Hey guys,
Just so you're aware, I'm currently having Wi-Fi Problems over here, so updates may be affected. Not sure yet. It's getting fixed, and I'll be able to update at College, so don't worry there.
Anyways, just wanted to let you know. Now, on with the story!
Chapter 24 - MAGES. the Mad Magician
Traversing this Dungeon was way more stamina draining than the others, based off the sole fact that Nico was right. Many monsters had come their way, their eyes and bodies radiating the same purple aura that the Nargacuga had to show that they were indeed infected by the Frenzy Virus and were in their Frenzied forms. Unlike with the Nargacuga though, they all saw that the skin tones of the monsters had darkened, like they had cast a shadow over themselves, and their irises had tints of red in them amid the purple.
They were also much more annoying to bring down. At least Chain's weapon got a workout.
"Ugh, goddamnit that 'Terits' was freaking insane. I swear it was trying to jump me with that weird mouth of its." IF complained, flicking her Qatars to get rid of the Monster blood on them. Behind her, a Terits, a creature made from multiple purple building blocks, a pair of eyes and big red lips, lay defeated before it had dispersed into Particles. The Frenzy Virus had changed its colour scheme to a sinister shade of purple, its eyes glowing like purple flames, while its mouth had formed purple fangs.
They were on a large circular platform, having had to drop down to it to continue with their journey. There were multiple levels they would have to go to if they wanted to get to the other side, and since their sides weren't completely traversable, they would have to search for stable portions to climb up on. However, before they could do that they had been ambushed by Monsters infected with the Frenzy Virus, which explained their recent battle.
Compa patted the Guild Agent in comfort, her body sweating slightly as well since she too had fought off a Frenzied Monster that refused to go down. "Don't sweat it, Iffy." She said soothingly. "The mean Monster is gone now, so we can cheer up."
The brunette took a moment, but eventually she calmed herself to a point where they would be able to continue. Though she did have something to say about all this. "It's a wonder why they haven't went on a rampage and attacked any Settlements. I'd fear for the citizens safety if that were to happen." she remarked, huffing as she returned her Qatars to her Inventory. It was true though, she was indeed worried about the possibility of these things having to attack settlements near the Dungeons. While it wouldn't be as bad if it were just Avenir, she couldn't assume that they wouldn't just target them. They behaved like they were a horde of wild anime fans going on a rampage, not something one would want to deal with.
Noire huffed, sticking her chest out with her hands on her hips. "Hmph, like these things would be a challenge for us!" she proclaimed arrogantly, a matching smirk on her features. However, this lasted precisely... 10 seconds, before her mouth twisted into a frown as her form deflated, a sense of fatigue overcoming her. "... is what I'd like to say, but to be honest, with Avenir and the Basilicom's budget cuts, Lastation's military cant afford to maintain their standard equipment. They're doing well so far, but how long that'll last is beyond me."
'That's not good...' Nico thought, his frown also appearing as he formed a face matching one who was troubled. Troubled deeply, he was, if this was true then the military may need more support than he originally anticipated. 'I do recall a few people within Planeptune owing me favours for helping them in the past, maybe I could cash them in... it'll be tough, and I'll have to act quickly, but it should be possible. Though, it would help if Noire and Neptune got along better.' The teen thought, a hand on his chin. The male's gaze fell upon both Neptune and Noire, both of whom stood close together as they were debating something between them. What it was, he didn't know, but nonetheless it was getting heated.
Before he could step in, Compa pulled on one of his sleeves, making him look to her. Out the corner of his eye, the Spec Ops Agent noticed IF storming over to stem the argument. "What is it, Compa? You need something?" he asked her, raising a brow in her direction.
"Um, Ni-Ni... do you like those two?" Compa asked, much to his surprise. The male barely stopped himself from doing anything over the top, stilling himself. Good thing neither girl noticed as they were too busy being scolded by IF, who pretended not to hear their discussion. "I mean, you were staring at them intently, so I was curious..." she added on.
The male made to answer, but then he noticed something, something different about Compa. Her face looked innocent and curious enough, but there was something about her eyes... there was a glint of something deeper in them, something that was dark in nature. Given the nature of the question, Nico assumed she was feeling something dark towards Noire and Neptune, but his mind never managed to figure out what that was. 'Is Compa... wary of Neptune and Noire?' he wondered. 'While I agree that Noire's lie about her amnesia's as clear as day, I'm pretty sure Neptune's in the clear from that part... everything else though... Anyways, she should have nothing to fear...'
Let it be known that Nico never did understand the wiles of the ladies, like any other man out there.
"Uh, they're my comrades, Compa, like you, what are you talking about?"
"You sure...?" Compa pressed on, her eyes increasing slightly in intensity as they bore into Nico's own. He had no doubt that if they were lasers, they would be burning a hole through his skull with how intense they were. The male wordlessly nodded, and for a moment Compa retained her stare. Thankfully for him, the Nurse-In-Training finally relented with a beaming smile and closed eyes. "Okay!"
While that happened,Neptune hummed in thought to herself, catching the male Spec Ops Agent's attention as he turned to her, quirking a brow at her. Neptune never usually thought much about anything, nevermind as intensely as she was now. "Hm? What are you thinking, Neptune?" he asked her, expecting it to be about the mission they were undertaking or IF's comments.
Though that expectation was shattered when her words came out her mouth when she looked at him. "I was just thinking if there was a Pudding monster out here." She replied, making Nico roll his eyes at her love for the Desert. It sounded like her, thinking something so random, but in a way, he liked that about her. Kept him on his toes and kept him active in trying to understand her way of thinking. While that action was usually a death sentence for his brain cells, Nico had to admit it was a good way to keep his senses sharp.
Nevertheless, they had a job to do. Thus, with that, the journey continues.
Afterwards, the Party continued their way. Though their silence was soon destroyed when Neptune brought up another topic. "Speaking of, what's this monster we have to beat?" she asked them all. It was a good question since Ganache didn't give them many details on its appearance, just that it was large.
IF took out her Phone, deciding that Neptune's query warranted investigation. She brought the quest details up on her Phone as she ran her gaze across the description. It would not be unexpected for IF to have te appearance of a librarian how focused she looked right now. "It looks like it's a large-sized monster." She commented, reading the fine print. When she had pocketed her phone again, her mouth became a frown at the lack of detail.
She wasn't the only one that noticed it either. "Anything else?" Noire asked her with her arms crossed and her gaze focused. At the start of another conversation, the rest of the party stopped to watch the conversation unfold.
"Nothing. That was pretty much all that the documents had in them." The brunette's reply deeply unnerved the male. Lacking information could very well be the difference between life and death. He could think of a FEW examples of such a case, the Banshee incident and this one being at the top of the list.
Noire apparently agreed with him, but didn't want to offend the Guild Agent with her next comment as she gave her a dull stare. "Not saying anything bad to you, bit that's quite lacking in information…"
On that, IF nodded, her frown deepening into a scowl. "Yeah, no argument there. I can think of several instances on this journey where information could have been helpful…" she remarked, thinking about the Banshee incident primarily. She remembered the sight of those creatures, and what they did to her fellow Agents. It still gave her nightmares to this day.
Compa tried to bring up a brighter side of their situation, being the optimistic person, she was. "Well, we can ask someone when we need more information." She suggested, the rest of them agreeing. Although deep in their minds, they were all wondering if they would encounter anyone else in this Dungeon, as not many would be foolish enough to do so if they either weren't with the Guild or had some other means of protecting themselves.
"Not like there's someone who would know this kind of information, you know." Noire commented.
'Noire, not to be rude to you by saying what we're thinking deep down inside, but I get the feeling that you just jinxed us.' Nico thought while sweat dropping behind his Mask.
And as if to make Nico's thought a reality, or in Neptune's words drive the plot forwards, an unknown feminine voice spoke up from the silence of the wilderness around them. "My, my, to see known faces here, although one is not…" Everyone, surprised by the turn of events turned to the source of the voice, to find a woman standing… on top of a rock. She hopped down from her perched and walked towards them, a staff with a curved top in hand that she used as a walking stick... although it appeared that was unnecessary.
The woman had denim blue hair that reached down to her waist, a pair of indigo eyes and a mole that sat just below her left eye. Her bangs had a slant cut to them. She wore a brownish witch hat with three gears; the top two criss-crossing each other around the crown, a white overcoat with brown details and a brown dress beneath it with a red tie. She also wore grey thigh-High stockings and black heels with silver laces crossing over each other.
"… Who are you?" Noire asked the obvious question while everyone regarded her curiously, though internally she was trying to fight her embarrassment at having jinxed the party. She knew Neptune wouldn't let her live this down without some teasing, she was sure of it.
That Cheshire cat grin she was aiming her way all but confirmed her internal thoughts.
Stopping before them, the woman tilted her head in response to her question, before nodding in affirmation to herself. "My name, you ask? Yes, of course…" she twirled her staff and stabbed it into the ground beside her, and an unknown wave of energy washed over them. "You can call me MAGES.."
'MAGES…. I believe I've heard that name before…' Nico thought to himself, frowning in contemplation behind his Mask. The name rang a bell within his mind, and yet for the life of him he couldn't place where he had heard that name before. 'Perhaps it'll come to me later, for now I'll listen to this conversation.'
"Mages?" Neptune asked as she pronounced the woman's name, and apparently she failed if what happened next was any indication.
A frown marred the woman's lips as she regarded the confused preteen. "That's "MAGES." With a period." She said in a correcting manner, pointing her staff at Neptune as she said this.
The preteen sweat dropped at the name this woman possessed, a weak smile on her lips at the strangeness of it. Though really she wouldn't be one to talk since her name and IF's wasn't exactly normal either. "Um, I don't think that makes verbal sense…" she remarked, before shrugging her shoulders and deciding the best thing to do with this situation, something that a answered a lot of hijinks they got into. Roll with it. "Well, okay. MAGES. it is!"
"Hm, you said something similar the last time, too." The woman mused, closing her eyes as she rested a hand on her chin in a thoughtful manner as she had her Staff lean on her shoulder.
Her statement however, caught Nico's attention. 'Hm? That statement sounds off… does she imply that she is like that white-haired woman who knows Neptune? If that's the case I better prepare myself for an offensive. She hasn't struck yet, but that woman didn't strike right away either. And she has a weapon.' The male thought with a narrowed eye. Fortunately, his Ebony and Ivory were already summoned from his Void Storage into his Holsters, ready to be drawn.
Fortunately, it seemed that Neptune's brain was working today, as she too caught on to what this woman, MAGES., said. "Huh? Wait, are you someone I know?" she asked the blue haired woman.
Compa beamed happily as she turned from the weirdly dressed MAGES., to Neptune. "This is great, Nep-Nep. You finally meet someone who knows you." She said, glad for her friend.
Nico finally spoke, getting their attention. "Compa, remember that white-haired woman from before? she knew Neptune, it's a fact since she talked and acted like she knew her in the past. Also, remember she looked like Neptune did in HDD, making any claim for her to be acting a flimsy defence at best." He reminded her, noting that Noire had tensed slightly at the remembrance of that day.
While Compa sheepishly giggled at her forgetfulness, MAGES. looked to the preteen and evaluated her, running through what had been said before coming up with a response. "From the way it sounds, it looks like Neptune lost her memory." She deduced, and she found that her deduction was right on the money based on her shocked and awed expression.
It soon turned to amazement though as Neptune hopped up and down on her spot. "Exactly! Wow, how'd you know?" she asked in awe.
MAGES. smirk widened as she puffed her chest out in pride at the looks of awe she received from the preteen. "With my expertise, I can extract the truth from mere words. Unfortunately, though, I may not be of much help to you." She explained, but then her tone turned grave at the end.
"What do you mean?" Compa asked her in concern. Why would she not be able to help?
This prompted the woman to answer while waving her Staff in an arch above her head, a strange glow of energy arching from the tip. "To put it simple, I came from another dimension. As such, the Neptune that I know is not the Neptune in front of me."
Her answer only caused confusion to pool in Compa's eyes as several question marks could be seen floating above her head. "What do you mean? I'm starting to get confused." Compa asked, pouting at not being able to grasp what she was being told.
'That's right, Compa's someone who understands things when they're plain and simple.' Nico thought to himself as he palmed his fist in realisation. "Oh, I get it! You're saying that you came from a dimension like our own, but the Neptune you are accustomed to is not the one we have right now." he explained.
His explanation was aided by a blunt question made from the brunette known as IF, though it also felt like a statement of fact as well as an observation. "So, MAGES. came from another world and not here, right?"
The woman regarded the two for a moment, before she settled for a look of an impressed teacher who was proud with his or her student's progress. "Hm, I see. As sharp as usual, IF. Your guy friend also has keen senses as well." She praised. She was glad that those two could grasp what she was saying, it made things easier for everyone in the long run. For a moment, she had her eyes linger on the male, as if gauging him like he had been doing to her, before focusing on the rest of the girls.
"Thanks." Nico replied, happy with the praise. Though, he did notice her gauging expression when she looked at him. It appeared that he wasn't the only one who was acting cautious. Nico figured that it was his own fault for this, since he was being so paranoid, but he didn't really mind. It meant this woman had good instincts to be wary, and instincts were a necessary tool in his line of work. Those who had good instincts had a tiny amount of respect from him no matter their affiliation.
Before things could possibly go down a different path, and so they could save time, IF began to speak when she saw Neptune about to open her mouth. "Aside from you knowing Nep, I want to ask you something. We're looking for a certain monster here, but do you know anything?" she asked, while ignoring the pout that the bubbly amnesiac aimed her way while she mumbled something incoherently.
At this, MAGES. nodded in confirmation. "I do, but it is in exchange for other information." She told them both, now holding her Staff like a walking stick once more. She looked them over and settled her gaze on Nico, though her eyes were unreadable to the male.
He wasn't thinking about that though; his thoughts were centred on her words and not her posture. 'Well, that's fair, at least. Equivalent exchange as I recall.' The male mused within the confines of his mind.
Meanwhile, IF nodded in acceptance. It was a fair trade, although she wasn't sure what she would want that would be useful from them. "Okay, but I don't have info on how you can return to your dimension."
Fortunately, her fears were unfounded as MAGES. shook her head. "No, Not that. I want to know where I can buy Doc P." she requested with a certain gleam in her eyes. A gleam that reminded them of how Neptune would get when she was near a cup of Pudding or a really large supply of it.
All the Girls look at each other, questioning looks on their faces. This was their first-time hearing of this Doc P, thing, so none of them had a viable idea as to what it was. Even IF had no clue, and she had been a Mercenary for longer than Nico had been a Spec Ops Agent. Eventually, a dismayed sigh came from the male which drew their gazes to him. "Really? You girls haven't heard of it? It's an abbreviation for Doc Tear Popper, a drink." He told them in disappointment. How the heck could they not have heard of such a common drink? He himself had tried some, and while his body was unable to digest it, Nico knew of the beverage.
His words however, had a major effect on the blunette that happened instantly. "You mean that you know of it?! do you know where I can find some?!" MAGES. exclaimed as she bounded over to him in a similar manner to Neptune, with her hands grasping his and stars twinkling in her eyes and her Staff being hooked under her right arm's tricep.
'Whoa their girl, that's some addiction to that beverage you got there. Move back, you're getting too close to me for my liking!' the male screamed in his mind, thankful that he had his Mask on. There was a thing called personal space, and this woman just violated it with no fucks given! She should be thankful he didn't draw Ebony and Ivory on her ass! "Well, if you let me have my personal space, I can send you data to your Phone on where they sell the stuff. I've been around the Nations from my job, so I know my way around. Here." Nico replied as he raised his right Bracer and began pressing his fingers on the Interface.
In excitement, MAGES. brought out a blue framed phone, telling him what her number was so that she could receive the data. None of them noticed the jealousy-filled stares that Neptune, Compa, and to a lesser extent IF and Noire were giving them. By the time that they were finished, the blue haired woman was practically seconds away from bouncing up and down on the ground like a hyper schoolgirl as she held her Phone like it was a gift from the Goddesses themselves with an orgasmic expression on her face, crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks as she held it in the air. "At last, I have found a lead to the drink of the chosen! The Organisation has not destroyed evidence of Doc P in this Dimension, yet!"
Shaking her head to stave off that sudden uncomfortable feeling, Noire brought MAGES. down to earth by pressing on with their questioning. "I don't know who you were speaking to, but can you answer our question next?" she requested with an urgency in her tone.
This urgency was enough for the woman to snap out of her blissful stupor and regain her composure with a clearing of her throat. "Yes, I shall repay the gesture your friend has given me. What would you like to know?" MAGES. replied as she pocketed her Phone like it was a sacred jewel shard.
Now that they were getting down to business, Noire finally asked the question the entire Party needed to know for their Quest for Avenir. "Do you know the whereabouts of a large-sized monster here?"
The woman did a slight double take, blinking several times at the simplicity of the request, before she returned to normal, and spoke. "Hmph. Is that it? I actually saw one just a while ago."
"Really?"
MAGES. nodded her head in confirmation for Compa's one-worded question. She then pointed her Staff in a direction that led deeper into the Dungeon, which looked like an elevated platform that led higher to more platforms. "It is easily identifiable with its visual difference from the others." MAGES. explained.
"Thank you, that helps a lot." Noire thanked the woman. She may be a bit odd; however, it didn't stop her from being thankful and showing her gratitude for helping them.
MAGES. nodded her head in acceptance of this gratitude with a pleased look in her eyes. "I assume you will now be hunting the Monster down? I would like to help, but I have an urgent matter to attend to."
Noire waved it off though, they could take care of things from here. What MAGES had offered was more than enough for them. "Don't worry. We're fine with just the information."
At this, MAGES nodded once more. "I see. I bid you farewell, then." She said, before turning on her heels and walking towards the way the Party had come, intending to leave the Dungeon to go to one of the places that Nico's data sold her beloved 'Drink of the Chosen.'
After they watched her leave, Noire turned to the others, her pleasant expression changing into one of grim seriousness. "It looks like the target is near, and if its anything like what MAGES. said, then we'll likely have a large fight on her hands if its infected and in its Frenzied state. Let's hurry before it gets away." The others nodded in agreement with Noire's reasonings, as to them even though the one that gave them info was a bit of a… unique case they at least had a legit lead. With renewed determination, they ventured deeper into the Dungeon to get their prize, to get this Quest over with so they could report to Chian.
After their little 'talk' with the oddball known as MAGES., the Party reached yet another clearing, this one being like where they had fought the Nargacuga in. Noire would grit her teeth with twitching eyebrows at the memory of the creature that damaged her clothes as badly as it did, much to the amusement of Neptune, whose playful teasing was even worse in human form.
Fortunately, the preteen was saved from death by strangling when Nico pulled up the Holomap on his Bracer and checked the area with the details of the Job. His eyes narrowed as he mumbled incoherently under his breath, before closing the Holomap and the Quest details down and looked to the others. "This looks to be the place, guys. The Large monster Avenir wants us to beat seems to be within this vicinity."
Compa hummed as she looked around, the area was quiet, almost too quiet, which was an unnerving concept to think about. "Um, you guys, I don't see anything…" she commented worriedly to the others.
Just in case of an ambush, Nico and the others drew their weapons, Noire's Rapier, Neptune's Murasama, Compa's Syringe, IF's Qatars, and Nico's Rebellion. They would be ready for the likely ambush now. Just after they drew their weapons, something pounced out the wilderness, heading straight for Nico, knocking him down. The girls all gasped at this, but before they could move in to help the male, said male managed to use the momentum of the fall to his advantage, lifting his legs and pressing them against the stomach of his assailant, pushing upwards to throw the attacker off him.
Both rolled across the ground before getting up on their feet. Turning, Nico saw that it was a 'Slash Dog', one that was, like a lot of Monsters in this Dungeon, afflicted with the Frenzy Virus. The creature's skin was a mix of dark blue, borderline black, with its talons glowing an ominous purple. Its head was a dark bluish colour with a large mane, a pair of hollow purple eyes bearing down on them with intent to kill while a purple gas leaked from its maw of sharp teeth. On the back of its hind legs were a pair of glowing purple metallic blades, likely for defence.
"Iffy, is it that monster over there?" Neptune asked, pointing at the monster. She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt an extreme hatred for it, hatred that was much more than simple 'man vs monster' hatred. It took her a moment for her to realise that it was using the colour purple, which seemed to be a large part of her character, for sinister purposes, something that felt, to her, like a slap to the face.
The brunette looked at the monster closely, while Compa commented on the observations made about the creature. "It is a lot bigger than the others."
Nodding her head in agreement with the Nurse-In-Training, IF responded to them both. "Bingo." She said with a victorious smirk as she got into a battle stance." I think we've got it. let's go everyone!" she called out as she ran at the Slash Dog, which of course made the Party follow suit.
As it saw them coming, the Slash Dog reared its head back, a dim light escaping the confines of its maw which served as their only warning. With a quick shout from Nico and IF, they scattered when the creature released a large stream of purple flames where they once were, leaving behind a scorched trail along the ground.
'Holy, looks like the Frenzy Virus ups the Monster's abilities like that, huh…' Nico thought to himself before pouring energy into Rebellion and launching a few energy slashes at it. The Slash Dog dodged them by hopping to the side, before beginning to run towards him. Nico smirked as he jumped back, evading the Slash Dog's claws to its rising fury. With the virus increasing its bloodlust and savagery, it was moving like a mindless drone, unable to comprehend intelligent thought any longer.
"Hey, ya big bully!" Neptune's war cry caught its attention as she ran up to it from the side and slashed its right hind leg, the blade of her HF Murasama slicing through the flesh as easy as pie. "Try picking on someone your own size!" she called out before doing the spits, literally, to dodge a claw swipe that would have decapitated her. She raised her sword and blocked its other claw when it was brought down on her, before spinning into a helicopter kick that knocked the claw away from her and she slashed it, making the creature howl as the HF blade dug through its flesh.
Rolling backwards and getting to her feet, Neptune looked at Nico while IF and Noire attacked it from behind, distracting it for them while Compa stayed back, providing fire support. They both had a unified thought of how they were going to deal with it. They then ran at it together, while the Slash Dog's other opponents fell back to make way for them. It looked around and saw the approaching two, and roared at them, rearing back before pouncing.
"I'll go first, Neptune!" Nico called out as he slid under the Slash Dog and his companion rolled to the side. The blade rebellion began to spark, indicating one of Nico's skills was Activating. "Alright you, let's see how you like cutting edge technology! PHANTOM EDGE!" Nico roared as he made a single horizontal slash. When the slash was complete, the attack made an eruption of purple energy, one that sent the Slash Dog tumbling away across the ground. While it was recovering, the male followed up with a PHANTOM BLADES skill, though it was barely able to dodge most of them.
Neptune's cue came as she ran towards it, her eyes focused as a smirk tugged at her lips, one that seemed oddly like her HDD form's. "Nicky's not the only one with new skills, readers! CRITICAL EDGE!" Neptune yelled as her sword was engulfed with her energy. She swung her sword downwards, which slashed through her opponent's shoulder before bringing the blade upwards again for an upward slash. The attack was strong enough to send the creature into the air, much to the surprise of the onlookers, and when it came down again Neptune raced past it with a high-speed reverse slash, doing large amounts of damage to it.
"Damn, Neptune, where'd you learn that trick?" Nico mused as he held his own Claymore sword before him in one hand. "PHANTOM EDGE just coats my blade in plasma purple energy and releases it as an explosive energy slash when I attack." he remarked, explaining his newly revealed skill.
Seeing how bewildered Nico was wither new Skill, Neptune beamed proudly as she puffed her chest out, angling her chin upwards with her hands on her hips in a 'high and mighty' pose. "Why, you're not the only one who needs to be badass, Nicky. I mean you've been hoggin' the spotlight for a lot of battles, then there's Noire, you guys never give mwa the time to shine she needs!" in the end, she leaned forwards and waved her finger in his face. "You may be an OC, but I am the main character here in this franchise."
At her words, Nico rolled his eyes. He knew that Neptune would keep that ideology about her meta jokes in her head for eternity, so there was no point in arguing. Glancing behind her, he noticed that the Frenzied monster was getting up, and swiftly moved past her almost like he was gliding across the ground. "Well while you were playing meta, the Monster managed to heal. So, lets finish it off."
"Righto!" Readying his Rebellion, Nico and Neptune charged forth towards the Slash Dog, which began to breathe fire at them. However, Nico was the one who got in front and with a quick notification of, "I got this!" he bent his legs, twisted his hips to the side with his arms mimicking the motion of drawing something from its sheath at the left side of his waist, all the while Rebellion almost groaned with how much energy was coursing through it, both his normal purple and the crimson red mixed with black of his demonic energy.
With a mighty roar, Nico swung sideways when the fire stream got close to him, and the sword released a mighty slash of both energies, which flew out the blade and raced through it, cutting the fire stream in half as it sailed through the air towards the Slash Dog. When the Attack hit, the monster howled in pain as it felt the burning of the energy as its mouth suffered tremendous damage. It hacked and coughed while stumbling about, looking like a drunkard on the streets.
'If that thing wasn't enhanced by the Frenzy Virus, then I would think that attack would have obliterated it.' Nico thought as Neptune jumped over him and came down on the enemy. She slashed down its mane, then spun into a slash to its side. Noire ran in afterwards and sliced through its other side with the tip of her Rapier, before activating LACE RIBBON DANCE to further spread the wound further.
The Slash Dog growled in anger at the attacks on its frame. Flames licked at the wounds in its mouth, and after pushing through the pain in its jaw it breathed another fire stream towards IF and Compa who were next to attack. They had to pause their running and roll to the side to avoid it, although IF did not escape unscathed thanks to her Coat being caught at the bottom.
Quickly rolling to her feet, the brunette did all she could to douse the flames, until they were extinguished leaving the bottom of her coat reduced to charred ashes. "Ugh, goddamnit, this was my favourite coat!" she whined, her shoulders dropping before she pulled a 180-personality shift, her head lifting with a bright fury in them as she raised her hand and activated DEMON FLAMES. The Skill landed as the Slash Dog suffered more burns on the outside of its body instead of inside like with Nico's strike.
It sensed danger coming, and quickly raised its claw to block a strike from Neptune, who smirked at the attempt as their weapons locked together. "Heh, psyche, buster!" she proclaimed while jumping into a spinning slash. The attack broke through its defenced and left multiple gash marks on its body, much to its fury as it jumped to the side that Neptune was at. "Oof!" she exclaimed as the beast rammed into her, sending her flying through the air. Fortunately, she managed to right herself and land in a crouch, using her blade to slow her movement to a halt.
Seeing its chance, the Slash Dog roared as it reared its right hand, a purplish aura forming around it while a matching coloured circle formed under it. Nico's eyes widened when he saw this. 'Wait a sec, that's not something I saw in its list of skills!' he thought, but couldn't react in time before the creature scooped its claw through the ground, hurling what looked like a flaming meteor from the ground towards her.
"Nepu!" Neptune saw the attack and couldn't help but make her verbal tick in shock and fright. She jumped into the air, transforming into her HDD form all the while, to use the ability of flight to fly over the large attack. "That was unexpected…" Neptune commented in surprise, her heartbeat jackhammering through her chest as she watched the attack hit the trees behind her former position with her eyes wide. "To think this beast was capable of such a thing…"
Looking back down at the Slash Dog, she saw the purplish aura having persisted after its attack finished, all its wounds beginning to regenerate much to her chagrin. "Now that is just not fair." She moaned in depression, monsters usually don't have regeneration that fast, save for the ridiculously overpowered ones like the Abnormals. Knowing she didn't have time to stop it fully healing, Neptune encased her blade in energy as she flew down towards it like a falcon, her eyes now sharper than daggers. "I'll slice you in half! CRITICAL EDGE!" Landing before it, Neptune swung her blade down on its snout, then brought the blade upwards to send it into the air.
"Hey Neptune, cover me!" The purple haired swordstress's eyes widened when she saw Noire rushing forwards while her Skill had activated, much to Neptune's disbelief. The glow around her Rapier indicated that she too had a skill activated as she kicked the creature into the air once more. "Noire, what are you doing? My Skill is active!" she called out while pausing her CRITICAL EDGE.
"What do you think, we're Chaining skills of course." Noire replied while rolling her eyes. Chaining skills like the way they were was not something as expected for citizens of Gamindustri. Under normal circumstances there were combination skills involving 2 people, which were only usable if the people involved had fought together for a long enough time. What Noire had suggested was Chaining multiple different skills together, basically when one skill is activated another is also done in the middle of the previous one, like a chain, hence the name.
After Noire's second double Kick, a PHANTOM WAVE launched from Nico came in and exploded right beneath it, the one responsible rushing forwards at bullet speed with his Rebellion reared for a reverse horizontal slash, the blade coated with purple plasma energy as he slashed across its underbelly, stopping behind it to hear the explosion of energy that signified the completion of PHANTOM EDGE.
"Noire came up with the idea, Nep, and honestly it's a refreshing one, if a bit hard to comprehend." IF explained, having to raise the volume of her voice since she wasn't next to the purple haired word maiden. She too activated DEMON FLAMES once more, and after the attack ended she decided to follow suit with a new skill. "Time to unload the big guns, today. LA DELPHINUS!" IF did made the motions of what she would do when activating DEMON FLAMES, but instead of explosions followed by a pillar of flame, a large pillar of pure light energy burst out from beneath the Slash Dog, causing it to howl in agony as its regeneration barely kept up with the onslaught of attacks, burns spreading across its body.
As a follow up, Neptune groaned to herself. "I can comprehend it just fine… anyways, let's just roll with it." she mumbled under her breath, not that anyone was listening as she made the finishing slash for her CRITICAL EDGE. She charged forwards and in a flash, appeared behind the Slash Dog with a massive energy slash appearing on its body. "Nonetheless, it is an… interesting experience, so I'll indulge." Twisting around with a bloodlust-filled smirk, Neptune activated CROSS COMBINATION right after activating her other Skill, flying forth towards it to unleash her slashes, then she kicked it into the air and jumped after it, bringing her sword down for the final blow.
At this point, even the regeneration of the Frenzied Slash Dog was being overtaxed, since its wounds weren't healing as fast as before. However, sadly for it the assault didn't end there as a pouty Compa activated her own sill for the first time since joining this Party. "I have skills too you know! COMPA LOVE HEART!" A bright glow illuminated the cream haired girl as she drew a massive love heart in the air, its size being a couple heads bigger than her body. She then thrusts her Syringe forwards into its centre, and the love heart was sent sailing through the air, crashing into the Slash Dog.
The resulting impact created an explosion of energy that finally did the beast in. Rearing its head back, the creature let out a defeated, weak howl as its last sound in this world before falling to the ground, soon vanishing into Particles like the rest of its kind. Although, the particles this time were like the Nargacuga's, a deep purplish black.
"Huh… I assume that the Frenzy Virus affects them down to their individual cells…" IF mumbled as she saw this spectacle. Mumbles of agreement came from the rest of them. Having chained skills like that together had left them moderately drained. Performing Skills like normal wasn't too draining, however when Chaining Skills one had to be wary of so much more than they would otherwise, plus when Chained together, these Skills increase both in power and energy consumption, so it made sense for the Party to be moderately tired from using this technique.
Raising her head to look at the others, Neptune spoke towards Noire's direction. "That was some trick, Noire…" she complimented with a small smile of approval, sheathing her Sword into her futuristic sheath. She then transformed back into her human form, and the bubbly Neptune took her place as she raced towards Noire's position, much to her surprise. "That was awesomesauce, Noire! Where'd you come up with such an idea? It was a blast!"
While mumbling something about HDD and stupid personality shifts, Noire responded to the enthusiastically asked question. "It was spur of the moment, kind of thing, really. I noticed small gaps of time when we use our Skills, so I figured 'why not?' turns out this technique could use some work, but still."
"On that we can agree with you there." Nico commented as he examined Rebellion for a moment, before placing it back into its sheath which teleported it back to his Void Storage. "While increasingly draining, it's still a powerful technique. Good for those in a party who would be the weakest link otherwise to combine their strength with the others to achieve greater results. I'm impressed, Noire, good job coming up with an idea like this in the heat of battle." The male praised with a beaming grin in Noire's direction.
Neptune grinned at what had just transpired as she decided to add in a little teasing of her own to the mix, even though Nico's words weren't meant to be a tease. She couldn't help herself, Noire was perfect for this stuff! "Heh-heh. Nowa got praised by Nicky."
Said blackette felt a blush at both the compliments and the blinding grin the male was sporting. Seriously that grin was infectious as it provoked grins from the rest of the girls. "I-I don't care what you think! It was just a suggestion, s-so there!" she stammered, turning away from him and huffing, much to the male's amusement, though he did smile weakly with a sweat drop. She then glared towards Neptune as she realised that the preteen had called her by something other than her actual name, although her blush increased in potency. "Wait, wha? "Nowa"?! Why'd you shorten my name?! No wait, I wasn't praising you!" she stammered, quick to deny any way that she could be teased more.
After she thought the same thing as the rest of the party, IF watched as Noire tried to strangle Neptune once again for teasing her with that nickname. Although there was a lack of tensity in the air unlike when Neptune teased her in the past. In fact, things felt… lighter, between the two. "It looks like those two are getting along better now." she remarked in observation.
"Enemies one day, friends the next!" Compa chirped happily while her childhood friend rolled his eyes. 'That can some up some anime fights in a nutshell, now that I think about it. An enemy gets punched by the protag, and they're friends afterwards.' Nico thought to himself in wonder and amusement.
IF nodded her head in agreement with the cream haired girl, before checking her Phone. "Well, we got the weapon data that Chian needed, so let's head on back."
