Chapter 18 - Dead Zone
In the 'early afternoon', as the Ottar/Gareth team got close to what seemed to be the entrance to the 61st floor, the Finn team heard an explosion. Finn tried to talk to Ottar, but apparently they may have been too busy to talk. So the Finn group picked up their pace and continue to head towards to Ottar's team. Ais and Bell activated Aerial so that they were traveling above the rest of the team, but they could not go much faster as the room almost seemed to absorb any stray light. Lefiya (invisible) decided not to activate Elf Circle to prevent drawing attention to the group. Hermes asked Finn what was going on because he could not get hold of Ottar, but Finn replied he had the same problem. After Finn explained the conditions to Hermes, and the gods could only hope it is not an elaborate trap.
A few minutes later, they could hear weapons clashing, but were still not sure who is fighting with whom. As they got even closer, they could see some light from what is probably the entrance to the next level. Unfortunately there was still no word from Ottar or anyone in his team. However, there does not seem to be anyone nearby and the fighting noise was coming from the entrance. Thus, they continued into the entrance towards the other side. Indeed, it led down to the next level, opening into a large room with good lighting. They can see Ottar's group fighting with about 10 enemies.
With the enemy in sight, Ais and Bell (invisible) took off in Ariel with Bell. Bete, Tiona (invisible) and Tione (invisible) ran off to assist the Ottar group. Lefiya (invisible) started activating Elf Ring and went around a corner to hide her magic ring. Riveria also started concurrent chanting. Finn (now invisible) put on his Hades Hat and stayed with Riveria for the moment, waiting to see how the fight is shaping, and jump in at the strategically critical moment.
With Aerial, Ais and Bell (invisible) were the first to reach the fight, they can see it is currently 5 team members against 10 enemies, with both Gulliver brothers down. There was no red-haired woman in view though. The enemy had the upper hand, with Ottar and Gareth having to battle 4 opponents. The enemy fighters looked like they were fighting at roughly level 6, though there could be a couple level 7 fighting against Ottar and Gareth. With a clear shot from their back side, Bell (invisible) and Ais fired Aerial/firebolt at 2 of the level 6 enemies. That seemed to knock them out. Showing no mercy, Allen and Hedin immediately finished them off.
Suddenly, someone said "Aria, how nice, you have come to visit". Ais suddenly find Revis has jumped next to her. Revis quickly launched a sword stab right through Aerial and into Ais' breastplate. Without the reactive armor, Ais would have been down. However, the armor fired its charge and repelled the attack. Revis looked shock for a second and launched another attack. Bell (invisible) blocked the attack, and Ais launched a counterstrike that hit home. Revis, who now can see both Ais and Bell, coughed up blood from the stash and said "Well you are full of surprises, aren't we. But your tricks will not save you today" Despite fight both of them, Revis was obviously superior. Revis score a direct hit on Bell. Even with the reactive armor, the strike drew a lot of blood...
In the meantime, Tiona (invisible) and Tione (invisible) attacked 2 of the enemies fighting with Gareth and Ottar. Their attacks hit home, downing 2 more enemies. This allowed Gareth and Ottar to fight one-on-one. Bete attacked Hegni's opponent and wounded him. Hegni then proceeded to launch the killing strike. At the same time, Allen continued to show no mercy and immediately killed off the 2 downed enemies, while Hedin went to double up on the other remaining enemy fighters.
Seeing Revis attacking Ais and Bell, Lefiya launched arcs ray against Revis. She was hit but showed much less damage than would have been expected. Bell, who has been charging argonaut, fired a 1 minute charge firebolt, but Revis was able to jump out of the way.
On the ground, the battlefield has vastly changed. It has turned from a 5 friendlies against 10 enemies into 8 friendlies against 5 enemies. The Freya familia was absolutely ruthless with their attack. Fighting one-on-one, Ottar had an advantage over his opponent. His attack hit home, and then Hedin came in to finish her off. Gareth also defeated his opponent but simply knocked her out. After which, Gareth told everyone that he wanted a prisoner. Thus, the numbers have just got to 8 friendlies against 3 enemies. The enemies realized their bad situation and started fleeing. Riveria would have none of that and used Wynn Fimbulvetr against them as well as Revis. The spell did its job, freezing the 3 enemies. Revis, who seemed to have very strong magic resistance, was damaged but still able to fight. However, seeing that her entire party was defeated, she used a very high speed maneuver to escape. Ais and Bell chased, but Revis seemed to have disappeared after turning a corner...
Having lost track of Revis, Ais and Bell went to meet up with the group. There were 9 dead and 1 captured enemy who had been tied up. The Gullivers brothers were badly injured and being treated. Leifya and Riveria have also joined the group, while Finn (invisible) stayed away to maintain a tactical advantage. Ottar was updating Hermes, but then Tiona made an important discovery. She recognized the captured fighter and some of the dead are actually adventurers from Orario!
At that point, Allen said he also recognizes some of them but thought they had perished in the dungeon after the war!
Finally, Riveria immediately made the connection. Someone, may be Enyo, is turning defeated or dead adventurers into an army of the living dead!
Worst of all, these living dead can probably level up by consuming magic stones of powerful entities...