155 Not So Jawsome Way to Go

I certainly haven't expected to run into a humongous shark with freaky tentacles coming out of its ass when coming here but it's not like we have any other options than to face it now. The massive creature floats in front of the gap in the gate behind it and regards our group with a calculative glance. It seems that the gummy feelers aren't the only thing it takes after its aquatic cousin. We might need to put some effort into dealing with its smarts too.

The scary shark-octopus hybrid turns towards the nearest target and compresses its body into itself. In a flash, it smacks all of its tentacles to the back while pushing itself forward like a jellyfish. Seeing a shark use weird movements like that is a sight that's equally as terrific as it is comedic.

But, we don't exactly have time to be focusing on such aspects as the angry predator lunges at Cir, who is in front of the three other Mermaids. It rushes forward like a bullet, leaving a trail of bubbles on its path. Its merciless jaws snap open and it takes a swing at the surprised matron.

Before it sinks its sharp teeth in her, though, a rounded wall of ice suddenly comes into existence right between the two and the Lusca slams into the cold surface so hard that its elastic body turns into a pancake for a fraction of a second. No matter how distressed my beautiful magician wife is, she never completely loses her cool in the middle of a fight and I send a warm smile at Cornelia, whose still-pale forehead is tensed from focus.

The monster regathers itself before any of us manage to squeeze in a follow-up to Cornelia's spell and it smacks its tentacles a bunch of times to increase the distance between itself and everyone else. In the meantime, we spread out a little more, taking positions at all angles and in all directions, making sure that it gets a headache while trying to keep up with our numbers.

Meru shows off her incredible battle sense and skill by sneaking on the Lusca from its blind spot and jabbing at it with her trident. Contrary to our expectations, the sharp middle spike of her weapon doesn't go through the creature's gummy body like through cotton candy and instead causes a small cave-in before sliding to the side over the surprisingly tough scales. The monster responds instantly and spins around, slapping Meru away with its tentacles, sending my fierce mate spinning to the back.

It doesn't get to rush after her as piercing, high-pitched sound waves hit it from the side, clearly throwing the monster into distress as its entire frame pulses and twitches frantically under the assault of the loud noise. Fei keeps floating not that far from it while releasing an offensive song from her powerful throat, which is closer to a melodic but also deadly scream of a single vowel. We can literally see the water ripple alongside the note as it crashes into the Lusca.

Safi and Emi need no orders to take action and they slither through the water in their true forms, wiggling threateningly as two giant blobs of sapphire and emerald slime. Fei halts her attack the very moment they latch onto the aquatic beast and start swallowing it together, covering the Lusca with their jelly bodies. A quiet sizzling noise reaches our ears and we can see the scales and skin touching their slime being eroded bit by bit.

A pained roar shakes the hall we are all in as the not-so-poor monster writhes in agony. No one else makes any moves, leaving the fight to my two charming Slime ladies, not wanting to accidentally hurt them in the process. We don't just watch and do nothing, though. We keep exchanging thoughts and preparing the next steps in case it won't end this easily.

And, unfortunately, it would have been too good to be true.

The Lusca starts spinning around its own axis faster and faster, becoming something akin to a detached propeller from a wind turbine. Its oblong body rotates quickly enough to turn into a smudge and all of its tentacles are extended outside as far as they can, threatening anyone who dares to swim close to them with a mighty slap if not something worse.

The centrifugal force is too much for our two amazing Slimes and they don't manage to overcome it in the end, gradually getting flung off the beast's skin bit by bit. More of their slime uncovers the monster until almost none of it remains around their cores still somehow glued to the scales. But, sensing the incoming danger, Safi and Emi retreat their hearts too and start recollecting their viscous bodies on the side.

I wave at the four Mermaids to wait a moment, noticing that they start preparing something, and we bring our own plan into motion. Cornelia stops chanting the spell she has been holding onto from the moment the Lusca started spinning and finishes the last bit. Her hazelnut eyes gain a cerulean glow as she joins her hands in a weird sign. Five serpents of frost circle her limbs and tummy each and then shoot forward.

Just as the monster turns to us, it notices the flashing streaks of energy flowing towards various points around it and tries to follow them with its ferocious eyes. They stop after forming a pentagonal shape and shine brightly with white light, causing us to squint. Scary-looking ice bursts out of these five positions and begins swallowing the Lusca whole, not leaving it any room to run away.

As expected, thanks to the fact that we are under the water, Cornelia's magic does its job in a blink and the elusive shark ends up encased in tough, magical ice that forms a see-through block with a pentagon as its base in the very middle. We smile at each other as Cornelia exhales heavily after ensuring that the spell finished properly.

"Good job. As I thought, having someone with Ice Magic on board was the correct decision," I praise her, patting my amazing wife on the shoulder.

"I admit that it might make things a little bit easier." She chuckles with a proud smirk. "I feel almost invincible in the water. My magic is so strong that I'm afraid of it getting out of control at one point."

~We just need to make use of opportunities like this to let you practice as much as we can.~ Neira floats up next to us with a gentle smile.

"Its skin is so tough. Even Sirgia's trident wasn't able to pierce it," Meru comments after getting near us too. "What are we going to do with it now? We can't just leave it be, right? The ice won't seal it forever."

"Yeah. Since it's magically created, I will have to supply it with mana for it to retain its enhanced properties. Otherwise, it can even start chipping off by itself. I can fill it up with energy to a certain extent, ensuring that the consistency remains for a while, but without me around, there will be no way to support it any furth—"

A loud crack interrupts Cornelia as she gives us an explanation of how her magical ice works. We all turn our faces to the floating sculpture and strain our eyes to watch the incapacitated shark with great attention. And, right in front of us, another cracking noise travels through the spacious chamber as a small chink appears in the ice on the inside of the block.

"Ummm… I don't want to be the sceptical one, but are we sure that it's going to hold?" Yun chuckles wryly.

"Ah shit. Things just never go according to the plan, do they?" I snicker while shaking my head.

More and more fractures begin damaging the structure of the ice prison, appearing on the inside and heading towards the outer edges. As one of them actually reaches the end of the frozen water, a loud whistling and hissing sound escapes into the surroundings as something looking like hot, steaming gas gushes out of the tiny hole.

"Take cover!" Cornelia shouts and I hastily pull the girls near us into a hug, turning around to protect them with my own back.

A moment later, a powerful explosion quakes the entire place and sends me hurtling away from its source. I grunt as countless little, jagged pieces graze and bite into my skin while the four of us keep spinning without control until we slam into the far end of the hall. I hastily open my arms and check on Cornelia, Neira, and Meru. They all seem fine, just a little shaken.

"Everybody alright?" I shout back towards the spot we've all been in, quickly turning around to see the aftermath.

My eyes find Safi and Emi on the side, stretched over the three Mermaid scouts like a bi-coloured protective layer. Plenty of ice chunks are lodged in their joined slime and a few smaller, sharper projectiles have clearly breached their defensive shield, but the girls seem to have only minor scratches over their soft skin. My brave Slime ladies don't look injured either and I don't sense any pain from them through our bond.

Unfortunately, Cir wasn't as lucky and she had to deal with the intense blast solely on her own. She has many more tiny cuts and a few growing blemishes where bigger pieces of ice hit her. A very noticeable trail of blood escapes from between her fingers as she presses them into her side, trying to stop the bleeding. A pained grimace twists her ladylike face.

As for the culprit behind that sudden explosion, the Lusca floats ominously in the middle of a sizzling cloud of what seems to be an escaping steam. It releases angry growls while staring right back at us as the water bubbles in contact with its scales all around, creating a weird, blurry effect near its figure.

Cornelia groans behind me, rubbing her forehead. "Fuck… That bastard's ink just has to have a strong reaction with water and MY ice specifically…"

~What was that?~ Neira asks, regathering her wits too.

"No idea but whatever it releases makes the ice hot enough to melt and boil after getting in contact with it. The air and water that accumulated inside shattered the prison into pieces. Talk about bad luck," Cornelia answers.

"Shouldn't the pressure have killed it in the process?" Meru furrows her brows.

"Fucker's endurance is just impossible," I growl to the side. "This is going to be a real pain in the ass."

The Lusca stops sniffing the water around it and finally locates the sweet scent of blood, snapping its attention to the Mermaid matron.

"She won't be able to fend it off in her current state!" I shout to the girls.

~I'll be the bait, you help her, Alastair,~ Neira replies and swims closer to place a kiss on my cheek, taking off her breathing artefact for a brief moment.

Before I get to question her about anything, she summons her own magic and takes control of the water around her body, creating strong currents. She brings a small knife out of her spatial storage and creates a long cut on her left forearm. We watch her speed forward with grace and incredible agility while leaving a trail of blood behind her.

It's too late for me to talk her out of it so I rush towards Cir just as Neira reaches the monster. It ignores her for a moment but switches its attention to my clever wife after she swims right in front of its ugly nose. The tasty scent must be impossible to resist as it decides to chase after her as if its entire existence depends on catching the pretty Elf and tearing her to shreds.

"Alastair… Ugh…" Cir winces as I get to her.

"Shush. Save your words. Drink this and be on the lookout. I'll heal you up in a moment." I give her one of the healing potions I keep in my ring and move closer, placing a hand on the gash on her side.

It would be great if I could bring Elea's healing magic in to help me but I need to keep the skill locked on Meru's ability if I want to remain useful in this fight. I do have a spare breathing artefact but my mobility would be greatly reduced. Thankfully, the potion our alchemist team prepared, paired with my decently powerful Rejuvenate, should suffice.

While the wound slowly closes and regenerates, we watch as the mad shark swims in circles all around the huge chamber in an attempt to snack on Neira. She stays focused all the time, not giving it any chances to put even a scratch on her, which certainly makes the hungry beast even more enraged.

The others try their best to fit in an attack or two during those wide laps, being careful not to inconvenience the brave Dark Elf using herself as bait. That crosses out the more powerful techniques but Meru still uses a few weapon skills to stab and slash at the monster whenever possible. She is able to put some shallow cuts in it that way but doesn't manage to make any meaningful progress in taking the Lusca down.

What an unbelievable monstrosity. Kraken seems like nothing in front of it. At least according to the legends from this world.

Cornelia and Fei throw their attempts in too, with the former hurling various ice projectiles at the creature and disturbing its swimming path with numerous deadly obstacles, while the latter throws it off the course with her loud, mesmerising voice attacks. I'm glad that the magical noise doesn't seem to hurt us as much as the target of her techniques. It certainly looks painful each time the Lusca is hit with it.

"I'm alright now. Thank you." Cir's voice brings me out of my thoughts and I glance up at her strained smile.

"Wait a little longer. I'm almost done. I can still feel how much you hurt by just coursing my mana through your muscles. No need to act tough, they can handle themselves for a while," I reply, squeezing her shoulder with my free hand.

"Alright." She nods appreciatively. "But we can't keep this up forever. The others are bound to grow tired if not exhausted. We need to deal with this monster once and for all quickly."

"If that happens, I'll just reinvigorate them with my skill. I'm much stronger than I look. I can support them for days. No one is getting seriously hurt on my watch." I find her beautiful eyes and gaze into them confidently. "Although, you might find it hard to believe after I failed to protect you."

She lets out a quiet, lady-like chuckle as a pretty smile curls the corners of her luscious lips up. "It was my own fault. I saw how you protected your companions and how your friends defended my subordinates. I don't doubt your prowess. You are a Primordial in the end, both in boy and in mind."

Well, there might be something to that. From what we've heard up until now, most of the Primordials were quite kind and protective of others, especially from different races than them. If I'm going to take a guess, it might possibly be because of their own quite horrific experiences with the evil twin goddess and how she played with them. It wouldn't be a surprise if they wanted no more people to experience such cruelty, perhaps becoming even overly kind.

But, we can think about that another time. Right now, we have an enraged shark-octopus thing making our lives unnecessarily harder. Unfortunately, it either isn't a female or its resistances are completely bonkers since the pure effects of my Class aren't affecting it in the slightest. Or perhaps the Lusca is too much of a monster to get seduced by me, though the ancient Primordials did have to fuck quite a few monstrous entities to create some more interesting races inhibiting Naharren in the current age.

"Do you know anything useful about this monster?" I ask Cir while finishing treating her wound.

"It doesn't have many weak points from the outside, according to the legends. It's a menace and a true predator of these waters. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it brought the downfall of whatever race or civilization lived in these ruins," the matron answers.

"Perfect. We haven't even reached the Sahuagins and we are already facing a raid boss." I sigh softly.

"Raid boss?" She raises a brow at me.

"Nothing." I shake my head. "Any bright ideas, though?"

"Its inner flesh is definitely vulnerable, just like most of its orifices. It might be hard to wound its eyes or the roof of its mouth with both being dangerously close to its incredibly sharp teeth. The stories say that many fearless warriors lost their limbs attempting that."

I ponder over Cir's words, stroking my chin lightly. My gaze falls onto her tail, spotting a certain neatly masked spot somewhere midway through her aquatic appendage. Without looking into it with great attention, you wouldn't even know that it's there.

"Wait…" My brows rise as it dawns on me. "You said all orifices… Isn't there one that's quite far from its jaws? Like, right on the other end?"

"What are you—oh." A barely noticeable blush tinges Cir's noble cheeks. "There should be one. Though, it might not be as safe to approach as in the case of all the other fish since the Lusca does have its tentacles to defend it. I'm not even sure if it is located on its underside or somewhere amongst those."

"That's enough for me. It's time to end this."

"Wait."

Cir stops me and I'm suddenly pulled into a deep kiss, accepting not just her greedy tongue invading my mouth but also some kind of pleasant energy that flows down my throat, making me quite hot on the inside.

She breaks the kiss with a slightly more apparent flush. "This will make you immune to our songs. I'll regroup with Fei and we will do our best to immobilise it for as long as we can."

"Thank you." I smile at her warmly. "You taste amazing, by the way."

With a wink, I leave the pretty matron's side and rush back towards the battlefield. It's in as much chaos as it has been moments earlier. Neira remains elusive and impossible to capture, dancing through the water in all directions like a professional swimmer. Though, rather than her being good at swimming, it's more like she is just one with the water, using it to propel her body exactly how and where she wants.

"I'm joining in! Keep its attention off me and slow it down as much as you can!" I shout to everyone so that both my companions and the Mermaids get the message.

"What are you going to do?" Cornelia asks as I pass by her.

"Something you would definitely love me to do to you." I chuckle and continue ahead.

After a moment of confusion, she successfully finds traces of my plan in my thoughts and turns red in an instant.

"Pervert!"

I snicker once more at her embarrassed cry and close onto the flailing monstrosity. The Lusca's tentacles keep propelling it forward with strong thrusts. Thanks to its elastic body, it can change directions mid-lunge, not having to worry about its mass and acceleration. It's definitely a complex foe to fight, not to mention running away from it.

Even through her slightly flustered state, Cornelia still manages to aid me and sets a few perfectly placed obstacles on the shark's path, directing it exactly where I need it to be. Naturally, Neira is informed about their creation beforehand and makes proper adjustments to her manoeuvres.

Hiding behind one of the dense ice walls, I wait for the perfect moment. The beast swims next to me and suddenly gets smacked by Meru's trident from below, hit straight in its pointy nose. She follows it up with a spin and a mighty hit from her tail, sending the monster barrelling towards the other frozen obstruction. It looks like hitting one of those mushy stress-relief toys with a baseball bat in mid-air and I barely stop myself from laughing at the sight.

Speeding after the ugly creature, I catch up to it shortly after it crashes into the block of ice. Trying to quickly verify if our new plan has any chances of success, I get myself under the monster's belly and scan its surface with my eyes. Since what I'm looking for might be slightly camouflaged like in Cir's case, I brush my palms over its skin and scales too, grazing my fingers dangerously close to the place where its body changes from that of a shark into tens of wriggly tentacles.

An angry roar shakes the chamber and at least a dozen of those slimy, yucky appendages wrap themselves all around my torso and limbs. Immediately, the Lusca starts releasing its ink or whatever this unpleasant, acidic substance is called amongst its species, and my diving suit starts emitting sizzling noises.

Somehow, it turns out to be surprisingly durable as no holes show up immediately after the material comes in contact with the acid and only some of my uncovered skin gets burnt by it. Sirgia and our two amazing tailors must have gone to infinity and beyond to make outfits so durable and tough. I should have realised earlier that they wouldn't give us anything normal.

The fingers of my left hand brush over a slight change in the Lusca's slick underbelly but I'm yanked away from it by those annoying tentacles. No matter how much I struggle, they don't let me go. I try ripping them out with my decently OP strength but they just shrink and expand like some radioactive gummy worm.

Thankfully, the brave ladies from all around come to my aid.

Safi and Emi have formed that weird circular body-merge from the past and I watch them blast a ray of acid straight into the face of the shark-octopus, making it wince and growl. Smart of them to try to fight fire with fire. Cornelia keeps creating ice walls and blocks all around the overgrown fish with an obvious identity crisis, preventing the Lusca from running away and moving around in general.

Then, my lovely Neira shows up in front of the bastard with Nel and Yun by her sides, all of them bleeding from their arms. Their mixed blood flows right into the monster's ugly mug and throws it into some kind of frenzy. It lets out a mighty roar, loosening its grip on me ever so slightly.

I don't have to wait long for it to let me go completely as Cir and Fei join forces and begin a song at the same time, positioned on both sides of the massive creature. They hit it with a reverberating, shaking vowel each, which makes the monster growl in pain and thrash around. The restraints holding me back retract and I hastily get into position right under the bump I found a moment earlier, summoning the draconic hilt from my storage.

"I'm really sorry, Lilith. I swear to meticulously clean you up after we are done here." I kiss the purplish gem at the end of the hilt.

Not wasting any more time, I reel my right arm to the back and take aim upwards at a slight angle.

Placing my left hand just below the targeted hole, I smirk to myself. "Apologies, dear sir, but your prostate exam is long overdue. I'm afraid that this won't be very pleasant."

Thrusting my right arm forward with the strength of all my stats, I drive it straight into the Lusca's anus and sink the hilt deep in its fishy exhaust. Another roar full of anguish makes the walls tremble as I drive my limb into the quite sizable hole way past my elbow. Scrunching my face, I reaffirm my grip on the weapon and follow up with the next step of the plan.

Trying to bring up the most detailed and precise image of a big mace with long, devilishly serrated edges running all the way down the metal shaft in my mind, I infuse the artefact with lots of mana. I can feel it taking shape accordingly to my wishes and the Lusca wails again as something expands inside its anal cavity enough to press into all its walls.

"Should have not neglected your regular appointments." I snicker to myself and begin the torture.

Using all my strength again, I yank the weapon back towards myself, tearing out a new one for the ugly creature. The firmly lodged head of the diabolical mace scrapes, cuts, and blasts the insides of the poor fishie as I drag it almost to the very exit. Serpents of blood flow out of the widened hole when I reach the end.

"My apologies. I didn't get a good feel of that one. Let me try again."

With a wide smile forcing itself onto my lips, I thrust my arm back in, this time alongside the materialised weapon. The deadly serrated blades at the edges of the mace rip even more wounds inside the Lusca's rectum as they violently graze against the delicate inner flesh while going higher and deeper. Naturally, more wails and pained roars follow. Who wouldn't scream in agony under such circumstances?

In any way, I proceed with my enhanced fisting and repeatedly shove the hilt up the monster's asshole to do as much damage as I can. My girls wouldn't be the badasses they are if they didn't cash in on the given opportunity and they work together to take down the Lusca alongside me.

Cornelia creates two thick javelins of ice and swims closer to the screeching beast to push them into its open jaws when they reach the widest point of expansion. She sets them up on the sides of its teeth from the inside, placing them vertically. When the Lusca tries to close its jaws again, it impales itself on both of them and they stop it from finishing the movement like the pneumatic rods upholding the hood in modern cars.

Without any risk of getting bitten and torn into shreds, my fierce sharkgirl mate leans into the creature's ominous jaws and starts making soup from the roof of its mouth and its tongue with her gifted trident. Safi and Emi show up next to her and help her out by adding one more ingredient into the mix, one that easily melts the chunks and pieces their aquatic friend kindly prepares in the Lusca-themed bowl.

Seeing that the monstrosity is getting really desperate and defensive after sensing imminent danger to its life, our Mermaid supporters bring their songs from its sides once more, preventing it from doing anything stupid. Unfortunately, the force behind their voices vibrates so much that it shatters the ice javelins holding the Lusca's jaws open and they snap shut, thankfully without any of my companions between its teeth.

Although, this seems like a big mistake as the mix of blood, flesh, and powerful acid poured into those by my lovely Slime ladies flows deeper inside the monster's digestive system and causes heaps and loads of additional damage. The Lusca slowly loses its energy instead of getting even angrier and its movements gradually come to a stop.

As it freezes completely, I halt my fisting too and plop the mace out of its anus, unplugging the violated tunnel completely. A steady stream of blood and something else flows out and I hastily swim away to keep my distance from it. The Lusca then releases a deep rumble somewhere from within and flips upside down, starting to float up into the ceiling, where it stops and remains dead.

"Now, that was a shitty encounter." I chuckle, shaking my arm to get rid of the blood and other stains.

"You are not coming anywhere close to me with that arm for a week straight!" Cornelia announces with a grimace, increasing the distance between us.

Everyone else laughs softly and the two of us smile at each other.

"It's fully dead, isn't it?" Nel asks, poking the unmoving, bloated corpse of our enemy.

"I would still be careful. You saw what its ink can do. You can never know when it will leak out," Yun replies with a smirk as her friend jerks away in panic.

"What are we going to do with it now that it's dead?" Fei looks between the matron and me.

"Do you guys want to turn it into food or something?" I raise a brow at Cir.

"That is possible but we would like to offer its carcass to you since it was your group that has contributed the most in slaying this monstrosity." She nods politely at me and the girls. "We are receiving a lot from you and it would make us feel less uncomfortable for being unable to reciprocate that kindness."

"Yeah!" Fei instantly agrees alongside the other duo of Mermaids.

I glance between all of my girls and they shrug together. "Sure. We won't be impolite then and accept your gift. I bet Alyssa will love it."

Our side chuckles again while the Mermaids are unfortunately unable to get the joke.

"Leaving the corpse aside, what are our next steps?" Cornelia asks the fish ladies.

"I think we need to make sure that there are no surprises hiding in this underwater complex anymore. Even though I don't think that the Lusca would allow any other predators or even prey to live in its territory, it's better to be safe than sorry," the matron replies.

"I agree." Meru nods lightly. "This place is very nice to settle down after some initial work. We just need to patch the hole or turn it into a fortified entrance and you should be safe here. As long as there are no other breaches."

"You girls take a moment to rest and recover your strength while we bring the carcass to our ship," I suggest. "We will continue the exploration in half an hour. Everyone on board?"

The Mermaids nod respectfully and we do exactly that. While my women push the floating body of the Lusca down the hallways leading to the forcefully created entrance, I spend a moment revitalising Cir, Fei, Yun, and Nel. They smile at me appreciatively as my warm energy fills their bodies and the sweet Fei shows a fair blush while glancing at me with an upturned gaze. Her two friends grin and jab at each other with their elbows.

I leave the four beauties to take a short break, supplying them with some water-resistant jerky and a few waterskins filled with delicious cold tea. Rushing after my girls, I catch up with them just as they are trying to squeeze the Lusca through the narrow gap hiding the entrance to the cavern leading to the ruins.

They count to three and push the mushy body with all they have, forcing it past the thin crevice. Halfway through, the carcass squirts some blood and other substances out of its violated orifices and makes us all laugh maniacally at the farting sound it releases. Giggling like idiots, we somehow bring it out into the open waters, hoping that the faint trail of blood and less savoury liquids won't attract any unnecessary attention to the masked passage.

Seeing a massive shark monster the size of an orca emerge from between the waves causes some panic but we quickly inform Lianne to let everyone know that there's nothing to worry about. They quickly throw down lines and nets and we flip our prize onto them, tying everything together.

As expected, the moment the Lusca falls onto the deck, the captain almost faints again. This time though, Lianne is there to catch Alyssa and somehow keeps her conscious while giggling impishly. The rest of the crew is in awe at our prey and tens of questions rain on us as they examine the ugly monster.

The marine experts point out parts that might be valuable and we start taking our kill apart alongside the sailor women. Safi and Emi flow inside the Lusca and melt anything dangerous and already obliterated with their acidic slime, getting rid of the soup they have cooked with Meru earlier. They are careful not to damage the sack holding the monster's ink and soon emerge from its body with proud smiles, earning themselves lots of mana kisses and pats.

After we cut the shark-octopus in half from the inside, the rest happens in a flash. The ladies make sure to preserve its skin, scales, teeth, bones, and ink, of course. Most of the other elements are skillfully turned into preserved food or loaded into barrels to sell off for a nice price. The cooks already prepare an incredible meal from our game and we take some of it with us as we jump back into the water, returning to the Mermaids awaiting our presence.

Snacking on the tasty meat, our reunited group explores the remaining parts of the ruins while keeping our guards up. We don't find any other sleeping monstrosities, nor the Lusca's potential mate. Hopefully, it was a loser and didn't get to score a nice, ugly, octopus-wannabe lady.

There are also no other holes in the entire structure. We do stumble on a massive, sealed gate, most likely intended to be the main entrance to this place. They don't want to move easily and we can't see any special mechanism to operate them so we leave them be for now, deciding to focus on the breach made in the side edge of the complex.

With no danger in sight, we bring all the other Mermaids in and Cir starts giving out orders to her subordinates. The ladies spread out and form teams related to what their tasks are. Some of them know minor magic and such and thus we move with those able to manipulate earth and similar elements to seal the broken wall.

Instead of completely fixing it, we turn it into a revolving door which opens by pushing a specific rock on the concealed side and a certain brick from the inside. The entrance is almost impossible to recognize from the caverns so we shouldn't have to worry about someone finding it on their own. Of course, they will put some sentries down here to watch over it later.

When we return to the main hall, it's already completely changed. First of all, the surroundings are illuminated much better thanks to numerous glowing crystals in the walls. Not all the sconces and other holders are filled yet but the Mermaids brought out all the gems they had on themselves. Cir says that they will send people out to mine more tomorrow, just making the ruins habitable for today.

I swim around with the girls and we help the fish-tailed ladies whenever we can. They are very capable on their own, of course. It's also their new home so it's only natural that they decorate and customise it to their own liking. We just give them a hand with a thing or two. And, well, who can say no to being around dazzling, topless fish ladies with bright smiles?

After about three hours, we are kicked out of the ruins and invited to come back two hours later to celebrate their tribe finding a new place to settle down. We obediently escape back to the ship and spend some time with the crew, retelling our small adventure down in the depths many times. Lianne claps excitedly all the way through the story, listening to our tales with a wide smile.

When the time comes to return, we bid farewell to everyone and prepare to jump over the ship's side. Since Lianne is quite adamant about coming with us, we talk about it briefly and agree to take her this once since it should be safe now. She gets her own respiratory artefact and swallows the skin care pill. We observe her carefully while swimming back to the Mermaids to see if she will be fine this deep, but she takes everything like a champ, perhaps partially thanks to all the stats she is stealing from me.

We find the grand hall beautifully decorated with a myriad of tapestries, artsy materials and other elements. Stone tables have been set up with lots of food and drinks at the bottom, going in circles all around the central point. Some of the Mermaids prepared corners with musical instruments and are either playing slow, calming melodies or still tuning their beloved tools.

The big party starts a moment later and we join everyone in the obvious VIP spots next to the matron. Beautiful music plays as we snack on their offerings and chat casually. Many women swim to us to give their thanks for our help and protection. All in all, a warm and friendly atmosphere.

At least until it suddenly turns silent.

Cir floats up at the centre above all the tables. "My dear sisters. I hope you are enjoying yourselves during this grand feast meant to celebrate us finding a new home to settle in. I'm pretty sure you are aware that this moment of glory and happiness wouldn't have been able to exist if not for the benevolent help of our new benefactor, Alastair, and his women. I'm also sure that you, just like me, don't want to appear ungrateful in the face of such a blessing. Therefore, after discussing it with the elders of the tribe, we decided to pledge our allegiance to our new patron, the honourable Primordial Alastair! Let us now begin the Ritual of Fidelity!"

The mermaids cheer happily and start clapping with joy as we look around in slight confusion. A mesmerising, almost hypnotising tune starts playing as all the instruments work in tandem to bring out the best possible melodic experience.

My eyes move to the front as Fei swims up to me with a shy smile. Her entire Human half is decorated with beautiful patterns made with paint, perfectly accentuating her lithe figure and the alluring swell of her womanly charms. And that includes her girly mound too as I quickly notice that she lacks the panties all the Mermaids use to cover themselves down there.

Exchanging polite glances with the women sitting by my sides, she shares a nod with them and extends a hand to me. Giving them one last look, I take it and accompany the adorable Diva to the centre as we float up to the matron.

A slightly apologetic smile paints Cir's lips. "Normally, it should be the matron mother who offers herself as a tribute, but since I'm not the only Diva in our settlement anymore, I don't think the traditions will be disrespected if I relinquish the privilege of the first pledge to Fei, who requested it ever so kindly. Please, accept her and our tribe alongside. It will be an honour."

She makes a respectful bow and Fei follows up with a polite nod, smiling at me with her cheeks growing increasingly more rosy. I smile back at her softly and release a quiet sigh.

"I accept. Let's make your tribe stronger together."

Fei beams at me with a timid, toothy grin and pushes herself into my chest, joining our lips in a delicate kiss. I wrap my arms around her waist and graze her back as cheers erupt around us once more.

Oh well. No matter where I am, it looks like I'm just not destined to rest.