[Arc 2] Chapter 10: Hey Ho, Hey Ho, To the Spider, We Go~.

Zzzzz... zzzz... *yawn*, that was a great nap... when did I fall asleep? 

Let's see, I met that fire-General, and then... a bottle fell on my head? Wait, someone cracked a bottle on me!? Ohh, whoever that was is gonna get it...

I'm currently in my room at the inn, so did Ice-guy and the rest bring me here? Damn, I think I'm gonna stay clear of any bottles in the nearest future. Those hurts~.

Hmm, looks like the sun's not risen yet. Too early for breakfast. Strange that I'm not feeling sleepy despite not having slept so much. Better kill some time before everyone else wakes up. Let's start with checking my status page first. I have to face that spider tomorrow, so I can never be too careful.

Achievement Titles:

Hunting Titles:

Status Titles:

......Hmm? Did I Identify someone else here? I've never gotten Fearbringer before. And Humanoid Slayer? And what are these new skills about? I've never taken [Rest] before, not to mention it's high level. 

...It's a bug with [Identification]. That's it. Right...?

Okay, screw being considerate for those still sleeping. Those two grunts better have a good explanation for this!!

---

Later, at breakfast.

"......Say what?" - Garami

"As I said, you destroyed around 1/6 of the Avido mafia the night before yesterday when you got drunk. You collapsed due to the sheer exhaustion afterward and slept through the whole next day after that. The subjugation of the Kodokumo Emperor is today, so hurry up and eat." - Noire

I 'got drunk'? Must have been the homemade stuff's fault. Y-yeah. D-definitely not me who can't hold my liquor... sorry. But the sweet stuff tastes so good! I'm not gonna quit! Besides, it's just that General-level stuff that's dangerous for the surroundings, right?

"...Wait. Aren't mafias bad news? As in, dangerous?" - Garami

"Can't deny they are a pain for the populace, but people that join the mafia's normally those who couldn't do it as adventurers, so they changed their prey from monsters to people. Outlaws stronger than that tends to flock towards corrupt countries rather than turning to the mafia or similar groups." - Alf

...They were trash-level? Then why did I have to go and fear for my life like that!? To think I entered an evil organization just because of a culture difference...

"By the way, what about me?" - Garami

"About what?" - Noire

"Strength." - Garami

"...Probably around D-rank adventurer, or more? Someone that can destroy a whole building filled with criminals singlehandedly is at least no slouch." - Alf

Yeah, I guessed that. My stats may not be that high on their own, but add my skills to the equation, and I think I may have a good fight even against that miss Rassel. Of course, only when she's not using her skills.

Even so, I can't expect a fair fight against the boss-spider as I am currently. Should I evolve some of my skills? Hmm...

---

"Alright, is everyone ready? Then we will go over the Kodokumo Emperor subjugation plan one last time." - Knight captain

And so, it was time for battle!! Not yet anyway, but soon.

The knight captain dude from yester... from two days ago is gonna lead this operation. He's got 5 other knights which will act as a single party, along with 2 more parties consisting of adventurers that have confidence in their ailment resistance skills, plus the three of us. 

The plan is as follows: Due to the location of the boss-spider's nest-to-be, we decided to ignore any fire-related options and rather go with the opposite idea: freezing the big bugger. Or rather, we're gonna freeze the web, so it will break under the weight of the big spider. If that doesn't work, we will move to plan I-F.

Ice-guy, one of the knights, and three of the other adventurers all have Ice attribute skills for this job, so they will be the MVPs of the operation.

Then there are the healers like the fallen angel, who are going to use anti-ailment spells to prevent the boss-spider from succeeding with its best weapons. The fallen angel's even learned the anti-Fear spell Brave Heart just for this occasion.

I shouldn't tell her she could just take a look at the Kigal-Note. Or rather, I'm not trusting them enough to let them do so yet!

Anyway, the final members are divided into shields and strikers, meaning tanks and those who can attack the boss-spider without getting in the freezers' way. I'm in the latter group.

There were some more details regarding the plan, but my position is to bug the boss-spider so the freeze-team can do their job without being poisoned, cursed, or whatever. 

After the knight captain finished his review of the plan, we entered the sewers. I'm currently in the front, with two of the Scout-line classes of the other adventurer parties. I'm the one with the map after all.

Hmm, the big guy's not moved since last time. Not that many tunnels can fit that guy. It will take a while to get there, so let's have a look at my titles. I've already seen the Master of Thread title, and the adventurer title's more like flavor text. This one, however...

A title granted to those who have killed many humanoids. Chill out, man. Geez...

So true. Geez. And the skill's worthless to me. If anything, the title's effect's gonna be useful if that fire-woman lets some Avido-punks slip through her fingers. Ice-guy told me she's on a hunt for them in the other tower-towns. And the other newbie...

A title granted to those who bring fear and despair to others. Not the nicest child in the neighborhood, huh?

Greaaaaat. So, I've got a passive effect on me that'll make people scared. And from the looks of it, this thing may have advanced variants of itself, which should be automatically unlocked when I make even more people scared of me. Just greaaaaat.

Damn, shouldn't have looked at them... 

---

"Alright men. The Kodokumo Emperor is right past this passage. Are you ready?" - Knight captain

"Ready!" 

The others gave a (silent) shout to the knight captain. We're currently hiding in one of the passages leading to the waterfall area where the boss-spider has made his home. If we can believe the Mental Map Tracker. This skill's turning to be handier than I first expected...

All the members of the group have been enhanced with spells against the various ailment attacks of the boss-spider already, plus several buffs courtesies of the fallen angel and the other healers. Of course, my Night Vision spell is also part of the package, free of charge! I'm so kind.

"Go!" - Knight captain

No other signal was needed. We all headed for the boss-spider through a different tunnel so we can surround it.

When each group entered the open area, the freezer-team members started their part. They had split into four groups, so they could gain the support of at least one tank and one supporter. 

And I, who had no more important jobs now, started to do things my style. 

The other attackers like the knight captain had started to use whatever means they had to strike at the spider itself while dragging its attention away from the freezers for as long as possible to give even the slightest more damage to the web. 

I am going to help them, it's just that I can move more efficiently than them, even if I have to limit my usage of threads so the boss-spider can't take over them. 

While the boss-spider was preoccupied with the knight captain and co, I used the opportunity to climb up to the floor above them. If you're gonna bug someone, do it from above! It will also distract it more from the freezer group as well.

Obviously, I'm alone here. Having the fallen angel fly around all these threads are bound to get her stuck like a fly. 

Eh, who needs allies? I've got undeads!

I created two Skeleton Water Mages with 450 Materials each, increasing their firepower to greater heights than normal. When the spider was too occupied with the attackers on the "ground floor", I ordered the two Mages to unleash the greatest water spell in their arsenal.

Now, the fun thing is, I can have the undead magicians I make learn the spells recorded in the Kigal-Note. The best part is, once a single one of them has learned the spell, any new undead magician I summon with the corresponding Magic Skill for that spell can use it. Even if the original undead couldn't use the spell due to having a too low skill level!

What I'm getting at is that the Skeleton Water Mages wasn't limited to simple spells like the attack-type Water Ball. No, they used [Water Magic Lv.20]'s Waterfall spell! Its power is strange for an Lv.20 spell, but the drawback is that you can only drop the spell on the target. Works in this case!

The boss-spider, too focused on the knight captain, was taken by surprise by the suddenly and stupidly large amount of water crashing into it from above. It even knocked it off its web!

Fall already!! 

...And I had to say that, didn't I? The boss-spider managed to grab one of the many threads and pull itself up. And up. And up? And up to me?! Don't start bungee like that!

I dismissed the Mages so I wouldn't lose the Materials, and ran away from the incoming spider. This second floor's roof is too small for the big spider to enter without getting stuck, but his legs are a different story!

I dodged the sudden jump-kick-like attack that shook the "second floor". Not that I had the time to stay around dazed! The boss-spider's clawed legs tried to swipe at me all the while, so I had to keep on either dodge them or use [Parry] to getaway. Why'm I having a face-to-face confrontation like this!?

Not that I'm losing. The combo of [Evasion], [Thought Acceleration], and [Intuition] lets me escape the attacks of the boss-spider with no prob. I've even got the room for some counterattacks, in the form of the Darkness spell, Dark Bullet, and some [Gloom Bullets]. The boss-spider's RES may render them useless, but they're distracting him, so let's keep them going!

Of course, if it hits me, then I can expect to get some nasty ailments stuck on me. Heck, even when he doesn't hit me, I'm affected by one! He's concentrating all his [Curse Magic Eyes] solely on me in hope of draining away my MP. The spells and the skill is cheap on the stuff, and it's only a Magic Eye, so the reduction isn't that big.

However, when adding the fact that I try to weaken the big guy with my own Evil Eye, the consumption and loss of MP are greater than what I can recover on my own!

Even the newly bought [Curse Resistance] isn't breaking the speed of the depleting MP. Just as one would expect from an Lv.1 skill, but at least, it, along with the also newly purchased [Pain Migitation] is helping me endure the curse to dodge this guy's attacks. And they're not the only guys working hard backstage!

This guy! And what a cheat it is! 

[Probability Correction] is a skill that only Advance-tier Scout classes and above can obtain, once you have maxed out the levels of both the [Evasion] skill and the [Aiming] skill. No need to say it's worth its price of 6 Skill Points. Even more so in that it doesn't get rid of the two previous skills. Much better than the lower-quality [Flicker Body] skill that they would have combined into if I had chosen to evolve them.

So, my quadruple combo along with a [Parry] and a [Blink] here and there have kept me safe for now, but for how long? I kept on running away from the boss-spider, but it kept on chasing me while staying stuck to the wall...

Crap! Threads! Those are way worse than the claws! 

The boss-spider must have figured out it needed to do some multitasking to fight back my combo of dodging and shooting, so it threw several strings of threads towards me with [Thread Control]. Tch, I can't dodge them all. And [Guard] won't help me against something meant to trap me.

I dodged as many threads as possible, but one of them is getting too close for comfort! But if it's just one-! [Thread Control]!!

"*Shaaa?!*" - Boss-spider

Gwa-ha-ha-ha! Surprised? That the control of your all-powerful thread got wrestled away from you? Well, sorry! If it's just for a moment, I can steal the control away from you! That's why I obtained [Thread Mastery] for!

Of course, I can only take it for a moment, so it's not like I can use threads freely. When it comes to [Thread Control], the one who tries to take control of the thread last is the one with the advantage. Even so, this small glip is just what I needed to escape the thread barrage untouched!

It's gonna be tough to take that again, so let's pass the baton to the guys down below! Go, Light Sphere!

"*Ssshhhaaa!!*" - Boss-spider

Mwa-ha-ha-ha! Taste your first rays of strong light in who knows how long! The sewers are permanently covered in half-darkness, with only a few magical-looking gems acting as lighting. These are so weak that the freeze-team could do their work in secret while the attackers distracted the big guy. 

It also means that the boss-spider's not used to strong lights. It's probably used to not rely on its eyes at all except for using its Magic Eyes. Even the Lv.1 spell of [Light Magic]'s enough to make it squirm in pain. I withhold myself from using Light moves until now just for this surprise strike!

Now that it's distracted, time for one of my favorite moves. Open the [Spatial Storage]. Out with the stored water! 

The gallons of water that I used the newly level-upped Storage's new extra space to store struck the boss-spider with enough force to throw it off the walls and down into the abyss.

Crash! Or... what?!

The boss-spider certainly landed on his spiderweb. And it's certainly frozen by the guys down below. But even so, it didn't break!

We even tested the cold-resistance of the [Spider Lord's Thread] with my own before we entered the sewers, but it seems the boss-spider's a tougher cookie with threads than myself. That stings...

"More water!" - Knight captain

Hmm? Roger that, boss! Or rather, I've already resummoned the Skeleton Water Mages to prepare a new downpour.

The two Skeletons used Waterfall again, and this time, I threw in the stored water along with it. The boss-spider received massive damage from that, but the web still didn't break! What's up with that?!

The few members down on the "ground floor" that could use water joined in on the water fight, covering the boss-spider with water. Are we trying to drown... ah! The knight captain is going for that!

Despite the massive water pressure he was exposed to, the boss-spider managed to stand up. But it was all for nothing. The freezer team hurriedly froze as much water as they could, trapping the boss-spider in a cage of ice.

That's plan I-F for ya! Plan Ice-Floor!

The cage's just an extra. The main point was to create an ice floor that covers the spiderweb so the boss-spider would have trouble standing upright. Or, that was the original purpose, but since Waterfall turned out way better than anyone had expected, the knight captain must have thought to improve the plan on the spot.

The boss-spider tried to break out of the ice, but the knight captain didn't allow it and went in for the kill.

The boss-spider couldn't do anything. His claws were frozen shut by thick ice, and while he had kept his head from freezing, he couldn't hit the nimble knight captain with his extendable fangs.

The threads within the range of the boss-spider were all frozen shut, and his back was in the same condition, so he couldn't make any new threads. Like many of his previous preys, the boss-spider was now trapped in the web known as ice. 

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Level has increased. Reached Lv.19

You have earned a total of 0.6 Skill Points

Due to "Champion of Alvatria", an additional 0.6 Skill Points has been earned.

And that's all! But seriously, enough EXP for me to level-up twice despite the knight captain being the only one with the EXP-sharing [Clan] skill? 

Just one more level before I can get a new Sub Class. Better think about it seriously.

Before that, we gotta search the tunnels in case the boss-spider tried to lay a few eggs just for a test of the skill. Not to mention that we need to break out the corpse from the ice. Maaaaan... 

Greydra

Kigal-Note/Monsters/Arachnids: Kodokumo Emperor

Description:

The Kodokumo Emperor (Empress in case it is a female) is a high-ranking spider creature that governs poisons and curses.

This creature is one of the advance evolutions of the Kodokumo lines, and a rare one at that, requiring the already rare Curse-Poison Technique User title for the Kodokumo monster to be able to evolve into this beast.

Its ominous appearance and abilities have made many adventurers believe it is a creature that has crawled up from hell. True or not, its abilities and enmity towards any non-Kodokumo creatures are positively hellish. The subjugation of this creature is required as soon as it is discovered.

Appearance:

A Kodokumo Emperor is of the same size as a cattle and has a jet-black body, except for white markings on its abdomen, the top of its head, and on each knee-section of its eight legs. It also has three faces like an Ashura monster, each with a set of eight eyes.

Abilities:

When faced against a Kodokumo Emperor, the first thing one must stay clear of is not its great size, but its threads. Threads spun by a Kodokumo Emperor is said to withstand even the force of a Lesser Dragon with ease. They can even resist the typical weaknesses of threads like fire or frost to great degrees. The threads are however difficult for normal people to work with, due to their too tough constitution.

An even worse aspect of the Kodokumo Emperor is its titles. The Curse-Poison Technique User title that is required for the Kodokumo monster to evolve into this race improves both Curse attribute- and Poison attribute effects, while also improves the ability for the spider to inflict status ailments such as poison, paralyze, or curse.

The second troublesome title of these creatures is the Lord of Spider title. It allows the Kodokumo Spider to command any spider-type monster under its leadership as if it was using the [Kin Control] skill, only with pure charisma.

The affected spider will also receive a boost through the Emperor's Royalty-skills, making it possible for a horde of Kodokumo monsters led by an Emperor to destroy whole cities with ease. Which makes the [Egg-Laying] skill the Emperor also has.

Garami's comment: ...I give up. This guy is way worse than anything I can do.