearers rushed in front of Dominic. They planted the spikes at the bottom of their large shields into the ice and assumed a standard defensive stance.

The Frost Spider reached the shield-bearers in the blink of an eye.

With a single contact, the iron-plated wooden shields in the hands of the two warriors instantly shattered. Then, the shield-bearers, struck by the immense force, were sent flying like they had been hit by a high-speed truck, crashing heavily into the wall at the far end of the room.

But the Frost Spider’s assault didn’t end there. It opened its two-meter-long mandibles and lunged at Dominic, intending to cut him in half at the waist. In the previous battle, it had already identified Dominic as the commander.

“Damn beast. Axis, cover me!”

Instead of jumping back, Dominic swung his longsword with all his might, aiming for the Frost Spider’s left mandible. On the other side, the dwarf named Axis swung his two short axes at the right mandible.

BAM!

In the end, the enraged Frost Spider was stronger. The reactive force from the collision sent a tremor through Dominic’s entire body. As his hand went numb, a grunt escaped his throat.

“Ugh!”

“[Fireball]!”