“The Queen’s Punishment”

After the Cyclone, I immediately scattered area-of-effect magic one after another, prioritizing reducing the numbers in the rear. The vanguard of three was holding the front, so for now, I had to leave it to them. There was a fear of getting caught in the magic if I were to shoot it towards them.

These new spiders indeed seemed to have more durability than the lower-level ones we had faced so far; some didn't fall with a single hit of magic. Attacking with powerful magic could damage the materials, which wasn't good for the overall profit. However, survival was the primary concern at this point. If we were to be wiped out now, Nameless Elf's party would be at a deficit compared to White-san's party in terms of accumulated experience.

Fortunately, it seemed that the higher-level spiders were taken down with the scattered area-of-effect magic. Although there weren't many parties that had defeated them at this point, a mid-level party should be able to handle them easily in a regular fight. The challenge lay in the hindrance from surprise attacks and abnormal conditions. Accumulating information could help mitigate these risks.

The initial encounter was terrifying, but if a strategy could be established, it could turn into efficient hunting.

Observing the vanguard's situation, it seemed that we were successfully reducing their numbers.

At this rate, we could take a break while dealing with the recast time.

"Hah!"

Haruka crawled through the threads and slashed the spider's abdomen. It wasn't defeated in a single blow, but she skillfully avoided the immediately released poison needles using her shield.

She parried attacks with her sword and, taking advantage of the opening, struck the spider from below with her shield.

As the upper body floated, a sword thrust from the side into the spider's abdomen, precisely where Haruka had attacked just moments ago.

It was support from Kurumi, who was fighting next to her. Haruka then plunged the sword into the fallen spider's head and chest, delivering a decisive blow.

Haruka immediately used her shield to strike the spider that Lamp was fighting from the side, destabilizing its posture.

These three worked together seamlessly to support the vanguard. Whether facing a single enemy or attacking different enemies individually, their coordination remained unchanged.

The job of Nameless Elf, as the party's mage, was to deliver the finishing blow to the enemies while the three vanguard members maintained the frontline.

"[Blaze Lance]!"

Since most of the recast time had been cleared, I cast a single-target spell as support. Being cautious of enemy reinforcements and not leaving any recast time this time, I targeted enemies that hadn't taken much damage, ensuring their elimination with more powerful single-target magic than area-of-effect magic.

"…Is that the last one?"

"Seems like it. Phew, we managed somehow."

We survived the surprise attack from the higher-level spiders that wiped out White-san and his party.

Having prior information was crucial.

Without it, we might have been caught off guard, entangled in threads and poisoned needles, losing control of the situation.

Even if I didn't think we would be wiped out, if subsequent enemies had come at us relentlessly, I couldn't predict the outcome.

"…Let's be cautious of reinforcements and resume the retreat."

I took out a compass from the inventory to confirm the direction. The direction we were about to go seemed to be subtly off from the originally intended direction.

It wasn't a significant deviation. Continuing in that direction would probably still lead to an escape. However, the distance to cover for the escape would have undoubtedly increased. Increased distance meant more battles and decreased chances of survival.

"This is quite troublesome…"

I understood the difficulty of knowing directions within the forest.

That's why, usually, I marked landmarks to secure the return path. However, in this forest, that method wouldn't work. Without the compass, we wouldn't have been able to accurately determine the direction.

"It's not a straight line, but let's escape in the shortest distance."

The compass was heavy and cumbersome, but there was no helping it. The direction needed constant checking.

The group occasionally stopped, adjusting the direction while advancing through the forest. Apart from dense trees, they had to navigate around large debris as well. Places where trees had grown to fill the gaps in what seemed to be originally large debris required significant deviations in their path.

There shouldn't have been such occurrences on the way in.

This meant that the internal structure of the dungeon had changed, resulting in this altered route.

Entering this forest was easy, but getting out was difficult.

"It's like a dungeon hell managed by ants…"

The thought of an ant-operated hell was not amusing.

"Wait, Nacchan!"

"Don't call me Na… cchan…"

It was a mistake. I was too focused on the compass and directions.

Avoiding obstacles like debris and trees, they thought they had successfully navigated and circled around. But what lay ahead was not just a dead end; it was a small clearing. This corner was the only place where trees didn't naturally grow.

"Let's go back…"

As soon as they turned around, a heavy sound echoed. From somewhere, rubble fell, blocking the path they had just traversed.

"No way, how did something like this…?"

Looking up, all that was visible were interwoven branches blocking the sky. There was no chance that debris had fallen coincidentally at this timing.

"What if some monster blocked our retreat to trap us here? Should we consider that?"

"As expected, Nacchan. That seems like the right answer. Look at that."

There's no time to correct names now. Following Kurumi's pointed direction toward the center of the square, there was a gigantic spider.

"A boss battle, huh…"

"Yeah, there's no escaping from this. Boss battles are like that…"

From the reports of other dungeon conquests, it's unclear whether it's possible to escape from a boss battle. Currently, there are no reports of encountering a monster that seems like a boss. Some parties might be attacking lower difficulty dungeons for the purpose of conquest, but it's unknown whether they haven't cleared it yet or simply haven't reported it.

"We might be the first ones here."

"But only if we can defeat it."

Haruka's sarcasm is justified. Nameless Elf's party is not a balanced party, it's simply a gathering of frontliners. Faced with an unknown formidable enemy, the odds are not in their favor.

The opponent is even larger than the upper-tier spiders they've fought so far. While its legs appear thin, it's likely an optical illusion due to its sheer size. On closer inspection, the thickness might be slightly greater than the spiders encountered before.

Unlike the previous spiders with a rounded leg shape, this one has sharp, thorn-like protrusions at each joint. The color is not the monotonous dark shade seen before; it includes yellow and red, creating a color scheme that instinctively triggers a sense of danger.

Above all, from the location where its head should be, a humanoid upper body sprouts.

It's not a direct attachment of a human upper body; it appears as if the spider parts were used to mold a humanoid form.

"I'm pretty sure its name must include 'Queen'…"

I am aware that some ants and other creatures have queen-like entities that oversee the lower ranks of their species. Many of them have the power to easily destroy a small town, but that doesn't mean they are overwhelmingly powerful from the moment they're born.

It's highly likely that this spider queen is the boss. However, the dungeon was officialized just today. Perhaps it hasn't grown to its full potential yet.

"No… It's said that a queen ant can only produce weak ants until it becomes strong. Seeing that there were stronger spiders earlier, it might already be too late for that."

"That's true…"

Amidst the sounds of the rustling trees, spiders emerge one after another from debris and trees, while ants crawl out from the ground.

"We've got small fry too!"

"This might be hopeless… Well, let's at least defeat as many as we can and earn some experience before dying!"

There is also the amount of money earned from the battle with the higher ranked spiders earlier. Even if we died here, we would probably have gained a good amount of experience.

Even if we were to lose some experience, it would not be so much as a total loss considering the materials we had obtained so far.

Considering the fact that we were able to get a real feel for the trends of this dungeon, I would say we're not in the red.

After all, this dungeon's difficulty adjustment undoubtedly varies based on the challengers' combat capabilities. The rating of 3 stars should only be considered as an average, a rough estimate.

We thought that it might be possible to gain experience up to a medium level of difficulty, but perhaps it could be possible to handle higher levels of difficulty.

That's something I noticed again when I saw the small fry that sprang up in this boss room.

There would be no doubt that the boss of this room was the queen spider.

Then, who in the world is producing the ants that have just crawled out of the room?

The queen spider was the boss of the spiders.

Then there must be at least one queen ant as the boss of the ants.

We do not know where she is, but we can be sure that she has information about us since she has been calling on the ants.

So, if Nameless Elf's party was stronger, it would not be surprising if Queen Spider and Queen Ant were both present here.

It means that the difficulty of this dungeon can still be adjusted upward.

"…For now, I'm just glad that we can play around this area for a while."

The decision to change their base was worthwhile.

"Here they come!"

The queen launches poison needles. Although it doesn't seem to have much body hair, there might be dense growth on the underside. It's unclear where it shoots the needles from, but they need to deal with it somehow.

"[Cyclone]!"

However, the magic unleashed with the intention to disperse it can only divert its trajectory. The damage is minimal, but it's undoubtedly more troublesome than the spiders they faced before.

"Sorry, but guarding with magic might be tough!"

In this situation, leaving the defense against incoming projectiles to the frontliners and focusing on using magic to ensure the defeat of the enemies is the best strategy.

I unleash a [Fire Magic] area-of-effect spell on the spiders surrounding me.

If the spiders burn up in the trees and we are surrounded by smoke or fire, we may end up strangling ourselves. Therefore, they were careful not to use [Fire Magic] in the forest, but in this plaza, it would be a little better.

The aim was also to make sure that even if needles and threads flew from the cronies, they could be burned up in mid-air.

Most of the spiders and ants that were burned by the flames died instantly and were left in a pitiful state. Although they are hopelessly worthless as materials, as before, the priority is to defeat them anyway.

Normally, while the three vanguard players are holding off the boss, Nameless Elf-san would sweep up the minions, and when the minions are cleared out, she would enter a full-scale battle with the boss. The boss is damaged by sword and magic, and the boss's attacks are parried by the three vanguard members as they disperse their targets.

I kept attacking with the intention of doing so, but the number of cronies was not decreasing anytime soon. It is not that we are not defeating them. The experience is coming in quite well.

They are springing up one after another from somewhere.

If you look closely, you will see not only the top spiders, but also a mixture of the lower spiders we fought earlier in the day. It is a waste of MP and recast time to hit weak spiders with ranged magic, but it is not possible to hit only the strong ones, and there is no choice.

However, mages are decisive weapons by nature, and are not suited to countering such a wave of attacks. The cooldown time is also increasing, and there are fewer and fewer ways to take them out.

It is time to take a break to recover MP and deal with the cooldown time.

Haruka and the others in the vanguard manage to keep the queen at bay. It was not a good look not to be able to get rid of the small fry, but there was no point in acting tough.

Nameless Elf also has a fair amount of experience with VR games. Even though she has a magic-specific build, she has melee weapons for when the need arises, and she is used to handling them. She can wield a sword without the need for skills. Her low STR makes it impossible for her to kill or inflict effective damage, but it would not be impossible for her to fend off attacks.

"I can't handle the trash mobs! Sorry!"

"Then let's give up! At least defeat the boss!"

"Got it!"

"Understood!"

"Okay!"

While the leader is indeed Nameless Elf, in moments where a quick decision is needed, someone can suggest a plan like Haruka did, and the others confirm it, determining the party's actions. Despite calling the leader, they are ultimately just a friendly group of four. In reality, it doesn't matter who takes the lead.

Most area-of-effect spells are still on cooldown, but single-target spells haven't been used at all. If they focus on defeating the boss only, they can dodge the trash mobs' attacks and cast spells on the boss.

However, it's quite challenging.

They manage to dodge the trash mobs' attacks somehow, focusing on the queen, and casting magic.

"[Blaze Lance]!"

But suddenly, another spear of flames appears in front of the queen, coming towards the Nameless Elf.

"What!? Magic!?"

The two flames clash in the middle as if sucked in and explode. The energy of two [Blaze Lances] scatters, burning the queen's spider minions around.

"Ugh!"

"It's hot!"

That applies to Haruka's group as well. Only Lamp, who was behind the queen, remained unharmed, but the other two receive minor burn damage. Originally a single-target spell, it weakened significantly due to diffusion, but it's still magic equivalent to the power of two higher-level players. Ignoring it would be painful.

Monsters like goblins and skeletons, humanoid creatures, rarely use magic. Even creatures with specific attributes, like wind tigers, might use attribute attacks, but it's unheard of for insect-type monsters to cast spells. The queen ant monster from another country was rumored to primarily use physical attacks. Some player who investigated posted information on social media.

However…

Silence.

But there's no time to be stunned. The queen has another magic ready, probably a single-target ice spell.

"Um, um, [Flare Arrow]!"

However, this is weak. They can't completely nullify it. Yet, Blaze Lance is still on cooldown, and using a similar magic with a short interval risks causing damage to the surroundings during counteraction. In this short time, the only real option is…

"Ugh!"

As expected, though slightly smaller, the ice spear pierces through the fiery arrow and hits the Nameless Elf directly.

It's a losing magical exchange. Moreover, the opponent doesn't care about friendly fire, while they can't afford to ignore it. Even though it's not a fair fight from the beginning…

"…And insect magic battles were totally unexpected."

While healing and thinking about the next move, they dodge attacks. Haruka didn't acquire Healing Magic to avoid overlapping with other magic spells in cooldown, but now she regrets that decision.

Moving was to position themselves to minimize collateral damage during the magical clash, but the queen adjusts her direction accordingly, making the effect minimal. Dodging the trash mobs' attacks and restraining the queen, they circled around, but eventually returned to their original position.

"No choice! I'll cast a bigger one, so dodge!"

"Okay!"

Only Kurumi responded, but everyone nodded. They cast [Lightning Shower], a high-level lightning magic with an area-of-effect. Since it originates from the queen, even if she tries to counteract it, she will suffer the most damage.

This magic has a relatively narrow range among area-of-effect spells, and with quick movement, they should be able to leave the area safely.

"[Lightning Shower]!"

"Alright, dodge…!?"

"What!? My legs!"

The three of them fell without attempting to escape.

However, the magic had already been activated.

The queen looks down at the fallen three, jumps away herself, avoiding the attack. Normally, it would be almost impossible to dodge after seeing the spell, but she seemed to be cautious because they had warned her beforehand.

"Ugh!"

"Kyaa!"

Shivers

As a result, Nameless Elf's magic only damaged their allies, achieving nothing.

"Sorry! Are you okay?"

But if the queen jumped away, she can approach their teammates. With healing and potions, they might be able to continue the fight up to their LP limit.

Since the queen started using magic, her cronies, the spiders and ants, have not tried to get too close to her, and now they will be able to heal without being disturbed.

"Here, [Cure]… and a potion. Also, just to be safe, I have an MP potion too."

"Thanks… But I think I might be stuck with this one."

"What do you mean?"

"That's why we fell."

"It's hard to see our feet, but they're pinned to the ground. I think it was the queen's silk. I think she was taking it out a little at a time as she fought."

"You know that time we went around in a circle?　Maybe that was the finishing touch."

She tried to stand up as quickly as possible, but her grounded knee would not come up because she had squatted on her standing knee.

The ground appears to be soil, so even if it's fixed, it seems like it should come off with the soil. However, it doesn't happen.

It looks like soil, but it's likely all solidified with threads. While fighting, adhesive trap threads are laid on top of it, ensnaring the Nameless Elf party.

When facing a boss of this class, the job of the vanguard trio is do aggro control and deflect attacks. They won't dodge extensively unless it's an area-of-effect attack, and if the character with the target is moving around too much, the boss' attack focus may deviate. Therefore, they should stop their feet as much as possible.

In other words, how we move depends on the boss' attacks. So, if the boss intended to target and guide, it's not entirely impossible.

If it were PvP, Haruka and the others would probably be cautious, but the opponent is ultimately an insect-type monster. They generally have low intelligence.

"…We should have noticed the moment magic was used. Many action checks related to magic refer to INT. So, when it comes to using magic, one should consider that there is a certain level of INT."

Furthermore, shooting a magic spell with roughly the same power as Nameless Elf's Blaze Lance suggests a similar level of INT. It's unclear if there's a correlation between monster INT and cognitive ability, but INT stands for intelligence, and logically, it signifies intellect. It's proven that raising STR allows one to carry heavy objects, so it's not strange that high INT would enhance cognitive abilities.

Come to think of it, even though it's a queen spider, she hasn't spewed any threads. The other minions were casually emitting threads, but they were mostly blown away by magic, so they didn't care much.

However, that was not the case. Threads were indeed being emitted. It's just that the clueless Nameless Elf's party didn't notice.

With a boss like this, and more than one dominating, it's no wonder that the survival rate in this forest is low.

However, from the monsters' perspective, there is no benefit in letting players return alive. Regardless of the player's strength, if these queens were always on the lookout, the survival rate would have been not only low, but zero.

The fact that this is not the case suggests that their actions are still usually restricted by the system or something. Only when a player of a certain level of skill kills a certain number of demons, perhaps more than a certain number, are these nightmares released.

I guess that's how it is.

"The ones who seem to be able to hunt efficiently to the last… are probably those who have obtained information about this forest to some extent. So, this is what would be considered a difficulty level of ☆3. Well done."

Without prior investigation, it's only death like White-san and the others. Even if they gathered information before attacking, a few would still experience death. However, overall, it's still a positive outcome, and if they avoid death, it's a significant profit.

Moreover, the queen's punishment awaits those upper-tier players who attack with a smug face.

Seemingly, it has no intention to approach the immobile Nameless Elf party and attack them. In the spot where she leaped away, the queen spider was generating a massive fireball. If she consecutively uses the class of area-of-effect magic, there's probably no one in the party who can endure it.

"Well, the seed has been planted. Next… I don't know yet, but I'll conquer it eventually."

Fire, ice, lightning, wind. The Nameless Elf party were repeatedly attacked, and they were finally crushed by boulders and swept away by water.