D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

1377  Chapter 1377 Lurking Finish

--- Lily --- Lily wasn't going to let the failure get to her… but it certainly stung a bit. To have messed up on the second round. *Perhaps I should've checked out the shop. I'm not sure if there was anything for just one point or not… but maybe I should've tried to find out anyway. If I got one treasure, and then a goal to work for perhaps I might've thought about things longer. Aw well. No use crying over spilt milk I suppose.*

Lily transformed as she spun around and got ready to launch herself into the air to look for the net… and found a harrowing sight. She didn't need to fly up to see it. The net was RIGHT FUCKING THERE. Lily let out an instinctive hiss as she spun around as quickly as she could and bolted towards Thyme's stand. A quick jump up onto the roof, and Lily was kicking off into the air.

*Why the heck is it so close! Dammit. Good thing I didn't win the round. I would've totally missed the net getting that close. What would've happened? Does it drag the pontoon along? Would the pontoon have vanished? Would I have just been teleported to medical? Dammit how did this happen! It didn't look like it was moving that fast before! Why is this even happening!*

--- Romilda --- (Same Time as Start of Chapter)

Romilda had felt she was making good progress. Someone had clearly gone through the crab area before, and the area she wandered into after that had been similarly picked clean. Once the net had shown up she'd known it was time to move on… just not so quickly. Romilda now found herself flying along, keeping as much speed as she could while hitting right up against the edge of her mana regeneration.

*Why did the net suddenly triple in speed? I thought I was making good time! Is this punishment for something? Dammit I was just trying to catch up a bit but I've had the worst luck. First I get stuck in the biome actively trying to kill me without realising. I had the perfect counter to it, but because I was late in noticing I had to leave. Then I went looking in the area with the giant crabs. Which, admittedly were kinda cool… but the giant barrier made of broken space in the centre of the area that seemed like the most obvious place for some treasure? Completely impenetrable. I can't see Thyme making something impossible to get into unless the treasure is gone… which means I was late. So I say ok, I leave that biome and head to some spires filled with coral and fish. After carefully checking to make sure I'm not being poisoned I get started on looking for treasures… only to find nothing except a few obvious places where there WERE treasure chests. Probably. I'm just guessing they disappear at some point because otherwise not finding anything is weirder. So now I'm moving as fast as I can without wasting mana, trying to outrun a net that's just drastically sped up and I don't even know what I need to do to win anymore. Let's just hope I can stay in top shape until I run into a fight. This sucks.*

--- Marigold --- (Same Time as Start of Chapter) "YES!" shouted Marigold as she crawled through the hole she'd found. "FREEDOM!" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Marigold looked around at the wonderous SPACE. She could actually move around without worrying about walls! Marigold found herself tearing up for a second before realising that you can't properly fake cry underwater. *Still. It's so beautiful. Sure I got a good batch of treasures but running around down there was a massive pain in my awesome ass. I mean, stumbling through the dark? How am I supposed to show off? Nobody else was down there, and unless Thyme adjusted how well everyone watching could see then they wouldn't have been able to take in my wonderous form either. I guess I should find someone to beat up now… but I can't say I'm in all that much of a rush.*

Marigold let herself float down onto a few nearby sea anemones and took comfort in the constant tingle it elicited against her back. Letting out a small round of giggles Marigold wondered what the plan now was.

*Technically I should be out looking for treasure… but I don't see the net despite how late it is so I'm probably fine on that front and I think I'm doing well for treasure. I just don't have anything to compare with. Honestly? It might be best to rest up for a while and then get ready for some intense fights. If I can wait till someone else gets baited into a fight I can take out two contestants and then either use the treasures I get from that to win, or look for another fight. I'm confident I can force the issue with anyone except for Blue. Then again… I do have a nice spear. If I can sneak up on her I might be able to take her out that way. Not sure how well attuned she'd be to the water… so while I could probably take her out from stealth I also probably couldn't get close with stealth. Could use my new candy supply? I haven't exactly tested it… but that would give me a big edge. I just worry that others have found something similarly powerful. Though… I wonder if they stack? What happens if I have two or three?*

Marigold blew out a stream of bubbles and watched as they climbed upwards and through the light from her hat. That got Marigold to smack herself in the face. *Dammit what was I thinking leaving that on. I'm just so used to having it I didn't even think. Ok. If I'm making simple mistakes like that I need a bit of a break. Those chompy things took out bit of my mana as well, so it couldn't hurt to do a short 'meditation' session. Yup. Totally meditation.*

--- March --- (Same Time as Start of Chapter) March glared around taking in the scenery. Treasure chests were still scattered around along with a number of treasure that had been in the whirlpool. Most that remained were clearly embedded into the walls or floor nearby. Blue herself was floating a good distance away grabbing what she could. "I see you decided to come back here instead of taking one of the other teleport options," grumbled Blue. March laughed and said, "Well it's not like I was that far behind you!" even as she was already picking up the pile of treasure that were sitting around here. They'd clearly fallen there after she'd requested medical evacuation… and notable NOT imbedded in the floor. Most interesting, was that the weapons that had been stabbed into March earlier were not included in the pile. "Couldn't just hand over all of my loot now could I?" "Yes… indeed…" mumbled Blue as she started pulling together a new cloud of stuff. It had all separated to some degree in the time Blue had been gone. Heavier things had sunk, lighter things had floated away. Not everything was even in reach, but Blue had a pretty big reach underwater so she was getting most of it. "I noticed you left everything that could be classified as 'my stuff' here for me when I got back. Why not grab them all?" asked March, genuinely curious. "Think… think of it as a peace offering I suppose," said Blue slowly as she thought over her reasons once again. "I know that something in that pile lets you teleport and is quite strong… but I also knew that you'd be right behind me. Didn't think I could grab it all, sort it out, and then leave before you arrived. Which I suppose is me admitting I knew you would come back here but… "I guess I'm just hoping to avoid another fight. The last one was tough, and even with a better idea of how evenly matched we are… I don't know how I'd win. I'm sure there's something in my pile of tricks that could do it… but I'd need to FIND it and test it. Honestly, it just doesn't seem worth the effort. So I guess this is me saying… March I'd really rather not fight you so can we just go our separate ways for now?" "And you think I'll agree to that?" asked March. Blue licked her lips. Despite being underwater they still felt a touch dry and she wanted to kill a bit of time before speaking. "I… I don't know that you'd agree but I think at the very least you wouldn't turn me down. I'm sure that I can flee and if I agree to leave any of the chests still in the arena untouched I think we're both set up to be in first and second place. If you promise not to come after me until the last five minutes… I'll let you have them,"

"Oh? And what's stopping me from agreeing and then not bothering to wait till then?" asked March.

"Your honour and sense of good play I suppose?" offered Blue.

March let out a barking laugh. "Yes I suppose so…"