They went on walking for a few more minutes. Suddenly, they found a towering wooden door that stood imposingly before their eyes. For some reason, that sight made them shudder.

“So, this door should basically lead us to the Boss Room,” Helial said calmly. “Let’s get ready. We don’t know what’s expecting us behind that door, and we need to make up an offensive formation, so we…”

Helial hadn’t yet begun to explain what array was best, when a bloodcurdling voice rippled through the darkness and echoed out behind their back.

“Behind that door?”

Beware: the Dungeon has just evolved

The Boss is now free to wander through the entire Dungeon area

Beware: this Dungeon’s difficulty level has just increase by one Phase.

They had decided to venture into the Dungeon hoping to stumble across some Blood Legacy or Secret Skills, which they knew would usually happen. At the same time though, they seemed to have forgotten how many people that would venture into a Dungeon never really came back. As they saw the system notification, the thought of their potential imminent death loomed over them and clouded their clear thinking.

Helial and his friends turned to inspect the surrounding area. Unconsciously, they positioned themselves in a circle, turning their back on each other. All of a sudden, a scarlet shadow flashed in the middle of their formation.

“Oh, so these tender humans have so politely come here to hand me their flesh? I appreciate that. Last time I tasted human fresh flesh I had just become Dungeon Boss. Uh, and what about that one? Is it a cat? I wonder what it might taste like, huh.”

You’ve met the Dungeon Boss: Queen of Spiders

Special Quest:

Defeat the Queen of Spiders to become “Defender of the Living”

Since the Boss has never been fought against before, a special item is likely to be dropped.

Helial slowly turned towards the voice, in terror. There was no one there. The shadow was crawling from one side to another at unbelievable speed, so much that it could only be compared to the peak reached by Snowflake’s Movement Skill when activated.

Suddenly the shadow stopped. Now it was standing back in the middle of their circle. It was a stunningly beautiful woman, totally naked. Her body was scarlet, with some intense dark edges marked in straight lines and acute angles. Her skin though was glossy and looked by far more resistant than steel. Just like that of a poisonous spider.

Skill Activated:

Perception

Queen of Spiders

Health: 180,234/180,234 HP

Level: 167

Helial felt somehow reassured; the Queen of Spider wasn’t in the Third Phase, but in the Second Phase Late stage. They could still cling to a glimmer of hope.

Without the least hesitation, Helial cried at the top of his lungs: “LUMIA, ENCIRCLE ME AND THE BOSS WITH A SHIELD! AND YOU GUYS, GET OUT OF THE WAY. NOW!”

The Queen of Spiders checked him out with a terrifying yet seducing gaze, both quizzical and curious. She put a hand on her generous hip and waited for the boy’s friends to follow the instructions. “All right. These kids feel like playing with me, huh. It’s gonna be fun.”

The Queen of Spiders saw something take a cup-headed shape over her head. It looked quite resistant. It had been activated by the little Human girl with silvery hair. The Boss wound up under the Titan’s Shield just in front of Helial, who was wielding Curse of the Demon with both hands. The others seemed to have stepped back. They had surrounded the Titan’s Shield, and were now anxious to witness the fight outcome.

If she has human form, it means she can’t be that strong, Helial analyzed.

The more powerful the blood legacy, the harder it would be to take human shape indeed. That was why Snowflake had the shape of an animal. Since he belonged to one of the mightiest races in the universe, he must wait until Immortality before being able to take human shape as well.

“Fine. You insisted to be alone with me, huh? Be careful what you wish for, boy,” the Queen of Spiders hissed in her deep voice. “You look soft. I might as well play a bit with you before killing you. Women feel certain instincts, you know, instincts we need to follow…”

Helial didn’t reply. He just planted Curse of the Demon into the soil and screamed: “He!”

Skill Activated:

Flame of the Qilin

The Queen of Spiders stared blankly at the white flames gliding through the air around the boy. It was indeed quite uncommon for a brat in tender age as he was. But she paid little mind to this. She took a few slow steps forward as she seductively approached her prey. “I’m a little bemused, you know… Like, would you prefer to have a little fun with me after I’ve got rid of the others, or rather to be eaten up right away? You look like an interesting one. Maybe…” The Boss fell silent, her eyes wide open. The flames revolving around the boy seemed to be attracted to the sword by some strange magnetic force.

Helial’s body was unleashing new white tongues of fire that compressed and gathered around the Longsword relentlessly.

In the meantime, inside Helial’s Soul a Caribbean beach had taken the place of the usual dining room. It was completely empty. Wait. Not completely. Under a bat-shaped beach umbrella lay a black-haired kid indeed. His eyes were covered by some huge catchy sunglasses. He was holding a coconut, from which a straw stuck out.

“What better place to witness such a mismatch from,” said the Devil as he fiddled with the lei that hung from his neck.

Urrr

The kid drank a sip.

“I’m curious, so curious,” he mumbled again as he looked at the Queen of Spiders approach Helial.

The Queen’s expression changed with every step she took. She was growing more and more baffled. When she got a couple of meters away from Helial, the flames suddenly froze as everything around her seemed to stand still.

Once again, the expression of the Queen of Spiders changed drastically. Her face was disfigured by disbelief. Before her was a terrifying energy. “Damn. And he’s not even in the Second Phase!” She realized she had underestimated Helial. The Boss stepped back in an attempt to flee. Tough, she smashed into the Titan’s Shield, that didn’t move an inch. A creature almost in the Third Phase was afraid to lose her life against a brat that was hardly in the First!

Helial sneered and winked at the Queen of Spiders.

BOOM!

The flames erupted in a white hell. They white tongues of fire, randomly scattered with black sparks, swept over the Boss.

The Queen of Spiders was suddenly swallowed up by the flames. The blaze was so furious that Helial’s sense became dull. The whiteness of the flames blinded him. Helial was sure that nobody could survive an attack like that one, but no system notification popped out; the Queen of Spiders wasn’t dead. How could not she be dead though? Maybe the notification had been covered by the pure light the flames gave off.

Lumia kept the Titan’s Shield activated. She knew she must wait for Helial’s order. She kept letting her Mana flow throughout the shield. Her arms were stretched outwards, her palms were red-hot and let out an alarming smoke trail that dispersed in the Dungeon’s air. Her face though was unchanged. Every hint of the innocence suggested by her tender age dissolved in her knitted brow and firm expression. She had turned pale due to the effort, but she was resolute enough not to collapse and just hold on. Any mistake, any weakness would lead them to a very ugly end.

Everyone was anxiously trying to catch sight of Helial under the Shield as they caught themselves wondering if Helial’s blow would be powerful enough to kill the Boss.