They had lost the swird. Slimantha led Samuel, Mimi, and Black into another steel room, this steel room quite expansive. Slimantha’s black shoes tapped upon the steel floor as the slime summoner walked deeper into the room. Apart from the doorway behind them, the room had another doorway on the opposite side. Neither of the two doorways had doors though. Both doorways were doorless.
Slimantha and her group reached roughly the center of the steel room. Then they stopped, Black nudging Slimantha’s side and pointing towards the doorway in front of their group. Someone stood in that doorway. The lights flickered, and that someone stepped into the room, the figure’s own black shoes tapping against the steel floor as she approached.
The figure, a bird woman with feathery black wings, wore a smirk on her face. Her golden eyes were on Slimantha’s group. She continued walking, continued approaching. Her steps continued to sound out against the silvery steel of the floor. Her ivory skin contrasted with the black of her short-sleeved crop-top and mini-skirt. Like Black, this bird woman also sported short black hair.
The bird woman’s steps fell silent as she came to a stop a short distance from Slimantha’s group. That smirk of hers still showed prominently. “Welcome,” she said, spreading her ivory-skinned arms in a grandiose gesture. “Welcome to my lair.” That confident smirk of hers came back to her face. Behind her, crows began to pour out from the doorway. “I am Latril the Crow. What fools dare trespass in my lair?” More crows flooded in from behind her.
Slimantha’s brown eyes flitted to the growing number of crows and then back to the cocky Latril the Crow. She blinked. “I am Slimantha the Slime Summoner,” she said. Then she pointed at Black. “This is my friend. Her name’s Black. She’s a witch.” She then pointed at Mimi. “This is the mayor. Her name’s Mimi. She’s a mimic. She’s also the treasure master.” Finally, she pointed at Samuel. “This is some guy I saved from a bear. His name’s Samuel. He’s a hero from another world.”
Samuel sighed. His blue eyes then went to Slimantha. “Did you really have to include the part with the bear?” he said.
Slimantha blinked. Then her beautiful brown eyes went to Samuel. “The part with the bear?” She blinked again. “What’s wrong with the part with the bear? Are heroes supposed to be bear-proof or something?” She tilted her head to the side cutely.
“Never mind.” Samuel slouched. “It’s fine, I guess.”
The smirk dropped from Latril’s face. “What do I care about some rando bear that isn’t even here?” She glanced at the doorway behind Slimantha’s group at the sound of flapping. Now crows flooded in from that doorway too. Her cocky smirk came back to her face. Her golden eyes returned to Slimantha’s group.
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“Uh … Slimantha?” Samuel said, glancing at the growing number of crows behind their group. He nudged Slimantha, his movement a tad shaky. “I think the crows are surrounding us.”
“Surrounding us?” Slimantha said. She took a moment to glance around. The crows certainly did appear to be surrounding her group. The little feathery ones were coming in from both sides and were closing in to encircle her group. Actually, scratch that. The crows had encircled her group.
Black stepped in front of Samuel, her back to him. “Stay behind me,” she said. Her brown eyes were serious.
“Why do I need to stay behind you?” Samuel said. “I’m a hero. I can fight.”
Black glanced back at him. “You currently lack a sword.” She smiled at him, her black feline tail swishing. Her tail brushed up against Samuel’s right leg. “Just stay behind me. I will protect you.” Her tail swished again.
Samuel glanced at the crows behind him and sweatdropped. He then gestured at those crows. “There is one of you, and we are surrounded. How are you going to protect me from all sides?”
“I”—Black sighed—“see your point.” She glanced at Slimantha and Mimi, her black cat tail swishing again. “Quick, take defensive positions around Samuel.” She got a pair of nods from the two other women.
“Am I”—Samuel blinked—“the only one here who thinks this is ridiculous?” He now had three attractive women positioned defensively around him, the backs of all three facing him. Furthermore, Black’s tail kept brushing up against him. He hung his head in defeat.
Latril’s smirk widened, little laughs slipping out from between her lips. Her lovely golden eyes were on the peculiar scene playing out in front of her. “As funny as this—whatever this is—is, your group being here is a problem for me,” she said. The lights flickered, and Latril’s crows hopped closer to Slimantha’s group as if on cue. A multitude of caws sounded out.
Samuel glanced around Black, who stood in front of him. He glanced around her and to the crows. His blue eyes met the black eyes of a particular crow. It cawed, and his face paled. There were so many crows. The air whooshed as something, something big, passed overhead. That something big landed at Latril’s right.
“I see the procedure was a success,” Latril said, addressing the thing that landed beside her. That thing was the swird from before, the swird that Slimantha’s group had previously lost. Latril’s golden eyes met the black sword eyes of the swird. She smiled and then returned her attention to Slimantha’s group. Her smile shifted back into a cocky smirk. Beside her, the swird cawed and then stretched its wings.
“As for you fools, you will be going down,” Latril said. A hearty laugh burst out from between her lips. She doubled over, continuing to laugh.
Slimantha blinked. Her beautiful brown eyes went from the laughing Latril, to the swird, and then to the crows. Caws began sounding out from all around her. Just what was so funny? Slimantha blinked again. The crows were keeping their distance now. Why were they keeping their distance though? She cocked her head to the side, a confused look on her face. A click from below drew her attention downward. A trapdoor opened. She went down. So too did the rest of her group.