Floor 3——
The girls and Kei watched as Rei continued cooking, eventually serving the food to Nagisa. He took one bite of the shellfish, and his eyes immediately lit up.
"Such wondrous quality!" he gasped. "You must tell me, where did you learn to cook?"
Rei shrugged. "I…actually don't know. Everything's still pretty fuzzy. The only thing I can clearly remember is one day I woke up, and this dragon named Raizen was holding me hostage."
Nagisa consumed more of the food. "No family or friends? Come on, you must have some relatives who reached out."
She shook her head. "The only person that seems to know anything is Mr. Omariro, and he doesn't say much. But he accepts me, and that's all that matters."
Nagisa stuffed his face. "Mmm."
〈Sway: ↑〉
After finishing the food, he pulled out a totem seal. "For your wonderful cooking, I believe you deserve this."
He handed her the seal.
〈Totem Seal Acquired.〉
The girls sighed, relieved.
"Finally," Zaria groaned. "Rei, come on. Let's go."
Rei exited the room along with her friends, but Nagisa briefly stopped her. "Wait. Will you come back?"
She scratched her head. "Erm. I dunno!"
"Well. Hopefully, you find your memories so that you can be complete once more."
"Oh! I'll try my best…"
Rika dragged her through the portal, and they returned to the first floor, where the guys were waiting. The sealed door flashed for but a moment.
"Friends are back!" Sōshin cheered. "How was it?"
"Had to flirt with a merman," Nonoka scoffed. "And that was after we ran across the ceiling."
"Sounds like you had a good time," Gakuto taunted. "Anyway. We're making progress now. Let's see where the next floor is."
They walked over to the next locked gate, which the UI appeared over.
〈Floor Level: *4.* Party Members Will Be Picked at Random. Accept or Decline?〉
Gakuto stepped forward. "We accept. Whatcha got for us?"
〈Selecting…〉
A bright glow appeared around Han, Sōshin, and Rika's bodies.
〈*4* Members Selected.〉
"Four?" Rika questioned. "But it's only three of us—-?"
Emeru slithered out from Sōshin's shirt, scaring the entire group. Her form grew back to the size of a young girl. "Ooh! I get to go!"
"Her?" Rika exclaimed. "I thought we lost you back outside or something!"
"Nope!"
Sōshin rubbed her on the head. "Pet offered to ride in my shirt! She's so slimy and warm!"
Rika shook her head. "Ugh. Whatever. Come on, you two, and…"
She looked at Han before entering the portal. Sōshin awkwardly rubbed his head. "Come, Friend Han!"
"Great."
They walked through the portal as well, as the gate shifted into a dark green color. Gakuto watched, worried. "I hope they don't tear off each other's heads."
"If that traitor touches my bestie, I'll tear his off myself," Zaria warned.
"Did we really HAVE to bring him?" Nonoka sighed. "I'd much rather the slime take his place."
"Master said we have to," Rei replied, sadly. "Master's word matters more than that evil demon. But, maybe we can save Master and convince him to kick the demon out!"
Gakuto cleared his throat. "C'mon, stop it. That's your teammate."
"No, he isn't!" the girls all shot down.
"Well, he is today. If you want to save Omariro, we'll need all the help we can get."
Floor 4——
Rika, Han, and Sōshin landed atop a large tower in the middle of a sea. Emeru landed in Sōshin's arms, back as a slime blob. "Mmm, we're up high, aren't we?"
Rika began to sweat and panic. "Shit, shit, get me down, get me down!"
Han tried to stabilize her, but the moment his arm touched her, she swatted him off violently, nearly falling over.
"Big Sis Rika!" Sōshin called out.
Emeru quickly stretched out her arms, keeping her upright. "Don't die yet! I still need to eat you!"
Rika collapsed on her knees, breathing heavily. Han shook his head, thinking to himself.
"She'd rather die than even let me help. Why did Master bring me?"
Rika noticed a staircase made of water leading to the next level, just as the ceiling above them began to lower with poisonous water.
〈Rule: Reach the Bottom.〉
"Move, move, move!" Rika insisted.
The group began running down the stairs, with Han lagging behind them. The water slowly descended, destroying everything it touched. Once they reached the next level, sea zombies emerged, holding harpoons in their hands.
"Eek!" Emeru screamed, hiding inside Sōshin's shirt. "Don't let them get me!"
Rika clasped her hands together, forming a sigil.
〈Sigil Created: Iron Skin.〉
"Go!" Rika told them. "They can't hurt you!"
Sōshin quickly sped through the zombie pile, knocking them over the edge and into the sea below. More zombies came from behind, and Han used his cube to restrain them, dragging them into the sea.
The tower began to shake, and the group fell even further, landing on the next level. Sōshin noticed a door next to them, and they entered it.
The moment they stepped inside, a translucent water barrier separated them, splitting Sōshin and Emeru from Rika and Han.
"Friends!" Sōshin called out.
Rika immediately banged on the barrier, but it merely absorbed her attacks. "Sōshin! Try using your speed to vibrate this thing!"
Sōshin touched it, but the water withstood the speed, unleashing a wave that sent all four of them flying back.
"It seems we're stuck," Han realized.
Emeru slid out of Sōshin's shirt. "At least we're not being chased by zombies anymore! How much worse could it be?"
She noticed Rika glaring at Han, while the latter attempted to avoid her gaze. "Oh. Right."
Sōshin got up, noticing a tunnel that led deeper inside. "Come on, Friends! If we move fast, we can reunite!"
Sōshin took Emeru's arm and led her further through the tunnel, while Rika walked into her own tunnel, with Han keeping a good distance away from her.
The tunnels eventually split them off into different rooms, with Rika and Han arriving in a strange puzzle room. There were various tunnels with nodes between them, labeled North, East, South, and West. There was a tank of water at the end, with a button above it.
〈Guide the Tide.〉
In the center was a glowing blue core, with two pressure plates around it.
Rika immediately pushed past Han and pushed the button. The water flowed out, but the North node stopped it.
〈Penalty: Overflow.〉
"That's not how it's done," Han explained. "We've got to rotate these nodes so they connect."
Rika ignored him, stepping on one of the pressure plates. The South and West nodes spun, but the North node stopped the water yet again.
"Ugh!" Rika groaned. "Why isn't this working? This stupid puzzle is impossible!"
Han stepped on the pressure plate next to him, and the North and East nodes turned. "Hit it now."
"Don't tell me anything! I don't want your help!"
She backed away, glaring at him. Han took a deep breath. "Okay. Enough of this."
Han walked up to her, grabbing her by the arm. "Stop. All of you. Just stop. Okay? I get that you don't like me. I wouldn't either. But you need to think. Our Master is in danger, and you're playing games right now!"
Rika pushed him off her. "Don't lecture me! This is all your fault! You're the reason we even had to hop into this mess! He's not your Master! All you ever do is give him and the rest of us problems!"
"Yeah, maybe that's true," he admitted. "But do you want to be the reason you never see him again? The more you all conflict the mission, the longer it takes to reach him. So, what's more important? Rejecting me, or helping him?"
Rika backed away, rage on her face. "No! I'll never trust you! Not again!"
She ran off, leaving Han alone. "And there she goes…"
He brushed the hair out of his face. "I hope Sōshin and Emeru are doing better than we are."
Other side——
Emeru was busy kicking her feet and relaxing atop a shelf as Sōshin scanned the room, which had a giant blue crystal heart that hovered above the ground.
〈Carry the Heart of the Sea.〉
Sōshin grabbed it, but he was unable to lift it. "Pet! I may need help!"
Emeru rolled her eyes and made her way over to Sōshin, lifting the heart from the other side. Sure enough, they got it into the air as the tunnel opened further.
They walked through the tunnel, but with every step, the ground began to crack beneath them, causing them to jog faster.
"Above you, Pet Emeru!"
A hole burst through the ceiling, dropping in poisonous water. The water nearly hit Sōshin, but Emeru shifted into a large blob and coated Sōshin, causing the water to bounce off.
"Pet! The water!"
A face appeared inside the blob. "It's fine! Poison can't hurt a slime!"
"Ooh!"
They kept moving as the ceiling continued to burst. Water began flooding the tunnel, and Emeru used her free arm to pull them further within. In front of them was the exit door, but the entire floor collapsed, leaving Emeru to use her arms to keep them from falling.
"Hang on, Pet!"
Sōshin touched her blob. "Jugen-Sōunsha: Densō-Dai-ni Giyā!"
Emeru took off like a speeding bullet, reaching out for the door handle and grabbing it. The two slammed into the door hard as the entire tunnel collapsed.
〈Challenge Complete. *One* More Needed…〉
Emeru released Sōshin as the heart turned a brilliant blue and disappeared in a flash of light. "They still aren't done? I had to endure poison water for them!"
Sōshin gave her an affectionate pat. "Friends aren't happy right now, but I'm sure friends will brighten up!"
Meanwhile—-
Rika was sitting up against a wall, her face buried in her arms. As she looked up, she noticed Han, and she gritted her teeth. "Get away from me."
"I will. As soon as we clear this floor, you can hate me to your heart's content."
"I said, GET away from me."
The ceiling above them began to drip with poison water, and Han rubbed a hand over his face. "Well. We can die here, or we can never talk to each other again after this. It's up to you."
Rika slowly got up, slapping him before brushing past him. "Fine. But after this, I want nothing else to do with you. Don't look at me. Don't talk to me. And don't even think about bothering my friends or my master ever again."
"Okay. Deal."
She walked over to her side, stepping on the pressure plate. Han moved over to his, using his cube's wire to push the start button.
The water trailed through, and as it shifted junctions Rika lifted her foot, letting it drift over to Han's. The tide zipped through Han's chambers until it reached the core, which glowed even brighter before disappearing, opening the door.
Rika didn't even shoot a glance at Han as she walked through the door, and at the end of the tunnel was Sōshin and Emeru, who were waiting for them.
"Finally," Emeru scoffed.
"Big Sis Rika!" Sōshin cheered. "You did it!"
"Let's just get this totem," she stated.
Water stairs led them down further, and Han hung back for a little while before following. They walked outside, getting closer to the bottom.
Rika led in front, hurrying down the stairs as Sōshin and Emeru kept up with her. The poison water above their heads began to lower even faster, and as it got close to Han…
…he was suddenly somewhere else.
???——
Han awoke in a strange swamp-like domain, where he saw an Escort floating above the ground.
"Ah," the Escort remarked. "It seems we have a witness."
"The hell…?"
He blinked a few times, but when he did, he noticed another figure standing before the escort, with black-ish purple armor, wings, and holding a large black greatsword. The moment he turned to Han, Han's eyes widened.
"…Master?"
——