Okay, it's time for the last part of "The Cave of Trials"... and chapter 40. By now, I can safely say that this story will have more than 50 chapters, but we'll see how many there will be exactly. I'll make a precise plan in the near future.
Anyway, last time, Akinym and Sinon fought their way through the unknown part of the dungeon, and after almost dying a few times, they reached the final cavern... only to walk straight into a trap. Now, a dozen monsters are chasing them, and while Akinym was able to hide, Sinon wasn't, and with nowhere left to run, what can she do? Well, let's find out!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
Sinon was completely at a loss. The large group of monsters she and Akinym had tried to escape from was charging directly at her. There was nowhere left to run, and even though the monsters had to close a quite long distance, her Sniping skill wouldn't be enough to fend all of them off.
Still, fighting seemed to be the last thing she could try, a desperate attempt to defy a cruel end. Thus, Sinon was about to raise her bow and get ready for an attack when a vial suddenly entered her field of vision. She instinctively caught it before it flew past her, and she took a quick glance at it. This was a veil potion.
It only took her a split second to connect the dots. Sinon gulped the potion down as quickly as the system allowed it. By the time she had emptied the vial, the lizardmen had caught up to them, and the first in line was merely a metre away. It raised its battleaxe, preparing for an attack…
...but it stopped. The lizardman stood still for a moment before lowering its weapon again. It wasn't just this monster: All of them took relaxed stances. They turned around and walked away at a quite brisk, steady pace.
Once they disappeared from sight, Sinon could finally breathe that sigh of relief.
Sinon: That was… close. Too close, honestly.
Akinym: True that. I'm just glad you caught on to the idea behind the veil potion immediately.
Sinon [slightly grumpily]: You could've said something if you were that worried!
Akinym [slightly exasperatedly]: Obviously not! I couldn't give myself away, could I? Even if these monsters couldn't see me, they might've heard me.
Sinon: A-ah… Right. You're right. [slightly confusedly] On another note, how did you turn that potion into an object so quickly? Or are you telling me that you kept a veil potion of all things in your pouch for easy access?
Akinym [dryly]: I'd say it wasn't a bad idea. [flatly] We can never know what the future holds since it's… [contemplatively] unclear…
Sinon: W-what is it? You're… suddenly so… What are you thinking about?!
Akinym: Well, it's just… Do you remember that fortune teller event a while ago? You know, where everyone publicly humiliated Kirito-san? And Klein-san, too.
Sinon: That happens on a regular basis! What's you point?
Akinym: I think the fortune teller told us something similar…
Sinon [taken aback]: That's what…?! [slightly exasperatedly] Never mind! Maybe he did, I don't remember. What does that have to do with anything?
Akinym: I guess it's just that this veil potion, the one you used here, was the item we've got from that NPC.
Sinon: Wait, you mean that was the exact same… [confusedly] You… have a sentimental side after all, don't you?
Akinym [slightly grumpily]: What does that have to do with being "sentimental"?
Sinon [slightly exasperatedly]: I mean, you've kept that random potion with you the entire time! You even carried it around in your pouch like some sort of talisman. [slightly annoyed and nervously] The thought actually creeps me out!
Akinym [grumpily]: Not like a talisman! [sternly] Listen, I've checked this item, and I discovered that it temporarily increases the level of your Hiding skill by one hundred points! That's twice as much as the regular veil potions! That's the only reason, the only thing that made this potion special. [upset] Don't just assume nonsense!
Sinon [defensively, slightly grumpily]: Okay, okay! [annoyed] You don't have to snarl at me!
Akinym didn't answer right away, but his sour expression certainly didn't vanish. He turned away and looked down the tunnel in front of them.
Akinym [slightly grumpily]: I think these monsters have returned to their spawning point, so we should be safe now. But… [slightly dejectedly] I think we should call it a day.
Sinon: What do you mean?! We still can't leave this dungeon, remember?
Akinym [gruffly]: I know that! That's… [slightly grumpily] That's not what I mean. It's late, it's been a long day, and while I don't know about you, I feel tired, and I can't deny that it's getting hard for me to focus… Not to mention that…
Sinon: Not to mention that…? [upset] Don't leave me hanging like this! What were you going to say?!
Akinym [upset]: Ugh, okay! It was my mistake which got us into this near-death situation earlier! You're happy?!
Sinon: Your mistake? What do you…?
Akinym: There was a trap in that corridor, I just didn't see it!
Sinon: There was a… [sternly, slightly upset] Why didn't you check the place for…
Akinym [angrily]: Of course I did that! I just… [dejectedly, slightly grumpily] I didn't do so with care. I checked the floor, and I simply didn't expect the trap to be installed in the ceiling. When the monsters spawned, I looked around again, and I noticed a vanishing trap at the ceiling. I… could've easily avoided this.
Sinon [slightly hesitantly]: I… I see.
Akinym: So, in all honesty, I think it would be better to sleep at least a little before we try to enter that cavern again.
Sinon: Okay, I guess you're right.
Akinym's idea was to set up their camp in this very tunnel. Well, it was as good as any of the places they could choose from. This particular area was even lit relatively dimly. The only place they could've used to rest that was darker would've been the pitch-black labyrinth, but sleeping in an area where you couldn't see your surroundings was ill-advised in SAO.
Okay, to their knowledge, there weren't any monsters in this section of the cave, but Akinym wanted to play it safe. He even insisted that one of them would stay guard while the other one was sleeping, and he offered to take the first watch, stating that he probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep at the moment.
Well, that was a pretty convenient arrangement since they had only one mat that they could use as bedding. Speaking of which, the item belonged to Akinym, and he had bought it a long time ago for situations like this. Since they hadn't known how long this dungeon raid might take, he had brought it with him just in case. He didn't own a sleeping bag or anything more comfortable than this mat, which was, by the way, extremely simple and hardly more suitable for sleeping on it than a picnic blanket would've been.
To be honest, they could've also used a picnic blanket, but Akinym had brought that with him to use it as a blanket. Frankly, Sinon got mad because Akinym had dragged all this peculiar stuff along. Akinym retorted that these were old items, which were basically meant for emergencies, and he couldn't have afforded anything better back when he had bought them. At first, Sinon wanted to ask why he didn't replace them now, but she figured that continuing this conversation would only frustrate her even more.
Without another word, Sinon lay down on the mat that Akinym had put on the ground, and she covered herself with the makeshift blanket moodily. Before she closed her eyes, however, she took a quick glance at Akinym, who sat down on the floor next to her.
It was obvious that something weighed on his mind. For a second, Sinon wondered what it could be, and she quickly came to the conclusion that it had to be the fact that he hadn't noticed that trap earlier.
Sinon [thinks]: That worrywart… He always takes such incidents so hard.
These were her last thoughts before she closed her eyes, and Sinon was so tired that she fell asleep within seconds.
Akinym could keep himself busy with his thoughts about the dungeon and the next obstacle they would have to face for about half an hour. Once he stopped wondering how he could've made such a careless mistake, he pondered how they might get past that trap.
Judging from the distance between them and the trap when the monsters had spawned, Akinym estimated that these lizardmen spawned about five seconds after the trap was triggered. This should be enough time for him to trigger the trap, turn around and get far away from it enough to avoid drawing the aggro of the monsters (or at least most of them).
After coming up with a rough plan for tomorrow's battle, however, there was nothing left to do. Well, he checked the surroundings using Searching, and he even walked around the tunnel for a short while to check that there was really nothing there. He made sure that he wouldn't lose sight of Sinon, though.
That kept him busy for a few minutes, but not longer. When Akinym returned from his "patrol", he slumped down next to Sinon. He usually spent time like this thinking about whatever was relevant at the time. Right now, however, he had trouble thinking of something to think about.
In the end, Akinym just watched Sinon for a while. Well, that made him even sleepier, but he didn't notice this until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. At this point, he snapped out of that trance and shook his head vigorously, desperately trying to stay awake.
Now that he thought about it, Akinym remembered hearing something about this phenomenon. In this context, Akinym also realised that he couldn't remember the last time he had seen someone sleep. It had to be years ago, even long before the SAO incident had begun.
Taking another look at Sinon's sleeping figure, he had to admit that it was a strangely hypnotic sight. So far, he had only heard about her nightmares, and it had somehow given him the idea that she was an overall restless sleeper. However, she looked really peaceful right now.
As Akinym thought that, Sinon turned around in her sleep, and the blanket slipped off her body. As if the universe had heard his thoughts and wanted to object, Sinon began to shift uncomfortably, and she tried to cover herself again, although she couldn't really get hold of the blanket in her unconscious state.
Akinym couldn't help but sigh. It would almost be a shame if she woke up because of this, especially since she had fallen asleep so quickly that Akinym figured that she had been extremely tired. Thus, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it over Sinon's shoulders again. She stopped wriggling around, and her breathing became much calmer, so it seemed to work.
A few hours passed before something disrupted Sinon's peaceful sleep (and Akinym's boredom) again. It started with Sinon shifting slightly in her sleep, and before long, she was fidgeting and groaning uncomfortably.
It soon reached the point that Akinym became worried. He wondered what he should do for a moment, and in the end, he came to the conclusion that jolting her awake might be the right call in this situation, so he grabbed her left shoulder and began to shake her body.
Akinym: Hey! Sinon-san!
It didn't take long. After a few seconds, she jolted up slightly and slapped Akinym's arm away. After that, Sinon sat up completely while opening her eyes. She was still dazed for a moment.
Even before that moment was over, she turned around a bit to face Akinym, and her expression became oddly surprised.
Sinon: You're here…
Akinym [dryly]: Of course… You had a nightmare, I guess. How do you feel?
Sinon rubbed her eyes, and she came to her senses.
Sinon: Right… I'm fine. How late is it?
She took a look at the digital clock in her field of vision, and Akinym did the same.
Akinym: Shortly after three o'clock. I actually wanted to wake you up in an hour, so if you want to continue to sleep until…
Sinon [interrupting, flatly]: No, I'm fine! I… [slightly insecurely] I don't think I can sleep now, anyway. [flatly] Seriously, it's your turn.
Sinon pushed the blanket aside and got up. Akinym certainly didn't mind the arrangement, so he lay down without another word.
In the meantime, Sinon sat down and leant against the opposite wall. She was thinking about her nightmare. To be honest, she remembered hardly anything. In fact, she only remembered what had happened in that dream immediately before Akinym had woken her up.
She had dreamt about the attack of the lizardman monsters earlier. In her dream, one of the lizardmen had charged at her, and she had been paralysed – not in the sense of a status ailment, but she just couldn't have moved.
When the monster had stood right in front of her, it had suddenly stopped. It had just stared at her silently from behind the visor of its helmet. Then, it had taken off the helmet, but as it had turned out, it hadn't been a lizardman. It had been the hostile DDA member who they had met at the entrance of the dungeon the previous day.
He had said to her, "See? He's not there. I've told you he wouldn't be there." Sinon had looked around, looking for the person the DDA member had talked about. She had expected to see Akinym, but he had been nowhere to be found.
Instead of him, she had spotted some of her classmates from elementary school. They had started to yell at her, saying stuff along the lines of, "Who would want to stay by your side anyway?!" Frankly, she couldn't remember most of it, and she was grateful that she didn't.
When she had turned back to the DDA member, he began to chuckle like a madman, and his head suddenly transformed back into its lizardman form. At that point, Akinym had woken her up, so she didn't know what would've happened next, but judging from the last picture she remembered, the lizardman was probably about to bite her.
Sinon hadn't had any idea how much the accusations of the DDA member had got to her until she had had this dream.
She looked at Akinym, who was lying on the mat with his back to her. There was a question on her mind, but it took her a moment to muster the resolve to ask it.
Sinon: Hey, when we were attacked earlier… I mean by those lizardmen. What would you… What would you have done if the plan with the veil potion hadn't worked? They probably couldn't detect you, so you would've been safe if you had done nothing. So… Would you have… tried to help me?
No answer, at least not right away. Sinon decided to wait. She remembered Akinym's statement that "all important things have to be thought through carefully", so she gave him a moment to do that.
To be honest, Sinon wasn't sure how long she actually waited for an answer. Her guess was that it was about a minute. In the end, she figured that Akinym had probably fallen asleep promptly, just as she had…
...so she was a bit startled when she suddenly received an answer.
Akinym: I don't know if I would've assessed the situation like that, but there wouldn't have been a point in fighting. There had been too many of them, so if anything, we both would've died, which would have only made it worse. I guess you could say that I would've still been stuck here, and I doubt I could get out of here on my own, but I suppose I could've sent a message, asking for help. I only would've had to wait for the rescue party. Or maybe I would've been stuck until the game will be cleared.
Frankly, Sinon wasn't surprised. She figured that she should've expected that answer. When she had proposed to form a team with Akinym, she had known his basic principles, so she had known what kind of contract she had signed – and now, she knew it better than ever.
Regardless, hearing Akinym say that, even with such a deadpan voice, felt… unsettling… disheartening… and it stung, even if it was just a little. His answer was – all in all- utterly dissatisfying.
However, Sinon completely ignored the fact that she couldn't see Akinym's face… which meant that she couldn't see his dissatisfied expression either.
The next few hours were just as uneventful as the few hours before.
Unlike Akinym, however, Sinon dozed off after a while. It was past 9 am when she was – once again – woken up by Akinym. This time, he had just woken up himself, and he figured that it was about time to continue the dungeon raid.
Frankly, Sinon was a bit embarrassed (and also a bit mad at herself) because she had fallen asleep while she had been on guard duty. In hindsight, it also made her realise that she had let her guard down around Akinym like that not just once but twice within less than twelve hours. To be perfectly honest, this realisation took her by surprise.
Well, she couldn't think much about it, though. After all, a battle was lying ahead. Well, literally. With the map data, it didn't take them long to reach the passageway that lead to what they still assumed to be the final cavern.
The trap they had run into the last time was just in front of them. The monsters had vanished, but the trap had reappeared. Apparently, this particular challenge had been reset at some point. Anyway, Akinym figured that he was unable to reach the ceiling – just as he had thought – so disabling the trap was impossible.
They had to trigger the trap and get back to safety before the monsters spawned. This time, the plan was to lure smaller groups of monsters out to kill them step by step.
While doing that, they had to watch out for pitfalls such as Swarm Aggro, which would make forcing the monsters to split up much more difficult. To be fair, Akinym and Sinon had to consider this risk whenever they fought unknown enemies, so they didn't exactly have to adjust for this battle.
There was a small group of lizardmen that stood a bit apart from the rest. They would've cut off Akinym and Sinon's escape route if they hadn't retreated right after triggering the trap. The way things were, however, they made for pretty good guinea pigs. When Sinon shot an arrow at one of them, the monsters around the target attacked as well, confirming that they really had Swarm Aggro.
It made the coming task much more difficult. The lizardmen didn't pose too much of a challenge as long as Akinym and Sinon could fight them in groups of two or three, but they had to wait until a monster moved far away enough from the others, so the Swarm Aggro mechanism wouldn't lure out too many of them. Unfortunately, the lizardmen didn't move around much on their own, so Akinym and Sinon had to wait a few minutes after each fight before they could start the next one.
To make things worse, when they had killed about half of the lizardmen, the remaining ones disappeared. This may sound good, but when Akinym checked the passage again, he noticed that the trap had reappeared. It reset much sooner than they had expected.
Akinym and Sinon did a "test run" to check how much time they had to clear the way before the trap reset. Akinym triggered the trap and ran away, and they waited for the reset. As it turned out, they had twenty minutes. That wasn't much time… To be honest, neither Akinym nor Sinon thought that it was enough time.
When Akinym checked the passage for traps again after a few seconds, however, he noticed that the trap hadn't been enabled again yet. There seemed to be a significant delay between the monsters vanishing and the trap being reset. They repeated this experiment a few times to gauge the exact time frame, and they figured out that there was an interval of seven or eight seconds between the two events.
They had an idea as to how they could use that. They triggered the trap once again, and this time, they killed the few lizardmen that spawned near them while ignoring the others, which waited deeper inside the tunnel. That way, they could get closer to the trap in the ceiling.
When the remaining monsters disappeared again, Akinym and Sinon rushed past the trap while it was still disabled. They managed to leave the area that was protected by the trap behind in time.
Now that they had made it into the cavern, they saw that it was indeed huge, and there was a large underground lake on one side. Apart from that (and the rock formations you'd expect here), however, the cavern was completely empty. No monsters, no objects that stood out… Akinym couldn't even find any traps.
That state only lasted for a moment, though. They could hear a deep, loud growl coming from the lake. It seemed to come from underwater, although the noise was actually a bit too clear for that. Anyway, the cavern fell silent again, and a mere second later, a monster emerged from the lake.
It was a giant squid monster by the name of Nemesis Squid. It's main body was about four metres tall, and its tentacles were about two metres long. Well, its arms were comparatively short, but that didn't change the fact that this monster could keep up with some floor bosses in terms of size.
Nemesis Squid left the lake, walking on its arms on land. It was a bit odd, but given the circumstances, it didn't come as a surprise. By the time its three HP bars appeared, Akinym and Sinon already knew that they'd have to fight this monster, the dungeon's final boss, in this cavern.
Nemesis Squid's stats weren't top-notch by the standards of dungeon bosses, but it was still no pushover. The boss was surprisingly agile on its arms, and it swiped at its foes with its tentacles with remarkable strength. Akinym realised soon that he'd hardly manage to parry one of these blows.
While the boss' parameters weren't that high, its AI was as good as it could get. For instance, it figured out the attack sequences behind Sword Skills after two or three times, and it adapted to individual attack patterns after seeing them just a few times, too.
The AI was also extremely good at adapting to defensive manoeuvres. At first, Nemesis Squid attacked Akinym using vertical swipes with its tentacles, and Akinym could dodge with a simple jump to the side. The boss changed its attack pattern to horizontal swipes, but the attacks came in a bit too high at first, and Akinym could dodge by crouching down. Thus, the boss started to use low swipes.
Akinym could still dodge with jumps, but he had to use his Acrobatics skill to make sure that he landed on his feet. Nemesis Squid's AI seemed to notice that, and it came up with a combo attack that followed up the low swipe with an attack with the other tentacle while Akinym's Acrobatics was on cooldown.
In order to deal with Nemesis Squid's attacks, Akinym and Sinon lured it into the gap between the large stone pillar in the centre of the cavern, which supported the roof, and a large boulder. The gap was too narrow for Nemesis Squid to attack from the sides, but just wide enough for Akinym to dodge its vertical swipes, which the boss was forced to rely on now.
Attacking the boss proved to be difficult, and it wasn't just because of its ability to adapt to Sword Skills. Both Akinym and Sinon knew how to fight without relying on system-assisted attacks, but they had to switch between different attack patterns constantly to make sure that their opponent couldn't predict their next move.
Nemesis Squid had more aces up its sleeve, though. For instance, whenever Akinym got in position to attack its body, the boss leant back and used one of its tentacles as a barrier to keep Akinym at bay, so its body remained out of reach. Akinym would've needed a weapon with a longer range (such as a significantly longer spear).
Well, Sinon used such a weapon, and she could easily fire arrows at Nemesis Squid's massive body. Moreover, since Akinym blocked the path between her and the boss, while the boss couldn't just run Akinym over due to system limitations, Sinon didn't have to worry about counterattacks.
She still had a hard time attacking the boss. At first, she had hoped that the AI wouldn't be able to get accustomed to her Sniping skill since several challenges they had faced in this dungeon obviously hadn't been designed while taking her archery into account, but the AI figured out how to deal with it. Before long, Nemesis Squid began to shield itself from Sinon's arrows with its tentacles.
At least they made a few valuable observations. For starters, they discovered that the boss' eyes were its weak point. However, the eyes were positioned at an uncharacteristically high spot on its body, and Akinym would have trouble reaching it even if he got close.
Furthermore, the tentacles could be destroyed, which impeded its attacks and some of its defensive techniques. Alas, the tentacles were sturdy, and they regenerated within three minutes, so taking out both of them was difficult, but it was possible with good timing and careful preparation. They only had to damage both tentacles severely without destroying them before dealing the finishing blows to each of them in quick succession.
It took a while, but Akinym and Sinon eventually managed to whittle Nemesis Squid's first HP bar down. Unfortunately, they were caught a bit off-guard by a special attack immediately thereafter. Nemesis Squid suddenly ejected a cloud of ink, which affected everything withing five metres around the boss.
Some of the ink was splashed on Akinym's face, even into his eyes, and it obstructed his vision. That way, he noticed the next attack too late, and Nemesis Squid swept him away with one of its tentacles.
The boss' AI had begun to view Sinon as the bigger threat a while ago, which was a blessing in disguise right now since Nemesis Squid turned its attention to Sinon instead of keeping the focus on Akinym while he couldn't defend himself properly.
Nemesis Squid moved too fast for Sinon to simply outrun the boss, but it was a bit too slow to corner her, so she could dodge its attacks overall successfully for now.
Sinon also used some boulders and similar structures in the cavern as shields of sorts. They were Immortal Objects, so Nemesis Squid couldn't smash them, which made them perfect for this. The boss' AI made the necessary adjustments quickly, of course, and whenever Sinon hid behind a natural barrier to avoid getting hit by an attack, she had to leave the place immediately in order to dodge the next one.
Still, this bought Akinym enough time to deal with his current problem. He tried to wipe the ink off, but it was no use. He had the idea to wash it off, but he'd need water… which, thankfully, was nearby in the form of the underground lake.
He had to feel his way towards the lake while listening carefully to the faint sound of waves in the lake. On top of that, he had to watch out for the sound of the nearby battle to avoid getting caught up in it. Fortunately, Sinon did her best to keep Nemesis Squid away from Akinym for the time being.
At least his plan worked. After getting rid of the ink, Akinym rushed over to Sinon and Nemesis Squid to draw the boss' aggro again. He wasn't sure how to do that, though, since this boss seemed to have a highly irregular aggro mechanism. For now, he tried to obstruct its movements by attacking its arms with Horizontal Spear…
...and he accidentally discovered something interesting. After its arms got hit, Nemesis Squid seemed to lose its balance, and it began to stagger for a few seconds. Judging from the way its body swayed back and forth vigorously, it could hardly balance its massive head.
Figuring that they had found the true disadvantage of Nemesis Squid's enormous size, Akinym and Sinon changed their tactic. Now, Akinym focused on hitting Nemesis Squid's arms whenever there was an opening in order to stagger the boss, so he and Sinon could hit it more easily.
They proceeded like this: First, they took out Nemesis Squid's tentacles as it's been described earlier. After that, Akinym threw Nemesis Squid off balance by attacking its arms. Next up, Akinym and Sinon switched with each other while attacking Nemesis Squid with their strongest attacks.
Of course it wasn't easy. Nemesis Squid fought back with everything it got. Fortunately, the boss' AI had reassessed the threat Akinym posed after he had thrown it off balance for the first time, so it targeted him instead of Sinon now, which made this easier for the two players.
Furthermore, the boss came up with another defensive tactic before long. Well, it was quite simple, to be honest. It just ran away whenever its tentacles got destroyed. Akinym was fast enough to catch up with it, but with his poor aiming and without any chance to take the stance for a Sword Skill, he had a hard time dealing enough damage to Nemesis Squid's arms. In the end, they mostly relied on Sinon's archery for this part, too.
Despite some issues, they depleted Nemesis Squid's second HP bar much more easily than the first one. This time, they were also prepared for the boss' special attack, so Akinym got away from the boss with a backflip, dodging the ink cloud without a problem.
The battle went on, and after a while, Nemesis Squid's third and final HP bar was at around thirty per cent.
Right now, Nemesis Squid swiped at Akinym with its right tentacle. Akinym dodge the diagonal blow, but Nemesis Squid kept swinging its tentacle even after it had crashed into the ground. It basically dragged the tentacle across the floor.
Akinym didn't react in time to dodge again, so he pierced the tentacle with his spear and tried to stop it by pressing against it. Nemesis Squid was too strong, though, so it shoved Akinym further to the side while his HP were slowly going down.
To make things worse, Nemesis Squid wanted to make short work of him, so it swung its left tentacle at him from the other side. Seeing the incoming attack out of the corner of his eye, Akinym wondered what he could do for a second.
He didn't have to do anything, though. An arrow suddenly hit the tentacle, and the impact was quite strong. In fact, it was strong enough to push the tentacle back, so it disrupted the attack. Furthermore, the tentacle burst into polygons afterwards. It was all thanks to Sinon using her Sword Skill Milion Howling to aim at the tentacle.
The unexpected counterattack and the loss of its limb confused Nemesis Squid for a brief moment. It stopped moving its remaining tentacle, which allowed Akinym to pull out his spear and to dash at the boss' body.
Akinym took the starting stance of Armor-Breaking Lance. The boss was familiar with this Sword Skill by now, and its AI prioritised defense against it. Thus, Nemesis Squid switched into defensive mode and drew its tentacle back in order to shield its body against the predicted attack since only attacks that hit the body would inflict debuffs.
That, however, had been the plan. Akinym and Sinon had found out about this defensive pattern early on, and they knew how to exploit it. Akinym didn't unleash his Sword Skill, so Nemesis Squid kept holding its tentacle low, which left an opening for Sinon.
She shot an arrow at the boss, aiming for its eyes. The attack hit, but Nemesis Squid didn't raise its tentacle in order to defend its weak spot instead yet. Sinon knew that she had to do more in order to make the boss do that, and this first shot was merely the preparation for that. It was supposed to help her aim a Sword Skill at Nemesis Squid's eyes.
After receiving the Sniping skill, Sinon had disliked her inability to take aim when using Sword Skills. Sure, the automatic aiming was useful in certain situations, but it was almost impossible to aim at a monster's weak points.
Over time, Sinon had got attuned to her Sword Skills, and she had learnt to guess where her arrows would hit the target depending on her position and the position of her opponent. Moreover, she had learnt a few more tricks. For example, if she fired an arrow at a monster manually and used a Sword Skill directly thereafter, the system assistant seemed to aim closely to the spot where the first arrow had hit.
That way, Sinon could increase her chances to hit Nemesis Squid's eyes with her next Sword Skill, Quintuple Shot. The first three shots did indeed hit a spot near the eyes, which still counted as a weak area. Nemesis Squid had also become accustomed with this Sword Skill, so in order to block the last two shots, which would've dealt a lot of damage, it finally raised its tentacle.
This way, the boss could defend itself against these shots, but it also created an opening for Akinym.
Sinon: Now!
Akinym quickly used Armor-Breaking Lance while he could. It was also important not to waste any time in order to continue their combo attack.
Akinym: Switch!
Sinon used the next Sword Skill at her disposal. It was Wide Area Shot, a Sword Skill she had unlocked just yesterday while fighting in this dungeon. Similarly to Quintuple Shot, Wide Area Shot was an enhanced version of one of her former Sword Skills, namely Area Shot. The combo consisted of five shots in quick succession, and the arrows formed a regular pentagon.
She hadn't got used to this new Sword Skill yet, but that was exactly why she could "waste" it on destroying Nemesis Squid's second tentacle. The boss blocked all arrows with the tentacle, but the arrows caused enough damage to shatter it into polygons.
This sight was the signal for Akinym's next attack. He knew that Nemesis Squid would try to get away, and in order to prevent that, he had to attack its arms with a strong combo.
Reverse Deadly Road was the most suitable Sword Skill he had for that task. As the name suggests, it was similar to Deadly Road, but the direction of the attacks was reversed. The initial slash was aimed downwards, and the thrusts after that followed the line from the bottom to the top.
That way, the first three blows hit the boss' arms, causing it to stagger. Nemesis Squid tried to snap at Akinym with its beak, which was basically a desperate last-ditch attack. However, the third thrust of Reverse Deadly Road fended the boss off.
Akinym: Switch!
Sinon was already waiting for the signal. She immediately fired another arrow at Nemesis Squid's eyes, and when she hit the mark relatively well, she continued the attack with Area Shot. Given that the boss swayed almost uncontrollably, this was probably a better choice than Triple Shot, which might've been the right call under other circumstances.
Two of the three arrows hit Nemesis Squid at its weak area, but it wasn't enough to finish the boss off. It still had a shred of HP left, maybe around five per cent of its last HP bar.
Sinon: Switch!
Akinym had already prepared Needle Rain as his finishing move in case Sinon's attack wouldn't be strong enough. When the boss' body swayed forward, so he got a good angle to aim at its eyes, Akinym unleashed the Sword Skill.
It was a bit of an overkill. The fifth thrust already reduced Nemesis Squid's HP to zero and the boss to polygons.
Now that the battle was over, Akinym slumped down on the spot. He used this chance to catch his breath. Meanwhile, Sinon walked over to him leisurely.
Sinon: Good work, [slightly exasperatedly and teasingly] although it seems that this battle really pushed you to your limits.
Akinym [slightly annoyed]: I think we've noticed already that my part in these battles is more exhausting than yours. [slightly exasperatedly] Especially if they're so long. [slightly curiously] How long did this actually take?
Sinon: Beats me, but I'd guess it was about half an hour. Admittedly, that's the longest battle we had in a while without a chance to catch our breath, so I guess I can cut you some slack.
Akinym: Well… I'm used to dealing with exhaustion, and fortunately, it's a mental issue before anything else. [looks at his HP bar] I've got an exhaustion debuff, though, so I guess it's good that we managed to finish this battle. How about we check our drops and wrap things up?
Sinon: I've already beaten you to that. [slightly dejectedly] The boss didn't really drop anything good. [slightly contemplatively] Well, it dropped some kind of ink that might be valuable, but apart from that… What about a Last Attack Bonus?
Akinym: Yeah, let's see… Hm, there is one, and it's called "Remnants of the Nemesis". Let's see what it is…
Akinym searched the item in his inventory, and when he found it, he turned it into an object. He was quite surprised when a large tentacle materialised in his arms. It was quite heavy, almost too heavy for him to hold it.
Akinym: That's not what I expected… Let's see… Hm, it's an A class ingredient. Well, I guess that's nice. At least it will make for a nice dinner.
Sinon: I already know what Silica will think about it…
Postponing a discussion about squid recipes, Akinym put the item back into his inventory, and he and Sinon took a look around the cavern to see what they had to do next.
They found an NPC that had apparently spawned when they had defeated Nemesis Squid. It was named "Aulgur the Water Spirit", and it resembled the creatures that were depicted on the mural they had found the day before, although they thought that these water spirits looked even more grotesque than they had imagined.
Sinon had expected some sort of merman, but Aulgur looked more like an amphibious eel whose upper body was supposed to look human, but it actually resembled the monster from the movie "Alien". Well, at least the NPC didn't have sharp teeth…
Akinym: I guess that really is the final stage. Let's see what it has to say… Hello, are you one of the water spirits that live in this cave?
Aulgur [politely]: Yes, I am. Adventurers, have you come to our aid because of our plea?
Sinon: Your plea… He means the quest we got from that villager, right?
Aulgur: Please forgive me, but we lived here for hundreds of years, and we are not very familiar with the modern tongue of you adventurers from a faraway land. May I ask what you are talking about?
Sinon [annoyed]: Right now, I'm talking to my partner, not you! [mutters] Ugh, another dim-witted NPC…
Akinym: Well, I think that's what this is about. [to Aulgur] Yes, someone from the nearby village sent us to help you.
Aulgur: Oh, how wonderful! Words cannot express our gratitude for you. You have saved us from our nemesis!
Sinon: Nemesis? I guess he means Nemesis Squid…
Aulgur: If that is what you adventurers call our nemesis. It has threatened us for ages, and recently, it managed to invade our cave. We were unable to defend ourselves, so we asked you humans for help. Unfortunately, our nemesis had already destroyed our protection spell, allowing many monsters to invade our cave, so you would not be able to reach us.
Sinon [exasperatedly]: Yeah… Dealing with all this never-ending nonsense was such a pain…
Aulgur: Yes, our heroes, you fought very bravely!
Sinon [mutters]: That was actually not what I was talking about…
Aulgur: For your help, please accept these relics from a former age! We have no use for them, but you adventurers might know what to do with them.
A treasure chest appeared next to Aulgur. Akinym didn't waste any time and knelt down next to it to open the chest.
To be honest, there were very interesting items in this chest. For starters, it contained 100,000 col. Including the actual quest reward they'd receive later and the money they had got inside the dungeon, Akinym and Sinon had earnt around 200,000 col that way. On top of that, there were some items they would sell later. Sure, they had expenses, but all in all, it had been a profitable mission.
Furthermore, there were some supplies such as crystals of almost every kind.
Most of these items, however, were crafting materials. There was some rare ore, and the chest also contained items such as some kind of silk cloth that Akinym had never heard of.
Frankly, there were so many good items that Akinym and Sinon had to throw out some of the less valuable items they had got during this dungeon raid in order to have enough space for them. Sinon also forced Akinym to throw away that weird, old mat he was carrying around.
Aulgur: You have our ever-lasting gratitude, our heroes! If there is something else I can help you with, please let me know!
Sinon: Well, you could consider moving to a nicer place… Preferably one with more sunlight and less cold water… I wouldn't want to deal with this again!
Aulgur: You do not have to worry, our heroes! You looked most stunning when you got drenched completely! The wet skin of your kind is marvellous!
A moment of silence followed.
Sinon: Did… Did this thing just hit on me?!
Aulgur: Please forgive me, but we lived here for hundreds of years, and…
Sinon [upset]: I'm not talking to you!
Akinym [exasperatedly]: I think you shouldn't interpret too much into what this NPC says.
Akinym's expression turned into a rather contemplative one. Sinon hadn't noticed it, but he had looked that way at this NPC since he had offered them "something else it can help them with".
Sinon [hesitantly]: Well, I guess we have to ask him to open a way outside, but… you look as if something is bothering you.
Akinym: I wouldn't say bothering, but it's strange that he doesn't just offer us to send us back. I think there's another option, and if I'm correct… [to Aulgur] Do you happen to know something about the guardian beast of the Celestial Tower? If you know something that could help us battle it, please tell us!
Aulgur: Oh, the guardian beast? So you plan to climb the Celestial Tower, adventurers? Very well, I shall impart our knowledge to you. The knight who guards the Celestial Tower is said to be a warrior of great strength, which is true. Alas, while rumor has it that its strength originates from centuries of experience, those who have lived here since the Great Separation know that it actually stems from cursed gems that it stole. The guardian beast hides them beneath its knee pads, assuming that nobody would expect them to be there. If you destroy the gems, you can seal its greatest power, but be aware that these gems are indestructible until they are used! You have to wait until the guardian beasts draws upon their power!
Sinon [slightly confusedly]: Guardian beast of the Celestial Tower? Wait… Is this about the floor boss?!
Aulgur: Please forgive me, but…
Sinon: Shut up!
Akinym [slightly hesitantly]: Well, yes… [calmly] I guess I've never told you about it, but that's how the NPCs call the floor bosses. I think we just found an info quest.
Sinon [slightly happily]: I guess this makes this whole ordeal really worthwhile. [slightly mischievously] Now I can't wait to get back to tell Argo just how much she owes us after… [exasperatedly] all of this…
Aulgur: We are deeply indebted to you, our heroes!
Sinon: Yeah, yeah, you are, too!
Akinym: Anyway, I think you're right. Time to get out of here, so we can tell the Assault Team about it. [looks at his vest] And if we want something from Argo in return, maybe she has an idea how to remove this ink. Apparently, I can't just wash it out like the ink on my face…
Aulgur: The scars of your battle against our nemesis suit you well, our heroes! I am sure men will respect and women will adore you!
Another moment of silence followed while Akinym covered his face with his palm.
Sinon: Let's just get out of here…
Akinym: Good idea… [to Aulgur] Thank you for everything, we're glad that we could help! Could you please tell us how we can get back to the surface?
Aulgur: Of course, our heroes! We will help you to get back right away. Please enter our sacred lake, and we will arrange for your return immediately!
The lighting of the surrounding area became a bit dimmer, and a certain spot inside the water near the shore lit up. Akinym and Sinon walked over to it through the shallow water.
When they were in position, Aulgur bid them farewell, and they wondered what would happen next. Sinon guessed that they would just be teleported back, but Akinym spotted a hole in the ceiling directly above them, and he immediately had a really bad feeling about this.
Before he could point it out to Sinon, a strong jet of water shot upwards exactly where they stood, and it carried Akinym and Sinon all the way up to the surface within a few seconds. They were ejected from a geyser near the village where they had accepted the quest about the water spirits. Needless to say, they were pushed quite far into the air, and they had a pretty rough landing. They didn't lose any HP, though, which proved that this was indeed how they were supposed to leave the dungeon… even though that was small comfort.
Akinym [groans]: I swear, if we meet Kayaba again in this game, I'm going to murder him!
Well, what better way to end a chapter is there but a threat to kill someone?
The next few chapters will build upon the events of the last few at least to some extent, especially the one directly after the next one, which will be the final "Therapy Session". Speaking of which...
Little Preview: Akinym and Sinon sit down again to talk about the past and the issues that come with it, but this time, it's not about Sinon.