Akko passed the Zoras' ordeals, which granted her access to enter the dungeon of Louise Du Nord's temple, showing that she was really quite powerful, a level far above what she imagined, something that was close to reaching or even already reached what the ancient queens were when they faced Andrew Hanbridge at that moment six years ago. After all this, she went into the dungeon the same day, without wasting much time as everything was getting much shorter for the girl.
Entering the dungeon, it's time for Atsuko to start exploring the place, she inserts the sword into the hole where she sticks it, gaining access after doing the whole process, she enters the temple, which is underwater, which has been very quiet so far, with no creatures appearing, she takes a look around as she swims, this being the first dungeon where she would test her swimming skills.
(On the one hand, this isn't going to be a great idea as this dungeon doesn't let me use the hook because it's part of the staff, but I hope it doesn't at least force me into different situations, as swimming is quite interesting, not for nothing).
Kagari moves on to the door ahead, and as she enters she is already visited by the first submerged enemies, simply aquatic zazaks that are firing what look like balls of magma, which the girl immediately hits head-on, rebounding the attacks with her katana, giving a very interesting effect through the water when she comes back at the monsters.
In that room so far there was nothing but a door to the east and another door to the west, the door to the right being chosen by the girl who ends up in a corridor, containing some skeletal fish and also aquatic Zazaks, which the crimson-eyed girl swims past ignoring the creature.
(Well, it's kind of interesting to face the monsters, but I can just swim and ignore them as if they were nothing, it's much smarter to do that, but they really are quite scary down here, I can't get too carried away).
At the end of the corridor, some mouldworms appear and start to attack the girl, even submerged, with the girl having to use her sword to attack, even managing with some ease, showing off more of her skills. The brown-haired girl has already managed to get rid of the creatures, which has opened the way to the door. Passing through it, she comes across a door that locks with her inside, and then some old enemies appear, only in aquatic form and many of them are hardhat beetles that swim towards the warrior from Luna Nova.
(I haven't seen these little guys in a while, they're pretty annoying enemies to deal with, but that was in the past, before I had a sword powerful enough to deal with them kicking me back, now I can hit them better).
But it wasn't all smooth sailing, even with the improved sword, the girl still had a hard time, since the monsters were very different, and she ended up giving the same kick when she hit the creatures, which were even stronger under the water.
(So they're going back to that annoying way they were before, it seems my sword must not be very efficient in the water or they've gotten stronger, luckily I'm also smart enough to know the way to...) Damn it, I can't use either the hook or the bow, now that I've remembered, I'm breathing through this thing, I'd better use another method).
Hyllian distracted the various Hardhat Beetles so that they would join in, and managed to lure them in, so she began the process of attacking, using bombs she threw at the monsters, which wasn't enough to kill them, only the one hit by a cut from the girl, who was already preparing to go after the other nine, also using the projectile cut, which was much easier.
One by one, the monsters were killed, and the girl's strong attacks made it easier for her to open up more of the path through the dungeon, with a chest appearing after defeating the creatures, inside of which was a key.
(Well, it looks like it's not going to be that simple to attack underwater, the monsters here really are no joke, I don't even know how the bomb managed to be lit even underwater, but well, it worked at least, I'm doing it, it's not because it's underwater that this business is no longer difficult, the strongest monsters also show the challenge that lies ahead).
Akko opens the door and heads down a corridor where there are lots of skeletal fish swimming towards the girl, as well as a different version of the medusa traps that instead of shooting fireballs, simply shoots ice stakes, in the corridor she comes across a bend practically ignoring the creatures that were around, in which she is almost surprised by a Moldworm going up, but soon being hit by a nice cut, in the midst of many Bari that were nearby.
(That was a close one, I could have really hurt myself on that one, I have to be more attentive, well at least there's a door at the end of this path, come on I'm making progress in this place).
Arriving at the end of the corridor, the door opened, full of several Hardhat beetles and a wall that on the sides contained many spears that could pierce any person or monster that came close, which Atsuko took care to hit the monsters when she could push them, since she still had the cut projectile in her hands, it was even easier, she swam to the door that was on the other side and opened with a key.
As she swam past it, she noticed that she was taking a path upwards, and as she got closer, the water became colder, there were only a few skeletal fish that were quite easy to deal with. At the end of it all, there was a slab of ice where Kagari used her elemental staff to open the path, melting the slab. When she got out of there, she appeared on the surface, but she soon realised that it was a dead end and very cold, with a door with a lock in front of it.
(Damn, it's not this way, I thought it was, apparently it must be the rest of the dungeon, I'll have to go to the other side to get the key to this damn place, I didn't think there would be parts of the dungeon that are on the surface, well I'll take the opportunity to breathe some normal air, breathing water is a bit different and uncomfortable).
The crimson-eyed woman brushes off the effect of the second word, sitting down on something that had a little extra relief to give her a rest before going for another swim, but she soon feels the cold coming on, even though her clothes are protecting her, and her wrist starts to beep, which she makes a point of answering.
"Love, where are you now? From the looks of it, you must already be inside the dungeon, or somewhere very cold, did you get access from there? Did the Zoras disturb you a lot? How did it go?" asks the curious Diana.
"It was quiet, the princess of the Zoras has a fixation with the Hyllian world and with her help I managed to meet King Zoras, it seems that they are very afraid of us Hyllians for the past, they must have done horrible things to the Zoras from what they told me, well after all that I went through their ordeal and went to the dungeon right away, I didn't want to delay, since we have our important mission and I don't know how long it will take before Andrew shows up" Said the brown-haired woman.
"Oh that's good my love, I'm relieved to hear that you're even okay, well tell me more, I'm very curious to know" said Cavendish.
"I'd tell you, but as I'm in the dungeon now I'll tell you later, right now I'm very busy love, I only came here for this part because it's on the surface, in the rest of the dungeon we have to go through the water, which I discovered the function of those fins from the second word" said the warrior from Luna Nova.
"That's good to know, so I'm going dari, I'll come back in a few hours to talk to you, at nightfall I want to know everything my love, good luck in the dungeon Akko, you can do it" said the platinum blonde hair leaving the conversation.
"Damn! I forgot to tell her how I've been feeling more capable of defeating Andrew, this could give Diana more confidence, goodbye love, I'm already missing you, I can't wait to get back from this whole journey and be with you and our girl" said Hyllian who then used the second word again.
Akko finishes talking to his wife, jumps into the water again with the second word, swimming almost all the way back, arriving just where that first room with two entrances is, this time following just the left side, where there is a corridor that leads further down, unlike the corridors that are straight this one was down, full of Baris and Zazaks that she was just trying to dodge and hit a few.
(Well, I've managed to make it back here unscathed, but it's a shame I missed the projectile attack, it would have been very useful for clearing the way, but come on, I'm not going to spend fairy pots to heal from a useless thing like that, especially since I only have three of them left, I'll end up hurting myself a lot here).
Going downstairs, she opens the door to the corridor where she is already going into a room that is a trap, Atsuko is already becoming attentive, since what appears are five Zazaks a little more agile than the previous ones, these purple ones spit balls of magma that are practically guided, following the girl who is using the katana to repel the attacks.
The monsters are nevertheless attacked, either by the repelled magma balls or when Kagari simply gets close enough to face the girl, who lands a few slashes that are enough to do some damage.
(I have to confess that going underwater here is quite interesting and fun too, swimming from one side to the other like this, it feels like I'm floating and flying, but it's just the water, the good thing is that even underwater it doesn't make me feel the weight of it like without the second word, so it all helps).
Soon all the monsters are defeated and a chest appears, containing a key, which the crimson-eyed girl needed to follow the path to the top of the dungeon, but she decides to continue swimming ahead, which opens the door to the room where she comes across a corridor, In it there are thorns on the sides and some hardhat Beetles, but they weren't alone, there were also skeletal fish that are a big pain in the arse for the girl as they swim around and when they get to her they give her several small bites that hurt a lot because they tear everything up.
In the end, she swims on, ignoring most of the creatures, throwing the fish that come close to her back into the hardhat beetles, getting stuck in the creatures and taking several bites, and then she swims to where the door is so as not to be caught again by the skeletal creatures.
(These things hurt a lot when they hit me, I have to be careful not to end up with a worse result, just by seeing the damage they're doing to these monsters you can tell, if one hits me in the head I'll leave without a piece of my brain or it'll be all shredded).
Opening the door, there was another corridor pointing downwards, this one full of Bari going from one side to the other, as well as some Hardhat Beetles with walls containing spears, which already increased the level of danger, as the monsters came closer to attack and the girl dodged as best she could, but she was caught in the distraction as one of the Bari ended up electrocuting her when she swam backwards a little.
(That really hurt, I wasn't expecting that, really, that sucks, well I'll have to be more attentive, these annoying little things are a pain in the arse, there are too many of them, I think I'll have to use the bombs to open more paths, until I swim underneath).
The crimson-eyed one really does it, throwing bombs down and letting them explode in the midst of various creatures, which was very useful as some Hardhat Beetles ended up being hit by the walls full of spears, which defeated them more easily, with the path more open she could swim further down safely, still having some small annoyances, but which were much easier to deal with.
Passing through the door is another trap room, as is always the case. Many of the skeletal fish have already appeared, more than 30 of them, going in a shoal to attack the brown-haired one, who is already on her guard.
(If I stand here I'll end up becoming the dinner of these little things, well come on, I can try to go on the attack using the sword with a bit of fire, it might terrify them and also prevent me from becoming the dinner of these things).
The warrior from Luna Nova ignites her sword with fire that even works the flame under the water and uses it to attack the creatures that are scattering as the girl gets closer, no longer able to attack with such precision, even though one or two have managed to do so and it was already painful for her to endure, but she continues to try to strike.
Even so, she succeeds, even spinning round and giving off a stream of water with fire that is used to attack some of the many who have tried to get closer to her.
(These things hurt, by far the little ones are worse than any huge monster in this place, well it looks like this dungeon is going to be no small feat, it really wants to push the limits of what I can take, I need to be resilient here).
There were 14 of the original monsters left, and they were attacked by the cuts of the warrior who managed to get rid of the other skeletal piranhas that were biting her, and with that they gave her more trouble, since a few of them were also biting the girl, grabbing her from behind and even causing her to lose a little blood, as well as opening up some very considerable wounds.
Hyllian explodes with rage at being attacked so much, uses her elemental staff and causes an explosion around her body, taking out the monsters that were attacking her at that moment, so that she doesn't get hurt or lose too much blood, which saves her; in a rage, there were only six more fish left in that place.
(Damn, they're not kidding, they're the worst monsters in this temple, it's not for nothing that the Zoras have to die easily to creatures like this, if just one gets out it can be a huge damage, so I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen).
The remaining piranhas are being defeated byAkko, who doesn't hesitate to hit each one in turn without giving them time to attack. Luckily, with a single cut, they are completely dismantled, but on the other hand, they are also lethal when they get their hands on someone.
(Oh a key, well I'm going to heal myself here because I've lost a lot of blood in this fight and there are pieces of my flesh lying around, these little things really hurt, not even my tunic can cope, well come on, there's still a way to go, I'm not going to hesitate in this place).
After healing herself with the pot of fairies and getting in better health, but not completely, she starts swimming towards the door, which is already facing another corridor down, swimming deeper the creatures are still going up, some Zazaks and Moldworms that are being dealt with easily by a very precise sword, until she reaches the lower floor, after so much descending through the temple that was getting very deep. Opening the next door, Atsuko came across a corridor ahead, where there was a door with a lock in the middle of the path and at the end of it there was another door without a lock, so she swam to the one without a lock, ignoring the medura traps throwing ice stakes and passing straight through the Bari that were there.
(Well, it's calmed down, they knew that if I kept swimming like that I'd get hurt somehow, so it looks like I'm managing to find my way here.)
When she opened the door, she was once again surprised by a trap door, so she wiped her hand across her face with a little sackcloth. What appeared in front of her was simply some Hardhat Beetles and the walls, floor and ceiling with some spears, which began to move tighter and tighter, which already triggered panic for Kagari.
(Oh yeah, if I stay intangible those spears won't affect me, but I think it'll only stop when I kill all the Hardhat Beetles, that must be it, only one of us will come out of this alive and that'll be me).
The trap was slowly moving in a very intimidating way, getting very close to the girl, who began to attack the monsters so as not to end up being squeezed and so little having to appeal to have to use the staff of intangibility, which she began to attack each of the Hardhat Beetles taking care, As she hit one of them head-on, she was thrown, and the crimson-eyed girl was thrown backwards into one of them, who ended up touching her with his body, causing her to be thrown again, only in a way that hurt, almost coming to a stop near one of the spears.
Dodging the spears, she manages to throw one of the monsters up there, then goes on to lure some of them, which then releases a bomb, scattering many of them to some sides, coming very close to being hit by the spears, but soon one ends up being hit, entering the spear with only two left.
(This one's going to be very difficult, I have to be able to push them off, I don't think I'll try to use the sword, because it's precisely the presence of them being impaled that ends up stopping this trap, well come on, I'm going to risk hurting myself on this one, since the touch of this thing makes my body burn).
The brown-haired girl threw herself towards one of the monsters and was already feeling the burn, but it was enough to cause it to be impaled by the spear while the last one almost caught her from behind, but the girl ended up dodging it and finishing with a well-timed kick that also turned out to be a success and it was precisely at this point that the trap stopped and even went back to just behind.
(Whew... that was a close one, I could almost have been skewered, or I would have just spent a lot of magic, I don't think that would have worked to protect me from these things, well at least I'm well and healthy here, without running the risk of suffering these attacks, come on Akko).
As the wall went back, a chest appeared, and in it was the master key, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Leaving that trap room, she went down the corridor, ignoring everything, and went to the door that had a lock on it, using up one of the keys.
A Moldworm much larger than the others was appearing and it was going from one side to the other, in that room that looked like an arena, with some spears on the wall, the warrior from Luna Nova swam up to the creature that was taking a different route and immediately tried to hit it with a cut, right on the head, which ended up being pushed back.
(Damn, this thing really has the power to push, I'm going to have to hit this aquatic worm some other way, it must be that red thing at the back, all this just to get into a room where there's a monster, what a crock of shit).
Akko began to go at the creature with all her might, at its weak point at the back, but the Moldworm wasn't swimming slow either, it was moving with great speed from one side to the other and even getting close to the spears, hitting them as if they were a wall, but they could impale the girl with force.
She soon managed to hit the weak spot, but it wasn't enough - Moldworm just shrank back for a while and then returned to attack with more speed, even pushing Atsuko again, who was narrowly missed by the spears.
(That was a close one, I can already see that I'm going to have to hit it more often and be careful not to end up being pushed by this thing or else I'm in deep shit, come on Akko, focus, you can do it, it's just a giant worm).
Kagari focuses a little more to hit the Moldworm, which is still continuing on its random path of hitting the walls and going from side to side, dodging being hit, so as not to end up taking more damage from the creature's body, which soon finds a gap and delivers another blow to the back, which is its weak point, causing it to shrink down again, starting to go faster when it returns after the hit.
(Now it's fucked, I'm sure the third one will be the last, I have to be careful not to get pushed into the spears without realising, this thing is really fast, I'm sure I have to be very careful here).
But even so, it was no use keeping an eye out as Moldworm hit her and pushed her into the wall, leaving the crimson-eyed one a little trapped, but she managed to somehow climb over the creature, standing on its head and trying to hold on right where the monster's hair was, hitting the wall and swinging a lot, which was very difficult to hold on to.
The brown-haired girl ended up holding on tighter and gradually got a grip on those strands of hair until she reached the back of the creature where she landed a very strong blow on that part and it wasn't the last one, but she just shrank back like a normal attack.
(Damn, it wasn't even supposed to be three attacks, well apparently now it's up to luck to get a hit on this thing, since it's not going to be easy to get a hit on it, well I think I'm going to give myself a boost so I don't end up getting hit, I have to look carefully so I don't end up giving a huge shit).
She managed to stay a little out of reach by jumping and dodging the worst of it, noticing that the Moldworm was simply crashing from one side of the wall to the other at a very high speed, which meant that her crimson eyes had to work to keep up with all that speed, trying to find a gap, which soon meant that she had to move to avoid being hit as the monster propelled itself upwards and the girl had to throw herself down a little.
The warrior from Luna Nova tries to use her eyes, but it doesn't solve much, her movements are too fast even to find the weak point, which ends up with the Moldworm hitting the ground where Hyllian was leaning, making her feel a current that throws her upwards.
(It's all or nothing now, I have to take a risk or this worm will turn me into a skewer, come on Akko, show me what you've got to hit this monster, it won't be a match for my strength, I'm sure of it, I'll show you how it's done).
The chains threw the girl a little upwards, and then she threw herself down and aimed her sword at the Moldworm, just as it passed and she ended up being hit in the weak spot by a very strong blow, enough for it to rejoin itself and start giving off some explosions under the water, which relieved Kagari, who was a little hurt by contact with the creature, which has some hairs that cause burning, apart from its skin itself.
(Now it's gone, that damn worm will now know the other plane of life, that thing was hard to defeat, a really hard monster, but it was nice to defeat it, it was fun to see how far that thing could go, now come on, let there be something for me to gain from this whole journey).
The wall full of spears ends up collecting all the spears and in the middle of this a part of it opens upwards, Akko goes inside and notices that there is a statue of Louise in the shape of a mermaid next to a Zoras girl, which had something written on the stone, something that not even Atsuko herself could have believed that she ended up finding, already taking the Claiomh Solais in her hands that was shining precisely on the sixth sphere.
"Thank you, Lyonne!" At that moment, some light began to emanate from the staff, which then circled Kagari's body.
(This is very strange indeed, my body is feeling as if it's stronger, also as if I'm having a cure, this is marvellous, the staff gives me the power of a cure using the sixth word, this is very good indeed, it can be more useful than fairies or even potions, this way I can defeat Andrew).
That was the effect of the sixth word, but it had a cost in magic expenditure to perform the spell, the first time it was used nothing happened, but the other times it could cost a quarter of the magic for this healing to take place, which can be a very risky thing to do when you're in a fight against a boss, the crimson-eyed girl herself realised the expenditure of magic and soon she had the magic restored afterwards.
(Well now I have a cure in my hands, but it costs a lot of magic, this thing is very powerful, but I have to use it wisely, now let's go, there's only one word left, I can't believe that the sixth word would come right here, I wasn't giving anything to a dungeon like this, now is my chance to shine, well that should be it for this part of the dungeon, time to swim and swim a lot).
After discovering the sixth word of the seven from Claiomh Solais, the brown-haired girl swims back, since there isn't much to go on in that part of the dungeon, having already finished the submerged route. It was a very long and tiring journey swimming all the way back, even more so as many monsters were left behind unnoticed, disturbing the warrior from Luna Nova once again, but mostly unnoticed for the long way up that watery part of the dungeon.
On reaching the icy part, with a key in hand and the master key, it's time to get to the icy part of the dungeon, but first Hyllian decides to take a rest since she has also swum a lot from one side to the other and still had to battle many monsters, even though she was healed with the sixth word, she decides to take a quick rest to reflect as well.
(Well now I'm becoming more powerful than ever, I can only imagine the damage that would have been done to Queen Laura if she'd taken the same route as me, Andrew wouldn't have stood a chance against her, that's because she only had the four pendants, if she'd had a bit more she'd have been able to be the invincible warrior, only now after almost seven dungeons I've been able to match her, I may have a huge chance of defeating bloody Andrew, he has no idea what awaits him, he's always underestimated me).
She stared at the ice in the dungeon, even using her elemental staff to create an improvised fire so she wouldn't freeze to death, looking at herself, still very disbelieving, this was the same girl who six years ago was still struggling to stand up to the tyrant and who might have a better chance of victory, even if times have changed.
(That's me now, I have all the hope of Hyrule here, all this, this power, it's not just something of mine, it's the hope of all the people of this land, of all kinds, from everywhere, all united to be able to defeat Ganon, I have their hope and power here with me, the sacrifice of many lives, the hope that one day I can bring Hyrule a new hope).
She gets up, having had enough rest, takes a deep breath, feeling the icy air freezing her nostrils in combination with the warmth of the fire nearby, and heads for the door of that part of the dungeon, already seeing the challenge that lies ahead; after many dungeons, she has returned to precisely one that contains ice.
Akko arrives at the Temple of Louise Du Nord, a dungeon that starts off aquatic and is already showing its claws, a place that, even with all the agility and power Atsuko has gained, is not to be underestimated, especially when it's underwater, But the challenges aren't over, as the dungeon is joined by a frozen part of the dungeon, returning to what she had already done in the Cork dungeon, only in an even more dangerous dose.
See you, water witches...