A brief bit of exploration revealed the loot room. Unsurprisingly, it took some under-lava swimming to find the crevice leading into the small cavern. They had plenty of lava resistance potions to go around, and also a hefty supply of ingredients to make more, so they were at no risk of running out.

The chest was fancier than many Zoey had seen. Maybe that was because they were working into higher advancements. Third was already considered impressive, above the 'average' wayfarer's rank.

It sat on the far edge of the room, resting against the edge of a shallow moat of lava. Tendrils of smoke rose lazily from its surface, giving the air a sulfurous tang, stronger even than the previous rooms. The container itself was a large, ornately carved stone sarcophagus, eight feet long and four wide. Diagrams adorned its sides, images of the many monsters they'd fought to reach this point. The lid held a mural of the boss monster, his looming figure made all the more intimidating by the intricate craftsmanship.

Without ceremony, Rosalie gripped the heavy stone top and pushed it sideways, cracking open the box and revealing a familiar black portal. She reached in, groping around for their first reward.

Out came a small white container about the size of Rosalie's hand. Zoey's initial impression was a jewelry box. Which inspired some excitement, considering all the fun 'jewelry' they had earned in prior adventures.

But it didn't seem to be that. Rosalie cracked open the white container to reveal four silver objects nestled within the soft fabric. The team crowded around, each of them trying to get a look. Zoey's brow furrowed, not able to identify what the items were right away. At least, not using her eyes. So she relied, of course, on the supernatural method.

The description popped into her head.

 

Zipper: A zipper.

 

Zoey blinked.

"That's helpful," Delta said dryly.

"I don't think I've ever seen an item description so vague," Maddy said. She gently took one of the four silver zippers from the box and held it up to look at it more closely. Zoey did the same, as did Delta and Rosalie. Four, so one for each of them. But there wasn't much to say. They were just … small silver zippers. With no official item description to give them an explanation, Zoey had no idea what they were supposed to be used for.

"Oh," Delta said suddenly. "Ha. I bet I get it."

"You do?" Zoey asked.

"Maybe."

Reaching forward, Delta placed the zipper she had taken onto the neckline of Rosalie's bodysuit.

Zoey understood Delta's theory just as the foxgirl put it to the test.

With a yank, she jerked the silver zipper downward. The zipper magically spread Rosalie's bodysuit open, splitting the suit down the middle. Her breasts spilled free, no longer crammed in by the magical suit, jiggling as they were suddenly exposed. Zoey's heart jumped, the suddenness of the reveal making the sight that much lewder.

"H-Hey," Rosalie protested in shock, eyes shooting open. Her hands flew up to cover her bare chest. "What do you think you're doing?!" she demanded of the foxgirl.

Delta laughed delightedly, either at Rosalie's reaction or that her theory had turned out correct. "What does it look like? Setting those prisoners free." She batted Rosalie's hands away and cupped Rosalie's freed breasts, giving them an appreciative squeeze, then bouncing them up and down. She shot a grin at Zoey, as much putting on a show as she was enjoying herself. "I've missed these puppies. They needed to breathe. I could hear them complaining."

"Do you mind?" Rosalie protested, fleeing from Delta's excited hands.

Delta, unsurprisingly, wasn't deterred. She stepped forward, hand darting out again, to, in another smooth motion, finish yanking the zipper all the way down to Rosalie's crotch. The suit split wide, exposing Rosalie's toned stomach and her pussy—completing Delta's mission of baring the girl.

Rosalie danced away, getting a safe distance from her assailant, covering herself with both hands. "Delta! Seriously!"

"What? It's a neat item," Delta laughed. "I'm just testing it out."

Rosalie huffed loudly, eying the foxgirl as she kept her distance. With a struggle, she pulled on the zipper, trying to seal herself back inside the skintight material. It took some effort—and provided quite the show—as she tugged and wriggled, her curves bouncing as she crammed herself into the unforgiving, restrictive embrace of the latex bodysuit. The zipper strained to travel upward, but eventually, with some force, she managed.

Reaching the top of her neckline, her bodysuit once again in proper order, Rosalie pulled the zipper away, magically separating from the material entirely, leaving it as seamless and smooth as it had begun.

Delta wore a shit-eating grin, tail swishing side to side excitedly.

"Couldn't you have tested that on yourself?" Rosalie huffed, eying her.

"Yeah, but that was way more fun." Delta snorted. "Besides, it's not like we can't already see everything, princess. I mean, seriously." She cupped her own breasts and bounced them. "These suits don't hide anything. Having them on is almost lewder than not."

Zoey was inclined to agree. The magical latex left nothing to the imagination. Every dip and curve of their bodies was on full display—and even highlighted thanks to the glossy designs. It was especially bad in Zoey's case.

"And your girlfriend liked the show," Delta said, smirking as she gestured with a pointed thumb at Zoey's crotch. "She gave me implied permission."

Rosalie turned her glare to Zoey, then her swelling cock, instead.

Zoey coughed. She definitely had not condoned Delta's actions, but neither was she complaining. A flustered Rosalie was—and would always be—something she couldn't get enough of. She and Delta had that in common.

"Anyway," Zoey said, deflecting. "The zippers are how we take the suits off, then?" Because they had been completely glued to their skin up to this point. Which was a problem Zoey had forgotten would need solving, up until the solution had been dropped into their lap. "You think that means we get to keep them?'

Rosalie eyed Zoey for a second longer, then shook her head in exasperation. "As loot, you mean?" she said. "Probably."

Maddy made an appreciative noise. Delta's shenanigans had reddened her cheeks, but she made no comment on what had happened. "They're pretty good, too," she said. "The heat resistance effect is really strong. I'm sure we'll use it in some future shard."

"Not just in the shard," Delta said. "They'll be fun in the bedroom, too."

The three of them looked at her. The foxgirl rolled her eyes.

"What? Zoey might have gotten to play with all the features, but I haven't. I want to test that stretchiness, too."

Zoey wouldn't mind 'stress-testing' the suits a few more times, either. So she sympathized with the fox girl's point.

"Perverts," Rosalie muttered. "Can I loot in peace, please?"

"Oh, fine," Delta said. "But only because I'm curious what else we got."

Rosalie huffed, then walked back over to the sarcophagus, though she kept an eye on Delta as she did.

But Delta's attention had moved elsewhere. "Lemme see yours," Delta said, nudging Zoey and holding her hand out. "Blondie stole mine."

"And you're not getting it back," Rosalie huffed.

Zoey briefly considered whether she should hand over her zipper, but Delta pouted at her, which Zoey instantly caved to. She handed the item over.

Delta didn't waste time using it. Rosalie's hand was just reaching into the sarcophagus when a loud zipping noise drew Zoey's attention back—having looked away just for a second, curious to see what their next piece of loot would be.

The foxgirl had placed the magical zipper at her crotch and was slipping it up and down. Apparently, they could be placed anywhere, not just the neckline. The fabric between her legs parted, exposing her pussy, then zipped back up, covering it again. Zoey's heart jumped at the lewd sight, just as it had when Rosalie's body had been unexpectedly put on display.

 Delta grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Look," she said, continuing to pull the zipper up and down, her pussy appearing and disappearing from view. "Easy access. Now isn't that convenient?"

Rosalie, hand frozen as she groped around inside the chest, stared at Delta in flustered shock—then she let out an exasperated sigh. "Please stay focused." Her blue eyes flicked to Zoey. "Stop trying to seduce her. We're in a hurry."

"But she hasn't fucked me once this shard!" Delta complained. "When you guys recruited me, you promised me I'd get her cock at least once per trip. And the mouth doesn't count."

"We did no such thing," Rosalie stammered, attention flicking to Maddy—as if she thought Maddy would actually believe Delta's ridiculous claim.

"Come on," Delta pouted, purple eyes only for Zoey. She slipped the zipper up and down. "Easy access? No takers? Seriously?"

Rosalie huffed, stepped forward, and yanked the zipper up, sealing Delta's pussy away. She pulled the silver item from her crotch and vanished it into her inventory.

"There'll be plenty of time for that when we get to Mantle, if you're so insatiable," she growled at the foxgirl. "You can wait one day."

"Plenty of it?" Delta asked, her demeanor shifting in an instant—as if she'd caught Rosalie in her trap. She smiled wickedly at the blonde. "No take-backs, now."

Rosalie's mouth opened and closed, then she shook her head and faced away. "Irritating woman."

Finally, Rosalie managed to pull out the next item without another interruption—probably only because she'd reclaimed both Zoey and Delta's zippers. Maddy still had hers, though, so Delta's attention turned her way, making the mage blink. Before Delta could cozy up to her and beg for the item, though, they were distracted.

From the inky black space, a strange artifact appeared. A hollow frame of metal shaped like a cube, with only the edges filled out.

 

Shard Stabilizer: Fill with energy to reduce divine influence upon shard formation.

 

Delta's teasing dried up, simply because of interest. "Huh?" she asked, leaning forward in fascination. "Stabilizer? What does that mean?"