BXBX NOVEL Chapter 169: The Three Spoils of War
During the recent skirmish, he had already gained a certain understanding of the Spider Queen's abilities.
As a creature aligned with the dark attribute, the Spider Queen's abilities are categorized into three distinct types.
The first type, naturally, consists of power-based attack skills.
Throughout the battle, the Spider Queen incessantly hurls its webs, which serve to decelerate Jeremy's movements. Additionally, these webs can coalesce to form an enormous spider web.
Moreover, during the combat, the Spider Queen persistently attempts to slice Jeremy in half with its razor-sharp legs.
The probability of these power-based attack skills hitting Jeremy is quite low, mainly due to Jeremy's exceptional agility.
Nevertheless, Jeremy must occasionally clear away some of the webs from the battlefield's surroundings.
Should the webs form a colossal spider web, it would indeed pose a considerable challenge for Jeremy.
The second type of skill revolves around venom-based attacks.
During the battle, the Spider Queen continuously emits a grayish-green mist into the surrounding area. This mist possesses extremely potent toxicity.
Even though Jeremy's current level is roughly equivalent to that of the Spider Queen, the toxicity of the grayish-green mist still puts him in a poisoned state.
Were it not for Jeremy's passive skill that enhances his poison resistance.
He might have already succumbed to the venomous fumes released by the Spider Queen.
In addition to the grayish-green mist, the Spider Queen also attempts to strike Jeremy with its pincers, which undoubtedly are laced with deadly poison.
The third type of skill comprises spell-based attacks.
All of the Spider Queen's spell-based abilities are dark magic.
During combat, the Spider Queen can hurl a black orb at Jeremy. Although the orb travels relatively slowly, if it hits Jeremy, his health points would drop significantly.
Beyond the black orb, the Spider Queen can also channel dark energy into the ground during the battle.
This ability slows down the movement speed of anyone in the combat zone. Simultaneously, it allows the dark energy to gradually erode these individuals.
If someone becomes completely overwhelmed by the dark energy during the battle, they will be transformed into one of the Spider Queen's puppets.
After becoming familiar with all the Spider Queen's skills, Jeremy no longer faces significant pressure when countering her attacks.
Although Jeremy cannot quickly eliminate the Spider Queen, her attacks also fail to pose substantial trouble for him.
For a moment, both sides are locked in a stalemate at the deepest part of the instance.
Just as the stalemate persists, the arrival of Howard and his team disrupts the balance between the two sides.
Upon leading his subordinates to the deepest part of the instance, Howard immediately opted to launch an assault on the Spider Queen.
Although they were unfamiliar with the Spider Queen's abilities, they could discern that she was already being held in check by Jeremy.
They merely needed to seize the opportunity and launch a surprise attack while the Spider Queen was too occupied to respond to them.
Seeing Howard and his team arrive, Jeremy promptly addressed them.
"You need to be cautious of the Spider Queen's venom and dark magic. As long as you avoid these two types of attacks, you won't face much threat."
Jeremy's rapid assessment was due to his successful engagement with the Spider Queen, holding her attention and efforts predominantly on him.
The Spider Queen's power attack skills were entirely focused on Jeremy.
This implied that for the Spider Queen to attack others, she would have to employ the other two types of skills.
With the assistance of Howard and his team, Jeremy quickly gained the upper hand.
Jeremy even began to launch a counterattack against the Spider Queen.
The Spider Queen was gradually forced into a corner, her entire body riddled with numerous wounds. Furthermore, her health had already dwindled to less than a third.
In such dire circumstances, the Spider Queen chose to activate her ultimate state.
The Spider Queen's entire form became shrouded in a black radiance.
Although Howard and Jeremy wanted to continue their assault on the Spider Queen, the black glow impeded their actions.
Both of them, along with Howard's subordinates, could only step back and observe for the time being.
The black luminescence flickered for a moment before vanishing.
The Spider Queen absorbed all the black light into her body. The wounds that had previously marred her form were now completely gone.
Moreover, the Spider Queen's health points were fully restored to maximum capacity.
Empowered by the dark forces, the Spider Queen launched another assault on Jeremy and Howard, and this time, neither of them could easily fend off her attacks.
Both of them found themselves constantly retreating during the battle.
Eventually, they were pushed back to the entrance of the deepest chamber of the instance, where they had the option to exit.
However, leaving the instance would mean abandoning their plan to eliminate the Spider Queen. By the time they re-entered the same instance, the Spider Queen would likely have grown even stronger.
"We can't give up just like this! Although the Spider Queen is extremely formidable, we still have a chance of success if we work together!"
Jeremy's words served to solidify the resolve of his teammates.
Howard found himself in a dilemma.
He was deeply concerned about unforeseen events within the Shadow City instance. He did not want his subordinates to perish due to his mistakes within the instance.
Jeremy, sensing Howard's hesitation, raised his voice to address him.
"Even if you choose to retreat now, it's impossible to safely exit the instance. The Spider Queen will not let us off so easily.
If we leave the instance without sealing it, the Spider Queen might even lead her spider legion to burst out from the instance.
Do you want to see the spider legion appearing directly in Moonlight City? Do you think Moonlight City can withstand a direct assault from the spider legion?"
Jeremy's barrage of questions left Howard unable to provide a response.
Howard, of course, did not wish to witness such a scenario. However, he was still reluctant to place his subordinates in tremendous danger.
"I will temporarily let my subordinates leave! I believe the two of us can handle the Spider Queen."
After making this statement, Howard waved his hand.
His subordinates promptly chose to make a swift exit.
Howard's subordinates were not entirely in agreement with his decision. However, being soldiers, they were bound to obey their commanding officer's orders.
"Your actions will only bring us harm." Jeremy remarked to Howard with a cold tone.
"We don't have the luxury to debate this now. Our priority is to eliminate the Spider Queen as swiftly as possible."
After making this statement, Howard launched an attack on the Spider Queen without hesitation.
At this point, Jeremy had no other options. He could only join Howard in attacking the Spider Queen.
While the two were locked in an intense battle with the Spider Queen, Ella arrived with her Black Dragon Squad.
Upon seeing the Spider Queen, Ella murmured softly.
"I never imagined that even a boss in such a low-difficulty instance could become this powerful. But there's no need to worry, both of you. Our Black Dragon Squad has arrived."
With the addition of Ella's Black Dragon Squad to the battle.
The Spider Queen could no longer hold on. Through the coordinated efforts of all three forces, the Spider Queen was ultimately vanquished.
The moment the Spider Queen was defeated, three distinct pieces of loot emerged from her body.
The first piece of loot was a skill book of exceptionally high rarity, the second was a golden chest, and the third was a mysterious, pitch-black orb.
Upon seeing these three pieces of loot, the three factions glanced at each other's expressions simultaneously.
For Howard and Ella, the first two pieces of loot were undoubtedly more significant. However, in Jeremy's eyes, the third piece of loot was of paramount importance.
Because Jeremy had already received a prompt from The Eye of Omniscience.
[Note: You have now found the first Dark Core. The Dark Core can bestow you with immense power when you obtain divinity.]
Jeremy saw the word "divinity" again in the prompt from The Eye of Omniscience.
Jeremy believed that without acquiring divinity, he would not be qualified to face off against the masterminds behind the apocalypse game.
Thus, Jeremy had made up his mind that he must obtain the Dark Core.
Ultimately, it was Howard who spoke up first: "We have three pieces of loot here, and we are three factions. That means each of us can choose one piece of loot.
I believe it's only fair that Jeremy, who contributed the most, gets to pick first. Captain Ella, I assume you have no objections?"
Howard directly turned his gaze to Ella, considering that the Black Dragon Squad had the most members in the instance. If Ella objected, Jeremy might not get to pick first.
After hearing this, Ella shook her head, indicating she had no objections.