Side Story: Rank 4 Clone Weaver Monster

The Rank C Forest Valley Dungeon is a circular-shaped dungeon that is divided into four parts.

The first and outermost part is the Outer-Layer, which has an environment of rock trench area of 30 meters deep and 12 meters wide passage. The pathway within this area is like a maze which even the local Adventurers of Green Dale Town would be lost without having a map. At this part, Rank 0 to Rank 1 monsters can be found.

The second part is the Middle-Layer that has an environment of dense forest area of 30-meter-tall trees. This part of the dungeon is the usual territory of Rank 2 and Rank 3 insect-like monsters.

The third part is the Inner-Layer, which has an environment of an open meadow area. Here, Rank 4 monsters are always fighting for their territories, except for the five Boss Monsters that have their territory.

The last part is the Dungeon Core area where the Dungeon Core itself and its Guardian are located.

Most groups of Adventurers Party, like the Dwarf Cat-eared Elf, Aurikal Sword, and Oreo Sky, took the pathway within the Middle-Layer, considering it the safest pathway. While the Neo Heroes chose to travel within the pathway of the Inner-Layer since it is the shortest pathway.

Only two groups of Adventurers Party take up the challenge of solving the pathway within the maze-like puzzle of the rock trench area Outer-Layer.

However, one of those groups unfortunately encounters another Rank 4 monster. The most annoying and troublesome among all the Rank 4 monsters within the Rank C Forest Valley Dungeon.

The Rank 4 Clone Weaver Monster.

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The Iron Rank Adventurers Party Roaring Spear includes Konje and Asta, who are both adults, along with Halm and Keim, who are teenagers only a little bit older than the members of the Dwarf Cat-eared Elf.

All of them are Spear masters. Using their skills in throwing Spears, they were able to traverse the pathway above the rock trench area, moving between the 12-meter-wide trench using Spears and Ropes.

...So much for challenging the maze-like puzzle Outer-Layer...

That was the thought of the four Spear masters as they calmly used the makeshift zip line made using two Spears and a long rope.

It should have been a safe pathway. Yet unknown to the Members of the Roaring Spear, they already have entered the territory of a monster that shouldn't be there.

When the Clone Weaver Monster first appeared, it was in its Rank 4 state, where it was only a single monster with a spider-like appearance, having an 8-meter limb span and a 3-meter big body. It was hiding on the walls of the rock trench and it tried to attack Asta and Halm while they were sliding down on the rope across the trench.

Konje, who spotted the Clone Weaver Monster, jumped from the top of the rock trench to stop the monster that jumped from the wall of the opposite trench towards Asta and Halm. Konje and the Clone Weaver Monster both fell on the ground but Konje was injured very badly when he landed.

Asta, Halm, and Keim immediately came down from the top of the rock trench to defend Konje from the Clone Weaver Monster. But the monster uses its Clone skill to shift into its Rank 1 state. A swarm of monsters which are hundreds of smaller versions of itself, around 1/8 of its original size.

Before the Clone Weaver Monster could finish reproducing itself, Asta carried Konje on his back and the Roaring Spear ran away from the monster. However, the Clone Weaver swarm immediately caught up to them, which led to their current situation.

...SCREECCHHH!!!...

"Damnit!... We're being trapped!... They're slowly leading us into a dead-end!"

Asta, who's carrying the injured Konje on his back, said those remarks as soon as he realized the unusual movement of the Clone Weaver swarm. The swarm of Rank 1 Clone Weaver Monsters are blocking every other path inside the maze-like pathway of the Outer-Layer leaving only a single path for the Roaring Spear to retreat.

...If that didn't mean they're leading us into their feeding ground on its territory, then I don't know what it is...

With the thought of the terrible fate waiting for them at the end of the road, the Roaring Spear continue their escape without any choice.

If the place where the Clone Weaver swarm is leading the members of the Roaring Spear is indeed a dead end, then their group will be in a very dire situation, much worse than their current one.

After all, they won't be able to do anything against the swarm of Rank 1 Clone Weaver monsters charging towards their group in a single direction and that would be the end of the Roaring Spear.

...But I won't let that happen, at least not to all of us...

Gathering his resolve, Konje, the leader of the Adventurers Party Roaring Spear, declares to the rest of his companions what he intends to do.

"Asta, I'm sorry but I need you to do something for me."

"Damnit, Konje!... Don't you dare tell us to escape and leave you here to die!"

Realizing what his old friend is about to say, Asta immediately states his refusal to their leader's plan.

"Well, I'm not actually asking you to leave me here, Asta. Rather, I want you to stay here with me and fight this Clone Weaver swarm so Halm and Keim can break through their encirclement and escape this place."

If Konje wasn't injured, then it wouldn't have been a problem for the Roaring Spear to break through the encirclement of the Clone Weaver swarm. But with Asta carrying Konje on his back which only leaves the two young Bronze Rank Adventurers, Halm and Keim, fighting in front, it would be impossible for all of them to escape alive.

Halm and Keim need Asta, who's an Iron Rank Adventurer, to lead them. But if Asta also escapes together with Halm and Keim, the Clone Weaver swarm will just chase them immediately after they're done devouring Konje.

That's why Konje is asking Asta to stay. Asta needs to hold back the swarm of Clone Weaver monsters on his own, even if only for a few seconds, to increase the chance of Halm and Keim's survival.

"What?... You, idiot!... You're planning to die and you are asking me to die with you?!"

"We! Won't! Abandon! You! Mr. Konje!"

"We'll find a way out of this situation so don't give up yet, Mr. Konje!"

"But..."

"Just shut up, Konje!... You're supposed to be our leader so think of a plan for all of us to survive this situation!"

Of course, Konje wants everyone in their group to survive. As the leader of their group, he wanted nothing more than that. But what else they could do in their situation. The best choice they have left is for the other three to abandon Konje and do what they can to survive fighting the Clone Weaver swarm until help arrives.

Their group is not flexible in different situations because they all have the same Class as Spear master. They can only run away from the Clone Weaver swarm as the swarm leads their group into a dead-end path.

"Damnit!... It's a dead-end path!"

...So it finally came to this...

Seeing what they feared has finally appeared, Konje commands his companions to abandon him.

"Asta, Halm, Keim, leave me now and..."

...SCREECCHHH!!!...

But before he could ask them to leave and break through towards the other pathway, the Clone Weaver swarm charged toward their group and forced them to retreat inside the dead-end path.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you Konje, but none of us is leaving you here."

"We! Will! Fight! With! You! Until! The! End! Mr. Konje!"

"Don't kill us yet, Idiot! We will fight and survive until help arrives!"

Asta put Konje down from his back as Konje stood supporting himself with his Spear. Then Asta, Halm, and Keim took their stance and readied their Spears, waiting for the Clone Weaver swarm, which was slowly approaching their group.

Hundreds of Rank 1 Clone Weaver monsters are crawling on the ground and both walls of the rock trench. If all of those monsters attack the Roaring Spear at the same, that would be the end of them.

But before the Clone Weaver swarm can reach their group, the help they're expecting finally arrives. Yet it's not the members of the Adventurers Guild that is managing the Admission Exam but the other group of the Adventurers Party who seriously took the challenge of solving the maze-like puzzle pathway of the rock trench area Outer-Layer.

"Light Domain..."

"Wind Cyclone..."

After the members of the Roaring Spear heard someone cast a Light Magic skill and another person casting a Wind Magic skill, the wind started to gather and revolve around their group creating a giant cyclone of wind, sand, stones, and other debris that protected the Roaring Spear from the swarm of Clone Weaver monsters that were about to attack them.

Konje was sure that he heard the voice of a girl saying Wind Cyclone. He is familiar with that Magic skill as he is sure that the giant cyclone of wind around them is clearly at the level of advanced Storm Cyclone skill.

"Flame Wall..."

After the Wind Cyclone skill, another person cast a Flame Magic skill, making both walls of the rock trench start burning, creating two 30-meter high Flame Walls that burn most of the Clone Weaver swarm clinging to the walls while the other jump down on the ground.

The Clone Weaver monsters that escape the flame weren't what caught the attention of the Roaring Spear. What they're concerned with is the level of the Flame Wall skill which is absolutely ridiculous. It was obviously at the level of Flame Magic advanced level which is called Blaze Magic.

The Roaring Spears look around their surroundings, trying to find whoever is helping their group. And when they looked behind them, they all saw a group of three female Sorceress standing at the top of the rock trench at the end of the dead-end path.

It's the members of the Iron Rank Adventurers Party Poop Shape Cloud.

But Konje, who recognizes one of the smallest Sorceress among the three, couldn't bear himself to call the group that saved their lives with that obviously one-of-a-kind joke of a name.

Aside from his gratitude, he wouldn't dare to call a famous person using that ridiculous name.

After all, the person standing at the top of the rock trench is none other than the famous Oracle Witch of the Deamon Arachne Queendom.

With the assistance of the Adventurers Party Poop Shape Cloud, the chance of survival of the Roaring Spear has increased. If they fought together, Konje and his companions would be able to break through to the Clone Weaver swarm and get out of the dead-end path.

The Roaring Spear ready their Spears as they prepare to charge towards the Clone Weaver swarm. But even before they could take a single step, someone jumped from the top of the rock trench and landed between the Roaring Spear and the Clone Weaver swarm.

That person is the fourth member of the Poop Shape Cloud, the tall female Adventurer who is a Combat master.

The members of the Roaring Spear are quite surprised that someone can jump from a 30-meter-high rock trench and land safely without any injury. What they are more surprised with is when the Combat master girl gives them the signal to stay behind and not interfere.

...Is she planning to take the Clone Weaver swarm all by herself?...

...Even if she has an incredible ability like the other members of her group, it would be impossible for a single person to defeat the Clone Weaver Monster, especially when it's in a Rank 1 state...

...One Rank 1 Clone Weaver Monster may be weak, but their sheer number will overwhelm even an Iron Rank Adventurers Party or a single Silver Rank Adventurer...

...Damnit! That! Was! So! Cool!...

Those are the thoughts of the Roaring Spear as they watch the Combat master girl preparing to fight the swarm of the Clone Weaver Monster.

But even with their worries, the Combat Master girl seems to be confident of what she's planning to do. She takes a fighting stance with her legs shoulder-width apart and her rear foot a half-step in front of her lead foot. She takes deep breaths as she controls her Mana.

In just a few seconds, the Roaring Spear could already see the transparent crystal glow of the Combat master girl's Mana that had become so dense. It only shows how powerful the attack she is preparing to unleash.

...SCREECCHHH!!!...

The Clone Weaver swarm, with its instinct, got alarmed by how powerful the attack of their new prey is. They all started to move charging toward the Combat master girl. But before they can even reach her, the Combat master girl finally unleashes her attack.

"Combat Art - Vortex Strike..."

The Combat master girl threw her punch and at the same time, the dense Mana that she had gathered was released as a vortex that blasted all the Clone Weaver monster in front of her.

What she did was amazing to the eyes of the Roaring Spear, but that is nothing compare to what is about to happen next.

"Light Domain..."

"Wind Cyclone..."

"Flame Wall..."

...Combined Magic Technique - Flame Wind Vortex...

When the Combat master girl throws her punch, the three Sorceresses at the top of the rock trench cast their Magic.

At the same time the vortex of Mana was released, the wind revolving around the Roaring Spear along with the flame at the walls of the rock trench started to flow towards the vortex of Mana creating a large vortex of wind and flame that swallowed the entire space of the dead end path and obliterates 90 percent of the Clone Weaver swarm.

With the destructive attack of the members of the Poop Shape Cloud, a path has now been open for the Roaring Spear to leave the dead-end path.

"Carry your injured friend and follow me! We're leaving this place!"

Following the instructions of the Combat master girl, Asta carried Konje again on his back, and then the Roaring Spear made their escape, leaving the remnants of the Clone Weaver swarm unable to chase their group.