Inside the cave.
After walking for about ten minutes, the two reached the end. Along the way, they had killed more than a dozen spider monsters, most of them dealt with by Kizmel. Lillian, for one, hadn't brought a torch and couldn't see clearly, and his greatsword was difficult to wield in the narrow tunnels, so he could only assist occasionally with hand-to-hand combat.
"We can head back now," Kizmel said.
Lillian saw that his quest progress showed Completed. He nodded and was just about to turn around when he noticed that a section of the cave wall to the left was completely bare. He stopped in his tracks.
"What is it?" Kizmel followed his gaze and frowned slightly at the empty wall. "Do you see something?"
"No… that's exactly why it's strange." Lillian walked closer. "All the other walls are covered in webs. Why is this one completely clean?"
"..."
Kizmel frowned as well and followed him. At that moment, Lillian raised his hand and pressed it against the wall. The instant he touched it, the surface vanished like an illusion.
"A spell!" Kizmel exclaimed.
"Yeah…"
Lillian hadn't expected a hidden chamber. With the illusion gone, a rugged downward path was revealed, stretching into darkness with no visible end.
"It continues downward," Kizmel said, squinting with her night vision. "Since there's magic involved, there may be something important hidden below. Let's take a look."
"Alright."
Although Lillian really wanted to go back and turn in the quest now that it was completed, without Kizmel, getting out wouldn't be easy either. The path here had twisted and turned so much that he had completely lost his sense of direction. With his poor visibility, even finding the exit would be difficult—let alone dealing with respawning spider monsters along the way. In that case, he'd only be able to take hits helplessly.
As they descended, perhaps because they were going deeper underground, the temperature noticeably dropped. The dry, chilling air made Lillian shiver.
"Are you cold?" Kizmel asked.
"I'm fine."
"Let's finish exploring down here as quickly as possible."
Seemingly mindful of Lillian's discomfort, Kizmel deliberately picked up the pace. The structure below wasn't much different from above—long corridors stretching onward. Since this direction was opposite from the way they had entered, they were now moving back toward where they'd originally come from.
After a few minutes, a sudden squelch, squelch sound came from above their heads. The two exchanged glances, instantly realizing what it meant.
Someone was up there.
They had just come down from that direction, so they were all too familiar with the sound of stepping into water-filled pits.
Other players…?
Lillian thought. This cave wasn't a quest-exclusive instance, so it was normal for other players to enter. Judging by the sounds, there seemed to be quite a few of them. If they ran into each other, it might lead to unnecessary trouble.
"Are they your companions?" Kizmel asked in a low voice.
Lillian shook his head. "No."
His current situation was rather sensitive. Other players would almost certainly feel hostile toward him if they saw him. Of course, that didn't really matter—he was a green-name player. As long as they weren't idiots, they wouldn't attack him outright. Running into them wouldn't necessarily be a problem.
As for Kizmel, they might be curious about her identity… but there was no need to overthink it.
"Let's keep exploring. We'll ignore them."
"Mm."
Ignoring the activity above, the two continued forward. Unlike earlier, the path was strangely peaceful. No spiders leapt out at them, which saved them a great deal of time. After about five minutes, they reached the end.
"Empty?"
At the end was a spacious stone chamber, several dozen square meters in size. Lillian looked around. By now, he had somewhat adjusted to the darkness and could barely make things out, though it still felt like a black veil covered his vision, leaving everything hazy.
Kizmel scanned the area with a deep frown, extremely alert. As a Dark Elf, she had a far keener understanding of darkness, and her five senses were far sharper than Lillian's.
Whoosh—!
An extremely thin sound tore through the air. Kizmel shouted "Watch out!" as she instinctively rolled aside. But Lillian, just a step behind her, was too slow. The moment he tried to retreat, a tremendous pulling force yanked at his left arm.
Startled, he looked over—his left arm was already wrapped tightly in a strand of white spider silk. Following the thread upward, he saw a massive spider clinging upside down to the cave ceiling. Its enormous, half-human-sized maw gaped open, sharp fangs exposed, as if it were about to swallow him whole.
Thud!
Another tremendous force surged through the spider silk as the massive spider tried to haul Lillian up with it!
"Lillian!"
Kizmel instantly understood the situation. She reversed her grip on the curved blade in her hand and was about to rush forward to cut the silk—when Lillian glanced at her and shouted instead:
"Fall back first!"
"What?!"
"Get down here already!"
Lillian clenched the spider silk with his right hand and yanked downward with all his strength. Before his raw power, the spider—despite being considered "huge"—was utterly outmatched. Its massive body was forcibly torn from the ceiling and slammed onto the ground with a heavy thump!
"!!"
Kizmel stared at the scene in shock. In her understanding, human physical strength ranked near the bottom among all races… since when could a human overpower a giant spider like this?
"Don't just stand there—kill it!" Lillian shouted.
He released the silk, drew his greatsword, and cut through the strand binding his left arm in a single slash. Then he lunged forward in a powerful cleaving motion.
[Spider Queen]
A name and two HP bars appeared above the giant spider. The total wasn't very high—clearly the level of a regional boss or elite monster.
—Hiss!
The Spider Queen spun sharply and fired a web from its abdomen. Lillian leapt high to evade it—he had no intention of being plastered in place with a paralysis debuff. What he didn't expect was that the spider leapt as well. Its many round eyes locked onto him as its long venomous fangs lunged straight for his body!
"Moonwheel Dance!"
At the critical moment, Kizmel provided timely support. Purple light flared along her curved blade as she spun rapidly, her tall figure turning into a whirling ring of steel. The rotating blade struck the Spider Queen again and again, drawing out a shrill, pained screech. In response, two massive forelegs stabbed toward Kizmel!
Clang!
Lillian hurled his greatsword. It slammed into the spider's limbs, knocking its body off balance. At the same time, Lillian activated Martial Art: Crescent Moon. Using the system's forced trajectory adjustment, he ignored physical laws entirely, twisting his body midair without leverage. He flipped backward, landed atop the Spider Queen's head, raised his fist, and smashed downward!
BOOM!!
The punch, packed with overwhelming power, slammed the Spider Queen straight into the ground. Kizmel seized the opportunity and unleashed a rapid series of slashes with her blade, sending its HP plummeting.
Lillian landed, retrieved his greatsword, and joined the assault. Before long, the Spider Queen's HP dropped below the yellow threshold.
At that very moment, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed from outside the chamber. Seconds later, six or seven players holding torches rushed into view. Their first glance at the Spider Queen left them stunned. Their second glance—at Lillian—shocked them even more.
"You?!!"
Lillian didn't even need to look to know who it was. It was Kibaou, the one who had constantly opposed him and had even fake-fallen to escape earlier.
Kibaou also noticed Kizmel at that moment. Clearly unfamiliar with Dark Elves, he couldn't tell whether she was a player or an NPC. In the next instant, he drew his one-handed sword and fixed his eyes on the Spider Queen's remaining HP.
"Everyone, attack! Kill the big spider first!"