Second Boss

The chill deepened as Azrael and Olivia descended onto the seventieth floor. Frost clung to the jagged stone like a second skin, and each breath came out in thick plumes of mist. Their bare feet crunched over a thin layer of ice that spiderwebbed across the floor, echoing in the deathly silence.

The chamber stretched wider than any floor they'd seen—its dome-shaped ceiling swallowed by shadows. There were no webs this time. No spiderlings. Just silence and a tension so thick it gnawed at Azrael's nerves.

"This doesn't feel like a floor. It feels like a tomb," Olivia murmured, her voice nearly swallowed by the cold.

Azrael didn't reply. He scanned the room, spear held low but ready. He could feel it—something watching, coiled in the silence like a predator waiting to strike.

The trap sprung with no warning.

A wet snap echoed above them. Azrael's eyes snapped upward—and there it was.

From the ceiling, a massive spider the size of a carriage began to unfurl. Its body shimmered in hues of pale blue and bone-white, wrapped in glistening layers of icy silk. Eight ruby-red eyes locked onto them, glowing like coals. Fangs as long as daggers parted slowly, revealing a mouth dripping with a slow, viscous blue saliva that hissed as it fell—melting holes in the ice-covered floor.

The thing didn't move like a beast. It moved like something older—smarter. A predator born from nightmares.

"Olivia!" Azrael barked, stepping in front of her instinctively.

But she was already moving, shadows coiling around her arms as she drew her blade from the void.

The spider launched from the ceiling in a blur of impossible speed. Its massive body hit the ground with a boom that cracked the frozen floor beneath. Silk exploded outward in a web-like net aimed at pinning them both.

Olivia dove left, slicing clean through the strands with her shadow-blade. Azrael dashed right, twisting midair and slamming his gravity-forged spear into the floor to anchor himself.

The spider hissed and lunged at Olivia. She met it head-on, ducking beneath a sweeping leg and driving her blade up into its armored underbelly. The blade bit deep, but not enough.

The spider shrieked and flung her away with a powerful swipe of its clawed leg. She hit a wall with a sharp grunt and rolled, but she was back on her feet before Azrael could shout.

Azrael circled the beast, searching for a weak point. He raised his spear and focused—his mana surged, weight condensing along the shaft. He hurled it forward like a thunderbolt.

The spear struck the spider square in the thorax, driving it back—but not down. The creature roared, ice forming around the wound to seal it shut.

"You've got to be kidding," Azrael muttered.

The spider leapt again, its eyes fixed on Olivia this time. It moved fast—too fast. Olivia dodged left, then right, but the spider spun and launched a concentrated stream of blue venom directly at her.

Azrael's eyes widened.

"Olivia!" he shouted, sprinting toward her.

She turned just as the venom reached her—but she didn't dodge.

Instead, she pushed Azrael aside and took the full hit across her chest.

The sound was horrifying—like acid sizzling through metal and flesh. Olivia screamed once, then collapsed, her sword clattering against the floor.

"NO!"

Azrael knelt beside her, the poison already burning through the remnants of her armor. But then… her flesh knit itself back together, the sickly green burn fading slowly, replaced by fresh skin. Her body convulsed once and then went still—unconscious, but healing.

"You're insane," Azrael whispered, fury burning behind his eyes.

The spider turned, sensing weakness. It skittered forward, saliva dripping from its fangs, aiming to finish what it started.

Azrael stood slowly, reaching for his spear. He yanked it from the ice and gripped it with both hands. His mana flared—hot and heavy. Gravity wrapped around him like a cloak, pressing his feet deeper into the frozen stone.

"You're not touching her again," he growled.

The spider lunged. Azrael met it head-on, ducking low beneath its slash and driving his spear upward into its gut. He twisted, focused, and increased the weight tenfold.

CRACK.

The exoskeleton shattered. The spider reeled, shrieking in agony.

Azrael didn't stop.

He spun behind it, leapt onto its back, and drove his spear into its neck. It bucked wildly, trying to throw him off, but he held firm, pounding gravity into every strike.

"Fall."

He thrust one final time. The spear broke through the skull with a sickening crunch. The spider let out one last, screeching cry—and collapsed.

Dead.

Azrael dropped to his knees, panting, his hands shaking from exertion. He turned toward Olivia and crawled to her side.

Her breath was steady. The wound had closed completely, but she hadn't stirred.

He brushed ice from her forehead, fingers trembling. "You idiot," he muttered softly. "Why would you do that?"

No answer. Just the soft rhythm of her breathing.

He sat beside her, watching the shadows crawl across the walls. The air was still cold, but the spider's death had left the chamber feeling… lighter.

Still, he didn't move.