To start the two distinct battles, I issue an order to Sam. She’s much more liable to act out on her own if I don’t put my foot down as soon as possible. “I don’t want you fighting too aggressively, Princess. You’re at a disadvantage on your own, and you should try to focus on drawing this out until Meri and Zutiria finish with their opponent.”

Watching her expression to gauge her response, Sam grits her teeth and nods almost imperceptibly. One thing is clear, though. She’s not happy about it. I can tell she wants to just throw caution to the wind and do this battle her own way.

Sam stands there with sword drawn, staring down her enemy and looking for an opportunity to advance. The enemy Elf takes this chance to throw some distracting insults Sam’s way. “What’s the matter, bitch? Gotta stand still while your man tells you what to do?”

The Lundreame Princess almost loses it, tightening her hold on the hilt of her sword. “I can beat your fucking ass if I wanted to! Maybe I’ll fucking-”

“SAM,” I yell, snapping her attention back to me and away from the distraction. “This isn’t about whether or not you can defeat her on your own. We both know you’re more than capable of it,”

The fiery Princess’s cheeks begin blushing at my comment, yet I go on. “This is about efficiency and not overexerting yourself halfway through the dungeon. You have two choices. Are you going to trust my advice, or are you going to let someone literally named ‘Right Hoe’ get the best of you?”

Sam closes her eyes for little more than a moment and inhales sharply. When she opens them, a cocky smile spreads across her face. I have my answer.

“I’m going to focus on the others, now. I’ll still be watching you and will resume contact if I need to. I trust you to not give me a reason to need to.”

“Got it!” She says under her breath, continuing to stare down her Elven opponent.

I switch my attention back to the situation with Meri and Zutiria to see that the Shield Maiden has clung very close to Lemira in the short time I was focusing on Sam. She’s using her buckler form to harass the villainess, swinging her sword and never giving Lemira enough room to fully swing her whip or a chance to change targets towards the defenseless Mage.

“Back off, bitch!” The dark-skinned Whiplasher shouts, continually trying to put in enough distance between her and the Shield Maiden to use her whip to its full potential.

“Never!” Meri’s doing exactly what I wanted her to do without me even having to ask. She’s undoubtedly skilled when it comes to staying in her lane. The only problem with this is that her specific lane can be an enormous drain on her stamina. Meri isn’t even using any Arts besides Blunt Edge, but her meter keeps dropping bit by bit just from maintaining this assertive pace.

Zutiria needs to get back in action as soon as she can, or this tactic isn’t going to remain viable for much longer. Meri can’t afford to be super aggressive while wearing such heavy armor, and there won’t be any time to take a stamina potion.

I call out to the Mage to see what her status is, saying, “Zutiria, how are you feeling? Not to put too much pressure on you, but Meri needs you right now.”

‘I know. I need another minute or so...’ The petite girl sits huddled in the back corner away from the battle, resting and trying to regain her strength. ‘Unless you want me to use the Wishing Star on something?’

“No. Best to save that for Pimpington.”

‘I figured...’

Lemira is growing impatient, but there’s a glimmer in her eye that makes me think she knows the situation better than she’s letting on. “Can’t keep this up forever,” She taunts. “You’re already sweating like crazy, little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl- I-I’m an adventurer!” Meri fires back with stubbornness, stabbing forward with her piercing blade but narrowly missing.

“Don’t let her get to you, Meri. I just had this talk with Sam...”

Lemira is amused by Meri’s answer. A sinister look begins to form in her eyes as the woman starts pooling her energy into the chains dangling from her wrist. “And how’s the adventuring life treating you, hmm?”

“B-Better than it ever treated YOU!” Meri stamps her foot down, ready to intercept whatever Art the villainous woman is about to unleash next.

“Give it time. You’re still young. Assuming you make it out of here alive, there’s plenty of time for the Association to fuck you over. And believe me- they will. You’ll bend, and you’ll break, until finally... you’ll fall.”

“I... don’t... fall,” Meri’s eyes narrow, her stance grows wider as if she were trying to plant her feet into the ground. “I. Stand. FIRM!” The Shield Maiden loudly declares, challenging the Whiplasher to try and prove her wrong.

Lemira takes Meri up on that challenge almost immediately, letting loose a seemingly ordinary lash of her whip that turns out to be anything but. I was quite suspicious of how straightforward the attack seemed to be, but I couldn’t put my finger on any specific Art it could be before it’s too late.

The chains change direction midway before the attack can land on the center of Meri’s steel chest plate. Instead, it begins slithering through the air like it was a living snake. Lemira’s weapon coils itself tight around the Shield Maiden’s left leg, perfectly capturing it in her grasp.

My reference book informs me that this Art is called Slippery Serpent, and it’s used primarily for deceptive movements such as the one we just witnessed. This attack doesn’t seem like such a threat considering Meri’s class and her abilities, but just to be safe...

“Don’t panic- do what you do best!” Giving Meri the only advice I believe she needs to hear, I watch the battle unfold with bated breath.

“Are you sure she’ll be alright, Myaster...?” Snow asks me, a worried lilt carrying her voice.

“Yes. This sort of standoff is what Meri was made for. Just watch.”

Lemira made a tactical oversight. As hard as she brings herself to pull, the Henchwoman can’t make the armored girl budge even an inch. She tries her hardest, too, veins nearly popping out of her strained biceps as she doubles her efforts. “Gods, how much do you weigh, fatass?!” Lemira shouts in an attempt to throw the Shield Maiden off-balance one way or another.

“Enough to stand firm!” Meri spits back, undeterred.

Annoyance grows on the dark-skinned woman’s face, and her eyes narrow. “Guess I got no other choice, then...” Lemira’s power rises within her body, increasing her arms’ strength by swelling the muscles inside. “TRY AND STAND FIRM... N-NOW!!”

She looks strained by the use of this general Art, and I’m not surprised. It doesn’t fit her class at all. It’s suitable for the occasional powered-up whip strike, I’m sure, but not for an extended effort like this...

Yet, it pays off for her as Meri starts to slide in place. Rather than showing any panic, the Shield Maiden remains calm and uses her enemy’s tactic to her own advantage. Meri plays up her resistance, but as soon as she sees an opportunity, the timid brunette runs forward into the pull’s direction. Her yellow bow and short, curly locks flop behind her from the wind as she dashes with everything she’s got.

“Stupid bitch!” Lemira smirks, having wanted this outcome all along. Somehow, she pulls out a knife from behind her out of her bikini. The mini-boss prepares to cut Meri’s throat, the speed seemingly putting her on a direct collision course with Lemira’s knife.

Meri has other plans, switching out her buckler for her tower shield at the last second. Had she delayed even a second later, it would’ve all been over. But true to her word, she doesn’t fall.

The Shield Maiden tackles Lemira into the shelf lining the wall, an avalanche of sexual products falling off and buffeting the two of them. Now straddling the Henchwoman, Meri curls her left hand into a fist and punches the defenseless Whiplasher square in the face with all of her might. “YOU THINK IT’S FUNNY TO MAKE FUN OF SOMEONE ELSE’S WEIGHT, HUH?! N-NOW WHO’S LAUGHING, B... BITCH!!”

“AGH!! YOU FUCKING-” Lemira’s taunt is stopped short by Meri punching her in the nose. “NNGHAAHH!!” Steel Soul lowers the blow’s power, but Meri doesn’t let up. She pummels Lemira a total of five times, blood finally starting to drip steadily from her nostrils by the end of it.

Unfortunately, Lemira’s strength comes back to her thanks to the adrenaline. Using an emergency application of Slippery Serpent, the Whiplasher grapples her chains onto the warehouse rafters above. By retracting the whip like a winch, she pulls herself out from under Meri.

“Fuck, you almost had me...!” Lemira groans as she dangles from the ceiling, swaying to and fro. “Not bad, not bad... I’ll admit, you’re a decent fighter, but-”

Despite how good of a girl Meri is by nature, she’s still picked up the number one lesson I’ve been trying to teach the three of them. Don’t let your enemy start monologuing. If they start trying to taunt, strike. “ZU! GET HER!” The weary adventurer shouts to her magical partner on the other end of the bottom aisle.

‘Just in time... I should be steady enough to finish this, Sir...’ Zutiria hops up from her spot on the ground and flutters out the wrinkles from her dress. She’s looking much better than she did a minute ago, that’s for sure. 

“Do what you need to do,” I give Zutiria the confirmation to attack however she wants. Together with a very excited Snowball by my side, we watch the Black Mage unleash all hells upon Left Hoe. Lemira’s so exposed that it’s almost a wonder she didn’t consider this possibility...

Without missing a beat, the Mage aims her staff at the vulnerable enemy above. As mana surges through the Mage’s body and into her staff, Zutiria opens her mouth and quietly chants, “Cyclotex.”

The wind bends to Zutiria’s will as she enforces her spell unto reality. A large, mystically-charged green tornado forms around Lemira’s body, spiraling around her with violent ferocity. Around and around it goes, putting the Whiplasher through the wringer. She quickly gets wrapped up in her own chains while screaming for her life, but Zutiria isn’t done yet.

As sweat begins to form and her arm begins to shake, the Mage continues with her spellcasting. It’s a minor spell, but what she does with it ends up costing more than it usually would. “Carriem,” Zutiria says as she forces hundreds of dildoes to glide off of the warehouse shelves and launch themselves like arrows, bombarding the Henchwoman with the force of an endless army of archers.

Lemira cries out in pain as the cock-arrows pierce the windstorm and attack her repeatedly. The Whiplasher’s Steel Soul can’t protect her from just how many projectiles there are, especially since Zutiria is doing damn well sure each attacking missile is shot off with strong power behind it.

Zutiria’s mana goes down all the way to one-fourth thanks to both of these spells, but by the time the tornado clears up, Lemira has long since stopped screaming. She falls to the ground several feet away from the armored girl, dildoes raining from the sky so hard that Meri has to raise her shield out of self-defense.

“You did it...!” Meri smiles at her magical friend, taking out a stamina potion to drink before rushing off to help Sam.

‘No, WE did it. You were very cool, Meri.’ Zutiria hobbles towards the brunette, weakly using her staff as a crutch as she moves along.

The young girl smiles, blushing as a result of her friend’s compliment. I hope Meri is feeling proud of herself because I’m impressed she handled that battle so well without much guidance from me. While putting all her hopes on Zutiria being recovered was risky, it proved to work out in Meri’s favor. Snow was right. I should have relaxed and trusted that they could handle it...

“Nicely done, you two. The enemy is out cold.” I verify for the adventurers by zooming in the screen close to Lemira, seeing that she’s covered in sex toy-related injuries all over her exposed, dark-skinned body. She definitely doesn’t look like she’ll be getting up any time soon. “Zutiria, drink a mana potion and take another short rest while Meri goes to help Sam.”

‘Can do,’ the tired Mage nods her head agreeably and yawns, but not before pointing her staff at the wall of ice she created and undoing the spell. Zutiria then lays down on the floor to take a quick nap, her body surely needing a small chance to recuperate. Snow looks a little confused over the Mage’s situation, and I make a note to tell her about it when I find the time.

Letting out a tiny burp after chugging down the stamina potion in an effort to get going as fast as possible, Meri rushes up to the topmost aisle. Her armor clanking with every step, Sam’s back up is on its way.

That’s one half of the battle done, now, onto the next...