The next morning, Fenrir and Cassiel reunited with Eva, who had been up all night studying the apes and learning as much as she could about them, and it was clear that the lack of sleep was getting to her given the dark bags under her eyes.
But the sleep deprivation did not deter her from staying awake to go and meet the island’s supposed goddess.
So, not wanting to waste any time, Fenrir, Cassiel, and Eva were led through the forest by a procession of armed apes guarding them from any dangers within, and the trio couldn’t have been happier to have the apes on their side given the sorts of dangers they came across on the way there.
Everything on the island save for those mind-controlling plants was massive. Tigers almost as large as the apes were occasionally seen stalking the group from a distance, they had to stop and wait at one point as a gigantic bear and her cubs passed through the path ahead of them, and there were even some treants who occasionally came to life to check out the trio before returning to their slumber after noticing the apes were protecting them.
Fighting the apes was already hard enough back when they fought on the beach. If they were to try and survive on the island with just the three of them… there was no way they were going to last given how deadly everything else was on the island, too.
“I feel like this place is supposed to be an end-game raid zone,” Fenrir said to his girlfriends.
“Agreed,” Cassiel replied. “I know of a few others, and this one is just like them. The game has a habit of making any end-game areas be full of giant animals and monsters. If I had to guess, the goddess or whatever we’re going to is basically supposed to be the final boss.”
“Does this mean there’s probably some pretty good hidden loot around the place?”
“Probably, but don’t we have bigger things to worry about?”
“I’m just curious. So, seeing as how instanced dungeons don’t exist, this place is basically like a whole, open-world, endgame dungeon?”
“Raid, not a dungeon.”
“You know what I mean.”
“You should know there’s a difference between them.”
“I know, I know. Dungeons, small groups. Raids, big groups.”
“And seeing as how I can’t imagine us winning even with a small group of the world’s strongest players… this is raid territory.”
Eva finally joined in to say, “Yep! That’s what I believe, too. There is no way that any small group of players on their own could handle this island. Just the three of us struggled against a couple of the apes, and there’s… you know, a whole army of them here basically. If somebody wanted to actually attack this place, they would have to come with a proper raid setup of tanks, DPS, and healers. Just one of these big guys is strong enough to be a ‘boss’ by traditional standards. If anything, it’s pretty impressive that we lasted as long as we did with just the three of us.”
“As much as I appreciate a good ego boost,” Fenrir said, “I feel like we can’t take credit for that. In retrospect, I’m pretty sure they were going easy on us.”
“True. If they weren’t, that opening attack would have killed one or more of us instead of going for our fire instead. Well, I’ll take it back then. We are in no way, shape, nor form impressive!”
Cassiel sighed. “I liked it better when it sounded positive.”
“Don’t worry. No matter how absolutely inferior our combat skills might be, there is something that our lack of skill will never be able to replace.”
“And what would that be?”
“How amazing your boobs are.” Eva shot a pair of finger guns at Cassiel after saying that. “Sorry, I’m tired. I can’t resist being stupid when I’m tired.”
Fenrir raised his hand while Cassiel rolled her eyes. “Me next, please,” he said.
“Hmm. You want cheesy praise as well?”
Fenrir nodded.
“Got it. Then uh… no matter how absolutely inferior our combat skills might be, there is something that our lack of skill will never be able to replace!”
Fenrir’s tail wagged behind him as he asked, “And what would that be?” with significantly more excitement than when Cassiel asked it.
“The only dick I like and a fluffy tail!”
“Nice. Thanks, Eva. Ready for your turn?”
“Lay it on me!”
“Alright. Then to keep up the trend, no matter how absolutely inferior our combat skills might be, there is something that our lack of skill will never be able to replace.”
This time, it was Eva’s tail’s turn to wag behind her. “And what’s that? Wait. I mean, and what would that be?”
“Your… adorably inquisitive personality? Wait. That’s not good enough. How smart and attractive you are? No, too basic. Your adventurous spirit and willingness to try anything once? Ehh. I feel like I could do better. None of these are really good enough to serve as a compliment for you even if they’re all true. How about… how dedicated you are to the pursuit of knowledge while still always being kind and making time for those you care about, even if it means taking time away from your studies and experiments?”
Eva scratched her blushing cheek and turned her head away. “The—the first one was enough, you know. Now I feel like I didn’t compliment either of you enough. And all I did was be a pervert…”
“But I like it when you’re a pervert.”
While Fenrir might have liked it, Cassiel wasn’t as easily satisfied. “I would appreciate getting praised for something other than my chest every now and then.”
Eva took a deep breath and spun around to face Cassiel, walking backward as she did so to keep up with the apes. Fortunately, she had her tail to use as a walking stick of sorts, sticking it out behind her and laying it against the ground. No rocks nor roots sticking out of the ground would trip her for as long as her tail was there to detect it first. “Cass, not only are you more beautiful than an angel, but you’re even more of a wolf than Fen. By that, I mean you’re loyal and protective. You would never let anybody harm anybody close to you, and you always stand up to put yourself in harm’s way for our sake. You always stand your ground and never back down if any of us are in danger. It’s impossible not to feel safe when around you. So even if I talk about your boobs a lot, my attraction to your boobs can’t compare to just how cool and badass I think you are.”
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Fenrir, with his arms crossed over his chest, nodded along the entire time to Eva’s praise.
As for Cassiel, she had to look away from them with an extreme blush coloring her cheeks, desperately trying not to smile like an idiot. “Tha-that’s… better. Th-thanks.”
Fenrir and Eva bumped fists as they enjoyed the sight of her. Unfortunately, because Fenrir was so distracted by the sight of Cassiel, he tripped over a root sticking up out of the ground which Eva had managed to avoid thanks to her tail warning her about it.
Fortunately, Eva’s tail was pretty versatile. It was also able to move rather quickly despite just how thick and long it was, allowing her to catch Fenrir and prevent him from falling by wrapping it around his waist.
“Careful there,” Eva said.
“You know,” Fenrir said, “you’re pretty cool yourself.”
“Heh, am I? I guess you could—”
Eva had taken another step back.
Eva also no longer had her tail there to warn her about any potential tripping hazards since it was wrapped around Fenrir’s waist.
Needless to say, Eva tripped and brought Fenrir with her.
The end result of the series of trippings was that Fenrir managed to land on top of Eva, his face down against her chest, while Eva was splayed out across the dirt path.
“You know,” Fenrir said, “tripping isn’t too bad if it means tripping in an anime way that leaves me like this.”
Eva blinked a few times while staring up at the canopy before placing a hand on the back of Fenrir’s head, pressing his face even more against her chest. “I’m kind of jealous. I should practice tripping sometime to perfect tripping in such a way that I always land with my face buried in some boobs.”
“We can practice that together.”
“Deal. We’ll turn it into a date. Me and you, taking turns tripping to perfect the technique of the hentai landing.”
“Serra’s going to want in on that. And Nell would probably volunteer to be our landing zone.”
“I like the way you think. This is why I’m dating you. Well, and for how fluffy you are.”
“You know how to make a man feel special.”
While the two flirted, Cassiel’s flustered state had already left, and everybody—her included—was about to leave them behind. “Have fun with all the tigers and bears on your own,” she called back to them.
Not wanting to be left alone to fend for themselves in the forest, the two on the ground jumped up and caught up before they could turn into the local wildlife’s food.
The journey through the island’s forest continued until they reached the center of it which hosted a large hill protruding from the ground. As Eva observed with a quick flight up, it formed a dome that looked too perfect to be natural. More importantly, facing them on the ground was a large entrance a cave that would take them straight into the hill.
The apes in the front lit up a couple of torches that they had brought with them before entering the cave. So far, from what the trio could see, the cave just looked to be—well, a normal cave. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it. It had a few bends and turns here and there, but it was otherwise just an empty, generic cave.
At least, that was how it appeared until they finally reached their destination at the center of the hill.
The torches were no longer needed at that point, for glowing coral filled the center of the domed room they were in. The coral crept along the ground and walls, but the greatest concentration of it was found in the bright pool of water taking up most of the room, perfectly centered in it.
A few boulders were spread out across the ground surrounding the circular pool, and there were also various, stone platforms stretching up throughout the pool that could be stood on.
It was obvious to the trio that what they were looking at was something purposely designed to be a boss arena. Going by the layout of it, the boulders along the surrounding path were probably meant to be used to line-of-sight block various attacks from whatever boss was going to rise up from the water, and melee tanks and DPS were likely meant to stand on those platforms atop the water.
“I think this room alone looks more… game-y than any other place I’ve seen so far,” Fenrir said.
But before either of his girlfriends could say anything of their own, the pool’s water began to bubble at its center which was usually a sign of something, such as an aquatic boss, approaching the surface.
And surely enough, that was exactly what was happening.
Several columns of water shot up into the air to put on a fanciful show as a massive being even larger than the apes rose from the center of the pool. It was hard to get a good look at it given all the water falling down around its figure, but it didn’t take long for the water and mist to disperse enough for them to see the one meant to be this chamber’s boss.
Under the water still was a long, serpentine tail that extended deep enough for them to not even see the end of it. Above the water, however, that tail was attached to a humanoid torso mostly protected by a breastplate that looked like it was made out coral and shells. Though, the breastplate did a very poor job of protecting the actual breasts of its owner seeing as how this boss was apparently very well endowed.
Her arms were left bare as well, though she wielded a massive, deadly spear with her left hand while her right wielded a shield. Behind her were two, fish-like “wings” similar to the ones that Nell had, and the similarities did not end there. Her hair was long and teal as well with various patches of scales spread out over her skin, and she had an incredibly attractive, beautiful face that truly deserved to be the face of a woman revered as a goddess.
Opening her eyes, revealing the yellow, slit eyes of a serpent, she immediately turned her attention to Fenrir and gave the air a sniff before smiling.
“I was right,” the goddess said, offering Fenrir a smile. “You have the scent of my sister on you.”
Fenrir, Cassiel, and Eva all just… sort of stood there and blinked a few times, utterly confused as to what she could have meant by that.
“And if you have my sister’s scent… then you must be the man who took her from us.”
While Cassiel and Eva were still confused about what was going on, a series of flashbacks entered Fenrir’s mind.
This goddess reminded Fenrir of Nell. Nell told him back when they first got to know each other that she was chosen by the western serpent and gained her current body when the serpent turned her into her “daughter.”
If there was a giant, serpentine woman who could smell her “sister” on him, and she looked like Nell, then she had to be talking about Nell, right?
“Do—do you mean Nell?” Fenrir asked.
“Nell? That name is not familiar to me,” the goddess answered.
“Right, she was given that name after she left you. Uh… I know who you’re talking about. Her name is Nell now. She kind of looks like you but is as the same size as my girlfriends here.” He gestured to Cassiel and Eva. “But she has human legs.”
“Then my nose has not betrayed me. If you release her, I will consider sparing your lives.”
“Well, one, she’s not with us, so I can’t exactly do that. Two… I’m not holding her prisoner or anything like that. I freed her from the guy who was holding her prisoner, and then she became my girlfriend. Now she’s basically a queen managing the nearby land.”
The goddess leaned in closer to get a better look at Fenrir’s face, causing Cassiel’s cheeks to redden once more when she noticed the massive pair of breasts now hanging down in front of them. “You are not lying, yet I struggle to believe your words. My sister would not give herself to such a… meager man.”
“Listen, I don’t understand why any of my girlfriends are dating me either. But I promise you that she’s my girlfriend and that we’re all taking good care of each other.”
The goddess smirked and leaned back, standing up straight before pointing the tip of her spear at Fenrir. “If what you say is true, then you shall prove your worth to me here and now. I, Astika, daughter of Manasa and guardian of this paradise, shall judge your worth!”
Fenrir sighed and took Rod into his hands. “You know, girls don’t like it when their sisters try to get in the way of their relationships. She’s going to be pissed off at you when I tell her about this.”
Astika readied herself for combat… only to lower her spear as an expression of concern washed over her face. “She—she would be angry with me? But I am doing this for her! She is my precious little sister! I failed to protect her once, and I shall not do so again!”
“She doesn’t need protecting. She’s in a happy relationship and we all love each other. You know, you can just go ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.”
“I… I could ask her myself? That… is not a bad idea. Why did I not think of that sooner? Why… did I not search for her before? It makes no sense, does it? For so long, I have wanted her safety, yet I… never left this place. Nothing is stopping me from leaving, yet…”
Fenrir noticed Eva in the corner of his eyes wearing the expression of a scholar taking as many mental notes as she could. He was going to have to confirm with her later if she had the same idea that he did. But for now, he focused on Astika. “I can take you to her. If you let me take you to her, I won’t tell her about how you tried to get between us.”
Astika bit her lower lip with a concerned expression before hesitantly nodding her head.
“Also, about my boat that you destroyed.”
Astika might have been the one who went on the offensive at first… but now she felt like she was the one on the defensive as Fenrir was the one with a boss-worthy expression, intimidating her into backing away and hiding more of her body underwater.