Monica found Gromorlig sitting on a broken pillar in the courtyard. Ted sat cross-legged on the ground nearby. They both looked up when she entered.
"You look terrible," Gromorlig said.
Monica touched her face. She was covered in dried blood. Her clothes were torn in several places.
"I've been training," Monica said. She sat down on a piece of rubble.
"Training? Is that what you call dying over and over?" Gromorlig shook his head.
"How did you know?" Monica asked.
"I can smell death on you," Gromorlig said. "And your clothes look like you've been through a meat grinder."
Ted moved closer to them. "Did you level up your Skills?"
"Yes and no," Monica said. "I got close to ranking up Obsidian Impact but couldn't quite get there. The spiders were too weak by the end of the day."
"The Corrupted Spider Constructs?" Ted asked.
Monica shook her head.
“The Corrupted Tarantulas.”
Ted’s eyebrow raised.
"I needed to push myself to the edge," Monica said. "The Twin Phoenix told me that's the only way to master Skills."
Ted and Gromorlig looked at her with surprise.
"You spoke to the Twin Phoenix?" Ted asked.
"Yes. They summoned me when I was talking to Dotty. They explained how Skill Mastery works."
"And?" Gromorlig leaned forward.
"You need to be close to death. That's when your Soul emerges and you can see the flaws in your Skills."
"That explains a lot," Gromorlig muttered.
"Where's Dotty?" Monica asked.
"Resting," Ted said. "Gromorlig showed her the trap locations. She has memorized them all."
“Now that you’re here, we can move out in an hour, lass. Are you ready for some spider extermination?”
* * *
Monica trembled.
Her entire body felt tense as Gromorlig, alone with Dotty and Heidi, moved toward another street entirely.
The Dwarf had suggested quite a simple plan. He would run alongside Dotty as she activated traps and Heidi would provide covers by running through a series of connected roofs. The spiders would follow them and die miserably.
Sir Tristan, Ted, and Monica would instead stay behind, kill any straggler, and then kill the Boss.
Gromorlig had told them that, based on the Boss’s behavior, it was extremely unlikely to follow them through the traps and die from them. That meant that the trio would have to face the creature alone once the rest of the spiders would be far enough.
Once they killed it, Monica would finally get the key to open the Temple of Dhoznil and finally get the Spear of Dhoznil, which would then allow her to kill Machina once and for all.
Monica, Sir Tristan, and Ted waited behind a broken wall. They were twenty yards from the spider nest. The rest of the group was already in position.
"Gromorlig said to wait for his signal," Sir Tristan said. He held his shield close.
Ted gripped his mandolin. His hands were sweaty. "What's the signal again?"
"A lot of noise," Monica replied.
“How does he even plan it to lure them all—” Sir Tristan was interrupted by an explosion so loud all three had to grab the wall to avoid falling.
The explosion made the ground shake. Pieces of stone fell from nearby buildings. A second explosion followed right after. Then they heard Gromorlig shouting. His voice echoed through the streets.
"Come and get me, you eight-legged freaks!"
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“He must have had Dotty activate some explosive traps,” Monica said, using the Golden Flame on all three of them to heal their ringing eardrums.
"They're taking the bait," Sir Tristan whispered.
A small horde of Corrupted Spider Constructs rushed down the street after Gromorlig's voice. More explosions sounded in the distance.
*Ding*
Quest Progress Updated – ‘Eradication I/III’
Progress: 46/164 -> 67/164
*Ding*
Quest Progress Updated – ‘Eradication I/III’
Progress: 67/164 -> 97/164
“They’ve already killed more than fifty,” Monica said, stunned.
She was worried sick about Dotty, but as she saw the Corrupted Tarantulas finally emerging en masse to chase Dotty and Gromorlig, she gritted her teeth and said, “we’re almost there.”
Ted, Monica, and Sir Tristan watched as the remaining Corrupted Spider Constructs and Tarantulas poured out of the nest. Their metal limbs scraped against stone as they scuttled after their prey.
The trio waited until the last stragglers disappeared around a corner. More explosions sounded in the distance, followed by metallic screeching. Occasionally, a notification would pop up in Monica's vision, updating their progress as more spiders fell to the traps.
"Ready?" Monica whispered, activating Meditation. She could feel her Mana flowing more smoothly now after her intense training.
Sir Tristan nodded and raised his shield while Ted gripped the mandolin tighter until his knuckles went white.
They crept toward the massive hole that served as the spiders' nest.
The nest was mostly empty now. Only the Matriarch and two Corrupted Tarantulas remained inside. The massive spider sat in the center of the hole. It was weaving metal strands into a new hatchling.
[Corrupted Tarantula - Level 120]
[Corrupted Tarantula - Level 125]
[Metallic Arachnid Matriarch - Level 135]
“The strongest stayed behind,” Monica said. “Let’s go. They’re not leaving anytime soon.”
The Matriarch suddenly stopped its weaving and turned toward the group at the edge of the nest. Its eight eyes glowed with an unnatural blue light. The half-formed hatchling dropped from its legs.
Sir Tristan moved in front of Monica as fast as he could. His shield caught the first blast of metallic webbing. The impact made him slide back several feet.
“Sir Tristan, can you take the two Corrupted Tarantulas?” Monica said, emerging from his back, staring back at the Matriarch.
“Yes, but you can’t—”
“Worry about those two then,” Monica said, jumping into the nest, letting herself fall to the ground.
Before she could even reach the ground, the Matriarch shot more webs.
Monica twisted in mid-air as the metallic webs shot toward her. She channeled her Mana through Phoenix Step, keeping Meditation active as she'd practiced during her training deaths. The movement felt smoother than ever before as she materialized on a chunk of debris, the deadly strands of metal webbing embedding themselves into the stone where she would have landed.
“Enemy Magnet!” Sir Tristan shouted twice and Monica saw the two Corrupted Tarantulas flying toward him.
The Matriarch was impossibly large up close. Its body gleamed with a silver sheen, and those eight glowing blue eyes tracked Monica's every movement.
The half-formed hatchling lay forgotten at its feet, metal components scattered across the ground.
The Matriarch towered over Monica.
Monica simply stared back for a moment, engaged in a duel of stares. She heard Sir Tristan starting to fight the two Corrupted Tarantulas, and then Ted's music played and enveloped her body like a golden cloak. Monica remained still, mimicking the same stillness of the Boss. This was just the first challenge on their way to fight Machina. This was just the beginning.
"If you can hear me," Monica said out loud. "Just remember who I am."
Three Phoenix Feathers appeared on Monica's body - two on her forearms and one behind her neck, pointing downward.
"I am the Avatar of the Twin Phoenix, and you're just my first stepping stone."
The three Phoenix Feathers started burning, blazing like a barely contained inferno. Finally, the Matriarch's humongous body moved with deceptive grace. It shot several lines of metal webbing at Monica, who activated Meditation and Mana Sense and barely moved as she sidestepped and jumped through the attacks. The Matriarch kept firing, and Monica simply kept dodging, using her golden bracers every once in a while to deflect the hits.
As she neared the Boss, Monica noticed that the Matriarch's body was different from the other spiders. Its metal plating seemed to shift like liquid mercury. It made it harder to spot any weaknesses even with her Mana Sense.
Volley after volley of metallic webbing, the Matriarch finally managed to land a few hits on Monica, who barely even flinched. The power-up given by a third Phoenix Feather while using Fury of the Phoenix was nothing to scoff at. Several wounds bled, but she didn't activate the Golden Flame, feeling the immense power of her Skill and Ted's song coursing through her veins.
"You're nothing to me," Monica said to the Matriarch, and as soon as she was close enough, she mixed Meditation and Phoenix Step, empowering it with the Obsidian Flame. She suddenly appeared in a blind spot of the giant Boss and punched three times in quick succession at the same exact spot on the body of the Boss, activating Shatterpoint, the special effect of Obsidian Impact, delivering 300% additional damage with the third attack and cracking the metal of the creature.
Her Obsidian Flames ate into the Boss, making it scream in pain. The giant legs of the Matriarch shot at Monica, but she weaved around them as if they didn't exist. Monica's meeting with the Twin Phoenix had reminded her of her responsibility, of her role, but more importantly, of her power. Machina might be a tough opponent, but Monica was the ultimate fighter.
Monica couldn't complain about her powers. She couldn't complain about the companions that she had gathered along the way. No. She only had one job, and no matter what, she would do it. She would finish it step by step, monstrosity after monstrosity.
Monica easily parried one of the giant legs, breaking her arm but using the momentum of the blow and Phoenix Step to hit the same point she had struck before. Three times more this time. Liquid silver started pouring from the wound, and the Matriarch hugged the ground, trying to minimize the surface Monica could hit with her fists. But it was all for naught. The Matriarch had met a different Monica from the one that had killed the Crystal Wolf Boss. This Monica was even fiercer, angrier, and would stop for nothing.
Attack after attack, Monica peeled the armor of the Matriarch, exposing its metallic flesh, making it bleed silver, and finally steering it to its capitulation.