Chapter 269: Eliminate the Spider Queen
Translator:EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor:EndlessFantasy Translation
‘Ding! You have search the Evil Wolves Fortress and found no traces of men from White Lamb Village. Perhaps you should return to the village and inform the villagers. Perhaps they have some insight on the manner.’
After the system notification rung in his ears, Zhang Yang turned back and hurried his way back to the village. The place was hauntingly eerie; Just by standing in there could give anyone nightmares!
After another 20 minutes, Zhang Yang returned back to White Lamb Village. The rest of the villagers had already dispersed and went back to do whatever they were doing. The only NPC left standing at the entrance was the same old woman.
"Adventurer? Why did you come back?" said the woman looking unhappy. She had a face that practically said, "You’ve eaten and taken everything, yet you have nothing to show for it!".
Zhang Yang explained, "I have searched the Evil Wolves Fortress and have not found anyone from the village! Moreover, the entire fortress was completely empty! Not even a single bandit was found!"
"What?!" The old woman was in shock. After a few moments of silence, she said, "I think you should head over to the White Fox Mountains and search there! Alaska, the man who went missing three days ago, went there to hunt and did not come back. I think you can find something there! Ah! White Fox Mountains is located in the south. Alaska had always hunted for food in the forest, north of the mountain."
Zhang Yang nodded and rode towards the south and arrived in no time. White Fox Mountain was so much larger than Evil Wolves Mountain. The silhouette of the mountain looked like a fox lying down on its belly. Since the entire mountain was literally covered in white Camellia flowers, the entire mountain looked like white fox from afar. That was probably why the mountain was named that way.
Zhang Yang made his way towards the north of the White Fox Mountain and went through the forest. There, he found trails of a man’s steps which was probably belonged to Alaska. After venturing through the thick forest, he found himself arriving at an large open area within the forest. There was a huge clear lake and in the middle of the lake was a small island measuring around 60 to 70 square feet. There were only small plants growing on the small island, and in the center, sat a young man who looked like he was in his twenties, with a petrified face.
Zhang Yang looked around and found the reason why the man was so afraid. Surrounding the entire lake, were red and black striped spiders as large as cows; enough to scare a weak-minded man!
In reality, spiders can float on water. But since this was a game, and the spiders were so large in size, that they probably couldn’t walk across water!
Zhang Yang observed the man’s name tag and found the missing target, Alaska.
[Alaska] (Normal, Humanoid)
Level: 65
HP: 321 / 6,500
Defense: 60
Zhang Yang patted the bear, and it growled fiercely in respond. Both of them charged bravely into the crowd of monsters.
The spiders were just normal tier monsters. Zhang Yang was not afraid even if though he was greatly outnumbered.
[Flowery Striped Spider] (Normal, Beast)
Level: 65
HP: 6,500
Defense: 60
The white bear quickly made its way into the aggro range of the spiders. Almost instantly, three spider had quickly caught on. Zhang Yang did not immediately start fighting, instead, he began to run around and manage to kited around 30 spiders. He continued on and only got down from the bear and started attacking after luring the monsters away so far from their spots that he risked them resetting.
<Charge>!
<Horizontal Sweep>!
<Thunder Strike>!
<Blast Wave>!
After four chained skills were unleashed, the spiders at the frontmost had only 1,000 HP left. Zhang Yang rode back up the bear and kited more monsters around the lake. After he had collected a trail of more than 30 monsters again, he used <Horizontal Sweep> to bring more than 4,000 damage to all the spiders around. The first few spiders immediately flipped over and perish, while the second wave of spiders from behind caught up to the front and received heavy damage.
Zhang Yang continued around like this for quite a while and had cleared up all the remaining spiders. It was a pity that the AoE of <Horizontal Sweep> was only two meters around him. He could only damage around 10 monsters at a time, unlike Spellcaster or Hunter class skills that could easily cover a super-large area! That being said, Zhang Yang only took over two minutes to kill more than a hundred spiders, cleaning the place up.
"You’re so strong! Hero!" Alaska swam from the island towards the mainland gave a thumbs up at Zhang Yang, with a face of admiration. "I don’t think even the mightiest warrior in our village, Bagon would be a match to you! You know, I was once an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow to the knee!"
Zhang Yang smiled weakly and said, "Are you from White Lamb Village?"
"That’s right! I’m Alaska! Thanks to those d*mned spiders, I was stuck there for 3 days and 3 nights! I would be dead if there was no water around! Hero! Do you have anything to eat? Could you spare me a some? I will never forget your deed!’
The face Alaska was wearing now, the expression that expressed immense gratitude, was exactly like Han Ying Xue and Wei Yan Er’s faces when looking at the free meal menu!
Zhang Yang took the [Hawthorn Biscuits] from his inventory and gave them to him. "My name is Zhan Yu. I am an adventurer from White Jade Castle! Not long ago, I had passed through your village and had heard from the villagers there that all the men had gone missing mysteriously!"
"Oh! Thank the gods! These are my favorite Hawthorn Biscuits!" Alaska gobbled the food in front him. After healing himself back to full health, he patted his tummy and said, "My guess? All the men from the village have been eaten by the spiders! Hero! You don’t know it, but back then, the spiders were just one finger length away from my butt! I was almost eaten myself! By the gods! I was so frightened! If those nasty spiders had taken a bite off my butt, I would be d*mned! I’m sure that Marianne would not want me anymore…"
This NPC was a talkative person. Like a thousand ducks quaking away noisily beside him, truly a source of headache.
‘Ding! You have completed the quest: Rescue Our Men! Obtained 2,000,000 Experience Points!’
The quest ended just like that?
"Hero! Could you escort me back to the village? I’m worried that the spiders might chase after us and eat me! I will pay you luxuriously! I can’t die now! I’m marrying Marianne next month! She is carrying my child in her womb! You must help me!" Luckily, Alaska started to talk again.
‘Ding! Alaska has a quest for you: Escort Me Back to White Lamb Village! Will you accept it?’
Zhang Yang nodded and said, "Fine! I’ll take you back home! But! You must keep your mouth shut! Or else, you won’t have to worry about the spiders, I’ll hack you to death myself!"
Alaska nodded obediently and added one extra line, "but what if I am attacked by a monster? What should I do then?"
"…"
[Escort Me Back To White Lamb Village] (Difficulty Level: C)
Quest Description: You’re hired to escort Alaska back to White Lamb Village! Note: You have an agreement with Alaska. In case where Alaska is hurt in the journey, you will not receive a single copper coin and will have to compensate Alaska by on the damage he received. Please refer to [Alaska Contract Agreement] .
Progress: Arrived to White Lamb Village with Alaska 0/1
Zhang Yang open his inventory window and saw a book in it. He took it out and read the contract. In the book, it was stated explicitly how much gold coins Zhang Yang should pay depending on the type and amount of damage Alaska received. For example, a broken finger would require 20,000 gold coins for compensation.
This had to be a prank!
Zhang Yang rode the bear and yelled crossly. "Let’s go!"
As they made their way back to White Lamb Village, Alaska’s silence was only momentary, in just a few steps, he had started to "quack" endlessly. He had started to tell stories of him wetting his bed since he was three, to the point of the kind of nightmares he had! Zhang Yang was so annoyed that he almost lifted his axe to hack the man’s mouth off!
Luckily, there were very few monsters on the way. The only annoying part of the journey was the distance, and the fact that Alaska was always asking for a rest after a few moments. They had spent more than one hour just to return to the village.
"Oh! Marianne! That’s my Marianne right there!" As they entered the village, Alaska cried out and pointed to a young woman. He then jumped to his feet and ran over to her.
"Alaska! My husband!" The NPC woman rushed to Alaska and embrace together as both of them cried tears of relief.
‘Ding! You have completed the quest: Escort Me Back to White Lamb Village! Obtained 1,000,000 Experience Points!’
"Adventurer! You have rescued Alaska!" The previous NPC that had issued the quest for Zhang yang had appeared out of nowhere. "According to the boastful, good-for-nothing Alaska, he was almost eaten by spiders! Is that true?"
Zhang Yang nodded. "Yes. When I found him, he was trapped in an island surrounded by a large group of spiders!"
"Looks like my previous assumption was right! It wasn’t the bandits who kidnapped our men, it was the bloody spiders that had eaten them!" The older woman NPC bellowed furiously. "Adventurer! You need to help us exterminate the spiders! You must not allow them to hurt others!"
‘Ding! Villager of White Lamb Village has a quest for you: Exterminate the Spider Queen. Will you accept it?’
Zhang Yang accepted the quest and the old woman said, "I remember something. To the south, there is the Spider’s Valley. I heard that there was an extremely strong spider monster. Rumor has it that it was the God of Spider’s daughter! Due to her violent outbreaks, she was banished by the God of Spider out of the Kingdom of Spiders. Eventually, a powerful magician had sealed this monster away. Perhaps, the seal was broken and the monster now runs free, wrecking havoc to all living beings! Adventurer! You must go there and see!"
[Exterminate the Spider Queen] (Difficulty Level: A)
Quest Description: Kill Catalina, the spider leader in the Valley of Spiders and earn justice for all! Valley of Spider is located to the south of White Lamb Village.
Progress: Kill Catalina: 0/1
Zhang Yang left the village and rode the bear down towards the south. He had spent more than one hour to search for the Valley of Spiders. Similar to White Fox Mountain, this clump of hills brought out the shape of a spider through the deep parts of the valley and the blackened sky around it, making it look as if a large spider was crawling out of the mountain.
Zhang Yang pulled the reins of the bear hard and charged into the valley. Along the way, he kited many spider monsters that chased after them with their eight freaky legs.
The valley was large beyond explanation. It was so large that it could even fit a huge palace somewhere in the valley! The construction of the palace was very odd. It did not resemble the architecture of any man or elf, dwarf, or beastman; the palace was literally filled with many statues of spiders. The palace only had one floor, but the floor was so huge that it stood as tall as a hundred meters and more, displaying power and dignity!
Just as Zhang Yang was surveying the palace, the spiders that were chasing after Zhang Yang had caught up. Zhang Yang hurriedly turned around and jumped down from the bear to begin his massacre. <Thunder Strike> cannot be used while the user is on a mount. The skill was different from normal single attack skills, since it was an AoE type that can only be cast by blasting waves of lightning on the ground.
Once Zhang Yang had cleared all the spiders around him, he went up to the palace entrance.
Four elite tiered spiders were guarding the entrance with heads as big as vans! Their bright, threatening red and black stripe made them look extremely dangerous, implying some deadly venom at play.
[Flower Striped Venomous Spider] (Elite, Beast)
Level: 67
HP: 134,000
Defense: 700
Zhang Yang controlled the bear and charged into them. The spiders noticed Zhang Yang approaching and quickly surrounded him to attack.
Ding! Ding! Tang!
The spear-like legs of the spiders struck Zhang Yang’s metal armor.
‘Ding! You have received the effect <Spider’s Venom> (1 Stack). Received 500 natural damage every 3 seconds for 30 seconds!’
‘Ding! You have received the effect <Spider’s Venom> (2 Stack). Received 1,000 natural damage every 3 seconds for 30 seconds!’
The monster’s normal attack were rather average, around 3,000 damage or so. Their attacks were reduce greatly and only damaged Zhang Yang at 1,400 after being deducted. However, their normal attacks had a chance of inflicting the poison DoT effect on him. If the stacks were low, it would not matter for Zhang Yang. But, the poison could be stacked on endlessly; and when the stack count reaches above 10, Zhang Yang would never endure it even with <Shared Life> was active!
The only way to survive this was by speed-killing!
It was fortunate that these spiders had only 130,000HP, Zhang Yang only needed 30 seconds or so to kill them. After he had taken care of two spiders, Zhang Yang had already racked up 16 layers of <Spider’s Venom>, taking 5,406 HP every three seconds. Unable to take it anymore, Zhang Yang quickly activate <Warrior’s Will> and remove all the negative debuffs on him. He quickly ended the battle soon after.
Instead of the regular snacks, Zhang Yang sat down and ate the [Hawthorn Biscuit] and waited until the DoT effects on him wore off before moving on.
The monsters in the palace was spread all over the grounds. Sometimes, he had to deal with two more, some time he could deal with one less, either way, Zhang Yang had only stacked up seven <Spider’s Venom> before killing the group of spiders without activating <Warrior’s Will>.
The palace had five stages, and after three hours, he came to the end of the first stage. He was shocked to find this Spider Palace was just the same as a regular dungeon, with mini bosses and all!
After proceeding through two floors of the palace, he encountered some huge-*ss spiders! Those eight legs were at least 10 meters in length and were as long and sharp as spears. On the legs of the spiders were hairy thorns that gleamed with a dark blue light, and looked as sharp as daggers!
That being said, the weirdest, out-of-this-world, WTF fact was that the spider had a face, of a human male!
[Marzarrock] (Gray-Silver, Beast)
Level: 67
HP: 2,000,000
Defense: 700
Note: Catalina fourth child. Naturally violent. Favors fresh blood!