Vash stumbled around the foyer, as he desperately tried to rid himself of the raving mad squirrel.
As its sharp claws raked and teared, and giant molars pierced into his bare flesh, he screamed in anguish.
"69! Kanna-chan!" He called out—seeking assistance—but nobody came. "Stupid loli brat?!"
One squirrel clinging unto him became several, as more and more joined in on the attack; until, it wasn't long before there was enough of them to bring him to the ground, under their sheer combined weight, as his continuing cries became more and more muffled.
'I can't believe those awful sluts left me behind!'
'Am I really fated to die in such a shameful way, for the second time!?'
Vash couldn't turn, nor draw his hands under him well enough to draw a [Fireball]—the coordinated force of merciless rodents had, in essence, conquered him.
As he lay there on his chest, trapped, he couldn't help but feel a certain way.
With all the warm, tiny bodies scrambling over him, touching even his most intimate places without restraint, he felt...strangely...AROUSED.
Realizing this, he cracked a grin at how pathetic he was.
'Have I really now fallen to such an incredible low?' He thought to himself wearily.
The living mass was forming an ever tighter shell around him, enshrouding him in darkness.
Before losing vision completely, the very last thing Vash could see was one of the statues lit up by candles, at the many shrines around the temple foyer.
It was a large-bellied man in a meditative sitting pose, observing him with a blissful smile.
Vash growled, and gritted his teeth through the pain.
'Surely even the divines are laughing at me, and the sorry situation I've found myself in...'
Flames coursed forth from his wrists then spread up and outward, to form a barrier of fire around him that had the effect of both setting himself ablaze and peeling the squirrels away in screaming droves.
"That's right!" He yelled aloud in triumph, as he regained his feet. "I can still do this much!"
"I might be hopeless when it comes to love, but I AM an expert Fire Mage!"
Meanwhile, Kanna was recovering from an unexpected fall into nothingness. It happened when she was following Akira and Ai, then briefly stopped to rest her arm on the wall when suddenly, it gave way to reveal a secret opening, that she tumbled through soundlessly into a darkened side-chamber.
After taking a second to gain her bearings, she at once opened her mouth to call out for the others, but stopped partway when she thought she heard a noise
Something was lurking nearby, under cover of darkness, and she did not wish to alert it.
'What are those creatures!?' She thought in alarm, at the sight of their dimly glowing silhouettes...
It was a group of [Level 10] [Kankala] standing apart from her, each at the height of an average male, creating a distinct chattering noise with their every shuddering step. Scant rays of sunlight, streaming in through scattered cracks in the walls, reflected brightly off their pearly white skeletal bodies dressed in threadbare leather rags. In one arm were decrepit blades held, and in the other were shields, as they scanned their surroundings in search of the hidden intruder.
Kanna drew her hammer without fear, even as her gaze fell upon the grisly skeletal remains of previous adventurers scattered across the ground.
''As if all those squirrels weren't odd enough, I'm starting to believe this isn't an ordinary temple!'
Her grip on her hammer tightened, as did her will and hardy warrior's butt.
'I've been separated from Akira-sama...Ai-sama...both of my loves...'
She grimaced, conjuring up the power within her. 'You both must be in danger now, too!'
Letting out a tremendous [Battle Cry], she ran toward the first Kankala with her hammer raised.
'I won't let anything get in the way of me returning to your sides!'
Swinging her hammer at full force, the Kankala shattered into countless bone fragments from the devastating strike, spraying across the basement with enough noise to alert the others.
Kanna user her hammer to conjure a tornado around her, to keep them at bay.
Her power even against such overwhelming numbers of high-leveled monsters was undeniable...
Although she might be a submissive wife in the bedroom, Kanna was still an unconquerable warrior on the battlefield!
...
Akira's plummet down the pitfall landed her on a descending slide, culminating in a bright light.
Following several seconds of pulse-pounding peril, she was softly ejected unto a bed of grass and dirt—her set of breasts breaking her fall.
"Little Sis! I'm here!" She yelled—glancing about in a panic—seeing that she was in a forest glade.
The craggy face of the temple with a giant, gaping hole she'd just fallen out of towered over her, casting a large shadow.
Akira turned, saw Ai lying face-first on the ground beside her, and gasped.
It was then that, after lifting the still form of Ai up into her arms in a brief embrace, Akira pulled away to stare sadly at her meek smile with fluttering half-closed eyelids.
"Big...Sis...if only I had a chest like yours, maybe the fall wouldn't have hurt so much."
Akira hurriedly shushed her, as she ran a gentle hand through Ai's dark bangs.
"It's because of MY greed that you're suffering right now..."
Akira pulled the Big Business Tie away from her neck, inspecting it angrily. 'All because I just HAD to follow this damned thing, at all costs!'
Ai touched her on the arm, soothing her instantly.
"It's okay...Big Sis." She said. "It was only your ambition that got us this far, to begin with..."
"I can't speak for Pervy Uncle or Kanna-chan, but I believe they feel the same way."
Akira grasped her by the hand tightly, smiling although stricken with tears.
"Of course you'll always stand by my side through anything, but...it doesn't justify my actions."
"I swear—from this point on, yours and Kanna's well-being will be my foremost concern!"
Ai's wide eyes sparkled, as she looked upon Akira's noble expression in wonder.
In that tender moment, her heart burned with an even greater love for Akira than before.
Cradling Ai in her arms, Akira stormed through the doors of the temple.
The two walked briskly through the front foyer once again—now curiously emptied of its former inhabitants—where the only remaining signs of Vash were his clothes, left lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, amidst a pile of charred squirrel bodies in a large blast area.
Akira and Ai exchanged worried glances—both of them suspecting the worst.
Just then, a series of piercing chirps prompted them to wheel around...to spot a lone, surviving squirrel.
It was chirping nonstop, hopping up and down, and flailing its tail around erratically.
"What the Hell?" Akira said, raising an eyebrow at the bizarre spectacle. "Is it special, or something?"
Ai giggled. "I don't know, but It's almost like it's trying to tell us something!"
The squirrel, unhindered by her blatantly insensitive remark, proceeded to run rings around her and Ai whilst continuing its befuddling cries. After this went on for some seconds, with Akira and Ai merely looking on in stunned silence, the squirrel slowed to a crawl before settling on top of Vash's pile of discarded clothes...
"Hey!" Akira snapped, as it started to rustle through Vash's clothes. "Get away from those, you nut brain!"
The unruly squirrel once again did NOT listen, however.
It kept digging, until it got its little paws on a certain crimson red neck tie...
"Give it here, you little shit!" Akira commanded, as she stretched to take it. "That was Vash's—"
Akira was just about to retrieve it, when suddenly a spark of blue electricity shot out from the tie, forcing her to withdraw from the attempt with a pained yelp.
Ai, upon seeing this, let out a gasp of realization. "Big Sis! You weren't able to touch the tie!"
Akira, sucking on the singed fingers of her wounded hand, gave a slight nod in unconditional agreement.
"It must mean..."—Ai turned to her sharply—"Vash is still alive somewhere!"
The crazy squirrel jumped joyfully at these words, waving the tie around in its hand, and then...slowly...seemed to set the tie against its own neck.
Akira lowered her hand from her mouth, to gawk along with Ai in their shared epiphany.
"No way..."—Akira blinked, and rubbed her eyes—"Could it be...that squirrel is..."
The squirrel let out its loudest chirp thus far, hunching down as it pointed its face up at them.
Akira and Ai together both blurted, "VASH?!"