The guardian of the second floor

"Eris! Duck!" I shouted.

My Demon Eye of Foresight told me the giant spider's second right leg would sweep in from the side in two seconds, but Eris didn't need me to tell her. The moment she saw the muscles in that leg tense, her feet automatically shifted direction.

Those were his instincts as a sword saint rank swordsman, keen and accurate.

The giant spider's right leg swept toward her. Eris dropped into a crouch, and the rush of air from its leg passed over her head, carrying a foul stench. She sprang back up from her crouch and brought her nameless sword down on the leg's joint.

This time, she didn't sever the leg outright. Perhaps she had missed a vital spot.

The joints, only the joints have thinner armor. The armor on its body is too thick, even Rock Bullet only leaves a crack. The joints need to move, so...

"Eris!" I called. "Aim for the joints!"

Eris didn't look back, but her sword was already aimed at the next joint.

The giant spider shrieked and retreated two steps. Its abdomen suddenly rose, spraying a stream of grayish-white liquid at Eris.

"Left! Dodge!"

Eris leaped to the right. The spider silk landed where she had been standing and splattered against the flagstones with a sizzle. A layer of white smoke instantly rose from the stone surface as several pits were corroded into it.

That stuff can even corrode stone. If it splashed on Eris...

I didn't dare think any further.

"Father! On the right!" My left eye flashed again.

Paul charged in from the giant spider's right. His sword struck its fourth right leg, cutting about two inches into a seam in the armor. The giant spider let out a scream sharper than before, and the leg gave a violent twitch, but it didn't break.

The impact sent Paul stumbling back two steps, his expression grim.

"It's way too hard. My sword can barely cut into it."

The giant spider turned to face Paul. Five or six of its dozen or so eyes locked onto him at once, while the rest continued tracking Eris.

Then it did something none of us had expected.

Its abdomen suddenly contracted, and it sprayed spider silk from all its spinnerets at once. It scattered in every direction, a full three hundred and sixty degrees. The grayish-white liquid shot out like rain.

"Get back!" I shouted.

We all ran back at once. Spider silk splattered across the floor and stone walls. Sizzling corrosion sounded everywhere, and a pungent acidic smell filled the air. Master Roxy wasn't running fast enough, so as Paul passed her, he tucked her under his arm and carried her out with him.

We retreated to a bend in the passage. The spray of spider silk covered roughly fifteen meters, and we had only just made it out of range.

The giant spider didn't pursue us. It remained stationed in front of the entrance to the stairwell, its dozen or so eyes watching us warily. It had lost two legs, but its defensive stance was still steady.

"Looks like we can't force our way through." I leaned against the stone wall, keeping my Demon Eye of Foresight active. The vision of one second into the future kept updating, but the giant spider had stopped moving. All I could see through the eye was it lying there motionless. There were no attacks I could predict and exploit.

"Um, before we discuss a new strategy, could you put me down first, Mr. Paul?" Master Roxy was still tucked under Paul's arm like a chick. She was so small that she looked rather funny.

Only then did Paul realize what he was doing. Perhaps things had been too urgent earlier. "Sorry, sorry, I forgot about you." He hurriedly put her down.

Her face was a little red, and she puffed out her cheeks, apparently angry.

"But thank you, Mr. Paul. You saved me." Paul scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and we laughed too.

Things really were too urgent just now. If Paul hadn't managed to take Master Roxy with him... I don't want to think about it. Still, things have been tense the whole way here, and then there was that fight. It's nice to lighten the mood a little. Master Roxy really did look cute just now. Too bad this world doesn't have anything like a camera.

I sighed. Next, we had to figure out how to defeat the giant spider.

Its armor is too thick. Normal attacks can hardly penetrate it, and I can't use large-scale magic. We're underground, after all, and if it's too big and causes a cave-in, that would be bad. The joints are its weakness, but it has eight legs. Even if we cut off one or two, it still has six. And its spray of spider silk covers too wide an area. Anyone fighting it up close could get sprayed at any moment.

"Master." I looked at Master Roxy. "Can your ice magic penetrate its armor?"

Master Roxy thought for a moment. "The armor itself is too thick. An ice wall would have a hard time breaking through it. But... if I can find a seam between the plates and cut into it with Water Blade, I should be able to slice it open."

Water Blade, a water-based cutting spell. It works by compressing a stream of water until it's extremely thin, then firing it at high speed. Its cutting power is tremendous. If she cuts into a seam in the armor... it could work!

"All right," I said. "I'll attack its eyes and draw its attention. Eris and Father, keep its legs occupied from both sides. Master, look for a chance to cut through a seam in its armor with Water Blade. Once it's open, use a sword to strike through the gap."

"Got it." Eris tightened her grip on her sword.

Paul nodded. "I'll take the right."

"Then I'll take the left." Eris charged out without waiting for anyone to reply.

I sighed. Eris was as quick as ever.

"Let's begin."

I formed a Rock Bullet in my palm and aimed at the largest eye on the giant spider's front.

The Rock Bullet flew toward it. The giant spider immediately raised its two front legs to shield its eyes, just as it had before. The Rock Bullet struck the armor on its leg, leaving a crack.

But this time, all I wanted was for it to raise its legs.

As the giant spider raised its legs to shield its eyes, all its attention was focused on me. At least ten of its dozen or so eyes were fixed on me.

Now's our chance!

Eris charged in from the left. The giant spider's third left leg swept toward her. She ducked beneath it and struck the joint of its fourth left leg. The crack in the armor deepened, but the leg still didn't break.

Paul attacked from the right at the same time. His sword struck the joint of its fifth right leg, cutting three inches deep. The giant spider screamed and swung its body sharply toward Paul.

Now!

"Master! Under its abdomen! Between the third and fourth legs!"

At some point, Master Roxy had moved to the giant spider's side, toward its rear. Her wand was aimed at a seam in the armor on its abdomen, and her chant was quick and clear.

Water Blade shot from the tip of her wand. A thread of water as fine as a hair cut precisely into the seam in the giant spider's abdominal armor with a sharp whistle.

The armor split open.

A gash about thirty centimeters long appeared on the side of the giant spider's abdomen. It wasn't deep, but it had cut through the outer armor, exposing the grayish-white muscle tissue beneath.

The giant spider let out a shriek so piercing that my ears rang.

"Father! Strike the gash in its abdomen!"

Paul charged forward. He thrust his sword into the gash Master Roxy had cut, burying the entire blade in the giant spider's body. He twisted it hard, then yanked it down.

The gash tore open, growing from thirty centimeters to over a meter long. Grayish-white muscle tissue split apart, and dark green bodily fluid poured from the wound, splashing onto Paul's leather armor.

The giant spider's body convulsed violently. Then its innards spilled across the floor with a rush, accompanied by a large amount of dark green bodily fluid.

Whew, that should finish it, right? No! It isn't dead yet? Its split-open abdomen is still moving.

The moment after I realized it, its abdomen contracted in spasms, spraying spider silk uncontrollably from all its spinnerets in a wild death struggle.

"Get back!" Paul shouted, leaping away.

We all retreated to a safe distance.

The giant spider struggled for about thirty seconds, then its movements grew slower and slower, its legs flailing with less and less strength. At last, its body went limp, its eight legs curled beneath it, and the light in its dozen or so eyes faded one by one.

It was dead.

It was worth mentioning that Master Roxy had quickly retreated to a safe area this time. I glanced at her, and she seemed to know what I was thinking, because she shot me a fierce glare.

Heh... heh heh. Looks like she really didn't want what happened earlier to happen again, so she'd already taken precautions.

I walked over to the giant spider's corpse. Dark green bodily fluid was still seeping from the gash in its abdomen. The air was filled with a mixture of acidic and foul smells.

It's finally dead. An A-rank Giant Desert Spider. The six of us joined forces and fought for almost ten minutes to kill it. If Rujierd had been here, maybe it would've been quicker.

Paul wiped the sweat from his face. A fair amount of spider silk had splashed onto his leather armor, corroding several holes in it. Fortunately, none had gotten on his skin.

"You two..." Paul looked at Eris and me, looking somewhat pleased with himself. "Your teamwork wasn't bad. Reminds me of myself when I was young."

Eris shook the green fluid off her sword and glanced at Paul without saying anything.

Elinalise came over and patted Paul on the shoulder. "Paul, you're just as conceited as you were when you were young."

"Eris is clearly much faster than you, and the two of them work together perfectly," Master Roxy added from behind, rubbing salt in the wound. She was probably still angry about what had happened earlier.

I looked at Paul. He covered his face with his hand and didn't respond to either of them.

Master Roxy's follow-up was perfect. Poor Paul. I can't see his face right now, but I bet it looks worse than if he'd eaten shit!

After that was settled,

Master Roxy walked over to the giant spider's corpse. She crouched down and touched its broken leg with a finger.

"This armor is hard," she said. "It should be harder than ordinary steel."

Talhand came over as well. "It is harder than ordinary steel, but it's still nowhere near as good as my shield."

Geese had popped up again at some point. He crouched behind the giant spider's corpse, looking as though he had found something good.

"Senior, come take a look at this."

I walked over. Behind the giant spider's corpse, there was a crack in the stone wall. There were chisel marks along its edges; it had been made by hand. A faint current of cold air was blowing through the crack from deeper inside.

I probed into the crack with my mana. The space I sensed was enormous, far beyond the area of the second floor. The passage led straight down, very deep.

It's a hidden passage leading straight to the deeper levels. Is this like the hidden passages in the RPG worlds from my previous life?

I told everyone what I had sensed.

Master Roxy frowned. "A hidden passage leading straight to the deeper levels... That's dangerous. We know nothing about what's down there."

"But it could be a shortcut," Paul said. "If this passage can bypass the floors in between and take us straight deeper down, we could save a lot of time."

"Provided there's nothing more dangerous down there," Master Roxy said.

Paul looked at me.

"What do you think, Rudeus?" He was asking for my opinion.

I closed my eyes and extended my mana as deep as I could. Over a great distance, the mana concentration grew higher and higher, and the air grew colder and colder. At the end of the passage, I sensed a huge space, and...

There's something there, something enormous. Its mana density is ridiculously high, several levels higher than this giant spider's. To be honest, I'm a little nervous right now.

"There's a..." I opened my eyes. "It's enormous, much bigger than this giant spider, and its mana density is much higher too."

Paul was silent for a while.

"We still have to go," he said.

No one objected.

I looked at the dark hidden passage. Air blew from its depths, cold as a knife against my face. The passage stretched downward, with no end in sight.