After the horrifying eye I'd seen the night before disappeared, I somehow managed to sleep.
Somehow, the presence of that thing made it hard to relax. Once it was gone, I passed out shortly after.
Still...I didn't get nearly enough sleep.
And once Isabella woke up, we got ready immediately and headed towards the door.
The image of that eye was still fresh in my mind and I couldn't forget about it. I elected not to tell Isabella what I saw because I didn't want her to worry.
But she knew I didn't sleep very well. She didn't say anything, but I could tell she knew. She was smart like that.
We went downstairs and reached the door, quickly.
Hana stopped us before we left and offered to lead us to the location. We accepted and went on our way.
Before we went to the meeting place, we made a few extra preparations and followed Hana back.
In the short time we'd known Hana and Ikoma, Isabella and I grew attatched. It motivated us to protect the water dragon. To protect Hakumo.
Once we saw the gathering adventurer party, we departed from Hana and approached a man who appeared to be the leader.
"Excuse me, we're here for the guild request. I am Rose and this is my husband Mizik. Pleased to meet you," Isabella said cheerfully as she offered her hand to him.
Should I assume you're Rose right now...? Might be safe...
The man looked Rose up and down then smiled. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing her helmet.
"Hey, you're kinda cute. Like, beautiful even! How about when this is all over you come to my place? We can get our Usami custom on if you know what I mean!" The man said.
He wore full heavy armor with an open-faced helm and had a sword at his waist. He also had a shield on his back.
Rose retracted her hand immediately.
"I am as far from interested as humanly possible. Didn't you hear me when I said I had a husband?"
"I don't care. Your 'husband' looks like a wimp anyways. I'm Jay, by the way. The leader of this group. And don't worry, I'll protect you."
"Listen here, you-"
Rose placed a hand gently on my chest.
"Jay, I assure you that won't be a problem. I can definitely protect myself. Are you aware of our abilities?" Rose asked.
"What? You expect me to read everyone's status? I ain't gonna bother with that. Not when I'm already clearly the strongest one here. Yeah, I'm level 85. Pretty amazing, right? I'm high enough to be considered a noble!" Jay said with a cocky smile.
"I see. The two of us with Red River are both level 150. My husband and I, that is."
Jay stared in disbelief then let out a loud and obnoxious laugh.
"You two? Don't be ridiculous! I've heard of trying to one up people but that's just doing too much. 150? You could count the number of people who've attained that on one hand. How about this, since Mafic here looks like a wimp, he can be in the back. I'll keep you at the front, Rose. And like I said, I'll protect you."
"It would be a severe waste of Mizik's abilities if he were to fight in the back. I strongly suggest having both Mizik and I take the lead," Rose said.
"Yeah, not happening. That guy's just gonna get himself killed. And I'd prefer to have you right next to me. It's highly motivating to do your best in front of a pretty girl, am I right?" Jay said.
[Another fool has appeared. Punish him for his insolence.]
You really take this shit way too far sometimes. He's just an idiot. No need to end his life for it. Even if I really want to...
[Vengeance is not always used to end the life of another. I demand some form of satisfaction.]
Maybe I can forget to protect him from the Ooze or something? Or what if I just beat the shit out of him later? Would that make you happy?
[Yes.]
Fine. Consider it done.
I saw Rose's eye twitch for a moment.
I knew from experience that she was suppressing the urge to tear into him right now...
"Jay, I have decided to ignore your leadership role. From here on out, Mizik and I will be operating as a separate entity. We are Red River, and we will not tolerate such disrespect."
"Ah, come on, babe. There's no need for-"
Jay took a step forward and tried to touch Rose's shoulder but was immediately slapped across the face.
Hard.
The impact sent him tumbling a few feet to the left and once he recovered his senses, he stared at Rose with rage in his eyes.
"You...bitch!!" Jay shouted.
He stood up and charged at Rose with his weapon drawn and tried to slash her.
She caught his sword with her hand.
"Wh...what!?"
"Like I told you, we at Red River are both level 150. Your attacks are pointless against us. In fact, you are so weak by comparison that your sword won't even draw my blood, " Rose said.
"You really are just another idiot. Maybe you should try listening for once?" I said angrily.
"The two of us will take the lead in this raid. I'll protect the group and Mizik will kill anything that comes too close. The rest of you can just provide support when necessary," Rose said.
Jay put his sword away and stared in shock.
"No way! I'm the leader, and I'll be giving orders around here!"
"Really? Care to prove your strength? If you can prove to be stronger than Red River, I'll gladly let you lead," Rose said.
"Tch...dammit... Well I don't care what you say! The rest of these people are still taking orders from me, got it!? We'll save the water dragon before you do!"
"If you wanna fight those horrors up front, be our guest. But don't say we didn't warn you," I said.
* * *
After that awful exchange, we made our way to the center island.
Several hours of walking later, we reached the water temple.
The path leading up to the temple was barren. There were no animals or people. Not even a single corpse or tree. Just nothing. Additionally, the Black Ooze dotted the landscape in this area.
Getting a close look at it, I could see that it had a dark purple tint when the light hit it. It shifted endlessly as I stared.
This vile substance killed my family and destroyed my home.
I felt Rose's hand touch my shoulder and she smiled weakly at me.
"We'll purge this filth. We'll save everyone else. I promise," she said
Thank you...
We stepped towards the door of the temple and the ground shifted.
Two large mounds of Black Ooze rose up and formed into two hulking behemoth variants.
Both much larger and more intimidating than the one I killed while trying to save Rose.
Once the rest of the group saw them, they froze in fear.
"Wh-what are those things!?!?" A female adventurer said.
At once, the two monsters rushed us.
"Grand Sword Enchant!" I said.
"Enrage!" Rose shouted.
There was a pulse of red magic and suddenly both of the monsters attacked her.
They slammed into Rose's shield and I cut them to pieces.
As soon as I cut the monsters up, they were reduced to ashes.
Right after we destroyed the monsters, the other adventurers looked on in awe. Jay, however, was not impressed.
"Ha, I guess they weren't so tough after all. Come on, let's get this over with," he said with a smile.
"This piece of-"
Rose put her hand gently on my shoulder.
"Mizik, if this fool wants to go ahead of us, let him. I don't see a problem. Do you?" She said.
"Not at all. He can show off as much as he wants," I said.
After we approached the front door, Jay tried to open it by pushing.
Unsurprisingly, it wouldn't budge. The Black Ooze had hardened on the front to prevent entry.
"Everyone stand back," I said.
Rose and I pointed our swords at the door and unleashed an attack.
"THUNDER BLAST!" We said in unison.
An immense strike of electricity shot out of our hands and completely blew the doors to pieces.
As soon as we gazed into the temple, the feeling of Impending doom hit us like a tidal wave.
I'm sorry...but these adventurers will probably die in here.
And a moment later, the horrors charged at us.
"Mizik," Rose said.
I stepped forward.
"Exterminatus."
My second sword appeared and both began blazing brightly with crimson flames. The fire extended the blades and I unleashed a devastating combo of attacks within a frontal cone.
Every single enemy in front of us was completely annihilated.
I was actually shocked myself at the skill's power so I checked the description of it.
{Skill Name: V.Exterminatus}
{Skill Description: One of the ultimate skills for Vengeance. Forcibly activate 'Vengeance Form Two: Dual Wield' and use whatever two weapons are held to completely destroy all enemies in front of you. May also be used with large weapons requiring two hands. Has synergy with Melee, Ranged, or Magic weapons using 'Vengeance Form Three: Shapeshifting Weapon'. Attacks may vary based on weapon type and size.}
I looked up at the carnage in front of us and the other adventurers had already approached the door. They were curiously looking inside the temple to check for more monsters, so I decided to look at one more thing...
I shifted my left hand sword into a crossbow and looked at it. Luckily, the mechanism and operation of a simple crossbow was easy to understand.
It had the same color scheme as the regular sword but in crossbow form.
This crossbow seemed to use solid magic bolts for ammunition as well. Very useful.
Rose approached me and eyed my crossbow curiously.
"Is that a new form for your weapon? Its called Shapeshifting Weapon, right?" She asked.
"Yeah. By the way, what does yours do?" I asked.
"It creates a full set of armor just like my shield. I don't really need to wear armor anymore until I fight, now that I think about it," Rose said.
After that, she raised her sword and her armor shattered. A moment later, it reformed with the same silver design as the sword. This armor seemed to come without a helmet.
Glowing pink runes and lines could be seen all over the armor.
I could see Jay staring at her in awe. Probably hoping that she wasn't wearing anything under her armor.
Unfortunately for him, Rose was quite modest. She always wore clothing under her armor.
"Hmm...this armor doesn't seem to have a helmet... But it offers far more protection. It's like I have a magic shield protecting my whole body," Rose said.
"That was amazing!" One of the adventurers said aloud.
"Are these two strong or what?" Another said.
"Pfft. They're alright, but wait until you see me in action!" Jay said.
I was getting really tired of this guy...
"Everyone, stay behind us. I'll protect you as best as I can and Mizik will do his best to kill everything before it has a chance to do us any harm. These monsters are very dangerous and you should all take care not to be caught off guard. Let's all do our best to save the water dragon, okay?" Rose said with a smile.
After that, the two of us stepped in front and Jay continued to try and take the lead.
* * *
We made our way into the temple and continued deeper. The Ooze monsters would occasionally attack in groups, but they were no match for Rose and I.
Jay, as stupid as he was, actually helped out a tiny bit.
And I do mean a tiny bit.
He saved a young female adventurer from a monster one time and acted all high and mighty about it. At least he wasn't hitting on Rose anymore...
Farther down into the dungeon, we began slowly losing people. Those who were infected I killed immediately. Some of them got devoured whole as well. Currently there were about thirteen of us left.
The others were very upset about my methods for disposal, but eventually stopped trying to dissuade me after seeing the horrors those people would become.
I wasn't taking any chances down here.
As we continued on, the darkness of this place felt suffocating. The many torches and lanterns strewn about had been purposely put out. Luckily, Rose kept the area lit enough for everyone. And I, of course, had night vision.
As a passive, I could activate and deactivate it rapidly. Both night vision and enemy detection could be used in the same way for a very small fee of mp.
And speaking of enemy detection...
This place was about as infested as it could possibly be. The Ooze was everywhere. Occasionally, we would see creatures that looked like infected monks or former adventures. They kept screaming for us to kill them.
We also noticed the lack of corpses. Not a single one was seen.
Likely because they were devoured and turned into monsters.
As we went on, the attacks became more frequent and we suffered more losses. Eventually, the female adventurer that Jay protected started almost clinging to me.
"W-will you protect me? I don't think I can trust Jay to do that..." She said.
"Rose and I are doing the best we can. As long as you stick close, it shouldn't be difficult," I said.
"You're...really cool, you know? My name is Tareen, by the way," she said.
Sorry, but I'm not planning on getting attached.
"Ahem," Rose cleared her throat and eyed the girl suspiciously.
Tareen ignored her and stayed close to me.
"Mizik, if I had a boyfriend, I think I'd want him to be strong and cool like you. I would always feel safe if I had someone like that," Tareen said as she smiled sweetly.
"That's nice. Maybe one day you'll find someone like that. As for me, I'm perfectly happy with Rose," I said.
I wanted to spell it out without actually saying it.
Tareen seemed a tad annoyed at this and shot Rose a dirty look.
Rose simply smiled and puffed out her chest proudly.
Then it happened again...
"GRRROOOAAAARRRR!!!!!"
A group of behemoth variants charged straight at us from the front.
Rose readied herself immediately..
"Valiant Charge!" She said.
She held her sword ready and shot forward. Impacting one of the monsters with her sword and her shield at the same time.
"Enrage! Sunlight blade!" She shouted.
Her shield pulsed and all the other monsters turned to her. After that, her sword, still stabbed into the monster she was facing, glowed brightly and she swung it wildly. Obliterating all of the monsters.
"Wow, Rose. You didn't even need me for that one," I said.
"I can handle myself offensively too. Although I prefer having you attack for me," she said.
I could understand perfectly why.
Her sword was made for defense and support. Mine was made to kill and destroy.
We complemented each other well.
Jay walked up and smiled at Rose.
"You sure are something, Rose. Even those things aren't a match-"
"Please, by the gods, Jay. Shut up. Just stop talking!" Rose said angrily.
Jay simply didn't respond and stepped back, completely dejected.
Recently, I could tell he was sticking close to Rose because he was afraid. These monsters...the Ooze...they were getting to him.
I couldn't deny that it was having an effect on me as well.
The human mind could only take so much before it began to break. We'd seen our comrades turned into monsters right before our eyes. They screamed and begged to be saved but we didn't have the time. All we could do was put them out of their misery.
And that was on top of the monks and other adventurers...
This temple was massive. It extended all the way down into the mountain. We'd been moving down for several hours now and eventually came to a gigantic hallway.
Rose and I looked at one another as we felt it.
A horrifying feeling...an immense pressure.
Impending Doom.