The body of the [Spider King] suddenly burst into blue flames. The guards stepped back from the sudden eruption. The monster's form hardened into charcoal before collapsing into dust. Silas covered his nose as ashes and dust flew toward them.
When dust finally settled, the sound of clashing stones echoed behind them. They turned to see blocks of stone moving through the grass, converging where the spider's lair had been. The white stones ground together, slowly forming a geometric flower shape, huge and spanning the diameter of two adults. At its center, a distortion appeared—a whirlpool of bright blue light. An entrance to a [Dungeon].
The [Final Boss] seemed imprisoned in a parallel world.
"A [Dungeon]?" Danavar muttered in disbelief.
"Aren't these things we only read about in the news?" Bron said. "I never expected to see one here, much less near our town."
Silas closed the [Interfaces] before him. "So, what shall we do, captain?" he asked.
Danavar stared at the dungeon entrance, its vortex sucking in the air around them. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the blue light illuminating his face shifted to a bright reddish-yellow. Silas turned toward the [Dungeon] with growing dread.
"It can't be," he whispered, fear creeping into his voice.
"What's happening?" the vice-captain asked.
Silas ignored him, grabbing Danavar's arm. "We must leave now. Abandon all thoughts of conquering whatever's inside that place."
Danavar looked down at him. "What are you saying? Do you know something?"
Silas pointed at the dungeon entrance, where lightning began to crackle. "It's a [Dungeon Break]. Things like that rarely happens but some circumstances will lead for it to happen. A mo-"
He stopped as a hand emerged from the portal, clinging to the swirling waves like someone grasping fabric. A figure slowly pulled itself through, breaking free from the dungeon's confines.
"Danavar, we must leave now," Silas pleaded.
A sharp blast of lightning threw everyone away from the [Dungeon Entrance]. Silas managed to block most of it, but as his [Barrier] shattered, he was flung into the air. Groaning, he raised his head, ears ringing and head throbbing. Blinking, he saw a figure of a young woman standing at the entrance. Her beauty was ethereal, with deer-like horns rising from her forehead and long golden hair reflecting the dungeon's blue light.
She walked away from the entrance, her white long shirt billowing. Despite her human appearance, Silas knew better than to be deceived. Arachnid, despite her frail stature, was a [Final Boss], specializing in poison, immobilizing enemies, and impressive critical rates.
"It has been ages since I last saw this world," she began, her voice cold. "But it still looks the same."
Then she turned at them, two eyes blinked in her forehead and four more on her cheeks. Their colors were hard to looked at. Instead of having a white sclera, Arachnid had red while her pupils had two colors, bright green and blue.
"What a surprise to found you humans here. But it seemed there is another interesting creature here. Why you are with them, Heretic?"
Only silence answered Arachne. She crouched, grabbing a handful of dust and letting it trickle to the ground. "So, my king is dead... and you don't mind if I seek revenge?"
Silas stepped back as the guards drew their blades, hands shaking with fear. If their blade will ever do damage to her was for them to find. Silas clicked his tongue, 'I hope I had been fast enough to warn them about Arachne's appearance'
His hands grew sweaty as he waited for the first attack. Silas drummed against his chest, his hand repeatedly closing on the body of his staff. He gritted his teeth and pointed his staff at Arachne, casting [Water Dart]. He followed it with [Air Burst], the explosion making Arachne stagger. [Magic Pierce] shot from his staff, followed by three fireballs, all aimed at Arachne.
He was already heaving as soon as he finished his attack cycle/
"Hmm," she hummed from within the smoke.
Arachne dashed forward, dust trailing her. Her claws aimed at him, but Silas cast a [Barrier] just in time. She smiled against the [Barrier], revealing razor-sharp teeth stretching grotesquely to her ears.
'So, this is what they mean by a smile that reaches your ears,' he though absently.
The [Barrier] cracked and exploded, flinging him backward. He managed to regain his balance before crashing to the ground.
Arachne moved with blinding speed, attacking the guards one by one, tossing them like toys. When she reached Danavar, he blocked her claws with his rifle.
A gunshot echoed. The captain had shot the [Final Boss] with a pistol. Arachne recoiled, clutching her stomach to stop the bleeding, which quickly healed, leaving bloodstains on her white clothes.
That's it, he thought. Though Arachne was a [Final Boss], she was without a weakness. Just like how the [Spider King]'s weakness was his skin, Arachne's weakness was her frail body. Indeed, she has high crit rates and could inflict poison, but she lacked Health Points and Defense.
"She's frail!" Silas shouted. "She's different from the [Spider King]; we just have to land our attacks on her."
"Damn Heretic!" Arachne glared at him, then darted toward him. Danavar cast [Haste], helping him dodge her claws… or so what he thought.
[You have been afflicted with [Poison]]
[ -your movement speed will deteriorate by 25% for the next 50 seconds, and you will lose 5 Health Points for every 3 seconds.]
Silas cursed at the red [Interface] that appeared. He heard Arachne's laughter, then saw her throw spiderwebs at him. It was similar to those used by house spiders in catching insects. Just looking at its shape, Silas already know that those things flying towards his direction was meant to catch and trap him.
He ran away from the web traps. And managed to avoid the first two. But she shot three more. Above it unfolds like hands trying to catch him. He felt something sticky landed over his head. His vision grew darker as the poison's effect worsen.
Somewhere he hear Danavar's muffled voice as if he was speaking from under the water
'What is he saying?' He wondered as he found himself tripping. He looked back and saw that his left foot had been caught by a spider web trap. It enveloped his knee and stick to the fields of grasses. He stood and tried to pulled on it to no avail.
He raised his head to see Arachne charging at him, eyes full of rage. Just as he prepared to cast a barrier, a beam of bright light struck her.
Arachne was pushed sideways. She used her arms to block most of the attack, burning her skin in the process. Breathing heavily, she turned to the source of the light.
He turned on the same direction, in the edge of the forest he saw two figures wearing tight white long coats. The silver pendant of a triangle with stars on each sides told him about their identities. The Lightservants. The reinforcements Danavar had been waiting for had arrived.
But there was no relief for Silas. He recognized them as the people who murdered someone in the forest and also the reason he was running.