One leg came first in the stop in which Nirito was standing. The leg slammed down, crushing the stone. The next legs were aimed at the rest of us. I back-pedaled to prevent myself from becoming a pancake. Dust plumed from where I was standing just moments ago. I gave myself a second to re-balance myself and take stock of the situation. It seems that everyone else had dodged accordingly, and had survived. My weaponry was not so fortunate... my shotgun had gotten a stray rock lodged in it, and I wouldn't be able to dislodge it without the proper tools. Meanwhile I had forgotten to strap in my AS50 and as my reward, it is speared into the wall, likely bent. The only thing I had left was my taser/baton.

The spiders (?) legs seemed to be heavily plated from both ends, and I doubt I would be able to crack it with my baton either, let alone destroy it. He also had two arms on the presumably front of his body, which bare spikes that seem to be retractable. It's eyes were too far up, and could be closed with (yes really) more armor. Nirito on the other hand might... assuming that he wasn't preoccupied by the spider (?).

"Hey Nirito! If you can get around and take those plates off, we can cripple it!"

"No good! He sees me coming, can you do something about that?" I can't even reach that... let alone damage them.

"No can do! It's too high up!" Me and without my jump boots.

"Okay! Just give me a minute! Neptune, Compa, Ryouichi, can you make sure he doesn't pay attention to me?"

"Okey dokey gem eyes! Hey uuuugly! Look over here!" I wasn't entire sure if it actually understood what Neptune said, or did he just want to stop her voice?

"Okay... Xiang! Prepare for lift-off!" He took out what looked like a mine out of his trench coat, armed it, and tossed it at me. He better have not shoved actual explosives in it... Seeing no better alternative though, I jumped, landing a foot on the flying landmine.

BOOM!

The fuck? I thought to myself, as I went flying toward the spiders (?) head. Did an entire bouncy house come out of that mine? The bouncy house did it's job however, launching me toward the spider. I didn't have time to wonder why the hell was he carrying around an instant bounce house, because the spider (?) caught wind, and swung a fist toward me. Unfortunately, the most I could do was minimize the impact. Even then... I was sent flying into the ceiling, bringing down deja vu AND rock in a pile on me. I currently am stuck in my own little cave-in with an extremely bruised body. Nothing was flattened nor broken this time thankfully.

"Ghhh... come on... budge!" It sounds like Ryouichi is trying to dig me out of here. It was life-shortening, being literally in the dark while screeches and battle-cries are sounding in your ears. I think he has lifted enough off of me now... I power out of my little coffin with a bit of effort.

"Gah! Thanks man, I owe you one."

"No problem, though you might wanna see what's happened to Neptune!" His voice didn't carry concern, but that of excitement. I turn and see the same purple-winged angel that I saw up in "heaven", duking it out with the spider. "Also here, I dug these out of the wall." He handed me my AS50, which looked fine, except for the fact that the clip is in his other hand, completely destroyed. That's okay... my little friend down at the Khaos store gave me a little sample of what I could do... I found a more or less flat rock, and set up my rifle. I loaded a bullet in manually through the chamber and took aim...

Neptune is, at the moment, flying around it, striking where she can without being hit back. Perfect moment... It's eyes were wide open. A take a deep breath, and pull the trigger.

BANG1337!

Time seemed to slow down as I followed the bullet through. The bullet was half way there, though it's eyes were already closing...

Almost there...

Just as the spiders (?) eyes shut, the round slips in through the crack, inserting itself liberally, into his eye. It closes all of it's eyes and reaches up to scream in agony. Wait for it...

...it didn't go off? Man, that shopkeeper was bull shi-

BOOM R3KT

There were fragmentation and a small amount of explosives stored in that round. And since it decided to shut all of his eyes... the end result was a large gut spray. In the end, there were pieces of guts and skull everywhere. The spiders (?) head was filled with holes, and a pinkish liquid started oozing out of all the cracks...

Talk about losing my appetite.

We returned to Compa's apartment and regrouped, meanwhile thinking of what to do next.

"So, the only thing we found was a fragment, which a voice inside Neptune's head told her to gather." I decided to leave out the part with her goddess form, as it was painfully obvious that no-one here actually knew for sure.

"Yes, I did request that Neptune would gather the fragments, similar to the one you have obtained." The hell? Great, that nasty smelling pink fluid is probably making us all delusional. "I should introduce myself, my name is Histoire. I am a tome."

"A tomb huh?" "What kind of body are you carrying?" Both of you are idiots...

"I'm pretty sure she means a tome, as in a book. Both of you two have your heads somewhere else..." Thank you IF.

"Getting off topic here guys. Histoire, how come you are contacting Neptune?" I interject.

"That's correct, I have a special bond with Neptune. The power of the key-fragment has allowed me to speak with all of you. You all must return to the cave, as there lies the answer to the recent monster appearances. That's all for now... the connection is cutting out... farewell..."

"Huh, well then... we need to go back there huh?" I really didn't want to return there. I don't have any more fragmentation rounds to use. "Everyone is in this right?" I received approval from around our little circle.

"Okay then... Compa, is there a nearby hotel? I don't think we can fit everyone in here. It was a little cramped last time." Speaking of, I rather not sleep on the floor again.

"Umm... I think there is one a few buildings down the street." Alright then...

"You and Neptune can stay here, Ryouichi and Nirito, let's go rent a room." Quietly they nod, apparently too tired to object, and headed out.

A/N: Sorry, no update yesterday. I was busy and such. "Busy my ass, prepare to be beaten...literally!" The hell? HELP CRAZY TASER MAN!