Nightmare Fantasy Online - Chapter 43

“Hey, Jill? We’re here.” – Garami

I spoke out loud as I entered the library inside the Dungeon for the second time including yesterday’s visit. And on one of the chairs sat a person. A demon, to be exact.

His clothing was the same shabby clothes that players have as the “default equipment”. He’s small. Probably around 150 cm, give-or-take a few centimeters. He’s got aqua-blue hair that reaches his shoulders, and his eyes were of a strange pink color.

After that, I gotta comment about those bat-like wings and the thin tail of his. Not to forget about the sheep-like horns on his head. He looks just like the Succubi in the city. Rather, his face is so pretty that I could mistake him for a female. Guess he went with the androgynous look.

Or, I’m just expecting that he’s a he because it could only be Jill…, he didn’t take the forbidden path, did he?

“…hehehe…, ahahaha… MWA-HAHAHAHA!!”

Geh, that scared me. He suddenly started to laugh like a madman. A three-step laugh even.

“Princess, what do you think?”

“…you look like a mad shota, Jill.” – Garami

It took a little [Identification] to finally recognize him, but it is Jill, alright. His species is now “Lesser Incubus”. Why did he go for the gender-neutral route?

“Who’re you calling a shota!? I’m simply short in real life-*CRASH*-guh?!” – Jill

I think I heard something crazy there for a moment, but there was no way to confirm it now. Because the shota-Incubus got body-tackled by a huge oni-girl. The tag-along that had forced herself onto the “rescue team” after finding me in town yesterday.

Guess using a semi-public bulletin board came back to bite Jill. Not me so much, as she’s more obsessed with Jill than me, luckily.

“KYAAA!! He’s so cuuuute! Princess! You’re a real devil! Forcing a pure innocent yuri-fan like me on the road to become a shota-con! KYAAA!!” – Oni-girl

“Just treat him like a trap.” – Garami

“That’s ingenious! Princess, what’s your INT?” – Oni-girl

“Wait, what’s going on here?! And stop-, rather, don’t stop!” shouted Jill while squeezed in the oni-girl’s bountiful bosom.

“Introductions are in order. *Cough*, Jill, meet Ferno, AKA Red Rage. Ferno, that’s Jill. Don’t break his neck.” – Garami

The girl who’d abruptly joined the party was the self-proclaimed yuri-fan of the demon thread, “Red Rage”. Her player name is Ferno, which according to herself comes from shortening “inferno”.

Her appearance is that of a Japanese oni. Two sharp, blood-red horns emerge from her jet-black hair. She’s dressed in a kimono-like outfit that’s mostly red with black, and there are red markings on her face, a racial trait among the oni.

And I’ve already mentioned it, but this girl’s tall. Close to 2 meters high. Her body is well-trained yet she has some impressive curves. She’s practically a fusion of “powerful” and “sexy”.

As for why she’s an oni, she took a special quest after the last event and recently evolved into this yokai-related race.

Yokais exists in many variations, and it seems that you can evolve into one that’s related to your current non-yokai race. In us demons’ case, that’s the Onis. And they again are supposedly divided into 6 different categories depending on the race’s “playstyle”.

Ferno’s race, the Red Oni, is a physical combat race, according to the oni herself. She forced me to accompany her last night as she kept on talking about her stories. And couldn’t she keep those grabby arms of hers away from me for one second, at least?

“Anyway, hothead? Shouldn’t we prepare ourselves?” – Garami

“Prepare? Oh, for the boss~. No need for that! Let’s go and butcher it!” – Ferno

And with Jill still in her bosom, she dragged the huge metal club with her and exited the library…, hey!

I ran after the hothead as she flew into the corridors. The second a fishhead appeared, the hothead swung her big mallet and smashed the HP outta the monster! In one blow! What’s up with that strength!?

Some more fishpaste later (literally), and the hothead stopped in front of the octo-locked door and waited for me.

“You, just what are you thinking!?” – Garami

“?? I’m thinking about inviting lil’ Jill to my Player Room tonight~?” – Ferno

“And go on with the R-18 DLC, I guess!!” – Garami

The (seemingly) lifeless body of Jill twitched at the sound of me talking about the DLC. Then he raised his hand with his thumb pointing up. Tch, his lower half seems to be working even when his brain isn’t getting any oxygen. Should I warn him that the hothead was quite “enthusiastic” when she talked to me last night about the “shemale-option” on the R-18 DLC?

“Garami, deliver punishment to that door quick, swiftly, and deadly!” ordered the hothead right after putting Jill down. His nosebleed had made her chest sticky with blood, so even she couldn’t hold him there any longer. The guy himself has gotten the “Fainted” status condition in the meanwhile. This game sure tries to keep itself “realistic” in some strange areas.

Fine, I’ll take care of the door. Like the fisherwoman Succubus told me yesterday, I pulled out an oar and some chili sauce from my item bag.

“…what are you doing?” – Ferno

“Blame the locals. This sea is filled with multi-armed creatures, a big reason why Succubi started living here. And those things hate chili sauce. So much that smearing something on an oar and putting it in the ocean is enough to scare them away.” – Garami

“……wait, you’re telling me the key for this octopus lock is…” – Ferno

“A chili sauce oar, yes.” – Garami

“WHAT?!” shouted Jill as he finally woke up. “I’ve been stuck here for so long because of such a stupid thing!?”

“Yup.” – Garami

Jill started to hold his head in frustration before taking his staff from Nyx who’d been carrying it around ever since we left the library. Good girl.

I opened the taste-based lock and revealed the next set of stairs for us. From up the stairs, I could smell something fishy. Like, for real. The fish stench overwrote the sea salt smell that also came from up there. Ugh…

“Time to make some sushi-!” – Ferno

“Wait a sec! Add nosebleed over there to the party before storming off again.” – Garami

“Good point. Push the button, and…” – Ferno

She may be a reckless idiot, but this hothead has managed to claw herself up to the rank of D in the Adventurers’ Union and was gifted the skill: [Party]. This skill is how people form parties. You can see the party members’ status in the system menu, and you share the EXP between each other. The killer gets the most of it, and the party members get [5 * [Party]’s skill level]% of the original amount.

“Finished~. Let go, dammit!!” – Ferno

Wow, someone’s bloodthirsty. But despite her urge to kill, I haven’t gotten enough EXP to level up yet. Nyx reached Lv.8 just a while ago though, so I shouldn’t be far behind.

I followed Ferno and Jill up the stairs and we reached the fourth floor. It’s, how should I call it, it looks like a fish tank? The one used in an aquarium. Its shape is similar to the fifth floor of the old Fort, but the middle part of the room is filled with seawater. And the boss of this place.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

DUNGEON BOSS!

Name; Little Kraken. | Level: 10/E. | Rank: Party.

We’re already facing off against the boss? This place is different from the old Fort. And it’s way weaker compared to the Vile Queen. Then again, I don’t know the power difference between a “Solo”-rank and a “Party”-rank boss.

“Some tentacles were hiding behind the tentacle lock? Real original,” said the hothead with a ferocious smile on her lips.

But despite its name, the “Little” Kraken is bigger than a truck. We need to go through this carefully-

“BANZAI!!” – Ferno

“Are you allergic to making plans or something!?” – Garami

That stupid hothead, she jumped at the Kraken without thinking! She started to jump around on the big thing while hitting it with her flame-covered club. Doesn’t she know that octopi are resistant to blunt attacks!? They don’t have any bones to break, you idiot!

“Tch, Nyx! Go after her and help her!” – Garami

Nyx saluted to me before jumping at the Kraken with her claws ready to tear apart its flesh. I handed some of the remaining bottles of chili sauce to Jill.

“Try to throw this at the big thing if you get the chance, even if just as a distraction.” – Garami

“O-okay…” – Jill

I know it’s a bad plan, but that idiot didn’t give me any time to think this through! Think on your feet!

I separated from Jill and ran on the reeling that makes up the upper part of this floor. No need to have both of us attacked by clinging together. I kept an eye, an Evil Eye, on the Kraken as I ran, which was easy thanks to its huge size.

While running, I saw the hothead dealing more damage to the Kraken than I first believed. Was I wrong about its blunt resistance? No…, the burns? Is it weak to fire, no, to heat because it’ll turn into a dried octopus? Seriously??

Whatever the reason, if it takes damage, then that’s fine…, it’s recovering!? Come on, that’s one of the top 10 taboos a boss shouldn’t break! Its HP isn’t going up that fast, but certainly, it’s recovering. Not to mention that its HP bar is huge. Are all octopi-type monsters this high on HP? Amazing.

Thanks to the Weakening, the HP regeneration can’t catch up to the duo’s damage output. The Kraken is getting anxious and its movements are turning more violently. Time for the chili bomb.

I threw one of the remaining chili bottles at the Kraken’s face and it hit…, its eye. The fragile bottle broke and all its contains were spilled on the Kraken’s eyeball. Along with the glass shards. Even those who love chili wouldn’t want that…

And now the Kraken’s locked on to me! Crap, I shouldn’t have been stingy with the MP and just used that stupid [Lurk] skill!

One of the Kraken’s tentacles rose to the reeling’s height and came toward me surprisingly fast. But I’ve escaped faster attacks, so it was a clinch in dodging it. However, after the tentacle struck the wall, a wave of seawater came from the area and splashed me. And it hurts! What the-, the seawater deals damage to me!? Crap, is it some sorta skill?

More tentacles came at me, so I ran and dodged them. But the shockwaves, with a focus on “waves”, almost reached me all the time. Hey, hothead! Nyx! What are you doing!? Blowing bagpipes?! Get this thing to focus on you guys again already!

*Crash!*

While I was running for my life, another bottle hit the stalker Kraken’s head. Oh, Jill! Nice shot…, nice batting? Wait, that staff isn’t a baseball bat! But good job anyway!

Now the Kraken was aiming its anger at Jill after he batted two more bottles at it. Its tentacles came at him, but I fired a [Mystical Thread] at them in the hope of the attacks getting off course. They did, as the Kraken’s aggro was aimed at me again. I’m such an idiot!!

I readied myself to run away from the tentacles again, but that was never necessary. Big flames erupted on the Kraken’s body. I could feel the heat from up here. Nyx climbed up the walls with her claws and returned to my side, leaving the Kraken alone down there with… the hothead. Is this her skill? Impressive.

The last of the Kraken’s dwindling HP fell to 0 thanks to the barbeque, and a big quake struck the Dungeon. What now?

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

The Dungeon Boss: [Little Kraken] has been defeated!

Acquired 5.0 AP as a reward for having subjugated the Dungeon Boss: [Little Kraken].

Your level has increased by 3. You have reached Lv.14.

You have obtained 1.8 Aether Points.

You have acquired the title: [First Clearer of Atlantirana Library].

You cannot challenge the [Atlantirana Library] Dungeon again within the next 24 hours.

You will be kicked out from the Dungeon momentarily.

WORLD MESSAGE:

Party: [Ferno’s Harem] has cleared the Dungeon: [Atlantirana Library].

From this point onward, the Dungeon Boss will have its strength boosted and the Dungeon will be enlarged.

Okay, this is different from the time with the Queen. And that’s a lot of EXP! I wasn’t even the one to lay the final blow! And I told that hothead to change the party’s name!! Hmm? Wait…, “kicked out”?

Then a hole opened below my feet. Wait, what did-whoooaaaAAAAAA!! STUPID TRAPHOOOLE!!