DD 204 Ch 27

Chapter 27

Penny and I headed beneath the safe zone to go find out more about the Naga that were coming.

As we moved out onto the floor, I took in a ridiculous sight. Everything I could see was made of rainbows. From top to bottom, the area was a sort of colorful, swampy bog. The sky was a deep violet with blue clouds. And the trees transitioned from vibrant green at the treetops down to yellow trunks and orange grass. The water of the boggy environment was red. It was a strange place.

Penny and I stopped dead as we stared out ahead of us.

"Oh my gosh, Harley would love this," I said after a moment.

Penny groaned and grabbed my hand. "Let's keep going. We should see how far the Naga have made it towards the safe zone." She pulled me forward. 

I held her hand tight, interlacing our fingers and rushed through the red water. The liquid splashed up on my boots and orange mud slowly slid off.

The floor, only level 21, was still a fairly low level compared to us. We quickly smashed our way through the floor.

Penny held off attacking anything more than using a non-damaging slow and letting me get one or two hits on the monsters as purple lightning began to crackle at my fingertips. Without even discussing the plan, we had both started focusing on me building up [Liminal Speed] stacks for what was to come. 

The monsters were rainbow-colored gator men that popped out almost comically in a myriad of colors, only for my blades to quickly turn them into black smoke.

I had picked up enough speed that I started easily outpacing the strength-based tank.

Penny didn't hesitate jumping onto my back and wrapping her legs around my hips while her arms crushed into my chest.

I leaned forward with the new weight on me. However, I had enough strength that her being on my back didn’t slow me down much. I flashed through the dungeon. 

On the 23rd floor, I spotted the first Naga, a party of ten males. They had their signature flambergs rested against their shoulders as they glided through the waters effortlessly.

Penny held her CID up in front of both of us as she used it to try and get a reading on the Naga. It popped up after a bit of finagling. The group had a decent spread, ranging from level 36 all the way to 41. 

"Well, they are manageable at least," Penny said, a touch of relief in her tone.

I was also relieved, but not fully. If her father had her full guild still there, he could probably put up a decent fight against these Naga, but his guild had scattered. He might not have enough people to hold back the coming tide. 

Unfortunately, amid the rainbow environment, Penny and I stuck out like a sore thumb.

It wasn't a surprise when one of the Naga pointed at us before a low gurgled tone erupted from it. The sound was deep bass, spreading across the entire floor and reverberating enough that even the water around it began to ripple.

I shot forward my stacks of [Liminal Speed], giving me an edge of agility as it took two strokes of my blades to silence the Naga and force it to stagger back, swinging with its flamberg to keep me away as blood gushed down its chest.

Unfortunately for it, I was far too fast, ducking out and back in with his swing before my blades punched into his armor, repeatedly cracking and shattering it before finding purchase in his thin, scaly flesh.

He let out a shout as he died. The other Nagas moved to surround me, their own blades whizzing past.

I dodged far more carefully with Penny on my back, but she was ready to enter the fight herself.

She pushed against me, rolling off and splashing in the water before drawing her own sword. She matched strength for strength with the highest level of the Naga present. To no surprise, Penny came out ahead, pushing his flamberg back into him before spinning around and spraying frost into the whole group. 

Some of their attention was redirected to Penny, but I refused to let them surround her.

I slipped out of the encirclement only to come from behind and take out several of the lowest level Nagas in quick succession. Reducing the number of swinging swords was the best thing I could do to help Penny as she began backpedaling, blocking and overpowering their strikes, but being forced to give ground to dodge the number of blades coming at her. 

One slipped behind her with an ability suddenly flashing around, only for Penny's eyes to grow cold. Armor made of frost wrapped around her body, stopping the Naga's blade and freezing it against her shoulder.

Then she dropped one hand off her sword before grabbing the Naga's skull and spinning to smash him into one of the others.

I took that opportunity, appearing behind the two like a grim reaper and quickly taking their lives before attacking Penny again. 

For a second, I thought there was an echo from the first Naga's deep shout. However, as it echoed several more times, I realized it was an answer as other Naga hunting parties heard its call.

"Penn, we need to get back," I said. 

She thrust her sword forward into one of the Naga who she had just disarmed, her blade punching through his chest before spikes of frost ripped him apart when she drew it back. "I think we could take another set.” She looked over at me.

“You want to stay and fight?" It wasn't so much a question as a confirmation. 

Penny nodded. "They're not that high level, and with your [Liminal Speed] stacks already rolling, why not just have you tear through them?" 

I couldn't help but grin at the thought.

But I didn’t have long to pause as another group of Naga stormed into view. They seemed like a perfect target. I activated [Sprint] to get close enough for [Shadow Ambush], appearing behind one of the naga with my blades crossed, only for them to collapse beneath my swords.

Penny came charging into the group far slower. However, the frost magic she could throw around did its job of keeping attention on her.

None of the Naga noticed as the back two suddenly lost their lives, splashing in the water amid the others’ battle cries. Penny's spikes of ice impaled their tails and slowed them down, and five of their ten group members fell before my blade before they even realized I was upon them. 

By the time Penny and them actually clashed blades, their number had been cut in half, and head on, they were no match for Penny as she overwhelmed the first few with her superior stats.

I snuck a glance at Penny as she was focused on fighting, a determined expression on her face. It fit her otherwise athletic body in a way that made me stop and stare for a brief moment before the urgency of the situation took hold and I once again became the grim reaper, ripping my way through the remaining Naga. 

They fell quicker than the first group, and Penny stopped to brush her hair out of the way. Some Naga blood was on her cheek, and I reached forward to wipe it off.

Her fierce aura shattered into a bashful blush. "What are you doing?" she bit her lip.

"Oh, there was just some blood on your face. It seemed, I don't know, like someone had defaced a work of art." I told her.

She couldn't meet my eyes all of a sudden, a deep red blush spreading down her cheeks. She murmured, "Thank you," under her breath.

I laughed awkwardly. Her shift into bashfulness from murderous adventurer was cute to watch. My mind quickly tried to translate what that meant for other, more intimate activities before I squashed that thought down as well. 

More battle cries from the surrounding Naga rose up amid the rainbow marshes.

"Perhaps we should deal with that first," I said, coughing into my hand.

With the Naga cries, the bashfulness had disappeared from Penny’s eyes, which now flashed with ferocity. She lifted her sword back up, ready to fight.

This group, however, was stronger than the last. I could already sense greater strength. Their armor gave off a more powerful aura than the ones we'd already ripped through. A check at my CID said all of these were level 41. 

"Penn, we should do a retreating battle back towards the stairs," I suggested. We didn’t know how many more groups might be out there or what their upper limit might be. To protect ourselves it would be easiest to have a line on an escape route.

She nodded, swishing her blade back and forth to get their attention. "Why don't you disappear until they're all focused on me?" As her blade spun back and forth as she splashed up the red water, creating another enchanting scene as it froze around her. With another swipe of her blade, she sent a rain of red ice towards the nagas. 

She certainly had their full attention as they rattled their swords in the air and rushed towards her, slithering through the red marsh easily on their serpentine tails. 

Penny, however, didn't meet them head-on like the others we had attacked. Instead she stepped back and focused more on the ice magic she produced.

I slipped away before my [Liminal Speed] stacks started decaying too badly and attacked from the back.

These Nagas' armor was much stronger and their health was high enough that a quick combo of [Triple Breach] and [Shadow Claw] did not kill the first. Instead, he gargled, spinning around with a protective water barrier and cutting into my side when I had expected him to drop.

Jumping back to avoid his follow-up, I came in and finished him with another two strikes only for more of the Naga to turn and pay attention to me. 

One caught my eye. I had missed that this group contained one of the female Naga. 

She quickly began singing as she cast magic. Bubbles of water popped up on three of the Naga, while the wounds of the first bubbled with blue magic.

I realized that he was not quite dead yet and finished the job with two more attacks before weaving out of the way of a barrage of attacks as I was forced to deflect two attacks before spinning back around the group and trying to get to the healer.

However, the Naga defended the healer with their lives, circling up around her with Penny and I on either side of the encirclement.

I came in fast and hard, striking at the bodily wall of Nagas.

Meanwhile, Penny sprayed ice over the whole group, trying to slow them down. 

I picked the weakest of the encirclement, and the second his wound began to bubble with healing, I slapped a hand against him and used absorb to rip the healing away. Then I followed up with a [Triple Breach] that punched through his armor on the second strike and a [Shadow Claw] that impaled him and ripped his stomach along with his armor wide open. Seeing the gap, I used [Shadow Ambush] to appear behind the caster in the center and use [Discharge], immediately stopping her next spell in its tracks. 

My blades went to work as [Shadow Arm] and [Mana Burn] latched on to her.

The Naga all turned around, eight swords coming down at me from every angle as I twisted and used [Earth Stomp] to stop three of them and dodge the other five inside the guard of those three before using [Dodge] and slipping out into the range of those that had just attacked.

Trying to use my abilities and weave between the encirclement was pushing even my enhanced speed to its limits. But I only needed to last a few seconds longer.

Their attacks continued hard and fast. In the midst of eight swinging swords I couldn’t dodge them all.

I burned [Elemental Shield] as well as a [Shadow Phase] and a healing potion before I slapped a [Mana Implosion] on the healer in the center.

The other Naga were furious that I had hit their healer, and several abilities activated as they tried to snuff me out before I could do any more damage. But there wasn’t much they could do.

The damage was already done.

I took several blows and used the force behind them to launch myself out of the encirclement, suffering a fair number of wounds from my actions. But it didn't matter as what came next finished the fight.

[Mana Implosion] collapsed inside the healer's chest before blossoming into a rippling blue wave that ripped through the surrounding naga. They went sprawling, covered in wounds.

Penny didn't let the opportunity go to waste. Her great sword found and cleaved through three weakened naga just a moment later. Her ice sprayed over the group as I caught my breath, waiting for another healing potion.

I could already tell my work here was done as Penny pirouetted with her great sword before bringing it down in a horizontal slash that finished off the last of the male naga. 

The second she finished and confirmed their death, she spun around on me so quickly that her hair splayed out in every direction. Her face was awash with concern.  "Are you okay, Ken?" She rushed up and put a hand on my chest, looking me over. 

"Fine. We have to hurry," I waved away any concern. I could have used [Liminal Space], but I was fairly certain I could take the hits and didn't want to waste the stacks I had gained. Even now, purple lightning raced from my fingertips and down along my arms, converging on my back before spilling down my legs, wrapping around my entire body. 

Penny fished out a healing potion of her own and shoved it in my hands. "Drink it. We're heading back towards the stairs. No arguing." she said firmly. 

"I've already chugged one.” I told her.

Penny scowled at me, "And you look like that. Do you realize how pissed off Crimson's going to be if I return you in that state?" 

I chuckled. "You make it sound like I'm a used library book." 

Penny paused, assessing it and chuckling herself. "Perhaps there are some similarities. I'm sure Des would agree." 

"Yeah, we should keep you and Des apart. She's having far too much influence on you." I clicked my tongue as more Naga appeared. "But I think you're right, we need to keep moving back the way we came." 

Penny beamed as I agreed with her plan, the next Naga group pulling itself more fully into our view. This one looked even stronger than the last. I noticed three female Naga amongst their number. And as soon as they saw us, they snapped into a square formation, putting the women in the center. 

"Do they just send the weak ones out first?" Penny scoffed. 

"Don't you know how it's done, Penny? You send the weak ones to soften everyone up and clear the way of nuisance. And then you come in with the main fighters later." I took a check with my CID, noting they were all level 43. "Keep them chasing you, I'll come in from the sides." 

I popped the stopper off of Penny's potion and chugged it down before wiping my lips and zipping away with [Liminal Speed] that was already beginning to decay.

Penny wore a frustrated expression as she pulled her sword back in front of her, facing down the Naga. She used her longer-ranged frost spells to get their attention.

I moved a bit too quickly, driven by the desire to stop the decay of my [Liminal Speed]. I reached the back of one Naga and only managed to land one hit before my second was blocked.

The Naga on either side of the one I had struck had already turned to defend him. Protective bubbles of water and even a wall of mud halted my continued assault.

But that didn't matter, with the decay of my stack stopped, I zipped away, only to come in from the other side, harassing the Naga on either flank. 

In rapid succession, I used my speed to my fullest advantage. My harassment was mostly ineffective at injuring the Naga, but it kept them in formation and slowly whittled away at the caster's mana as they were forced to heal and protect the fighters that had encircled them.

A moment later, Penny called down more and more spikes of frost, keeping ahead of them as she harassed them from the front. 

The Naga had nearly come to a complete stop between our two assaults. When they failed to lock me down with shackles of ice and pits of mud, they seemed to begin arguing amongst each other. The formation cracked as some wanted to rush Penny, while others wanted to focus on defending against me.

I quickly slipped into that crack and slashed at the healers, dumping all of my skills in rapid succession.

The other two reacted quickly enough to save the female Naga’s life, and I had to jump out with [Shadow Ambush] targeting Penny, as their formation snapped back together, nearly trapping me inside. 

I panted beside Penny. Rushing around this much would wear me out quickly.

Yet we started again and kept leading them back towards the stairs, doing a great job at stalling for time.

The more [Liminal Speed] I built up, the greater the chance that I could simply take them down the next time their formation faltered. Penny snapped a wordless salute as she sprayed more frost over the naga.