After a brief commotion in the camp, the party was prepared and ready to go.

“Ok, so, we take this corridor right here,” the devil pointed at one of the corridors leading out of the clearing, ”and it will lead us to the guardian’s lair. It won’t take long.”

“What does the lair look like?” Ghilanna asked.

“It is as big as a clearing but has several compartments. The entrance is a big room that takes about half of the space. Other compartments are like doorless rooms in a house.”

“Assuming that Dungeon Master didn’t change it in the meantime,” Svinjko pointed out.

“That’s right.”

“Hmm …” Ghilanna stroked her chin, “What about the vertical arrangement? Are there different floors that would allow us to attack the guardian from above?”

“No. The arrangement is very straightforward, and I liked it for it. It made it very easy to defeat the adventurers from a distance with my magic while the rooms provided good protection from their arrows.”

“What about vegetation?”

“There was some in the big room, but I made sure to burn it all down. But maybe the new guardian is ok with it. If it’s feral, it probably doesn’t care about it.”

“Or it can use it to ambush us,” the wolf-faced adventurer named Vulin said.

“Good point,” Ghilanna agreed, “Is the ceiling tall?” She asked the devil.

“It is. It’s quite tall. It’s three or four times as tall as me.”

The devil’s response made Ghilanna frown deeply, and her eyes filled with determination, “That means we can face a big opponent while having no way of reaching him.”

“What about those rooms you’ve mentioned? Do they have several floors?” Vulin asked.

“They don’t have floors, but they have some large rocks you could use to climb to the top. And since the walls connecting those rooms to the big room have many windows that are arranged in a hive-like manner, I bet someone skilled in acrobatics could use them to jump onto the guardian from above.”

“It’s such a shame Vulya is no longer with us,” one of the adventurers commented.

“That also means the guardian could be a flying creature,” Vulin said.

“But in that case, it can’t be big,” Ghilanna pointed out, “Are there any windows between the small rooms?”

“No. The small rooms are completely separated.”

“So, if we manage to force the guardian into one of them, I can smash it with my beauties,” the dwarf said, smiling for the first time since his confrontation with the devil, and widely at that.

“Glad to have you back, Rutmuik,” Ghilanna looked him in the eye with a genuine smile.

“Aye. Now is clobberin’ time,” the dwarf responded, smashing his big fist into his palm.

“However, the guardian’s lair sounds so simple, yet it can lead to so many different combat styles depending on what our opponent is. We need to know what we’re dealing with before we can start making plans,” Ghilanna said.

She pointed at some of her companions, “You, you, and you. You’re the volunteers. You will enter the lair first, tell us what you found, and get out of there as soon as you’ve seen the guardian. Understood?”

The volunteers nodded their heads reluctantly.

“The rest of us will be not so far away, with the devil up front,” Ghilanna continued, “I trust the three of you are capable of dealing with anything besides the guardian if you happen to run into something, but don’t hesitate to pull back if you’re having any doubts about your survival. We didn’t come this far just to ruin everything in the end. And once you’ve found the guardian’s lair, pull back and let us know first. Actually, report as soon as you find the end of the corridor.”

The volunteers nodded their heads again.

“Alright,” Ghilanna said with determination while facing the corridor, “Let’s get this over with.”

-----

After the volunteers had found the end of the corridor, the rest of the party took defensive positions while waiting for their return.

“The scoutsss are back,” Gmizavi reported to Ghilanna.

“Are they all well?” She asked.

“Yesss. All three of them have returned, and nobody isss injured.”

Ghilanna didn’t even notice she let out a sigh of relief. Instead of waiting for the volunteers to come to her, she went to them.

“So, what we’re dealing with?” She asked them right away.

“We’re not completely sure.”

“Have you seen the guardian?”

“We have, but it was in its … dormant state.”

Ghilanna’s eyebrow rose on its own, “Dormant?”

“There is a huge shell in the big room the devil described,” the other scout said, “But we have no idea what is inside of it.”

“I tried provoking it, but it didn’t respond. My arrows just bounced off the shell. I bet it didn’t even notice them.”

“And we deemed it too dangerous to approach it. Especially since there was some goo or grease everywhere.”

“It’s a snail,” Vulin said.

“Hmm … you’re probably right,” Ghilanna agreed, “Snails produce slime. But for a snail to be a guardian this deep …”

“It’s certainly no ordinary snail,” Vulin added.

“It’s certainly not. What does the shell look like? What color is it?”

“It was … multicolored,” the scout responded, “It had blue, pink, purple, and every color in between. The colors change as you observe the shell from a different direction.”

“I bet the shell is resistant to magic,” the devil said, joining them, “Or maybe the entire damn snail is.”

“What offensive magic do you possess?” Ghilanna asked the devil, “If Dungeon Master has indeed put that snail specifically to thwart you, then knowing what offensive magic you possess will help us predict what we’re dealing with.”

“I have very few means of directly hurting someone with my magic. I’m not a combat mage. I’m much more of a manipulator. But if we’re talking about magic that can hurt, I do have some skill with fire magic, although I can’t really throw a fireball.”

“What magic did you use to eliminate the adventurers, back when you were the guardian? You’ve mentioned that you’ve been dealing with them from afar.”

“I’m most proficient with blood magic.”

“And what can this blood magic of yours do?”

“With enough mana and concentration, it can do anything you can imagine. However, heart attacks are my favorite. Quick and effective, a perfect tool for getting rid of an entire group of people instantly. But if I’m feeling somewhat sadistic, then I can make your blood vessels burst due to the blood pressure.”

“Can you do that to a snail?”

“I’ve never fought snails before, and I have reasons to believe this snail is magic-resistant. The color of its shell sounds very much like the magic-resistant material used to craft some special equipment.”

“Aye. I’ve been given some snail shells to craft magic-resistant armors,” the dwarf said, “A tricky piece of work that produces not-so-durable items, but it does the trick.”

“So, you think your magic won’t work on it?”

“We won’t know until I try but don’t count on it. Also, my physical attacks won’t have much effect if we’re talking about a huge snail. I can break bones and crush skulls, but the stupid slug has none of that.”

“So … I’m not trying to be rude, but what can you do for us then?” Ghilanna asked.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out myself. The damn fucker has surely picked the most troublesome foe for me. I can’t believe it … a fucking snail … after going through so much and coming so far, a damn snail is something that is causing me trouble.”

“Let’s not forget this isn’t some regular snail either,” Vulin said, “It could even be magical.”

“The devil thinks it has anti-magic properties, so how can it have magic?” Ghilanna said.

“No, wolfie is right,” the devil said, “Skilled mages can develop magic resistance, so one doesn’t exclude the other. It’s rare, but … considering it should be my equal in fighting power, I’m willing to bet it can do magic.”

“Not just that,” Vulin continued, “Let’s remember what a basic snail can do. Their mucus has healing properties, so they heal over time. And if this snail is powerful enough to be a guardian this deep, it’s safe to assume its healing is impressive.”

“So, what? You think it may take a while to kill it?” Ghilanna asked.

“Not just that. Maybe we’ll all have to focus on attacking a single spot just to pierce it deep enough to hurt it. If we start attacking it everywhere and it has impressive regeneration, our attacks may not have any effect at all.”

“And I take it arrows will have almost no effect at all either,” another adventurer said.

“No, archers can always aim for the eyes,” Ghilanna responded, “It may not kill it, but it will throw it off balance and cause it severe pain.”

“Also, the grease the guys mentioned,” Vulin continued, “It will reduce our mobility drastically and make it impossible to attack it with full force. Add to that the fact that its shell is almost certainly impenetrable to our weapons, and we have a recipe for a disaster. We’ll only be able to attack if from the front, where its mouth is, or at the tail that it can smack us with, all the while trying to stand upright while sliding on slick grease. And we didn’t even start talking about its potential magical abilities.”

Ghilanna sat on the floor, cradling her face with both hands, “Oh, gods … we better think this through very carefully.”