“The snail didn’t react,” Vulin said.

“Yeah, I can see,” Ghilanna responded.

“Do you think she will make it back?” He asked.

“If the devil doesn’t make it back, then we’re better off packing up and going back home.”

Some time passed, but it wasn’t long before the devil poked her head out of the same window she entered through, looking around while trying to figure something out. In the end, her eyes focused on the snail. She slowly exited through the window while keeping her eyes on the snail. Then she started jumping from one window to the next with the grace of a feline before entering one of them again.

“Alright. She is checking out the rooms,” Vulin said.

She did that a few more times, jumping between the windows and entering the rooms, until at one point she exited one of the rooms in an unusual manner.

She stepped onto the window but had to squat down to fit her entire frame in it. She observed the snail intently as she pulled her center of gravity back before lunging out of the window just like a feline, going straight for the snail. Once close to the snail, she shifted her balance with a single flip, landing on top of the snail’s shell with a flying kick that produced a loud thud.

She jumped again in the very next moment, landing outside of the pool of slime and running straight for the exit.

“Oh, damn it!” The devil complained as soon as she had reached the adventurers, lifting her right leg up to cradle her foot in her hands, “That actually hurt!”

“Did you really think you could break it?” Ghilanna asked.

“It was worth a try.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Vulin commented, “Now it knows we are here.”

Turning around, the devil saw two tentacled eyes coming out of the shell. They moved around while surveying the surroundings.

“Great. We lost the element of surprise,” Svinjko complained.

“Not really. It’s not like we can hurt it while it’s in that shell anyway,” Ghilanna said, “We had to provoke it sooner or later.”

“Well … at least now we know it’s a snail for sure,” Vulin added.

“Can you say anything more about it from its eyes?” Ghilanna asked.

“Besides the fact that it’s very massive, no. It has the eyes of a regular snail.”

“At least hitting its eyeballs won’t be hard,” Ghilanna pointed out.

“True, but the fact that it still has both eyes tells me there is much more to it,” Vulin responded, “I doubt we are the first party to pay it a visit, and I’m sure they’ve also been aiming for the eyeballs.”

“Do you think it can regenerate?”

“I think that’s a safe assumption. And not just regenerate wounds. I bet it can also regenerate limbs. Although, snails don’t really have any limbs anyway, besides those tentacles. But those eyes scare me very much.”

“Why? Are they dangerous?” Ghilanna asked.

“No, and that’s what scares me. It’s not the flail snail. You know …”

“The snail that uses its eyes as flails,” she interrupted him.

“Yes. Which means its main attack comes from somewhere else.”

“We can’t see its tail, can we?”

“No, we can’t. But I’m certain it has a very effective magical or acid attack.”

“Oh yeah, we completely forgot,” Ghilanna turned towards the devil, “Are those back rooms clear?”

“Yes, all those rooms are clear. There is nothing in them. And the way to the hoard is clear, too.”

“So, we just need to kill the snail and get the key?”

“Pretty much.”

“I noticed you poking your finger into the slime,” Vulin said, “Did you discover anything?”

“I wanted to see if the slime is somehow special, but I discovered nothing,” the devil responded, “It’s just regular slime.”

Ghilanna inhaled and exhaled loudly as she held her hands on her hips, “So … any bright ideas?”

“The only thing we can really do is go for its eyes, but expect them to regenerate quickly,” Vulin responded, “If we could somehow flip it over, then we’d have a chance. But it’s too massive.”

“Can you somehow flip it over?” Ghilanna aksed the devil.

“I tried kicking it, but it did nothing.”

“What about your magic?”

“My magic doesn’t work on it either. That’s why I landed on top of it. But even touching it gave me no power over it.”

“It’s too big for our weapons to do any meaningful damage, and it’s also magic resistant,” Vulin pointed out, “Add the slime on top of that, and we got ourselves a fight that is pretty much unwinnable.”

“Are you going to back off?” The devil asked.

“Hmm …” Ghilanna stroked her chin vigorously, “this is certainly the kind of foe I’ve never faced before. I met snails from time to time, but I had no idea high-level snails could be this dangerous.”

“We don’t even know about its offensive capabilities,” Vulin said, “But just assessing its defenses is enough to give me pause.”

“You can’t be serious,” the devil looked at them mockingly, “It’s a damn slug with a shell!”

“It’s a slug with an impenetrable shell that is also resistant to magic,” Vulin responded, “Not only have we never fought an opponent like this, we don’t have the proper tools to deal with it.”

“We brought Svinjko with us because we heard that the guardian might be a demon, but we didn’t bring anyone who could kill a giant snail,” Ghilanna said.

“Perhaps the smartest thing to do would be to go back to the surface and tell others about the guardian,” Vulin proposed.

Ghilanna looked the devil in the eye without saying anything. Realizing the situation, the devil’s face lost its usual haughty appearance.

“No. We have a deal.”

“A deal is no good to anyone if we’re all dead,” Ghilanna pointed out.

“We’ve made a blood pact! You can’t just back out of it!”

“No. Svinjko made a blood pact with you, not us.”

Svinjko’s eyes went as wide as they could upon hearing that, “No! Wait! That’s not how it works!”

“It would be a fitting punishment for all the troubles you gave us,” Ghilanna responded coldly.

Looking back at the devil, Ghilanna saw that the act was over. While the devil presented herself as playful and friendly so far, now there was nothing but pure evil and malice on her face. It took Ghilanna all of her pride and experience not to back away.

“It’s nothing personal, devil,” Ghilanna said, “There is just no point in attacking a foe we have no chance against. You’re much better off waiting for another group of adventurers to come down here. But don’t worry, we will tell everyone about the guardian so the other parties will be prepared for the snail.”

“You think that will let you go free?” The devil responded slowly, with a blood-chilling stare.

“You are under the blood pact,” Ghilanna responded, “You are in no position to threaten us. If you have any issues, solve them with this inquisitor right here,” she pointed her thumb at Svinjko.

“Ghilanna, let’s be reasonable …” Svinjko tried.

“I am reasonable,” but Ghilanna cut him off, raising her voice, “Attacking an impenetrable, magic-resistant snail that can regenerate with our current party would be unreasonable! On top of that, the snail is also magical and is surrounded by slime! I’m not trying to be a bastard or an oath-breaker, I just have no intention of sacrificing my friends in vain! We all thought the devil might shift the balance in our favor, yet she can’t do a thing! We can’t hurt the snail, she can’t hurt it either, so what can we do?”

“You didn’t even try!” The devil yelled at her.

“What would be the point of trying!” Ghilanna responded with a yell of her own, “I can already see how it would go! We don’t have a single person who can hurt the snail in a decisive manner!”

“Don’t you dare yell back at me!” The devil pointed her finger at Ghilanna with madness in her eyes.

“Listen, devil, if we try attacking that snail, not only we won’t defeat it, but none of us will leave the dungeon,” Ghilanna said with more calm, “But if we retreat and go back to the surface, then the other parties that come after us will know what they’re dealing with and will come prepared. A snail as big and powerful as this is a very tricky opponent because it requires a specific approach. It’s not like a hell-hound that you can defeat with a well-synced party of any variety. This bastard requires a very specific, specialized approach.”

“Do you really think I will let you make a fool out of me!” The devil didn’t cease with her yelling, though, “Do you think I make blood pacts for fun? Do you even realize how … no, of course you don’t realize! You’re too stupid to understand anything!”

“Listen,” Ghilanna continued, “Other adventurers will come after us. All you have to do is make the same arrangement with them as you have with us.”

“As if that will be easy! Do you really think …”

For the first time, the adventurers saw the devil’s companion take the initiative. Putting his hand on the devil’s shoulder, he gave her a calm look that made her stop yelling in an instant.

Then, he initiated a conversation in their demonic tongue.