Chapter 162 – Giant Surprise
<span style="font-weight:400">After gazing at the beautiful coral city long enough, we begin to move. Since Meru is obviously much more familiar with the area, she takes the lead and I follow after her. Doing my best to keep myself close, I earnestly rely on her knowledge of the terrain and the surroundings of the reef. Her confident movements certainly are a good sign.
<span style="font-weight:400">First, we start heading further away from the settlement, passing by a few big leaves of seaweed. Making sure to stay as much out of sight as we can, we use them to our advantage and take a peek from behind the underwater flora, trying to look out for possible enemies. We’ve spotted a bunch of Sahuagins down in the vige so we definitely need to stay on guard while swimming around.
<span style="font-weight:400">Soon, we reach a small cliff and Meru dives into the decently spacious crevice. I quickly do the same and we zig-zag deeper just by the vertical slope. There aren’t many things for us to hide behind so she picks up speed and guides me to the destination she is aiming for. It turns out to be a small cavern hidden behind a nket of algae. I watch her pass through it in a blink and do the same.
<span style="font-weight:400">As expected, we end up in a somewhat narrow tunnel. It looks to be natural, with just some faint traces of external activity. It’s not much so I guess this passage wasn’t that well-known to the vigers. It might have been some kind of a curious secret amongst the younger generation or some group of friends.
<span style="font-weight:400">In any case, Meru slows down a little and I catch up to her. We travel through the hidden tunnel side by side. The walls are covered with pretty mould which illuminates the stone corridor in a light brown hue. To some extent, it feels like we are going through a mountain-crossing road with more or less regrly cedmps. It’s always been a trippy thing going through those.
<span style="font-weight:400">After a short while, we slow down even more and Meru gestures at me to keep as quiet as possible. I nod at her and let my fierce sharkgirl mate swim first. The path curves upwards and bes slightly less spacious anyway, forcing us to split. As we travel through it, the mould gradually disappears and a more natural light illuminates the exit of the passage.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru rushes through it first, obviously, and makes a sharp turn to the left. Already able to recognize the big chamber on the other side, I swim through the hole too and choose to turn right to avoid crashing into her in case she would have stopped for whatever reason. Nothing and no one raises any rms or attacks us so I assume we’ve made it here safely.
<span style="font-weight:400">Looking around, I realise that we aren’t exactly in a chamber but a massive aquatic coral tree of the same colour as the mould we’ve passed by on the way to this ce. There are plenty of small holes in the entire structure of the coral, letting in light from the outside. They thankfully aren’t big enough to easily peek inside, but that can’t be said about peering through them towards the outside world.
<span style="font-weight:400">Still admiring the beautiful and very mysterious sight, I try to swim up to Meru, who is moving around by one of the coral’s walls and looking through the gaps. I join her, gently running my hand over her smooth back. Bringing myself closer and giving her tail a few tender rubs, I take a nce through the natural windows too.
<span style="font-weight:400">It turns out that we are located pretty much in the very middle of the coral vige that we’ve seen from the edges earlier. This massive structure grows on a small hill and its branches extend to the sides in every direction. Some of them are definitely wide enough for at least one of us to swim into them and peek outside that way too.
<span style="font-weight:400">But, the view we get from the <i><span style="font-weight:400">trunk</i><span style="font-weight:400"> of this coral tree is already impressive. Just to make it a little bit better, we rise by about two floors of amonly-sized house and gain an even better angle. It allows us to see the entire settlement, up to the very borders. It seems to be even bigger than I first assumed. The terrain isn’t perfectly t so many buildings are at different levels, be it higher or lower, which might create the illusion of a less busy area.
<span style="font-weight:400">Obviously, that’s extremely misleading. You couldpare this underwater coral formation to some bigger viges inhabited by the people living on the surface. I can see and recognize houses, shops, warehouses, perhaps even inns. The majority of those have been carved inside smaller and bigger corals. Their colours vary greatly and the charming town is a mix of different shades. Besides coral, there are also buildings made of rocks, stones, and even underwater nts.
<span style="font-weight:400">Unfortunately, besides asional fish bastards, we don’t spot any other entities on the streets. If not for those raiders and plunderers, this reef would definitely have beenpletely abandoned. A total ghost town. Just evidence of their crimes. It’s sad but we haven’t gotten our hopes up in the first ce. Meru’s home was attacked way earlier than the Merfolk were.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Can you see anything useful?” I whisper gently, reassuringly brushing my fingers over the length of Meru’s tail.
<span style="font-weight:400">“There’s a lot of blood on the streets and the walls of the buildings. I don’t think there are any residents that are still alive after this much time has passed. It should be alright for us not to hold back in fear of hurting someone hiding in one of the houses,” she answers with her eyes focused on scanning the terrain.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We’ll get all of them. I promise.” I bring myself closer and ce an affectionate peck on her temple. “What do you have in mind right now?”
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru peels her attention away from the world on the other side of the coral and turns her sharp face to me. With a very faint smile, she ps her tail to hover closer to me and I pull her into a delicate hug, brushing through her dark hair as we look at each other.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This ce should be good to judge how many Sahuagins have been left behind. I hope we can locate the building the leader of this group has taken for the temporary base, just like the one in the previous town. Having their general numbers and strength in mind, we should be able toe up with a n of action suitable for the situation. I know that you would be able to think of something good, stair,” she says calmly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I appreciate the honest praise.” A warm smile curls my lips up. “From what I’ve seen, these individuals don’t look simr to the Sahuagins we’ve encountered in the protected settlement. At least in terms of gear and equipment. The main force must have continued marching forward quite some time ago and these guys caught up to the vige. No idea what they could be cooking up here. I guess we need to observe them for a moment.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru nces to the side, gazing through the holes again. I let her go, expecting the quiet sharkgirl to return to scouting the enemy’s strength once more, but Meru surprises me a little and brings her face close to mine again, cing a soft kiss on my lips. After that, she turns around and swims to a different region of the coral tree, peering through the natural gaps. Smiling to myself, I move in the opposite direction and also continue our reconnaissance.
<span style="font-weight:400">We spend about twenty minutes gazing outside, directing our eyes at every segment of the reef. The number of Sahuagins we spot during that period isn’t too high. We aren’t sure if there isn’t some building they took over for barracks somewhere, where more of this swimming scum is hiding, but the streets hold no more than maybe forty of them at most. That much is very doable, even with just the two of us.
<span style="font-weight:400">After ten minutes more, something actually catches our eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">There were no members of other aquatic races spotted anywhere in the town until that point. Unfortunately, the first person Meru manages to notice isn’t going to be cooperative in any way. One of the monstrous bastardses into the street with a body flung over his shoulder, belonging to a Triton, most likely. Thepleteck of movement from the half-man, half-fish doesn’t bode well and we both understand that.
<span style="font-weight:400">The Sahuagin starts swimming through the reef with the corpse in hand. We follow the ugly guy with our gazes, trying not to lose him in some side alley. After moving from one side of the town to another, he brings the dead Triton to a sizable warehouse, where two other Sahuagins open the big doors for him, closing them right after.
<span style="font-weight:400">Something is fishy there.
<span style="font-weight:400">Of course, they could very well be getting a <i><span style="font-weight:400">snack</i><span style="font-weight:400"> in that storage or such, but I feel like there is more to it than meets the eye. One look at Meru confirms that she thinks so too. They are moving quite well-preserved bodies from ce to ce, and that is suspicious enough on its own.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I know a good path to that warehouse. Should we check what they are going to do with that body?” Meru asks as our eyes meet.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Your call. I’ll follow you. It might give us a hint about them in general, perhaps,” I answer. “Everything alright?”
<span style="font-weight:400">She makes a faint nod. “Yes. You don’t have to worry about me this much. I haven’t spent that much time around the person he was dragging around. I barely even remember them.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I see. Don’t feel afraid to let me know about anything.” I smile at her lovingly. “Lead the way then. There are asses we have to kick and the day isn’t endless.”
<span style="font-weight:400">After one more round of gazing through the holes in every direction, we head out of the insides of the giant coral tree through the same tunnel we’vee in earlier. Instead of swimming all the way to the cavern on the cliff’s side, Meru suddenly takes a turn I hadn''t noticed during our first journey through this passage and we continue ahead in the general direction of the warehouse.
<span style="font-weight:400">It looks like it’s not just a single path but an entire of tunnels underneath the town. Very interesting.
<span style="font-weight:400">I need to keep close not to lose her in the web of holes and openings and we keep moving forward at a decent pace. As we finally begin going up, I prepare myself for our return to the underwater surface, ready to take action as soon as we are out. Meru stops in front of a dead end and presses her palms into it. With some controlled strength, she lifts what seems to be a rock and moves it aside.
<span style="font-weight:400">She hastily bolts out of the hole and I follow suit. Right after I’m there, she covers the entrance back, camouging the secret, undergroundwork of passages. We both scan our surroundings, realising that we’ve resurfaced between some random two houses made of jade-coloured stone. Meru takes a peek past the corner and nods at me, confirming that our destination is in a very close vicinity.
<span style="font-weight:400">We stealthily bolt from one alley to another, skilfully avoiding detection, up until we show up in front of the warehouse. But, right before we start discussing how to enter without alerting anyone, the main doors are pushed open and we quickly hide on the roof of the storage, which is perfectly t, allowing us to lie atop it and poke our heads past the edge.
<span style="font-weight:400">Three Sahuaginse outside, each holding onto something. One seems to be some kind of a y jug with a cork. Another looks like a small chest. And the final thing is just an ugly sack filled with Goddess knows what. Though, the faint scent and trace of blood leaking through the low-quality material give us a hint about the contents.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~I bet they are now transporting things rted to the body we’ve seen earlier,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Iment mentally.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~There’s no doubt about it. The bag is full of flesh, most likely cut into pieces. If I’m not wrong, then we could assume that the jug holds blood and the box stores some other parts,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Meru replies.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~Sick bastards. What do they even need those for?~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I quietly click my tongue. <i><span style="font-weight:400">~You go after them, I’ll take a look inside this warehouse.~</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">She nces at my face for a brief moment and nods delicately. We check if no one is looking our way and Meru swims ahead, sticking to the roofs as she stalks her targets. As for me, I observe as the gates are slowly being closed and get an idea. Just before the left wing fully closes, I summon a Void Chain and lower it into the gap from above.
<span style="font-weight:400">Whoever is pulling that side, doesn’t notice that the top of the wing gets a little bent outside and the left gate doesn’t reach the proper position to get locked. I wait a few seconds to see if they notice that fact, but no one corrects the mistake. Listening attentively to any noises, I swim closer to the gap I created and widen it enough to slip in.
<span style="font-weight:400">The interiors of the coral warehouse turn out pretty much as I expected them to. All the shelves are carved out of its structure, creating one,rgeposition. Even the additional rooms with open or closed tops are part of it too. Some crates and boxes litter the storage but it’s obvious that most things have been moved out.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though, it’s something else that attracts attention.
<span style="font-weight:400">As I swim right under the ceiling, trying to keep myself as far as I can from the crystals illuminating the spacious hall, I find a bunch of the ugly fishfaces sitting in a circle in the very middle. The initial sight makes me scrunch my nose. There’s just so much blood floating around them that I can taste it even from my position.
<span style="font-weight:400">Those monsters are currently dismembering the body of a Sea Nymph if I’m not mistaken. Using something akin to a big, primitive syringe, they extract blood from the poor woman, who is fortunately long dead, most likely. They carve out important organs, cing them inside a small chest like the one I saw a moment ago. The other, chopped bits go into the bag. All in all, nothing pleasant to watch.
<span style="font-weight:400">So, I’ve managed to learn what they are doing here. The answer is more than just a little disturbing. But, the issue is, why are they doing something like that? It doesn’t feel like making preserved rations or such. No one said anything about Sahuagins drinkingrge amounts of blood extracted from their victims.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~stair. They stopped. This is quite concerning. And disturbing.~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Meru interrupts my pondering.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~You are telling me.~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I chuckle wryly. <i><span style="font-weight:400">~What are they up to with those body parts?~</i>
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~I’m not sure. They are drawing many patterns and symbols with the blood. This might be a ritual of some sort. The arrangement is massive. The flesh might be a sacrifice,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> she exins.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~I see. That might check out. The box holds vital organs like hearts or reproductive organs. They are preparing those in the warehouse, most likely to prevent the scent of blood from spreading everywhere,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I add.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~Those monsters. As if taking females into captivity and killing everyone else wasn’t enough for them.~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I can practically feel Meru’s fingers clenching into a fist. <i><span style="font-weight:400">~The leader is here. He is a shaman or a priest this time. I’m sure that he is the one responsible for conducting this horrible ritual.~</i>
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~Don’t engage him alone, please. I’ll be there in a moment and we will think about the approach we should take. Be careful out there, Meru. I know how strong you are but think calmly,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I warn my fierce mate.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~I promise not to act rashly, stair. Thank you for worrying about me,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> she responds with a faint note of appreciation reaching me through our bond.
<span style="font-weight:400">I can feel her quickly regain her cool and smile to myself. She is incredible. This is definitely unimaginably tough for her, yet Meru is able to hold back this much. Just in case, we should try to avoid moving near her home. We will certainly visit it after dealing with these bastards.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sneakily returning to the double gate, I find it fixed, unfortunately. But, there are no delegated sentries to keep an eye on it so I quickly cash in on that. Before anyone arrives on either side toe in or out, I dash to the unlocking mechanism and push something akin to a knob-handle, releasing the lock for both wings. Pushing them out, I swim outside, leaving the doors open to not tempt fate. Someone could notice them moving, and with this, they might just assume that one of them forgot to close, hah.
<span style="font-weight:400">Guiding myself with Meru’s presence that I’m able to clearly sense through our bond, I keep a low profile, or maybe a high profile, and zoom over the roofs of the houses and other buildings just as she had. I don’t think anyone spots me and I soon arrive at the western edge of the coral town.
<span style="font-weight:400">With quite an unusual location, a big za, like a spacious market, greets me as I arrive at the spot. The remains of coral stands litter the impressive square, partially swept to the sides. Right on the cleared ground, a massive magical formation is being created. Judging by the disconnected lines here and there, it’s about two-thirdsplete. And, of course, the main ingredient for the array truly is blood.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru shows up by my side behind one of the taller houses and we gaze at the preparations together. We count up to fifteen Sahuagins carefully painting the array and cing various organs in their designated ces. Or at least I assume those are the designated ces. Besides those guys, there’s one bigger bastard overseeing everyone while walking around.
<span style="font-weight:400">That individual is much bigger than his underlings. Compared to a normal Sahuagin, our shaman is pretty much twice as tall and bulky. He wears ugly, tattered robes, looking like they are sewn from expired seaweed leaves that started rotting and moulding. A crude, crystal staff sits in his left hand while the right one holds onto what looks like a crystal ball of the same, purplish colour.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What are they making here?” Meru ponders out loud, covered by the Hall of Serenity I ced on the roof.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I don’t know. Whatever it is, it can’t be any goo—”
<span style="font-weight:400">I pause abruptly as the shaman waves his staff around for a moment and hits the patterns with its butt. An ominous, dark purple wave of energy travels through the circuit, reaching the very ends of the finished lines. Just as all of this happens, a simr structure shes in front of my eyes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“stair?” Meru calls out to me, directing her slightly concerned gaze at my face from the side.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We are in deep shit,” I respond without taking my focus away from the magical circle.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Why?” She lightly furrows her brows.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ve seen these symbols before. Once.” I finally turn my face to meet her gaze. “They are the same or simr in design to what I caught a glimpse of in Umbra’s realm, the evil sister of the Goddess.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru’s eyes widen at a moment’s notice. “Does that mean…”
<span style="font-weight:400">I nod. “I doubt they are able to <i><span style="font-weight:400">summon</i><span style="font-weight:400"> her into this dimension, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they found a way to open an artificial breach for her forces to pass through. We don’t yet know a lot about those gates that cause outbreaks in various parts of the world.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“This could exin the sudden order of the Sahuagin Emperor to begin the conquest. He must have somehow received backing or support from that evil goddess.” Meru moves her eyes back to the array.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We can’t exclude that possibility. Though, I’d suspect him bing a puppet much more. Her goal is theplete extinction of all life so that obviously includes Sahuagins. No idea how they got in touch and what she might have promised for their kind but it’s certain that nothing of that wille true in the end. Meanwhile, the emperor’s underlings are constructing gates where the majority of the races can’t notice them,” I add.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The Human capital and many othernds wouldn’t know about the attack until it was toote. There might be countless ces like my reef, where a shaman is preparing the array. If they get activated all at once, everything is lost,” she states calmly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It looks like I just can’t run away from my destiny…” I chuckle quietly while shaking my head. “I was supposed to be aplete random caught up in the summoning of Heroes…”
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru nces at me with her pretty, stoic eyes and I smile at her warmly, sensing her worry about me through our bond. I reach out to brush my fingers against her chilly cheek.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Well, thankfully I can let the girls back in Evaneheim know about the situation and ask them to inform Ross.” I sigh lightly. “Looks like we have to get that emperor bastard as fast as possible. He might be the key to everything.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Are we going to destroy this formation?” she asks.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course. And every single one we stumble on. We were lucky that we arrived early at the Merfolk’s ce, most likely before the ritual group came even close. Hopefully, they won’t be able to do shit after we murder everyone there and take away all the captives,” I reply.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright. I’m with you.” Meru nods with confidence and I smile at her once more.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Thank you. Let’s report back and prepare to bring hell upon these murderous bastards.” I ruffle through her dark hair, messing it up a tiny bit.
<span style="font-weight:400">We wait for a good opportunity and escape towards the surface. The nearby seaweed helps cover us at least halfway there, and we rush the other half with all our strength. Reaching the ship, we burst out of the water and fly onto the deck, falling onto the wooden boards with loud thumps. Lianne and Alyssa notice our entrance and walk up to us.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You two took a while. Was your <i><span style="font-weight:400">reconnaissance </i><span style="font-weight:400">eventful?” The perverted Queen smirks devilishly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah. We discovered that there are most likely tens of artificially prepared outbreak gates all over the sea bed just waiting to be activated so that hordes of Abyssals can attack from the water.” I smirk back at her.
<span style="font-weight:400">Lianne pales instantly and Alyssa’s eyes threaten with jumping out of their sockets.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You are shitting me...” Another voice joins the conversation and we notice Cornelia heading towards our spot with all my remainingpanions.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, how I would love to be fucking with you just as usual.” I sigh and shake my head. “s, reality is fucked up enough already.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“This is really, really bad. What do we do?” Lianne directs her worried gaze at me.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Ruin their ns, what else?” I shrug. “We assume that the big bad is connected to this operation somehow so our main objective remains the same, to take down the emperor. In the meanwhile, we should murder all the fish bastards underneath us. One less gate means a lot.”
<span style="font-weight:400">No one is in the mood for jokes and we all start discussing the uing battle pretty much immediately. Lianne won’t be participating so she goes to the side to contact the girls in the mansion and ry the news to the most trustworthy of my wives, sending someone to pay Ross a visit. We decide on a strategy in just about ten minutes and prepare to depart.
<span style="font-weight:400">Lianne walks up to me right before we jump off the ship.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Be careful out there, my Hero.” She ces her dainty hands on my chest and stands on her tiptoes to leave a tender kiss on my lips. “I don’t think I would be able to bear losing my beloved husband again.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I pull her in for a much deeper kiss, giving her soft bottom a good squeeze.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You will never be alone again. I’ll be back in just a second. Love you.” I brush the side of her noble face with my other hand and step back.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll make sure hees back to you in one piece. At least where it counts.” Cornelia taps my back with a small grin.
<span style="font-weight:400">I roll my eyes at her while the petite Queen giggles adorably. We share thest farewell and our side departs to ruin another party.
<span style="font-weight:400">Shortly before we reach the vige, we split into three groups. The first one, consisting of Cornelia and Neira, stays on the very edge of the coral reef. The second one, made of my Slime beauties, swims to a spot on the opposite side of the ritual site. And finally, the third one, which is me and Meru, heads right for that ce.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everyone knows what their role is and we take positions without an issue. My team confirms that the shaman is still there, watching over the preparations. Cornelia and Neira watch over the outskirts and we wait for a signal from them when all or the vast majority of Sahuagins will be within the settlement.
<span style="font-weight:400">We don’t wait for too long and the operation begins.
<span style="font-weight:400">I watch with Meru as a swirling current starts flowing around the entire vige, bing more and more noticeable. Soon, a spiralling forms, with each line spinning at quite dangerous levels. There is no doubt that anything that touches the massive dome will be ground to dust or bloody mist in this case.
<span style="font-weight:400">But, that’s not all.
<span style="font-weight:400">We notice a cyan sh by the edge of the settlement and thick frost quickly climbs up the still-swirling torrential cage. In about five seconds, it bes solid, closing off any ess to Meru’s hometown from the outside world, and naturally, any way of escape from the inside. The angled lines of the mesh are so close to each other that nothing can squeeze through, yet they are wide enough for my two lovely wives to send ranged attacks at any idiots foolish enough to try.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though, I don’t think many will have the leisure for that.
<span style="font-weight:400">The ground shakes strongly and the two of us direct our gazes towards the source. Right on the opposite side of the vige, we spot two massive figures stomping through the streets. The emerald and sapphire pair of giants barely fits under the frozen dome. Safi and Emi make good use of their new ability and wreak havoc everywhere they look and move, crushing and melting buildings and Sahuagins. Naturally, after receiving permission from Meru first.
<span style="font-weight:400">“This should be enough chaos. Most of the grunts are rushing their way. Shall we begin?” I smile at Meru as we stand on the roof of a random house near the ritual site.
<span style="font-weight:400">She nods and prepares her trident. “I’m ready.”
<span style="font-weight:400">We turn towards the ruined market square and locate the shaman. He seems to be shocked by the sudden attack and ice dome. Only a few normal Sahuagins remain by his side, mostly those who have been drawing with blood and spreading organs so they aren’t exactly armed and dangerous. Without wasting any more time, our duo rushes forward.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meru shoots ahead thanks to her much bigger experience underwater and she catches up to the first nearby grunt and skewers the poor guy with her weapon, temporarily enabling the five-spoke mode. Before her opponent even notices that he has been stabbed in the chest, there’s a huge hole in it with a missing heart and part of both lungs. Meru releases a loud, fierce battle cry, capturing the attention of everyone else.
<span style="font-weight:400">She won’t have any issues with the basic idiots but the shaman starts casting some ominous spell.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh, no you don’t.”
<span style="font-weight:400">I speed towards him from behind, shaping my draconic hilt into a battle scythe. Deathes for the evil bastard right from his blind spot… and misses.
<span style="font-weight:400">He ducks under the mesmerising de as I take a swing powerful enough to send an arc of water flying into the ground, creating a deep cut in the coral tiles. Switching his attention to me, he points his crystal staff ahead and finishes the incantation before I can move away. With tormenting wails, a horde of ck, ghost-like shapes surge towards my chest and crash into it, sending me spinning to the side.
<span style="font-weight:400">Thankfully, besides the initial force of impact, I don’t suffer much more. The wailing is quite bearable for me, though extremely annoying. This seems to be a curse as those ghosts keep circling me and serving as a quite sessful distraction.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~Are you alright?~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> Meru asks through our bond.
<i><span style="font-weight:400">~Yep. Didn’t expect to be countered right away like he has eyes on the back of his head,~</i><span style="font-weight:400"> I reply while shaking my head. <i><span style="font-weight:400">~Don’t worry. I’ll get him in a sh. Wreck the little guys.~</i>
<span style="font-weight:400">I can’t really borrow any useful ability from my lovers since I should technically uphold the borrow from Meru that turns me and Cornelia into aquatic hybrids. Therefore, all I can serve my opponent is either magic orbat techniques based on the artefact hilt. The former might not be as effective. I feel like this monster knows its shit when ites to the spiritual.
<span style="font-weight:400">So, not giving him any chances to prepare or cast anything else, Iunch myself forward once more, this time without a sneak attack. The dude has no other choice but to block my scythe with his staff this time. Unfortunately for me, he is quite strong and buff for a mage, which lets him struggle but parry my attacks with just that oversized walking stick.
<span style="font-weight:400">Quick nce around confirms that Meru is obliterating his subordinates without granting them any possible mercy. She appears quite close to me just as I strike the shaman’s guard and flick it away so I step back and we do a quick switch. She receives my opponent and I turn to the few remaining grunts. I promised Meru revenge, and even if this one might not be directly involved with the fall of her reef, he is doing much worse shit in secret.
<span style="font-weight:400">I leave the bastard to her and jump at the minions. They can’tpare to their boss and I cut my first one in half with the very first sh. That makes his friends slightly warier of my moves. So, to spice it up and confuse them a bit, I change my weapon into a spiked mace and pull it apart, creating two copies, red and blue. Wielding both, I be truly unpredictable to those slow brains.
<span style="font-weight:400">There could be something much better in terms of weight and aerodynamics, or rather hydrodynamics. But I’m strong enough to pretty much ignore those aspects and hit them with a bonk on their already somewhat t heads. Their empty skulls crack neatly whenever they connect with the head of either of my maces. They find it hard to block, parry or defend in a regr fashion as the best they hold are small ceremonial knives made of bones.
<span style="font-weight:400">On the other hand, Meru dances with the boss all over the za. She skilfully dodges his attempts at casting magic at her with the use of the orb and leaves multiple cuts on the bastard’s skin. As expected, he isn’t that much of a big deal without his allies, who are majorly dead. She still isn’t able to just get rid of the buff guy with some simple swing or technique.
<span style="font-weight:400">I wrap up the grunts in a few minutes. In the meanwhile, the shaman is barely hanging onto his dear life. Meru isn’t giving him even a moment to rest, barraging him with unpredictable swings and slices. I consider stepping in to help her, but…
<span style="font-weight:400">Literally a secondter Meru has the leader under her de, holding the spokes of the trident by his neck. Fury and thirst for revenge were clear in her yellowish eyes. But, at the same time, the ground starts shaking even stronger than what we’ve grown used to today and we take a nce to the side.
<span style="font-weight:400">A massive figure of Emi is currently running our way, causing a small earthquake with each jump. I chuckle and move even more aside, choosing to just observe. Meru stares at her for a brief moment and then stabs the guy’s arms with two precise strikes. She pushes him forward with a mighty smack on the back and steps away too.
<span style="font-weight:400">The two of us watch as Emi reaches the edge of the square and jumps as high up as the frozen dome allows. She brings her legs to her chest and squeezes her knees close to her body. The shaman looks up at the falling giantess and manages to let out just a cut-off grunt before Emi’s enormous butt hits from above.
<span style="font-weight:400">Since Emi chose to remain almost fully opaque, the shaman’s figure disappears right before our eyes as the unique Sahuagin gets swallowed by the southern entrance in a sh. Emi’s bouncy body ps the ground hard and jiggles like crazy. She grins at us from above, taking our attention away from the fact that she is currently melting a certain entity inside of her body.
<span style="font-weight:400">What a way to go out…
<span style="font-weight:400">Well, maybe it would be if not for the acids powerful enough to melt literal steel.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Emi got rid of all her opponents and came to get the big bad good!” Emi exims proudly.
<span style="font-weight:400">We share a nce and the faintest smile with Meru. The ground shakes again and we watch as Safi approaches us with some more self-control. Her movements still cause her erged, jelly body to wiggle where it matters.
<span style="font-weight:400">A momentter, my neck starts hurting from looking up. Though, the sight certainly is something else.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I’d have never ever thought I would get to stand right under a giant pussy.” I shake my head with a wry chuckle. “I always thought of myself as slightly above average, but this, this definitely is not my league.”
Admiring the view for a moment, we take a short break to catch our breaths.
Things aren''t yet fully finished. At least not until the array is gone.
And a certain someone finishes melting.
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