Ball of Nothing

With all the spider minions retreating, Zero held his stance. From this point onwards, he wasn't going to let anyone pass. The mother spider might not be the boss of this dungeon but Zero was willing to bet she was one of the important pillars supporting it. If there were spider minions and a spider boss, there should be a scorpion boss too but Zero would tackle that later.

The mother spider appeared and Zero gulped. She was huge but more importantly, she looked like something out of a nightmare that ate children and innocent sheep.

"Appraisal!"

Name: Night Terror Spider Queen Penelope

Title: Weaving Widow, Undefeated Slayer, Hundred Year Arachnid

Level: 187

Attack: A+

Speed: S

Defence: B

Health: C+

Ability:

- Motherhood Brood: Allows the monster to share skills to its offsprings

- Magic Weaver: Weaves unlimited webs with magical properties, coated with different poison status

- Intelligence: Has accumulated intelligence over time and learnt the language of man as well as critical thinking. Is capable of thinking up strategies to trap enemies and command her brood.

- Acid Spray: Deadly acid spray that corrodes flesh upon contact.

- Extended Vision: Able to see past the normal field of vision with all eight eyes activated.

- Intimidation: Able to make enemies scared into a petrified status that lasts as long as they look into any of eight eyes.

Zero wasn't expecting a monster to have a name and he was surprised but didn't worry too much about it now. According to Mii, monsters that had names were usually strong ones who were at least B rank and above. These monsters were intelligent and considered raid monsters. Their subjugation rewards could range anything between 50 cinnites to a dinnite. Zero didn't know if there was a subjugation reward for Penelope but it wasn't too important once she joined his village.

Penelope didn't like Zero when she saw him. The elf looked harmless and felt weak but after having so many of her children killed by him, the spider queen wanted him to pay for the destruction he did to her den. All the remaining broodlings climbed onto her back and whimpered in fear at the sight of the elf. They kept reporting different things but the one thing Penelope needed to know was how this adventurer was an intruder. As one of three generals in this dungeon, it was her duty to eliminate threats in their assigned territory.

Penelope knew that as a middle floor boss, she might not be this adventurer's match but she couldn't let him continue harming her little ones. The dungeon's final general might not even be this elf's match but they were under a curse to forever be guardians of this dungeon. Their souls were trapped within this underground system and unless someone destroyed the dungeon core, they would continue the never ending cycle of rebirth within this space.

Zero didn't know why Penelope was hesitating but he didn't attack her yet. The spider had S rank speed and Zero didn't want to use mana to outrun her and feed this dungeon. Instead, he wondered if she could be reasoned with because of her intelligence skill. He put his initial plan of beating her into submission on hold when he found out she might be able to communicate.

"Can you understand what I'm saying? I want to make a deal with you."

Penelope paused. This elf wanted to make a deal with her after harming her little ones? How dare he!

The screech in furiousness made Zero rethink his plan to talk to her. Still, the doctor was hopeful. Penelope wasn't attacking him yet so Zero took the initiative to apologise first. After all, he was the trespasser who entered their homes, tore it apart and killed her children.

Penelope watched as Zero offered her an apology for the destruction he caused and explained why he was here.

"I will not harm any more of your home or children if you can tell me where the desert poppy is. I will leave peacefully once I get it."

For the starting part of his plans, Zero decided not to tell her how he wanted to kidnap her back to his village. Instead, he wanted to know if the desert poppy existed within the dungeon.

Unfortunately for Penelope, she had never heard of the desert poppy and deemed that Zero was talking nonsense to buy time for his comrades to arrive. She might be a spider but she wasn't a fool. This elf will not have the opportunity to call for his comrades, they will not save him! Whoever this adventurer was, she was going to make him food for her future children. His soul would join this dungeon as nutrients to atone for his sins.

Zero jumped and dodged the acid spray. He took that as a sign of negotiations breaking down. If Penelope wasn't in a conversing mood, he would go back to his original plan. Monsters might not be intelligent enough to communicate with him so the doctor could only get the message through them with force.

Penelope followed up with a shot of web towards Zero who was now vulnerable in mid-air from that initial jump. Adventurers were too predictable and the spider queen had seen enough to know what they were going to do. Her children also launched attacks of their own to cover the area, giving the elf no chance of escaping their wide-area attack. Fire magic didn't work against these magic-resistant webs and the adventurers will be slowed once they are hit by any of the web shots.

Zero saw the webs coming his way with dark vision and didn't dodge any of them. There was no need to with his absorption ability. With a wave of his hand, he sucked all the webs in and grinned in victory. Penelope and her children were immediately stunned. They'd seen mages before but none like this elf before them. What did he just do? He made all the webs disappear and now, the queen spider was cautious. Zero might not feel like a powerful adventurer and didn't seem to have any mana but they might be wrong. This magician was more dangerous than the normal adventurers, he could be a dark mage!

Penelope made her decision. This dungeon's boss had to be notified, as a mid-floor general, she could only stall him for as long as she could until reinforcements arrived. They couldn't defeat this elf but they would die trying.

Zero watched as some spider minions ran away. He turned his gaze over to them and Penelope screeched in anger. This elf wasn't going to harm her children, she was going to stop him here even if she had to be rebirthed over and over again. Her protective stance made Zero think again. Could this actually be a monster with feelings? For the first time since his meeting with her, Zero felt like the feelings of a mother might be strong enough to exist within monsters as well. Penelope shifted his attention back to her when he looked at her escaping children. That was a strong sign that she knew what she was doing.

"In that case, this makes it easier for me," Zero smiled. He didn't want to be a bad person but it was the easiest way to get things done. Beating up a spider queen took too much time and effort. He would simply threaten her using the corpses of her dead children.