V5.C13 Tentacles? Confession
He spotted a wall standing at more than 50 meters with a crest carved on it. He released the barrier and fought against the strong current with one wind spell after another to finally reach the wall. The said crest had the shape of a five-pointed star with a line going from top to center holding a crescent moon. There were five in total in different places on the wall.
He pushed the glowing pendant in his hand to the first crest. The lantern on the pendant shot a streak of light. The crest absorbed the light and began to glow. He repeated the same process four more times, the pendant lost all moonlight in the process. After a short rumble, a part of the wall crumbled and unveiled yet another pitch-black passage.
"So many fucking passages…"
Leo entered the passage at the same time a strong force out crashed on him from above. Before he could make sense of the situation, he found himself getting swept downward.
His eyes widened at the scene below him. He hurriedly created a wind plate under his feet and landed on the solid floor below. His head snapped up to see the hole directly above him. It was filled with water but strangely not a drop of it fell down.
If it wasn't enough, a jet of water crashed on his barrier. The weak attack couldn't warrant any attention from him. He sensed hundreds of presence hiding the ceiling above. Shaking his head sideways, he unleashed flame breath on ceilings.
The charred corpses of leech-like creatures fell down. A dejected sigh escaped his lips when he found no mana crystal in their bodies.
"Time to call them, I guess."
Right after he opened the gate, the girls dashed out and furiously glared at him. Eri along with others scolded him for five minutes where he slapped Tio trying to grope him. Only then did they allow him to move. He followed the passage in the cavern filled with knee-length water with Yue clinging on his back.
He wanted her to sit on his shoulders but she refused with a cold glare. In the past, she has grown a little, now standing at 141cm. Her heart always fluttered every time she checked her new height.
He raised his right hand and slapped away the Shuriken-like thing trying to attack him. The monster fell to the ground and showed a body similar to starfish. The party stomped a number of them and collected mana crystals. Then came a horde of sea snakes only to get blasted by an angry Irene.
The passage opened up in a large room. Right as they entered the room, a monster blocked the way ahead with its body made of jelly-like substance.
'Analyze'
[??]
Strength: 800
Vitality: 5000
Defense: 500
Agility: 600
Magic: 5000
Magic Defense: 5000
Skills: [Caustic body] [Regeneration]
"Yue, deploy the barrier and the others stay from its body especially Shea. It's corrosive with the ability to regenerate, so it might be weak to fire magic!"
Yue jumped off his back and deployed a barrier, timely blocking the numerous sharp tentacles of corrosive jelly attacking from ceilings.
Leo didn't dare to use Hellfire Orb in fear of this not so tall room collapsing and only used fire breath in combination with Tio's own fire breath, burning the tentacles to nothing.
His sharp glare turned incredulous, the flames should've burnt the thing in less than a second, yet it took more than three seconds and that with Tio's help.
"...Leo, this Jelly is melting my magic barrier."
"I know! Irene please help with the barrier and the rest should use any fire magic in your arsenal!"
"Flame Tide"
Eri summoned a massive wave of fire and manipulated it to every trace of jelly from the room. Just as everyone relaxed, more jelly squeezed out of a crack in the ceiling and transformed into a sea angel-like body with fins shaped hands and two feelers on its head. Its nearly 10 meters long body was covered in glowing red patches.
"Hellfire tsunami"
Hearst decided to show her skills with fire magic, numerous feathers created the magic circle and shot silvery red fire, disintegrating the jelly.
Still, two other sea angels popped out of the cracks. They kept burning and burning until the sea angels stopped coming after it ran out of mana to regenerate. The party relieved their mental fatigue by some lighthearted talk.
"Master, I found something!"
He smiled and followed the cheerful Valkyrie. She led him deeper in the room and pointed at an opening in the floor with a whirlpool forming above it. He curiously glanced at his map and found it to be the only way out of here.
He was about to put on his mask but Hearst stopped him.
"Master can't use Air magic to breathe underwater?"
"... … No one told me magic like that exists…"
He swept his blank gaze over the rest of the girls in the room, they all averted their gaze suspiciously.
Yue suddenly took out glasses and a stick from her treasure trove and entered her Sensei-mode. Hearst also tried her best to explain. Under the guidance of two best of the best magicians Leo learned and mastered it in less than five minutes.
After checking everything, the party together hopped in the ominous whirlpool and let themselves swept by the water. In a few moments, they arrived at a giant room half-filled with water and dozens of holes in the floor.
The flow of water here was so random and wild that Irene was unable to react to it and fell into one of the holes, disappearing from everyone's sight. Shea used gravity magic to link up with Yue and Eri. Hearst took a glance at Leo and went after Tio into another hole.
He nodded at Yue and let himself fall in the same hole as Irene, she was strong but not enough to survive this Labyrinth alone. He increased his weight and swam at his highest speed to catch up to Irene and wrapped his hands around her body.
Irene stared in surprise but the barrier reminded her of the situation. After some crashes here and there, he climbed up the only hole above him showing light
Then another moment he found himself standing on a wooden platform fixed to a cliff by two wooden logs. He turned behind to see no trace of water, only mountains as far as his eyes could see.
Irene, still resting in his embrace, raised her head.
"Leo… why did you save me?"
He gazed into her silver eyes and whispered, "You were the first woman I met here in Tortus. At first I suspected you to be some crazy woman."
Irene's heart sped up from the sudden change in atmosphere but his last words irritated her. "The hell? Why did I become crazy?"
"Haha, how many girls will introduce themselves as single to a crazy berserk guy?"
She blushed remembering their first meeting. It was just to distract myself, she really wanted to scream back.
Leo, unaware of her thoughts continued with a smile, "Then the thing in Adventurer guild… I still can't retort to that now. What were you even trying to achieve back then? Seduce me?"
"No, I just wanted to see your reaction and aura toward me... But you didn't fail me. I just wanted to believe that some man can be good to me from the bottom of his heart?"
"...So if I became lustful for you, what would have happened to me?"
She released him and took a step back. "...Nothing, I would have left you on your own and my life would still be dull... I would be married off to some nobles by my uncle."
He scratched his head when he couldn't find any words to say. He toughened himself and decided on a straightforward answer.
"Irene, I know it won't mean much coming from a guy like me but I like you. Because the way you treated me back then, your worry and your cold yet caring attitude. One way or another I might have fallen for you if that incident didn't happen… Damn, I'm not good at this confession stuff. Still Irene, I just want to say I like you…"
"Hah!?"
The unexpected confession turned her brain off for a long moment before she opened her eyes in shock with her skill Spirit Eyes activated.
"Is that for… real?"
She couldn't believe the pink aura of affection mixed with a very faint red of lust coming from him.
"I might become a playboy at this rate… Anyway, are you done checking me with your skill?"
She nodded her head. "Ah ye- no, I-I'm sorry, I should've bewieved you."
Leo chuckled seeing the tears pooling in her eyes, she bit her tongue talking in a hurry. He lifted his hand and patted her head.
"...You! Stop treating me like a kid!"
She protested but the smile on her face said something else. She always wondered why all the girls around him even Remia became so energetic at the mention of headpats. In the end, she herself became a victim.
"My bad, you looked so cute, I couldn't help it... So princess, can I get my answer?"
"Of course, it's a … who's that!?"
He turned around and caught sight of a young blonde girl coming in their direction.
