An army of golems, all standing side by side. Like a soldier marching in an orderly fashion to their destination. They're all inactive as THE THING and the Devil's tentacles surround them, waiting to control them the moment they are awakened.
We are now on the 13th floor. A floor with absolutely no monsters except for this one specific room. A floor with a constant wave of petrifaction. Every second here is dangerous if you are careless.
THE THING basically fills this entire room. To me, who can clearly see and feel it, it feels frightening. I'm sure for others who can't even detect it, they only see the devil's tentacles, which is a massive problem in itself.
The tentacles, or more like blood vessels, surround the entire room. It's constantly spitting out Petrification spells. It's currently dormant, but I'm sure it will wreak havoc as soon as it realizes we're here. This tentacle, I'm pretty sure it's the extension of the boss dungeon right below us, so once we attack it, the boss itself will know of our presence. Unlike Diana Doll, who can detect visitors to the dungeon, I don't think this boss can, or as Master Merlin said, even if it can, it's fooling itself into thinking it can win with anything you throw at it. I'm more inclined to say that it can't, simply because it still doesn't recognize us.
"Diana, prepare your blessing. Once we make sure the tentacles are all cut off, cleanse THE THING immediately. Tiara, help Diana control it" [Merlin].
"Right" [Diana, Tiara]
"Tuah, Dana, Teliara, JOATMON, each take a corner of the room and just concentrate on cutting off the tentacles. Siti, Fie, Mimic and I will protect the golems from any harm" [Merlin]
That's the plan. A simple and straightforward plan.
At first glance, it definitely looks like these tentacles have mostly earthly attributes. Knowing this, Teliara prepares a counter spell right away. She also prepares a binding spell in advance to further aid the group.
At Master Merlin's signal, we enter the room. The signal is
"Space Magic: Protection Cube" [Merlin].
A cube made of space mana. It also has a twist. Whatever tries to harm it will be twisted and turned inside out, making this protection spell both defensive and offensive at the same time. Fie also cast a spell of his own. A simple earth spell that further strengthened Master Merlin's spell.
"Incoming!" [Dana]
"Reflect!" [Merlin]
A tentacle rushed towards Master Merlin and me. Master Merlin quickly cast a spell to reflect the tentacle. I didn't realize it at first, but it's definitely huge. Perhaps the size of a large tree branch, or perhaps a small trunk. Either way, the sound of it being rejected by Master Merlin Space is loud, making my heart race.
"They keep growing!" [Teliara]
"That's to be expected." [JOATMON]
"Don't any of you know a spell or two to prevent this?" [Tuah]
"Unfortunately, I don't" [Dana]
"I do, but I don't think it's enough" [JOATMON].
"The same. I'm sure even if we both combine our efforts, it will simply grow back" [Teliara].
"Then we have no choice but to cut it until it stops regenerating" [Tuah]
"Easier said than done, but it's definitely our only option" [Dana].
I'm sure to stop it from regenerating, we have to destroy the boss itself. They don't mention anything about finding a core to prevent the tentacles from regenerating, so I'm sure that's the only option.
The tentacles run rampant. In a long battle we will surely lose. It's not wise to go straight at the boss, knowing he's holding the golem hostage, so we'll have to settle this here and now ourselves.
"Diana, can't you clean THE THING right now?" [Princess Siti]
"I'm sure I can, but I'm afraid the tentacles will..." [Diana]
"Then do it. I don't think the tentacles can bypass Master Merlin and Fie's spell. Once THE THING is gone, I'm sure the Goddess will awaken them. I will appeal to them to help us out of this predicament" [Princess Siti].
"Go for it. Better than a war of attrition" [Merlin].
"Right! Teacher Tiara, are you ready?" [Diana]
"On your count then. Mimic, get ready to charge in with Siti" [Tiara]
3
2
1
That's the signal for me to clean THE THING right away. It is almost second nature to me now. With THE THING gone, I quickly inform Princess Siti, and she quickly enters the room, running straight at the golems.
"Don't you dare hurt my friend!" [Dana]
"Fie! Help Princess Siti!" [Diana]
"Meow!" [Fie]
Like a predator pouncing on its prey, they instinctively target Princess Siti, but fortunately, the others act quickly. None of the tentacles managed to harm a single strand of Princess Siti's hair.
"I will also go with Princess Siti. My presence there should also help" [Tuah].
"We are counting on you" [Teliara].
"It's okay. The three of us can handle it" [JOATMON].
As they safely enter the barrier, I can see the golems being activated one by one, and with them...
"Captain Tuah!"
"We are awakened... As a golem... Does that mean..."
"You are right. The Devil King will awaken again. As a princess of this land, please help us" [Princess Siti].
"What she said is nothing but the truth. She's the current heir of this country. My comrade-in-arms, remember our struggles back then. Remember our despair when the devil kidnapped our son, slaughtered our wife and enslaved our daughter. Killing, hanging, torturing our people. Now they're awakened again, but the Goddess with her grace gives us a chance to take up arms and fight once more! [Tuah]
"Arise, warrior of the past. Let your soul burn. Let your body become harder than steel. Witchcraft: Soul Burn. Earth magic: Armor up!" [Princess Siti]
"We will!"
"For a better future!"
"For a future where the devil is no more!"
That's a nice speech! That's a royal doing her job well. Although they have no mouth to speak, I can basically hear their soul roaring. For others, the sound they make may be just the clink and clank, but I'm sure even they can feel the passionate roar of the soul in the atmosphere, whether they are witches or not.
Rough estimate, about a thousand golem army with the soul of the past warrior. I'm sure it's easily more. With their activation, the entire battlefield turns in our favor, as they hold, cut, crush, and do whatever it takes to make sure the tentacles are no longer there, and as soon as it seems the tentacles are becoming less and less active.
"Diana, JOATMON, Teliara, we should bind it with a spell!" [Merlin]
"Alright! Mirage Magic: Mirage Rope" [Diana]
"Space Magic: Cube of Entrapment" [Merlin]
"Ice Magic: Freeze!" [JOATMON]
"Fire Magic: Melt and Bind" [Teliara]
To save us all the trouble, the four of us bind them. This will end the battle on this floor as soon as we confirm that there are no tentacles running around. Traces of THE THING are also gone.
"Warrior of the past, thank you, but this is far from over" [Princess Siti].
"She's right, the devil responsible for this is on the floor below" [Merlin].
"It's the witch, Merlin!"
"How long has it been since Aru defeated the Devil King?"
"Perhaps she's an old... Why did I feel pain as a golem?"
"Master Merlin..." [Princess Siti]
"Well, if he didn't sound so rude, I won't" [Merlin]
"What just happened?" [Teliara]
"Judging by her face, it must be something to do with her age... Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" [Dana]
I will refrain from commenting for now. Let us just listen to Princess Siti and Tuah tell us what happened