I had a really hard time with this chapter, so much that I felt like putting this story on hiatus until I can get things figured out. In the end, I had to cut a large amount of things I planned for this chapter and ended up with this. I still hope that you will enjoy it.

Chapter 42
Dungeon Crawling Made Easy

Link stood near the gate of the castle with his arms crossed, as if waiting for something. Guillotine showed up a few seconds later, sporting a different outfit, some that resembles medieval clothing worn by warriors and also sporting fake wings. Looking at her from head to toe, he said, "Nice outfit!"

With a proud look on her face, she said, "I tried to replicate something I once wore for a situation like this as much as I could using what I was given! It's not completely the same, but it's enough to make me relive good times!" She then took out the Light Brand that she got previously got and said, "With this sword of evil banishment, I shall conquer the Demon King and all those who stand in our way!"

"Good to know that you're pumped up for action! Let's go to the Forest Temple!" Link said to her.

King Rhoam seemingly appeared out of nowhere next to Link with his arms behind his back and asked him, "How do you plan to get there? It's very far from here, you know."

Link was slightly spooked by his sudden appearance and then replied, "Maybe I can ride a horse?"

"That's an obvious answer, but it'll still take a while. If only there is a faster way… Too bad you cannot fly like your other two friends who already took off for the Water Temple. I'm still trying to comprehend what I saw and what your friends are…!" said the king.

Zelda appeared on the scene almost as suddenly as the king as well and said, "I know! He can borrow the Master Cycle Zero! Assuming he knows hows to ride a motorcycle…"

Hearing this, Link's ear perked up as he said, "The Master Cycle Zero? You're telling me I can ride it…?"

Zelda nodded. "Of course! You're the chosen hero, so you are free to have whatever you want that can help aid in defeating the demon king!"

"Then please! I would love to ride the Master Cycle Zero!" said Link happily.

"All right, wait a moment!" Zelda told him.

A short moment later, Zelda arrived before Link and Guillotine riding a heavily stylized motorcycle with the figurehead of a horse. Seeing this, Link jumped up and down with excitement like a kid. "All right! The Master Cycle Zero! I loved riding this in my world a lot!"

Exia, who appeared at the scene, said in disbelief, "Why is there a motorcycle in a fantasy world…?!"

Guillotine didn't look to be in shock, however. "As long as it's cool, does that matter? I'm sure it will be convenient in our adventure!"

Link climbed onto the motorcycle, with Guillotine getting on it as well and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind. Zelda was going to give Link instructions, but the latter sped off before she could say anything, shouting in excitement along the way. "Wow! He's good!" said Zelda in awe.

"Heheheh! That's the chosen hero for you!" said Rhoam with a chuckle.

"Is this even a fantasy world anymore…?" wondered Exia, who was still trying to comprehend what she saw.

Riding the Master Cycle Zero, Link sped across the plains of Hyrule at a fast speed. He came across several monsters that were wandering around the place, but they only managed to catch a glimpse of him passing by and were never able to do anything against him because of the speed at which he was moving at.

"Look at all those monsters… I can't believe the civilians are living in a world like this… It sort of reminds me of my own world," said Guillotine as she held on tight onto Link.

"All the more reason we have to defeat the Demon King as soon as possible so that the lives of the people can return to normal and live in peace," replied Link.

As they continued to speed across the plains, a Guardian spotted them and began giving chase. Noticing this, Link sped up his bike to escape it, and though the Guardian gave chase the fastest it could, it could not catch up with the Master Cycle Zero and eventually gave up.

Guillotine watched as the Guardian got farther and farther from them and said, "I was going to use my sword against it if it caught up with us."

"We should get to our destination fast instead," suggested Link. "Don't want to keep our ally there waiting, do you?"

After several minutes of speeding across Hyrule Field, they came across a forest that they drove into. Link had to travel much slower due to the trees getting in the way often, but the path was still clear enough for the bike to go through smoothly for the most part.

Following the map he was given by King Rhoam as well as the map shown on his Purah Pad, Link eventually came upon a large ancient building covered in vines, leaves, and other plant matter. "This is it, the Forest Temple…" he said.

"And thus begin the dungeon exploration…" said Guillotine, looking at the dungeon.

Link looked around and said, "Where's the person we're supposed to meet? Did we get here too early?"

They were suddenly surprised by the sound of howling. Looking around, they saw a pair of wolves standing on hind legs appearing from among bushes. "Wolfos!" gasped Link.

"So werewolves exist here," said Guillotine, readying her sword and getting into a fighting stance. "Very well; I will smite them down with my sword of justice!"

One of the Wolfos lunged at them, and Link held up his shield to block it before pushing it away and swinging his sword, but the Wolfos backed to a safe distance. The other Wolfos also charged at Link, but Guillotine got in front of it and swung her sword. That Wolfos backed away, only to be struck by a light-based projectile fired from the sword.

Guillotine charged at the Wolfos while it was still stunned by the attack and stabbed it in the body. The wolf monster howled in pain while backing away but was still alive, and in rage. It began running around Guillotine at a fast speed despite its injury, and the Nikke got into a defensive stance. The Wolfos suddenly dashed at her from behind, swiping its claws at her and knocking her down.

Guillotine hurriedly got back up before the Wolfos came back to attack her, and she attacked with a projectile that the Wolfos managed to deflect with its claws. It lunged at her again, but never got the chance to hit her, as a card suddenly flew in from the air and struck it in one eye like a knife. Guillotine was surprised by this, but this didn't stop her from wasting her chance at attacking the monster while it was howling in pain. She stabbed the Wolfos around the same area she previously stabbed it in, and this time, the monster fell back and disintegrated into black smoke.

At the same time, Link managed to kill the second Wolfos, and he ran up to Guillotine and asked if she was all right. It was at this moment, a woman dropped down from a nearby tree and approached them. "I'm glad that I came at the right moment," said the woman.

"Who are you?" Link asked her, being a bit wary.

"Wary not, for I am sent by the king to aid you in your quest into the Forest Temple," said the woman. "You may refer to me as Phantom."

"Oh, you're just the librarian from our world," pointed out Guillotine. "It seems that you play a different role here, once that will aid us in saving this world."

With a swing of his arm and trident, Sidon conjured water that swirled around Corrin and Nihilister, eventually becoming around them spheres of water that they could still breathe properly inside of and even speak, despite practically being submerged in water.

"What manner of sorcery is this?!" said Nihilister in shock, feeling her hands around her watery surroundings.

"Wow! What a magic! Even my water-based powers cannot do something like this!" said Corrin in awe, feeling her arms around the watery sphere she was inside of.

"With my water magic, you will be able to travel easily underwater like a Zora, and you can even breathe too!" Sidon explained to them. "What's more, the water is like a shield, protecting you from attacks, and if you perform an attack, water will shoot out in response to your attacks, thus making it useful for taking on your enemies!"

"This really does sound useful!" said Corrin.

"And you're gonna need it, because the entrance to the Water Temple is underwater, and it's filled with water, unsurprisingly," Sidon told them while pointing with his trident at the lake they were standing next to. If one were to look into the water, they would see a door at the side of the base of a small island in the middle of the lake.

"Most Nikke can't swim, including me, so I'll give it to you for coming up with something like this," Nihilister said to Sidon.

"It's my pleasure to be able to help the chosen heroes of the prophecy!" said Sidon with a grin while giving a thumbs up, and then he motioned towards the water. "Now c'mon! Let's head into the Water Temple together!"

The Forest Temple group came upon a room with two treasure chests and a locked door. "Ah, the classic find out which chest contains the key scenario, and one of them may contain a trap," said Phantom. "At times like this, you have to be careful regardless of which one you open. As long as you have quick reflexes, you can escape whatever trap the chests may contain."

"Indeed, for one of the chests may be a mimic monster," said Guillotine.

"What's a mimic monster?" Link asked her.

"Do you not have those here? They are monsters that take the form of treasure chests and will bite you with their razor-shaped teeth if you attempt to open them," Guillotine.

"Can't say that rings a bell…" said Link.

"Now watch how a pro does things," Phantom said to them as she approached one of the chests. When she swung the chest open, she immediately leaped back at a fast speed to avoid a blue Chuchu as it jumped out and landed on where she used to be standing. Taking out some cards, she threw them like knives at the Chuchu, striking it in the eyes and other parts of its slime body, killing it.

"Nice reflexes!" Link said to her.

"And that's how you do it!" said Phantom, sounding proud. "This would mean that the other box is the safe one to open and also the one containing the key." She opened the chest, and immediately, a green Chuchu leaped out and latched onto her head. Phantom was in shock as she fell back onto the floor with the slime around her head, and she desperately tried to but failing to get it off before it suffocated her.

Link hurriedly swung his sword at the top half of the Chuchu, killing it, and the rest of its slime body dissolved, freeing Phantom. She sat up and took a deep gulp of air. "Thank… Thanks…" she said, trembling in shock.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"I'm fine… It seems that this is trickier than I thought… If the key isn't in either chest, where can it be?" she wondered as she stood up while wiping off excessive slime on her head.

The trio looked around for where the key might be until Link noticed a picture of an eye on a high part of the wall. Thinking that something about it was off, he took out his bow and fired an arrow at the eye. The eye closed when shot, and then a key fell from the ceiling and onto the floor. "Found it!" he said, picking up the key.

"Ah, so the chests were just distractions and tricks after all. It seems that this dungeon is a lot trickier than it seems. I will have to be more careful," observed Phantom.

"Are you sure you're a pro?" Guillotine asked her with doubt.

The group that headed into the Water Temple were currently within a room with a large fountain that was dried up. Looking up, they saw a slide coming out of a wall and pointing at the fountain. "It seems that we need to let water flow out and fill up the fountain," observed Sidon, and then he looked at a barred door at one end of the room. "By doing that, that door will open up for us to go forward."

Corrin looked at another door and said, "And I supposed that door will lead us to where we can activate the water for pouring out?"

"Indeed, so let's go and solve this puzzle together," said Sidon

"Bah! This method is faster!" said Nihilister as she approached the locked door. Aiming her "dragon heads" at it, she fired blasts of fire at the door, instantly blasting it along with the surrounding wall into smithereens and clearing the way ahead just like that.

Corrin and Sidon stared at the newly-created path with wide open eyes of disbelief, in complete shock and at a loss of words. Nihilister looked at them and asked, "What are you standing there for? You gonna come or not?"

The Forest Temple group continued making their way through the dungeon, braving every trap and solving every puzzle they came across. Link turned out to be a bigger expert than Phantom and a natural in going through the place. He ended up solving most puzzles and defeating all the monsters before the other two could do anything. Phantom, despite being hired to help with the situation, seemed pointless.

Eventuall, the group stepped through a door and found themselves within a large room. On the other end of where they came in from was another door, but it was what was in the center of the room that grabbed their attention.

Standing, or rather, floating there was a dark-skinned man with a shriveled appearance and long red hair, looking more like a ghoul than a person. Link immediately recognized at once who that person is. "The Demon King!"

"What?! Are you telling me that the Demon King himself came all the way here to confront us and stop us from getting the legendary weapon?!" said Guillotine in disbelief.

"Unfortunately for you, I am not here myself, for what you are looking at is but a phantom that I created to be my eyes and ears," said the "Demon King."

"Right, I remember now… Ganondorf sometimes employs doppelgangers of himself to do things for him," said Link, narrowing his eyes.

"Really? Phew… I thought for a moment that we're going to have a fight of our lives…" said Phantom, sighing with relief.

"So you are supposed to be the prophesied hero who will bring me down? I am not impressed!" said the "Phantom Ganon."

"You underestimate us, Demon King! You cannot even began to comprehend the power we possess and the ones that back us up! Once you've seen the One-Winged Dark Lord in action, you will be trembling in terror!" Guillotine said to him with a smirk.

Phantom Ganon held out his hand, and a sword materialized in it. "If you really are as powerful as the prophecy claims, then prove it to me."

"You bet we will!" said Link, getting into fighting stance.

BGM: Boss Battle (Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

Phantom Ganon disappeared and reappeared right in front of Link, swinging his sword at him, but the latter reacted in a blink of an eye, blocking with his own sword before trying to slash Phantom Ganon, but the latter warped out of the way and back to his original position.

"Take this!" shouted Guillotine as she slashed the air and fired a projectile from her Light Brand at Phantom Ganon, but the latter held up his sword and easily blocked it. Guillotine ran to him afterwards and clashed blades with him. She swung her sword wildly, but each hit was blocked by Phantom Ganon effortlessly.

"Your skills are laughable, like a child that you are!" Phantom Ganon said to her.

"Don't underestimate me!" said Guillotine in anger before raising her sword into the air and jumping at him to perform a downward slash, but he warped behind her and readied to strike her from behind, only to be interrupted by Link charging at him and slashing him in the side.

Phantom Ganon backed away and floated into the air while growling in frustration. His sword then transformed into a club with spikes, and he slammed it down onto the floor hard, creating a shockwave that blew back the good guys against the walls.

Phantom Ganon went after Phantom after that, ready to crush her against the wall with his club. The latter screamed and embraced for the worst when Link suddenly tossed himself in between the two of them and blocked with his shield. However, the force of the blow pushed him against Phantom, pressing her against the wall, but it was much more preferable for her than to be crushed by the spiked club.

Phantom Ganon readied for the next strike, only to be stopped by Guillotine jumping at his back and stabbing him below the neck. He cried in pain before warping up into the air.

He held up one hand and charged up a ball of dark energy that he then hurled at Guillotine, who jumped away. Phantom Ganon continued to throw the same type of projectiles over and over, forcing the good guys to run around nonstop to avoid getting hit.

Guillotine tripped and was going to be hit by one, and out of desperation, she swung her sword at it and deflected the projectile, sending it back to Phantom Ganon, much to his surprise, and knocked him onto the floor. Seeing this, Link ran towards and swung his sword, slashing him across the chest diagonally.

Phantom Ganon cried in pain as he took some steps back, and Link pressed towards him, slashing away nonstop and finally ending things by stabbing him through the abdomen. Phantom Ganon backed away from the sword and grunted in pain, barely able to stand up properly.

Guillotine then jumped at him with her sword raised over her head, the blade glowing brightly. "Light of Extermination!" And she slashed him right down the body.

SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

BGM Ends

Phantom Ganon screamed in pain as he stood up, with a slit running down the middle that was giving off bright light. Then in an instant, he exploded in a burst of black smoke.

"You did it!" exclaimed Phantom.

"That was nothing!" boasted Guillotine, and then she give Link a fist bump to the waist. "We make a great team, partner!"

"Yeah, we do," said Link in response with a light smile. And then he looked at Phantom and said, "By the way, you did nothing at all…"

Phantom sheepishly said, "Well, I did say combat isn't my forte..."

The door on the other side of the room then opened up, and the trio went through it. In the other room, they saw a pedestal on the other end that had a sword embedded into it. "The Master Sword…!" said Link in awe.

"So that's the legendary weapon, waiting for its rightful owner to claim it!" said Guillotine.

Link went up to the Master Sword and inspected it for a few seconds before getting behind it and grabbing its hilt with both hands. He took a deep breath and then pulled, and it took a second for the blade to come out of the pedestal. He raised the sword high into the air in triumph, and then there was silence. He looked around and then asked the other two, "So… I guess that's it?"

Ganondorf was not impressed. He had witnessed the combat against the chosen heroes through the eyes of Phantom Ganon, and it ended as soon as the latter was defeated. Even so, it was obvious that the heroes obtained the Master Sword next, and with it, they would have a chance at defeating him.

"Fools! You think you can get away with this? You'll see soon enough that it takes more than just the legendary weapons to defeat me!" he said in anger.

Meanwhile, within the Water Temple, the group there had come face to face with the boss of the place, an almost humanoid-looking Octorok called Mucktorok.

Jumping out of a pool of sludge, Mucktorok raised his arms into the air intimidatingly and let out a hissing-like sound, ready to take on the heroes.

Except it was instantly blown awat by Nihilister and sent flying into the air in the form of a fireball. Mucktorok crashed into the wall at the back with his limbs spread out and his body still on fire, and a few seconds later, he fell onto the floor, exploding in a burst of smoke and sludge.

"That was supposed to be the boss of this place? Ha! Don't make me laugh! A Lord-class Rapture can fight better than it!" said an unimpressed Nihilister.

At the side, Sidon and Corrin were watched with unimpressed expressions as well. "I didn't expect anything else other than this," said the former.

"Me too…" said the latter with a nod.

Throughout the entirety of the dungeon crawling, Nihilister cleared the way forward with her firepower and one shot every single monster they came across. Nothing stopped her from forcefully progressing through the dungeon at all, and the two just followed her throughout, with the mindset that this was going to be an easy quest.

And it is indeed easy…

"Well, I guess it's time to get the legendary weapon…" said Sidon as he began walking forward.

TO BE CONTINUED

I'm sorry if you were expecting a detailed chapter of them going through the temples. I tried to do that at first, but I simply didn't have the skills to do so. After much struggling, this chapter ended up with what you saw. I apologize if you did not find this chapter good. It looks like this arc is going to be lot harder to pull off than I thought...