Gauss stared at the pale figure radiating an invisible pressure before him. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
It was a monster he had never seen before.
He couldn't even name it.
The area around it seemed to have lost all color, leaving only a pallid hue that made his heart pound.
Its general shape was humanoid.
He said "general" because its upper body vaguely retained a feminine silhouette.
Pale carapace covered its entire body. Its chest had a full, lifted, almost human shape, and white hair hung down around a pair of vacant eyes fixed straight on the two of them. A small pair of slightly curved horns atop its head lent it a touch of inhuman allure.
Its arms were long and slender, its fingers as fair as polished jade. Yet sharp blades, fused with its bones, grew from its forearms, glinting with a piercing chill.
The terrible weapon that had just struck Alya was one of those blades.
Most unusual of all, its lower body had no legs. Instead, it had three pairs of slender, jointed spider legs.
Their sharp, steel-like tips held fast to the slick ground, perfectly still, displaying astounding balance and grip.
Gauss felt a weight settle in his chest.
This was only the second level of the underground labyrinth. How could a monster of this caliber appear here?
As far as he could sense, the threat emanating from it was at least Challenge Level 3, perhaps even higher.
And yet, for some reason, it didn't seem particularly eager to attack.
After knocking Gauss away, it had stopped in place, its body clicking and clacking.
The two groups faced each other across the distance, the air frozen between them.
Alya stared at the pale, puppet-like creature.
Still shaken, she