Game of the World Tree
chapter-160

▪️OFFERING THE BOSS

Rivendell, gateway to the underworld.

Within its depths lies a dim and seemingly bottomless cavern as faint rustling sounds ominously reverberates around, accompanied by a mesmerizing glow of countless pairs of crimson eyes that flickered like lanterns in the abyssal darkness.

Boxlunch’s party approached the cavern cautiously with their gaze fixated upon the entrance leading into the underworld. Though the deeper recesses remained shrouded in mystery, they also caught sight of a group of crypt spiders wandering nearby.

These nearby spiders were relatively small, slightly larger than a mere basin, but the players knew that beyond these juvenile arachnids awaited a terrifying behemoth.

A colossal crypt spider, an ultimate gatekeeper in the eyes of the players!

This monstrous arachnid possessed unimaginable power, and its formidable metallic exoskeleton even rendered all attacks futile.

Furthermore, its heightened senses were very keen as well and whenever a player attempted to slip past it to venture into the underworld, this behemoth would then instantly detect them in advance, easily ensnaring the unsuspecting intruder before turning them into its own meal in no time!

After several of such futile encounters, the players no longer dared to intrude upon this god forsaken arachnid infested cavern.

Some experts even speculated that this formidable behemoth might be a late-game quest boss and was intentionally designed by the devs as an impossible boss fight that players cannot defeat at least in their current level.

Thus, the players pondered upon the existence of alternative entrances to the underworld, hidden elsewhere within the depths of Rivendell.

With this newfound hope, most players swiftly abandoned the idea of conquering this impossible cavern and instead embarked upon a quest to explore Rivendell in search of other possible gateways!

Even Boxlunch and his team, aside from their pursuit of valuable ore veins, shared the common goal of discovering an alternate entrance to the underworld.

Yet, fate led Boxlunch’s team back to this very same place that had dealt them one of most bitter defeats.

This time around upon their return, Boxlunch’s team quickly retrieved some paint used for drawing ceremonial offering circles and began sketching a grand magical circle on the ground.

However unlike the small circles they’ve usually drawn in the past, this time around they created a more bigger design, spanning a radius of forty meters as it consumed a significant amount of paint…

They were determined to make the offering circle as large as possible.

In Boxlunch’s hypothesis, if the offering circle allowed metal objects as offerings, then perhaps it could also accept the colossal spider boss, considering its entire exoskeleton was constructed out of metal as well.

“Box, that’s amazing! Treating the boss as an offering and using the ceremonial circle to send it to the goddess. Man, why didn’t I think of this method?” an exhilarated player exclaimed.

“Well duh, you’re not as clever as the captain…”

Another player chuckled.

“But, can it actually work? What if it fails, and we end up being chased by that enormous spider boss once again…”

However, there were still some skeptical players amongst them.

Boxlunch pondered for a moment and replied, “We should give it a shot. Let’s entrust all our valuable gear and belongings to Nightingale and let her hide to a safe area.”

This was the longest sentence he had ever spoken, revealing his seriousness about this whole endeavor.

Witnessing Boxlunch’s determination, his other teammates ceased their doubts and just sprang into action as they began to take off most of their equipments, leaving only simple undergarments within their bodies.

Unlike earlier times, with the return of the Rageblaze Clan, the players had more clothing options besides the default nudity.

Though they were just simple undergarments, at least the players wouldn’t be running around completely butt naked…

Because it turned out that what caused the NPCs’ favorability to decrease the fastest was public indecency.

Whenever a player ran around naked, the favorability of the NPCs that witnessed such scene would instantly take a nosedive.

Nightingale watched in astonishment as the players handed over their equipment to her one after another.

“H-Hold on… What are you all doing? Offering what now!? Please don’t tell me you actually want to offer that colossal spider? And to whom?”

Did they truly intend to use the gigantic spider as a divine offering!?

Treating a living being as an offering… Do these guys worship an evil god!?

Aren’t they the chosen ones of the goddess?

“Of course, we’ll offer it to the goddess!”

One player responded.

“G-Goddess…?”

Nightingale was shocked.

“W-Wait… Are you serious? This will surely anger the goddess!”

She quickly exclaimed, filled with anxiety.

“Don’t worry, it won’t! I am a Druid, and I have a deep understanding of plant growth and development. The Goddess embodies the World Tree and is currently undergoing restoration. These spiders contain abundant mineral elements and rich organic matter, making them an excellent fertilizer. Offering them to the Goddess will positively contribute to her overall recovery!”

One player tried to convince the elven maiden.

Nightingale: “……”

Is… is that really the case?

She felt somewhat bewildered.

It sounded quite reasonable, but she still felt that something was off.

Meanwhile, the players finally completed their preparations.

“You stay back.”

Boxlunch instructed Nightingale and she instinctively nodded before distancing herself from the players.

But while she was walking away, she then suddenly realized—

“…Wait! The Goddess is not an evil god!”

However, the players couldn’t hear her anymore.

After observing Nightingale and confirming that’s she’s in a relatively safe distance away, Boxlunch finally faced his teammates and issued a command.

“Main tank, aggro the boss and kite it out. Bash, be ready to activate the circle. Druid, prepare to CC any accompanying mobs.”

The tank player in the team nodded with a serious expression and walked towards the cavern all by himself.

The other players also wore nervous expressions upon their faces as they observed him getting closer the cave’s entrance.

Calabash, brimming with a mix of nervousness and excitement, knelt before the magic circle and took a deep breath, poised to begin reciting the offering prayer at any given moment.

Soon, the tank player finally reached the entrance of the cave. Inhaling deeply, he bellowed,

“Spider scoundrels! Come and face me!”

After shouting, he then grabbed a rock and hurled it fiercely towards the massive figure lurking deeper within the cavern.

The rock arced through the air before landing with a resounding ‘crack’ on the spider’s metallic body.

In an instant, countless crimson eyes turned towards him, including a pair of colossal lantern-like orbs…

With a rustling sound, swarms of spiders emerged from every corner, converging towards the tank akin to piranhas that tasted meat in the waters.

The giant spider that was struck by a rock also emitted a low, menacing hiss before joining the charge.

Witnessing all this, the tank’s skin crawled as goosebumps ran all over his body before he turned around and sprinted away like a chicken with its head chopped off.

The spiders pursued him relentlessly, driven by their predatory instincts to capture prey.

Meanwhile, the sight of these monsters being drawn out filled the players with excitement, as their hearts pounded upon their chest in anticipation.

With a serious expression, the tank finally reached the center of the offering circle before halting into a complete stop.

The crypt spiders also swiftly closed in from behind as they encircled the tank completely.

Even the massive boss spider followed suit.

Amidst the players’ astonished gazes, the tank was swiftly torn apart by the spiders with the scene turning gruesome in just a matter of seconds…

At the same time, some spiders also noticed Calabash on the opposite side of the circle and surged towards him!

Witnessing the crypt spiders charging at the mage, the druid, hidden in the shadows, swiftly unleashed a controlling spell to impede their movements.

Calabash took a deep breath and knelt before the circle as he began to fervently recite the prayer for offering.

“Praise thy Mother of Nature, praise thy Goddess of Life, praise thy mighty Elven Matriarch—Evé Yggdrasill! Divine and Noble Goddess, we have found a splendid offering and wish to present it to thee!”

As soon as he finished uttering such words, the entire circle suddenly glowed as it emits a gentle radiance!