Chapter 72 - boss fight 1
After pushing open the massive stone door, I slowly stepped into the boss room.
Amy remained behind me with a faint smile.
"Alright."
"This is the boss room."
"Good luck, Gray."
I tightened my grip on Eclipse before cautiously walking forward.
The room was ancient.
The air was damp, carrying the stench of mold and decay.
Countless spider webs stretched across the walls, pillars, and ceiling, making the entire chamber feel as though it had been abandoned for years.
Yet...
There wasn’t a single monster in sight.
I frowned.
"Where is it...?"
Keeping my presence concealed beneath Darkness Mana, I slowly advanced while carefully observing my surroundings.
Still...
I couldn’t find the boss.
Something felt wrong.
Without hesitation, I activated my Dimensional Awareness to its limit.
The familiar sensation spread throughout the room.
Suddenly, my perception caught something.
Above me.
My eyes instantly shot toward the ceiling.
"...Nothing?"
There was only darkness...
And endless webs.
But my perception wasn’t wrong.
I could clearly sense something enormous hiding within the shadows.
Without lowering my guard, I quietly took several steps backward.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Amy standing near the entrance.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
She had already realized what I had discovered.
Without hesitation, I formed an Ice Spear.
"If you’re hiding..."
"Then come out."
Whoosh!
The Ice Spear shot toward the exact location my perception had detected.
Bang!
To my surprise...
The spear shattered the instant it reached the ceiling, as though it had struck an invisible wall.
"...What?"
A faint rustling echoed through the silent chamber.
Then...
One enormous eye slowly opened.
Another followed.
Then another.
Until...
Eight gigantic crimson eyes stared directly at me from the darkness above.
My heart skipped a beat.
At the same time...
Tiny movements echoed throughout the room.
I slowly looked around.
One pair of glowing eyes appeared.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
Within moments...
Hundreds of tiny crimson eyes had opened all around me.
The suffocating silence became even heavier.
The enormous creature finally began crawling down from the ceiling.
Its eight massive legs moved slowly across the thick webs that covered the chamber.
Behind it...
More than a hundred smaller spiders followed like an army.
Only then did I realize the truth.
The boss hadn’t been missing.
It had simply been sleeping.
And I had just awakened it.
Behind me, Amy’s smile widened ever so slightly.
Without saying a word, lightning quietly gathered around her body as she moved to a safer position.
Drawing her sword, she calmly watched the battlefield.
She had no intention of interfering.
Not unless my life was truly in danger.
This battle...
Was mine.
Only now did I truly understand.
Those webs...
Every single one belonged to the giant spider.
Judging by how thick and dense they were, if I became trapped...
Escaping wouldn’t be easy.
I immediately kept my perception active, carefully tracking every strand of web surrounding me.
However...
The giant spider wasn’t my greatest problem.
It was the countless spiderlings surrounding me.
I had no effective way to deal with such overwhelming numbers.
"If only I had a Fire Affinity..."
The thought flashed through my mind.
I immediately clenched my jaw.
"No."
"This isn’t the time to think about what I don’t have."
"I need to find a way to win with what I do have."
"I can’t let Amy interfere."
"This is my battle."
"If I can’t overcome something like this..."
"Then what was the point of all my training?"
To test my theory, I formed a single Ice Spear and fired it toward one of the smaller spiders.
The giant spider didn’t move.
It simply watched me from above.
I wasn’t worthy of its attention.
Instead...
It silently gave an order.
The swarm immediately began crawling toward me.
It seemed far more cautious of Amy’s presence than mine.
The Ice Spear pierced straight through one of the spiderlings, killing it instantly.
"...Their defenses are weak."
I immediately reached a conclusion.
Then I began planning.
First...
I needed room to move.
If I allowed myself to become surrounded, I would die beneath sheer numbers.
But webs covered almost every corner of the chamber.
If I became trapped...
It would be over.
I needed to reduce their numbers immediately.
My mind raced.
Countless possibilities flashed through my thoughts while my perception tracked every spider closing in.
I reduced the gravity around my body, making myself lighter, while searching for an opening.
There wasn’t one.
The webs were everywhere.
"...Then I’ll make one."
Taking a deep breath, I condensed a massive Ice Crystal above my head.
Then I continuously poured Darkness Mana into it until it reached its limit.
More than half my mana disappeared in an instant.
"...Now."
Boom!
The enormous Ice Crystal exploded.
Thousands of razor-sharp ice fragments erupted throughout the chamber like a frozen storm.
Each shard was infused with Darkness Mana, making them even harder to detect.
The spiderlings never had a chance.
Countless bodies were pierced before they could react.
One after another, they collapsed onto the ground.
Without wasting the opportunity, I immediately dashed toward the largest opening I could find.
Only then...
Did I feel the giant spider’s gaze change.
It had finally acknowledged me.
Instead of charging immediately, the surviving spiderlings gathered around their queen, awaiting their next command.
The brief pause gave me exactly what I needed.
Time.
Even so...
More than half my mana was already gone.
Fortunately...
An experiment I had performed back home had paid off.
Back then, I had accidentally overfilled a small Ice Crystal with Darkness Mana.
Instead of remaining stable...
It exploded into countless fragments.
That failure had inspired the attack I had just used.
And the gamble had been worth it.
Nearly half the spiderlings had been wiped out.
But the battle was far from over.
I immediately began cutting away the webs surrounding my position with Eclipse, creating enough space to fight properly.
Unfortunately...
I had underestimated my opponent.
The giant spider instantly noticed what I was trying to do.
Without warning, it spat a stream of poisonous venom directly toward me while the remaining spiderlings charged from every direction.
I reacted immediately.
"Devour."
The poisonous venom rushing toward me began disappearing as Darkness swallowed its magical energy.
But I wasn’t fast enough.
A few drops splashed onto my arm.
An intense burning sensation spread through my skin.
I gritted my teeth and activated Devour once more, desperately absorbing the remaining poison.
Even so...
A small amount had already entered my body.
My vision blurred.
My head became dizzy.
Normally, such a small amount of poison wouldn’t have mattered.
But this...
This was the venom of an E-Rank dungeon boss.
Its potency far exceeded my expectations.
For a brief instant...
My body slowed.
That single mistake was all the spider needed.
I tried to move.
My foot refused to respond.
My eyes immediately dropped toward the ground.
A thick strand of web had tightly wrapped itself around my leg.
My heart sank.
"...Not good."