Nymphsaga/Paradise

Road to Paradise, Part One

Excerpt from the Bioengineer's Logbook; "a Study on the History, Biology and Behavior of Nymphs", entry number three, "Introduction of the Demon and Miasma."

While there are predators and carnivores who feast on lesser creatures for survival, the closest thing that Phantasm to an apex predator is Nymph, and let's be honest; to call them apex predators is a grave insult to all the great beasts that roam various parts of the Milky Way. Nymphs are an herbivorous race that only eat plants, fruits and berries, and their bodies can't even process meat. Besides, they are cripplingly weak physically. Sure, they are cunningly smart, they have a wicked sense of combat and they're not really fit for consumption - technically making them "the top of the food chain" - but those traits alone should not make species an apex predator. They required some serious competition to knock them off the pedestal and remind them of their place in the hierarchy. That's why we introduced more animals to the world, mostly in form of animals from the blue planet we found Nymph's "originals" from. But, we didn't end there, because we also introduced a truly terrifying being to balance out Nymph's dominance on the Phantasm.

For yin, there is yang. For alpha, there is omega. For Nymph, that is Venus, there is the demon, that is Mars.

Demons are beings who are theorized to be related to ancient aliens known as Deliria, who several billion years ago in the early days of the universe dominated the galaxy as its sole superpower until their mysterious disappearance from the Milky Way. Demons are native to the planet Tartarus, a super-Earth located deep near the center of the galaxy. In terms of reproduction, they're kind of like the anti-Nymph. While Nymphs can help other species reproduce and cultivate offspring of almost any sentient being in Phantasm, demons can do the same thing to females of any other species both in Tartarus and beyond. Their seed always grows up to be a Demon regardless of the recipient. In addition to this, Demon's offspring loan heavily from the genetic codes of their mothers, making them a race of mutants of all sorts.

There are other similarities as well. Demons, like Nymphs, are invasive species, capable of transforming worlds around them with their powers that many call supernatural. Nymphs produce source, while Demons produce miasma. As powers, they are directly comparable to each other, and while they have some major differences, they are both equally dangerous. If I had to compare them to common drugs, I'd say that source is like nicotine, while miasma is like alcohol. It's easy to get addicted to source after being merely exposed to it, getting a fix of source feels satisfying and relaxing, and living for long periods without it will result in withdrawal symptoms. Miasma, on the other hand, is something that gets its user intoxicated quickly and easily, but only momentarily. Once it wears off, the user will feel fine, most of the time at least. It isn't an addictive substance by itself, but the high that results from its consumption is incredible, and it's very easy for users of miasma to crave for that high over and over and over again. The more you use it, the harder is it to escape its oppressive clutches. As far as Nymphs go, the taste of miasma will never truly leave them. Once tasted, a small fraction of miasma will forever linger in their brains, corrupting their minds and bodies until the day they die.

While demons are a very old species that has dominated Tartarus for much longer time than us Altarians have even existed, they have never left their home. That's not to say that they are dumb, because it's quite the opposite. Demons are extremely intelligent beings. In some ways, they even challenge our own understanding of what it means to be intelligent as a species, as they should for all intents and purposes be capable of creating interplanetary civilizations. Yet, they can barely hold their civilization together in their home world. It is because of this extreme intelligence that we found the idea of them sharing the world with Nymphs so very, very captivating.

Despite their overwhelming physical capabilities, us Altarians could subdue them easily using our technology, and resettled some of them to Phantasm. Before we planted our demon subjects down to this world, we would make them dependent on source. Then we let the hell break loose. We had a feeling that this miasma would dramatically change Phantasm once again, and we were not wrong.

It didn't take long for them to realize that the only efficient way to extract source was through Nymphs, and because they're naturally so much more powerful than these little creatures, and just as smart, many fell a victim. Demons, unlike most other species on this planet - both endemic and planted - can actually track down source from great distances, following the trail of their prey. They are not perfect at doing this, but they sure are better at this than any other creature on Phantasm. During the very first weeks of observing demons victimize Nymphs, we also got the first glimpse into what kind of effect miasma has on Nymphs, and we were not surprised to find out that the effects were devastating. Nymphs have always been hypersexual, sex-crazed beings that can only be described as somewhat "slutty", and miasma intensifies this even more. Many Nymphs who fell victim to demons did not meet freedom ever again, and those who did only did so because of outside help. As far as recovering goes, no Nymph could recover completely. It doesn't matter if the change is big or small, miasma truly changes Nymphs forever.

Now Nymphs knew of the demons and what kind of things they could do to them, but it is not in Nymph's nature to go down without a fight. Not even Demons could change it. Nymphs would actually continue to defend themselves against Demons - even coming up with even more innovative ways and tactics to defend against them - and to much of our surprise, they did so to great success. In the end, based on our short-term observations, not even Demons could disrupt the balance of this world, that turned out to be dangerous even for them. Is source having a negative effect on Demons and weakening them? We still to this very day do not know for certain, but it is unquestionable that Demons have become yet another cogwheel that rotates in harmony in the perfect clockwork that is the ecosystem of Phantasm.

…

Seven Nymphs start their adventure and depart from Grove with Paradise as their goal. They know they can complete the journey. Others have made the trip there and back by now, so why wouldn't they be able to do the same?

Two towns are by no means close to each other yet, not by a long shot. Even with everything going according to plan the trip can take up to six hours on foot and the valley between is dangerous. It could even be that it will never be possible to plan a safe route between the towns, but that's not something our heroines have to worry about short term. They just want to get there for now and plan their future from there depending on how it all goes. Their plan is to use known checkpoints and head first towards the abandoned Fort Hammercliff, as they suspect this area to be the safest. Surely enough, nothing has gone wrong for them so far. They're about to get to their first real checkpoint, which they suspect to be close to the halfway mark of their journey, and they haven't even had to rely on potions yet. They haven't lost any clothing either.

Speaking of clothing, they've had some minor - or in some cases major - upgrades to their equipment.

Rain looks pretty much the same as she's always looked. She still has the same skirt, same glasses and the very same braids. She had Pink alter her hoodie slightly by changing the print on it, but that's about it. When she found out she could model it after the "Superflat" clothing brand, she couldn't resist the temptation. Not to say there haven't been recent changes though, because her weapon is actually a brand new one, and it's one she personally crafted through enchanting from the Soul Lodestone she found. Turned out that this extra rare reagent was one to make a weapon from. When filled with souls and then combined with some rare ingredients, it could be transformed into a melee weapon. Naturally, she picked a sword. White in color and transparent like glass, it has a straight, broad blade. Despite its length and reach, it's also light. While it has four effects, it's very unremarkable when it comes to statistics, mostly because of how two of them are. Other one automatically casts Soul Trap on enemies she hits, so she can steal their souls the moment they die, providing no combat purposes beyond that, and the other one doubles the effect of any enchant put on it. Still, it's miles above weapons she has found so far because of its damage alone, so it's going to be a trusty companion for her for a long time, perhaps for life. After all, it's good for collecting souls if for nothing else.

As far as style goes, Wendy hasn't changed much either; she has simply taken her punk rock look a little bit further. Her short shorts made of jeans cloth are about as short as pants can be, and are now complimented by studded belt, and her black sleeveless shirt comes with a logo of one of her favorite punk rock bands, Ramones. She also made a switch from nylon and wears over-knee fishnet socks. She's got new rare weapons, which are really good, but not ideal for her or otherwise remarkable. They deal more damage, hold more ammo, and are even capable of rapid fire, a feature that she's come to love. She still uses only arcane stone to power up her damage, which not only adds unique element to the group, but also provides a reliable counter against casters, especially healers. She's also got an earpiece that comes with extra functionality to inspection spell. It automatically scans for traps, reduces the cooldown of inspection spell, and opens up a holographic window every time she inspects an enemy, which provides double the information. It's kind of like a tiny version of a scouter from Dragonball, or a small Bluetooth earpiece of the days gone by.

What about Angel? No changes as far as her clothing is considered. She likes her current style. Her weapon is new on and while it's certainly good when it comes to stats, its not really designed for healers. Nobody else in the group wanted it, so she's stuck with it. She still only can cast holy spells, but at least her stone is a good one. She's a little jealous of all the good upgrades her friends have gotten, but she hasn't expressed it in any way.

Lemon and Pink haven't gotten any upgrades either but considering that they were lucky to get good gear early in the game, it's okay with them. Lemon still has the very same clothes as well - at least as far as appearance is considered - but Pink has changed her style a little bit though. She admitted to liking baggy clothes, so to see her rocking a skin-hugging t-shirt was a surprise for her friends. It's pale yellow, almost white in color. Her blue skirt is just as short as ever. Her socks are multicolored, and her shoes are pink. None of her colors seem to match, but hey, for one reason or another, that's what she was going for. Out of all the girls in the group, she also dresses up the most childish, and would not look out of place in the playground full of first and second grade children. Her panties, which are pretty easy to get a peek of, and the shirt which I mentioned earlier come with prints of a popular children's show about ponies, a thing that doesn't seem to bother her, or anyone else for that matter. Her transformation still makes her look like a magical girl with all of its pink and white clothing, and a lot of lace.

Snow and Crystal haven't had any changes to their weaponry either, and on the first glance still got the same clothes. Crystal actually has a pair of extra rare panties, which are nothing but thongs, but that's not important as far as her appearance goes. It's not like anyone's going to see them through her shorts.

…

The route they picked is one that was recommended to them by a group that had already gone there and came back in one piece. They told Wendy that there really is only one truly dangerous part of the journey, and now it lies right in front of them. Between two steep mountains lies a lush valley full of exotic vegetation and serves as a shortcut through the range. It's kind of like a little flower garden made by Mother Nature, if Mother Nature was an evil, perverted bitch. It's full of rapey traps, and out of question for any group without a reliable Scout to spot them. They can go around the mountain as well, but it's a long detour, and could land them in uncharted territories as well.

As the final barrier between them and the valley, they found a camp set by goblins displaced after the fall of Fort Hammercliff, and they defeated the goblins guarding the place. As the last goblin falls to Rain's blade, she absorbs the soul for her personal use, only to be confronted by her friend.

"I just realized something", Wendy says. "You're a vegan, right?"

Rain doesn't even know how to reply to one of her best friends, who should know her inside out, so she simply says, "Duh."

"How can you be fine with using the souls of your dead enemies then?"

Rain stops to think. Like, she really, really stops to think. She looks at Wendy with an empty stare in her eyes, and she realizes that there indeed is a little conflict of interest between her personal views and her actions. It causes her grave embarrassment. "I haven't even thought about it…"

"Hold on", Crystal says, intervening into the conversation. "Are soul even animal products?"

"More importantly", Snow continues, "are goblins animals?"

"MOST importantly", Pink says, trying to end the conversation. "Those goblins aren't actually real."

"By that logic Rain should be able to wear leather as well", Wendy points out. "And souls are totally animal products."

"Bitch, are you trying to paint me as some kind of hypocrite?" Rain asks. "I mean, you're not wrong, but…"

Laughing Wendy extends her hand to Rain's opposite shoulder, clinging up to her close friend. "Come on, it's just jokes!"

"Maybe I'm going to stop being vegan", Rain says, with a hand on her jawline. "Playing and experimenting with demons and souls is too fun a hobby to abandon just because of my real-world lifestyle…"

"The sky worries me", Angel says, gazing up. It brings the gazes of her friends to the sky as well. It's grey and suggests rain. It's very rare in Phantasm, but not completely out of question. "It might not be a good idea to go there if it's going to rain."

"Oh, I see what you mean", Lemon says, taking a look at one giant flower that bears resemblance to Rafflesia, and not just visually. It emits a strong smell as well, a smell that is laced with the same drug Demon's Whistle it. In fact, these flowers are related. Only, this one in front of them is impossible to harvest without. "I heard their smell carries with water, which increases their reach during these kinds of conditions."

"Exactly", Angel says, nodding. "We can't go there if it's going to pour."

"Well, this is a good time to rest anyway", Wendy says. "There should be a cavern nearby. Let's go there."

…

The cavern Wendy talked about is a really shallow one, and you can constantly see outside from there. It offers reliable shelter from the rain though, so at least they can stay dry. As is typical for local climate, the sky clears up quickly, allowing the group to continue their adventure. They return to the valley, but just getting close to it is making them feel dizzy and strange. Lemon uses her abilities as an Alchemist to confirm the entire place being contaminated with a thick cloud of demonic miasma that will drive anyone mad beyond reason.

"It's a good thing we didn't enter the valley anytime sooner…" Lemon says, starting to back out, along with her friends. "We would've been wiped out…"

"It's so crazy to think that even nature can be against us", Wendy says. Only thinking about what could've happened to her is causing her to blush, and her heart to beat madly.

"Are we fine though?" Pink wonders. "I can smell dick pretty strongly."

"Yeah, we'll be fine at this distance", Lemon assures. Then, she actually stops to think. "Wait a minute, dick…?"

"Oh, come on, it totally smells like dick in here."

"Well that explains why Wendy is blushing", Rain says.

"W-what the fuck are you on about!? I'm not blushing because it smells like dick in here!"

"Whatever", Lemon says, sighing. "Let's get out of here already."

Wendy is very quick to let out a sigh herself. "Yeah, let's spare the dick talk for later, and pick a different route."

"Are you sure?" Lemon asks. "I don't think it's a good idea to go to uncharted territories."

Arms crossed, Wendy replies: "Well, let's chart it then. This route is clearly too dangerous if bad weather can wipe Nymphs out."

"I must agree with Wendy here", Crystal says, and glances towards her recently tamed wolf. She picked it up from the previous zone as a temporary ally to help them in combat, but now something is a little wrong with it. Crystal can feel that her suppressive spell against it has been severed by something. Is it the miasma playing tricks on its head? It does work on all beings on Phantasm, both male and female, so it wouldn't be unsurprising. The wolf has become crazy from the spores in the air, and is looking to attack its tamer first. "Whoa!" Crystal backs down immediately, raising her axe against it, but the wolf manages to catch her off guard, and manages to pin her down as well. "O-okay, just kill it! I think it went mad!"

Against six Nymphs, the wolf is no match. Losing a temporary ally is not a great loss for them, but considering that they probably won't find a substitute for it soon, and considering how much trouble casting a mind control spell is, they let out a collective sigh of frustration.

"If a wolf can go crazy because of this dick smell, I don't think we'll be perfectly safe either", Angel remarks, urging her team to follow her. "Let's at least get moving."

With that, they get back to their discussion about what to do. In the end, they have a vote about what they should do, and the vote concludes in favor of finding another route. The other option was for them to safely return to Grove and try again some other day, but that's not going to happen. They push forward.

…

The road they pick is a rocky one and follows the mountainside very closely. Wendy has a good idea of where the next checkpoint is and has already pictured a route in her mind. Now, all they really have to do is confirm it to be a safe one. They find something they haven't heard about from any of the Nymphs who have traveled to Paradise and back, and those are yet another ruins. They can be avoided completely, but with a scout in the party, they should be just as easy to travel through as the valley is, so they decide to bravely go through them. Traps be damned, because they can't hurt them.

These ruins look on the first glance just like the ones that Rain and Lemon got very familiar with, but there is different kinds of vegetation scattered around. For starters, there aren't same kinds of trees and branches anywhere, which suggests that this place hasn't been corrupted by a giant demon. There is some web though, which is weaved in a different manner than spiders weave their webs. It suggests that the place is populated by different kinds of horrible monsters called "Webworms". Despite what you might think, they're not actually bugs, but rather direct descendants of demons. They're tentacle-like worms and larva that dig through underground in the dark where they create their hellish nests. They only come out from their nests to hunt. They're not really good at it, and they're kinda slow, but they're really good at communicating with each other, which makes them a terrifying foe to be surrounded by. Besides, they're physically strong, and they can weave web like spiders, as evident by their name. They can grow up to be about the size of a wild boar, and even a single strand of web can be strong enough to support even the larger webworms.

What's the most effective tactic against them? To stay as silent as possible. They're sensitive to noise, especially to girly noises made by Nymphs. That's why the group of Nymphs make their best effort to not say anything as they walk through the ruins. If they must, they communicate by whispering. Lucky for them, they have a straight path through the ruins to the other side, and there are no traps on the road either.

Something appears far out in front of them, and this something is something that should reasonably make anyone scream or piss their pants. First they see only tentacles, but then, the body of the monster appears. It's clearly a webworm, or is it? It is way beyond the scale of normal webworm. The tentacles coming out from its gaping mouth alone are twice as long as your typical webworm's entire body, and the mouth itself could probably swallow a giant one whole. It's thick like a whale, but the girls don't stay to look what it's like any further. Instead, they hide behind a corner leading deeper into the ruins.

"Did you manage to inspect it…?" Pink whispers.

"I-it's a freaking raid boss…!" Wendy replies, visibly shaking. "It's over ten meters long…! That shit's way beyond our capabilities…!"

"It's slow, right…?" Pink continues.

Wendy nods. "We should just run…! Let's get the hell out of here…!"

They all clearly understand that it's probably a good idea, but is it the best one? They don't know which way the boss turned; away from them, or towards them? There's a fifty-fifty chance it's going to see them if they run away, and if it sees them, it's sure to alert every single worm in the immediate vicinity, and every second they waste standing still they risk it getting closer to it. Besides, they didn't have a battleplan in place for these monsters, because they thought webworms only populate the Dark Forest. Worst of all, they can communicate any of this. They all have different ideas about what they should do, and some of them are even hesitating to follow up with Wendy's plan, Wendy included.

"Okay…" Wendy finally says, trying to collect her thoughts. "On the count of three, we run back the same road we came from…"

In the end, that's the plan they go by. They trust their strategist's judgment. And so, Wendy does the silent count, and with that, they all rush towards the exit. They have a fairly long sprint in front of them. Rain, who's keeping the tail at the moment, glances towards the boss, which luckily has turned the other way. Still, her heart jumps almost as if kickstarted, as she can hear a screech coming from where they were just hiding. There were little worms there, and they woke up from all the whispering. Or was it from their running? Either way, now screeching can be heard from all over. In a similar manner that dominoes fall, the message travels all across the ruins, alerting every single enemy in the area. The narrow path in front of them fills up with large webworms. They might be slow, but if there's so many of them blocking the path, they can't go through them. The paved road has many side paths, and there's one directly to the left of them.

"Plan B!" Wendy shouts, clearly not caring about the enemy hearing anymore. Damage has already been done. Instead, she summons her weapons. "Run for your lives! That way!"

They run towards the only way open for them, but it's leading deeper into the ruins. As bad as it is, it's still the best bet they have, because every other one is leading towards certain doom. Where can they go? Left, left, right, straight, right, left again; they're constantly faced with choices in these maze-like ruins that almost feel like drawing them deeper with every choice made. Enemies are all over them, but luckily their movements are predictable, as they pretty much only go forward. Most of them are weak enough to run through and kill quick, as long as they don't come in groups. Like sperm-filled spider eggs and smiles, they leave behind a lot of goo on death though, which may lead to some trouble as far as their equipment goes. So far so good though.

Suddenly, they realize they've made a bad choice, because they're led straight to a dead end, with enemy on their heels. Blocked by about a dozen of small worms together with three larger ones the Nymphs are forced to draw their weapons, which worries them because they know they can't waste time. They're all still coming for them, with the exception of two large ones, which seem to be staying behind. Are they keeping guard? No, they're shooting goo at them. Demons are mutants, and webworms are no different. Some of them possess strange abilities.

"Rush through!" Wendy commands. "It's the only way!"

Rain and Crystal are the first ones to attack, but they're not very effective against the small ones on the ground. Magic and ranged attacks seem to work best on them, which means that this is Wendy's and Pink's time to shine. Lemon's attack are too slow to work properly though, at least as far as the small ones are considered. She takes aim on one of the enemies further back and attacks it. The large one doesn't die, but at least it's interrupted for a moment. They also come to find out that the goo does not affect them physically, but being forced to take hits causes them to lose nearly all of their clothing in a flash. Regardless, they manage enemy back, and they manage to escape the dead end before the hordes catch up to them. Now, they seem to have a straight, empty road ahead of them, leading out from the ruins towards the mountainside.

They run towards a bridge, which even after laying in ruin for a thousand years manages to stand, and they slow down. There are no more enemies between them and their exit on the road above, but below, there is the boss. It wasn't on their heels from the start; instead, it was heading towards the exit, and its gamble may have blocked their way. Rest of the enemies are behind them, still following them.

"It's either a boss or a sea of worms!" Rain yells, raising her sword. She has the most effective weapon against the tentacles coming out from the bosses gaping mouth, but she's still scared beyond reason, especially since she's start naked now. "Call me crazy, but I think this is more manageable than a thousand worms!"

"What's its exact rank?" Angel asks, trying to remain calm.

"It's double X, so equal to ten Nymphs", Wendy replies. "Killing it is not out of question, but with limited time… I don't thing we can make it…"

"I have an idea", Snow says, beginning a complex spell. She pushes her palms together, crossing two of her outer fingers, and presses the tips of her index fingers hard against each other. A summoning circle appears underneath her feet, and she begins to channel mana. "Angel, give me your spare mana. I'll summon a strong ally to distract it so we can escape, but I need some help to do it."

"It has better work then", Angel says, walking behind Snow, and grabs onto her from behind. Physical contact is needed for the spell she's about the cast: Spirit Link. It links the mana pools of two Nymphs together, allowing the recipient of the spell to access caster's mana. Not only will it make Angel unable to cast anything else for the duration of channeling, it also drains stamina from Angel.

"Alright, Rain", Crystal says. "Since our healer is occupied, we just have to swap a lot."

While Pink, Lemon and Wendy hold the enemy on the opposite side back, Rain attacks the enemy in front of her. With her sword, she poses an immediate threat to her enemy, who pulls back its tentacles, spreading them. They sway in air, almost as if trying to confuse Rain about which one is about to attack first. Rain can't really rush in either, because she knows that going too close will probably result with her getting caught. Besides, the sight of its wide, gaping mouth is a terrifying one. Finally, tentacles attack, one by one. It's impossible to predict which direction they're coming from, but they are fairly easy to dodge. Trying to attack them in retaliation is a little too hard for Rain though, because she has to know where they're coming from to even hope to cut them. She's not sure, but she thinks there could be a pattern she recognizes. Out of pure luck, she manages to strike one of the tentacles down. The enemy is stunned momentarily, and in this few second's pause, the tentacle just grows right back. Despite the fact that she's not particularly tired yet, she allows Crystal to take over.

Crystal has way more trouble with the boss than Rain does. The most important thing when fighting tentacles is speed and agility, both of which are something that Crystal doesn't specialize in. She can dodge to an extent, but she can't even think about striking a retaliatory attack. Her mission simply is to keep the enemy's attention while Rain recovers.

This time Rain takes over by striking one of the tentacles clean in half from the side. Crystal immediately retreats, and turns towards Snow. "How much more? I can maybe handle two more rounds."

"I'm halfway done…" Snow answers, trying not to lose her focus.

"That should be enough", Crystal replies, with a relieved smile on the corners of her otherwise worried lips.

Rain, faced with the boss once again, knows that's more than enough time for whatever Snow's planning. Still, she tries to conserve her energy as much as possible, while also making sure to strike in retaliation as often as she can. It's not very often, as she's left once again guessing where the enemy is coming from, but luckily, she gets one more hit in. That's when the boss manages to surprise her by changing its positioning. It raises its head into air, looking almost as if trying to use all of its tentacles simultaneously. In a state of panic, as her enemy tries to catch her, Rain performs a quick side roll out of harm's way, which allows Crystal to attack their momentarily stunned enemy. A powerful overhead axe smash crashes against and straight through enemy's flesh, causing more damage against it that Rain ever could've hoped to deal. The attack causes enemy to raise back up, but this time it does not appear to be stunned. It only stops to regenerate its tentacles when one gets cut, but Crystal's hit didn't cut any. The enemy is not stunned, so Crystal, who finds herself too close to her enemy, gets restrained in a matter of one quick second. There's no way for her to fight out of its grasp anymore.

Rain is the only one who can save her now, so she rushes back in front of her enemy, or at least tries to. The enemy seems to be clever, and it's constantly trying to block Rain's advances with its body. It knows that it can't defend itself well with a pray in its grasp, and it knows that it can't really restrain an additional Nymph either, at least not before it has swallowed Crystal. The ground they're fighting on doesn't really allow Rain to run to the other side either, because the giant worm manages to hover Crystal above the ground. Rain genuinely does not know what do.

"Ten more seconds!" Snow announces, visibly sweating.

'That's not enough', Rain realizes, and finally comes up with one final risqué plan. She summons up her wings and plans to consume all of her available source to jump straight over the enemy and strike the tentacles down in one fell swoop before it swallows its prey whole. She has never really tried anything like that in actual live combat, so she's sweating bullets just thinking about it. Failure would prove devastating not only to Crystal, but perhaps every single member of the team.

Tentacles are constantly twisting and turning the struggling child, who is absolutely helpless to stop the monster. It still doesn't have Crystal in an advantageous position, but its already opening up its mouth, and pulling the tentacles in to eat her alive. She can't help but to ask herself, what awaits her in the belly of the beast? She knows she won't die or be digested there, but what awaits there could be even worse; large tentacles suggest that there could be more inside just waiting for a victim to prey upon. From inside the mouth, she can see more tentacles squirming, suggesting that there really is some kind of inescapable tentacle prison inside this boss, which just makes her more scared.

That's when finally Rain comes from above, cutting some of the tentacles in half. There's a long way down, and no easy way out from under the bridge. At very least, Crystal is freed from tentacles grasp, and falls down together with Rain. They're inside some kind of ancient canal or a waterway that has been dried up. The other way leads back into the ruins, while other one is leading out, but where? They can't make sense of what's ahead of them, and they can't really see tree tops either. Other way is out of question, because there are worms coming their way. They run the other way, and they gaze up. The boss is facing rest of the group, preoccupied by something.

Roughly at the same time two of the Nymphs fell down from the bridge, Snow completed her spell. Her summon is truly a giant one, an elite minotaur wielding two swords. It left Snow dry and out of commission, and Angel is feeling the cost in her body as well. This minotaur is more than capable of holding the enemy's attention while the rest escape. They can't escape through the bridge, so they jump down where Rain and Crystal are. That's when they realize what their only escape route is.

"The drop's at least twenty meters", Wendy says, looking down. There's a lake directly beneath them. From its shore, there are two more routes they can go; one that is leading underground beneath the mountain, and one that continues directly north. Based on what they see, it looks like Hammercliff Valley is ending, which means that the rest of the journey will go through the Sparkling Forest.

"I can't really fly anymore…" Rain says, trying to power up her wings. "I'm all dried up."

"I guess getting wet beats getting raped", Crystal says, and bravely jumps down, summoning her wings in the process. She manages to use them to soften the blow a little bit, but she doesn't manage to fly to the shore. Others start to jump as well, one by one. Minotaur, which is not really good at tactics such as switching or defending, seems to have lost quickly, so the boss is already on their backs. Luckily, it really did buy them a lot of time to escape.

Rain aims for the water, while the rest at least try to glide to the shore. Out of all the Nymphs, only Pink and Angel manage; they're both very good at handling wings. The rest are forced to get wet. On the shore, together with Crystal who just got out, two Nymphs quickly realize that water might've been a better option after all. They're faced by a poison bottle, which gets thrown to their feet, courtesy of an enemy that was hiding in the woods. These mischievous, monkey-like hunter gatherers are native to this forest, and while they're relatively easy targets, especially when compared to demons and goblins, they make up for their weakness with numbers, intelligence and dirty tactics. They especially like to set up traps and ambushes.

"Don't breathe in!" Crystal realizes, trying to warn her unsuspecting allies, but it's already too late. Angel and Pink, who have no idea what they're dealing with, got already contaminated by the poison spores they inhaled.

Four Nymphs in the water have realized that something's going on, so they try to swim as fast as they can. Too bad they have trouble as well in form of tentacles hiding in the water. These traps, while relatively harmless, are trying to hold them down. As their first course of action, they strip their opponents of the little remaining clothing they have, but that's about as far as they can go. Easy zones don't have as rapey traps as harder zones do, so they don't really have to worry about getting raped as long as they struggle, but it does mean that they may not be able to help their friends.

There are about half a dozen enemies in total within the line of sight, but there could be more. All of the opponents are melee and wield light weaponry. These Beastmen are about as tall as Nymphs are, and kind of resemble tall, tailless chimpanzees. Angel - who doesn't know anything about these enemies - instantly resorts to her holy magic, but quickly realizes that her spells are useless, meaning that she can't defend herself. It sends her into a fit of panic, as she desperately tries to escape. She doesn't get far at all, and she's feeling out of breath and hot. She can feel her hastened heartbeat, and her vision blurs slightly for one split second. It quickly becomes very apparent to her that the poison had more than just one effect on her. Before she can properly even regain her composure and collect herself, she feels her body being pinned face down to the ground, and her hands are being forcefully tied up.

Crystal tries to defend herself at first using her weapon, but she suddenly realizes that it may have been a mistake. The enemies are piling on her, trying to encircle her. Since she can't defend herself from all the directions at once, she gets surprised very quickly. She can mount some resistance and struggle, but it does force her to inhale the poison, sealing her fate as well. All she can do is try to delay the inevitable, while hoping that the rest of the group can help her out.

Pink transforms as soon as she figures out she is in grave danger. Even though she has been slowed down considerably, she can at least defend herself with her magic, and opts to fire randomly. The weakness of her enemies becomes apparent, as she manages to take one of them down, but she can't fire to multiple directions at once. It allows her to be surprised, and to be pinned down alongside her friends who were just as unlucky as her.

All this time, girls in the water have been forced to watch. Lemon is in a relatively good condition and practically free of her enemy's grasp, but she can't help her friends without having two hands free, and she can't save the rest of her friends from the tentacles either. Snow, on the other hand, is so badly tangled up in tentacles that she can't even mount resistance. Basically, she's just moments away from being raped, which is really unfortunate considering how weak these tentacles all.

Out of all the girls, Wendy is the one who has the best chance at striking the enemy, since she only needs one hand to fire, but she can't get her hands free at all. "Please Rain, just cut the tentacles already!" she begs.

"They have my fucking hands!" Rain complains, trying to wiggle herself free. She's almost done with it, and knows that she will surely manage, but she can't do it in time. She, like the rest of girls, are forced to watch as the Beastmen take their catches and escape straight into the cave. Only after they disappear out of line of sight, Rain manages to get her hands free. Now, with a weapon in her hand, she proceeds to help her friends free, while they slowly get away from water, to the shore. They were way too late, and exhausted, they can't really chase after the enemy either. Out from their line of sight, they realize it's too late to save their friends quickly.

"Well, at least they're fucking Beastmen…" Snow says, sighing deeply, fortunate to have herself spared from insertion after all. "We can beat them, but how humiliating is this…? We let those weak shits get the better of us…"

"We've never heard of those things", Wendy says, getting up and summoning a stamina bottle for herself.

"Don't waste it… I can do some emergency healing…" Snow says.

"If you say so…" Wendy says, shrugging. "So, what are they like?"

"Really, really annoying", Snow replies, standing up. "They set up traps everywhere and try to ambush their victims just like that. If they feel outnumbered, they flee like cowards. They live in pretty small communities, and their camps usually have from anywhere to twenty to thirty Beastmen…"

"…That's too many…" Lemon realizes, worried for their friends.

"Trust me, it's not", Snow says, trying to sound confident. "They're as weak as humanoids can be. As long as we're careful and manage to outsmart and surprise them, I'm confident we can save our friends."

"If they're weak, will our friends even get pregnant?" Rain wonders.

Snow doesn't reply with words. Instead, she just hangs her head and gives a slight nod.

"R-right… Let's formulate a strategy while we recover", Wendy says. "I'll assume you know everything about our enemy."

"Absolutely", Snow says, nodding.

Road to Paradise, Part Two

Meanwhile beneath the mountain, inside its vast caverns, Beastmen take their prey to their hidden little camp. They haven't had any females to reproduce with in a long time, so they're extremely happy to get three Nymphs to breed with at once.

The beasts struggled to keep hold of the three at first, especially because there were only a limited amount of hunters, but the poison is starting to kick in. Crystal couldn't explain its effects in time, but she knows exactly what kind of cocktail she's dealing with. Basically, it's a cloud made of three different kinds of spores, all of which have a unique effect, all of which work together to a devastating effect. Its most immediate effect is the numbing spores, which drain out Nymph's strength and stamina, slowing them down in the process considerably. It takes only few seconds for these spores to kick in, and then few more seconds for it to go into full effect. Next spore to take effect causes confusion and dizziness, limiting its victims ability to perceive what's going around her. Needless to say, it also takes away from their abilities to stand up and walk straight, screwing up with their sense of balance. And last, the third spore intensifies the perceived sexual pleasure, forcing Nymphs into insatiable horniness that not even a good dicking will cure. It has the longest effect of them all and acts in a very similar manner that miasma does. The only difference is that it can be dispelled, since it's a poison.

One thing that the drug cocktail cannot do to its victims is alter their minds. In other words, it's a combination of drugs that will leave its victims sane, at least relatively speaking. With all the three spores having effect at once, none of the girls can struggle anymore. All they can feel is the disconnect from their minds to their bodies, which are very much ready to be fucked.

In a central location, there's a cage that's used to imprison, subdue and rape the victims. All three victims - Angel, Pink and Crystal - are thrown inside, and Beastmen follow inside, leaving few to guard the entrance. These poor little girls all a little horrified by the numbers, because they know that their friends are going to have to handle all twenty alone, and who knows how much they will have to suffer before they even get a chance to get saved. Can they even be saved? They can only hope so.

Pink, still hands tied, gets his face pressed against the rough blanket beneath her, while she braces for what's about to come. A cock is already rubbing her quim from a completely blind angle. She has had the fortune of avoiding these kinds of situations almost completely, having only been raped once, ever. She knew it would happen eventually though, and to be honest, she's been prepared for this to happen every time she goes out into the wilderness. She's still a little upset about being in this situation, but her body can't really signal it. With her butt sticking out, her wet hole is open for all kinds of invitation.

'What the hell is this poison?', she asks herself, completely stunned by the effect it's having on her. 'My pussy has never felt anything like this! I think I may go crazy if he sticks his dick into me!' Her heart beats fast and she whimpers in protest. Despite the fact that the Beastmen aren't even holding her down properly, she can't move at all with her hands tied. Hands have taken hold of her hips, and she can't shake them free. There is a penis constantly teasing her opening, and every single shlick from its tip is causing her to twitch and throb. She can't believe how unbearable it feels to be teased like this. 'I mean, I will be saved soon, right?' she wonders. 'Is it okay for me to actually want his cock a little?'

Beastman's adult-sized cock finally penetrates her, pushing deep against her cervix, causing her to let out a loud moan. It lacks in length compared to many other species, but it's still more than enough to overwhelm a Nymph, and it has plenty of girth for maximum pleasure. Beastman thrusts his hips back and forth fast from the get go, slapping and clapping against Pink's bare bottom. Her body and all of her past desire to resist are drained out in an instant, as all she can think about is how good it feels. 'Ah, fuck! It's raping me! I know I shouldn't enjoy this, but I can't help myself! It's so fucking good!' She even feels the ties in her hands loosen up from all the shaking, proving that they weren't probably tied up that tight to begin with. Even though she manages to wiggle her hands free, she won't even dare to do anything but grip to the blanket she's laying on. Beastmen aren't trying to re-tie her up either, and instead just confidently watch as their dicks are doing the job for them. There's no need for them to try and oppress Pink any further, because she's already acting as obedient as a girl being fucked can act.

Angel is scared, and a little anxious. Even after all those weeks being stuck as a Nymph, she still doesn't completely identify as one, and aspects of her own nature quite frankly terrify her. She finds it unbelievably unfair that she's too weak to even stop enemies from raping her and using her as they please. However, this weakness is not limited to just her strength, but also her sexuality. The dick pushing against her pussy is just intensifying this feeling of weakness, draining out the little resistance she has away from her body. What's worse is that the position of her hands is an uncomfortable one. There might be a soft blanket beneath her, but with her hands tied behind her back, she can't support her body in any way at all. It's also worth noting that the ties for her are tied way tighter than those for Pink were, so they're not coming off accidentally either.

'But how can that be?' she asks herself, as she lays on her back, watching at the Beastman who's rubbing his shaft against her vulva. 'I know this is rape, I know I shouldn't want this, so why? Why does it make me feel like this!? I never asked to feel like this!' Playful as her rapist may be, it's not content with just teasing the opening. It takes hold of Angel's waist and adjusts the tip against the entrance. "Aaah, no…!" Angel actually manages to voice a verbal complain, but her plea falls to deaf ears as the cock penetrates her. Relatively small it may be, but it's still the biggest thing that's ever been inside her, way bigger than the small spider that raped her once. It almost feels like a completely new sensation to her, and although there are tears welling up in her eyes, she is forced to smile as she moans. 'Wait, no! I don't want this at all! Why won't my body move! For Christ's sake, it will make me pregnant at this rate!' It's the only thing she can think of while being fucked. Last time around she could let out a sigh of relief because she was spared from the pregnancy, but now it's guaranteed to happen and she knows it. Yet, her body and her mind continue to act disconnected. She might be terrified of becoming a mother, but just thinking about being impregnated is making her hornier.

This brings us to Crystal, sexually the most experienced one of the bunch. She lived life of sexual servitude for a relatively long time, so being forced to submit is nothing new to her. It's because of this that all she can really comment at her fate is, 'Oh boy, here we go again'. She doesn't even consider resisting, because she knows it's all pointless, and more importantly, her body remembers this sensation, and yearns for it, even though her mind may not. 'Fuck it', she decides. 'At least this time around I know for sure that help is coming, so go on and rape me all you want for all I care. Make me feel good. It's not going to matter.'

Sitting upwards on top of a Beastman with her athletic tummy and flat chest facing the Beastman, and hands tied behind her back, she's forced to take the cock from below. It does allow her to observe the situation around her more closely, but to be honest, all of her attention is on herself. Despite being the cowgirl in this situation, she's not putting any effort in, nor is she even allowed to. Her rapist is one strong, hairy boy, to whom Crystal's measly body weight is not even an inconvenience. He can pretty much lift his girl with arm muscles alone, and so, with ease, he buries himself balls deep into his mate. Crystal can't help but to push back with some counter-force, but in the end, it's just as meaningless as struggling would be on her part. All she can do is maintain her body in an upwards position, moaning hard.

It's very easy for them all three girls to see that the lust is building up inside all the surrounding Beastmen and that they're going to be receiving even more dicks. Their current positions don't really allow for much more, but at very least, their mouths are free. Pink receives a cock into her mouth and is made to look like a pig being spit-roasted, while she's being fucked from two opposing directions. Beastman that turns to abuse Angel is a little gentler, as he's not trying to facefuck her as much as he's just trying to force her to suck the tip and kiss the shaft, but it's all overwhelming to Angel regardless.

Things are a little bit different for Crystal, because there's plenty of room to play with her. From behind, a Beastman surprises her by pushing a cock into her anus, doubling the load between her legs. Both of the beasts thrusting their cocks do it at different rates as well, each with a pace of his own. It brings her to a brink of orgasm almost instantaneously, but she's not allowed to shout out her pleasure, because a third Beastman fills her mouth, shutting her up. 'Not even those goblins ever bothered to do all my holes at once.' It's true; despite all the depraved things they forced her to endure, this is something entirely new. She can't deny that being gangbanged like this has been a lifelong sexual fantasy of hers, one that she has always kind of wanted to experience. She really, really can't help but to get even hornier. 'Oh, I love it! I'm so glad they're giving me some good memories, provided of course that I don't have to actually stay here for too long!'

Despite being lustful beyond reason, the Beastmen last really long in bed, as is evident by the fact that not a single one of them has cummed yet. Instead, all they've done is made their girls cum over and over again. Pink, for example, is caught in a loop she couldn't even anticipate earlier. She's so wet that the lewd liquid is dripping down her thigs, and she's begging for some restraint. She mumbles like crazy, as her childish moans are being muffled out of existence. 'I can't take this', she complains in her head. 'He's too fucking rough! My pussy is burning up!' She doesn't want to admit it, but what she really wants more than anything right now is for her rapist to just cum. 'Please, just cum! Fill my pussy up already! I don't even care if I get pregnant anymore, just cum already!' Yet, her wish remains unfulfilled. Beastman fucks her like a madman through another orgasm, but offers no release, or so it seems.

Without any signs of warning, the Beastman finally reaches his climax and begins to deploy semen into Pink's child-sized spermtank. To her, it's hardly a breather, because her body is still all tense. Yet, she manages to relax for a little bit, especially with the Beastman in front of her pulling his cock out of her mouth. Now, only sensation she can focus on is the violently throbbing cock inside her. It causes her eyes to roll back out of pleasure, and sigh heavily out of pleasure. She wonders, 'Did it feel this good the last time around as well? Being cummed inside feels so incredibly satisfying…' She closes her eyes and really stops to think what it means for her. Well, it doesn't require her to be a genius for her to know that it's going to make her a mother. The only question seems to be, which Beastman's sperm is going to be the one to penetrate her eggs after it's all said and done.

There's commotion around her, as the first Beastman to cream into her is practically showed out of the way. The others are lustful and tired of waiting. The cock that was just moments ago in her very own mouth is going to be entering her once used cunny, and she's not offered any time to relax. 'I should've known this!', she tells herself as the cock pushes deep into her hole. Fast and powerful insertion pushes her forward, but the hands that support her stop her from losing her footing. Then, it becomes apparent that this one is going to rough her up even more badly than the last one. Before he starts thrusting, he leans forward to find her hands, and grabs onto her wrists. Supported by her rapist, her entire upper body hovers above the ground. Then, he finally begins to slam his hips into her. This simple change in her position makes it all so much more extreme for her. Her body tosses and shakes around with every deep thrust, as her body is forcefully being pushed forward and pulled backwards harder than before. What's more, she can't even do anything to ease her situation. Even the illusion of control she previously had has been stolen from her. As expected, she is forced once again to climax. 'Oh no, please don't tell me he's going to last as long as the last one! I'll go crazy! I will seriously go mad for their dicks!'

Angel's getting more than she thinks she can handle as well. The Beastman between her legs wanted her all for himself, so the one making her lick his shaft gave room. He moved his hands away from her hips to take hold of her slender thighs instead, and continues to push them open, and push them down as he roughs her pussy up. She continues to struggle against both the restrains on her hands and her rapists grip, but not because she's scared, but rather because she just can't help but to move her body. All she wants is a little space.

'My pussy is so hungry for his cum!', she states, relishing in the amount of pure womanly pleasure she's feeling, eyes staring straight forward at the caged roof, mouth wide open and moaning. 'I had no idea I would ever enjoy rape so much!' She's not kidding; it's getting unbearable, but to say she's not enjoying being toyed with would be a lie. She's cummed so many times, and the pleasure she feels is unrivaled by anything she's ever experienced. Most of all, the tension within her heart is getting higher with every passing second. She doesn't know when it will happen, but she knows it's getting closer and closer. Her heart pounds like crazy at the prospect of being cummed inside. She was scared a while ago, but no more. 'He's gonna knock me up…! He's actually gonna do it…! I can't believe I actually want it to happen now!'

Beastman finally stops, and his final clap pushes hard against Angel, who actually feels her butt get lifted into air a little. Dick erupts into her with force, and her extreme relief is accompanied by a gentle orgasm which takes her breath away and draws a happy smile on her face. Despite the fact that a lot of going on with her, the only thing she can really focus on is the idea of being cummed inside and what it means for her. And, well… Now that it has happened, now that her future is inevitable, she's not even going to care about the consequences anymore.

Next Beastman is quick to come for her. He pushes his way between Angel's legs, which do not close for the short moment she's free, and the next cock finds its way deep into her. Except, he doesn't start thrusting her right away. Instead, he leans forward almost as if trying to hug her with the intentions of undoing the ties. It comes at delight of Angel, who couldn't be happier to put some life into her upper body, and it's only after this that the Beastman begins to work his mate. He's looking to start from the exact point where the last one left, and hands on hip and waist, he uses his force to lift Angel's butt away from ground. Supported by only her back which is left rubbing the blanket beneath her, she - like Pink - is receiving arguably even rougher sex. She may already be exhausted and overwhelmed to the point of wanting a little breather, but she's somewhat okay with being handled the way she is.

Things are almost exactly the same for Crystal, as there's no way she wouldn't love what she's getting. Three dicks continue to ravage and invade her from all directions with hastened pace, all eager to cum. She can't retreat or lean anywhere as they just continue to push. She can't believe none of them haven't cummed yet, especially since they have her on the edge at all times. Then, they start jizzing into her, one by one, all very close to each other. She can feel all of them pulsating at the same time and she couldn't be happier. 'So much cum…!' One Beastman's worth of cum alone is enough to drive any Nymph mad, so to get triple load is just heavenly for her. 'I wanna continue to explore my fantasies…! Give me even more dicks, I beg you…!'

Still rock-hard penis escapes her mouth, which is the first one to leave her alone. There's still enough pep in the beastly rod to give her a generous slap of cum right across her face, and she takes it with eyes and mouth wide open in a clean line from her forehead all the way to her jawline. She would love to communicate her desire to continue being handled the way she's been handled already, but her pleasure won't allow her to form any kind of intelligible words. Beastman behind her back releases her from her shackles, leaving her "free" just like her two friends. It really is the same story all over again; there's absolutely no need to restrain any Nymph who has been fucked this silly.

New Beastman surprises Crystal from behind, and she's being pulled away from the last dick inside her. This Beastman tucks her closer to his belly, guiding her hip to sit on top of his dick. She's gonna play cowgirl once again, but this time with her facing away from the mate below her. It doesn't allow for any room to fuck her ass, which seems like a bummer, but only for a short while. The two new Beastman standing both to the left and to the right do not care about sticking anything into her, and instead begin to jerk excitedly. Despite the language barrier, Crystal has a hunch about what they want her to do, and since her hands are free, she's happy to do it. She grabs onto both dicks hovering close to her face, and she starts to jerk them as the Beastman below her starts to hammer her, jerking her hip up and down, at least up until she gets into the mood and kickstarts her own hip movement. That's right; she's the one finding herself doing the work. That's not to say that the Beastmen aren't being assertive, but Crystal finds it refreshing nonetheless. 'You wanna make the girl do all the work?', she presents the question to the Beastmen, but doesn't say it out loud. 'Fine, I'll humor you boys.'

She kind of forgot about it, or rather, she chose to forget; she's pregnant now. At no point was she afraid of it happening, as she has experienced it both in-game and outside. She's secretly kind of glad that it happened. She has to reluctantly admit that she might actually have some kind of impregnation fetish, if you can even count it as a fetish. She never used to think about it in that way, but now that it did happen, it got her thinking: does she really? 'Well, whatever', she tells herself and decides to focus on what's more important right now.

And that's basically how the things continue to escalate. Eventually Angel and Pink go back to servicing multiple dicks at once as well, and even they are forced to do some of the work themselves. Similarly, Crystal goes back to being manhandled by some Beastmen. They're all fairly sure that they have collectively already served one full round of Beastmen, but whenever they all get to serve all of them individually still remains to be seen. It's going to take a while to get to that point, and they know that their friends can't be too far away.

…

Meanwhile the rescue party enters vast cavers. For the first few minutes or so the grey tunnel offers very little sights for the four Nymphs to marvel at, but as they move inward, they enter a place that can only be described as an underground forest. It seems very strange to them that a cavern this large could be hidden inside a mountain which from the outside looks rock solid, but they have to believe what they see.

The ecosystem inside the mountain is very similar to the place which can be found between the mountains. In other words, it's a dangerous place full of traps. It's without a doubt a place that would be foolish to brave without a reliable scout. In addition to the flora, some trees and moss covering the rocks there are a lot of mushrooms which thrive in this wet and dark environment. As for light sources, there's light shining through the crack in the mountain walls are also a lot of radiating crystals and even glowing concentrations of magic particles floating around.

"I'm so glad you weren't captured", Rain comments, glancing at Wendy. "Otherwise this rescue mission would be a suicide mission."

"Yeah, and the fact that this place is a raid zone doesn't help", Wendy comments, sighing deeply, turning towards Snow. "Wasn't this place accessible through Sparkling forest?"

Snow replies with a simple nod and a "Yes".

"Is it a hard zone?"

Snow shakes her head. "It's comparable to the forest around Grove. Paradise is actually located in this very zone, so it's not very dangerous here overall."

"I guess it's safe to assume that this place can't be too much more difficult then", Wendy speculates. "We'll probably manage just fine, especially if we're careful."

"By the way", Snow says as she recalls something. "A piece of lore from the Beastman's logbook warned about a monster flytrap, which was translated to Venus Nymphtrap. That's probably a boss here."

"…They even have written lore books?" Lemon asks, surprised.

"Oh yeah, totally", Snow says, nodding deeply. "They're mostly incoherent ramblings and written in all caps though."

"Well let's take upon their warning and stay the hell away from that giant flytrap", Wendy suggests. "Anyway, the size of this cavern is a bit of a problem. Where should we even head from here?"

"My guess would be to look for traps set up by Beastmen", Snow suggests. "From my experience and knowledge, their hunts follow familiar trails and because of this their traps are always found on their trails. If you find one, you know you're on the right track. If you find another one, you can basically use that information to track down their base."

"That's convenient", Wendy comments and takes a look around. "What kind of traps should we expect? More poison?"

"Think more primitively. They rely a lot on ropes, snares, pits and even cages."

"Okay, that's super primitive", Wendy says, letting out a loud laugh. "Like seriously, you don't even need me to alert them."

And so, they begin their search. They pick a random direction and stick to it, heading towards the middle. They don't have to worry too much about enemies attacking them, because most of them truly are just stationary monsters such as tentacle demons and carnivorous plants. Most insects they come across are completely harmless to them… Then, they encounter a giant slug. Big like a tank, its thickness exceeds the length of a Nymph even in the narrowest parts of its body. It's hard for the Nymphs to say anything about its speed, but they suspect it being slow and clumsy. Despite being a slug it carries no shell and it has absolutely nothing to rape its foes on its body with either. It works in very similar manner to the elite Webworm in the fact that all of its weapons are located inside its mouth. Because of this, it's also safe to assume that this beast probably likes to eat its prey alive, after which they will either transport them elsewhere or rape them inside a tight, contained space. Lucky for them, the enemy has not noticed their presence yet.

Wendy is on the spot to inspect it, and she doesn't really know what to think. "It's a boss monster. Stat-wise it looks just as strong as that giant Webworm did, and way more durable, but it's still designed only for a team of five…"

"Well to be fair, it IS maybe a little bit smaller and a LOT slower…" Lemon comments.

"Well, let's continue", Wendy says, and takes a step towards another direction. After all, there's no way they're going to challenge a boss they can avoid. However, before she can even realize properly what's going on, she's hanging upside down in the air, with both of her feet being tied together. She can't help but to let out a surprised yelp.

"For real, Wendy?" Rain says, sighing. "You fell for a trap made for dumbarse critters."

"N-no need to rub it in, asshole!" Wendy replies. She's beet red from embarrassment caused by her blunder, especially after the comments she herself made.

"Shame you're not wearing a skirt", Rain continues, as his eyes are locked to Wendy's chest, which is partially revealed by the upside-down shirt. "Oh, I can almost see your cookies."

"Shut up and let me the fuck down from here!" Wendy commands, with a distress drawn on her face. "The enemy has noticed us!"

It's true; the yelp Wendy let out involuntarily in surprise alerted the slow-moving enemy, which now is trying to turn and target the quartet. Snow and Lemon make sure to catch and support Wendy to help her to her feet, while Rain cuts the rope down. They all take a look towards their enemy, which is looking to launch some kind of projective towards them. They manage to dodge it quite easily, which suggests that this enemy - despite being technically a boss - might actually be a surprisingly easy foe, provided it doesn't catch any unfortunate Nymph by surprise. The slimy goo hits a rock between the four, and from the way it looks they can tell that it's super thick and sticky, and probably heavy as well.

"It must use that to immobilize its targets", Lemon says. "Let's try to get out of its line of sight quickly."

"Not so quickly that Wendy triggers another primitive trap", Rain says, still making fun of her friend.

"I swear to god…" Wendy whispers, still angry.

After avoiding two more fat loads, they finally feel like they're safe from their enemy. Despite their haste they did a good job at avoiding any setbacks. Then again, there luckily wasn't anything between them and safety. To continue their lucky streak, they actually manage to find another primitive snare laying on the ground, ready to be activated. The heavy concentration of traps set up by Beastmen suggest that they indeed are on the right trail, and perhaps even close to their settlement. Snow, who has an elementary understanding on how to use the positioning of these traps to figure out where Beastman's hunt-trail goes, uses her knowledge to guess where the third one is. From there, they can all understand how to work from here, and although their hunt progresses slowly, it does progress, because now they know, it's only a matter of time before they find the Beastmen.

…

During their search they find something very unexpected; despite the fact that the giant, Nymph-eating slug was a boss, it's not the only slug around. They come across two more giant slugs similar to the previous one, suggesting that there are a lot of them. Still, as dangerous and unapproachable as they are, they at very least are easy to avoid.

The trail of traps leads them away from the path they initially took towards the edges of the cavern, and there they find it; a small village of treehouses and huts in the midst of trees and bushes. Surely enough, there are lookouts on the guard as well. In fact, there are five of them.

"If they can afford to have five lookouts they must have quite a team raping our friends as well", Lemon speculates, but turns towards Snow to make sure. "Or what do you think?"

"I think you're right. They absolutely love ganging up on us Nymphs and overwhelming us with numbers." Then, she stays silent for a moment as she tries to make a couple of more observations. "My gut tells me that there are anywhere from twenty to thirty of them in this village."

"Are you sure that's not too many…?" Rain asks, a little scared.

"As long as we make the first move, no."

"I'm not even sure that first move is enough", Wendy says. "We must execute it perfectly."

"So, what's the plan?" Rain asks. "Lure them out?"

"Exactly", Wendy says. "If we rush in, we're fucked." She turns her head towards a hilltop a little more towards the edge of the cavern. "That might be a good place", she suggests. "It gives us the high ground and from the looks of it also offers couple of nice places for an ambush."

"Let's go scout the area", Lemon suggests.

As much as it pains them to keep their friends waiting, they start to plan out their attack down to the littlest of details. Just like they suspected, the place Wendy spotted really is a perfect place for the attack. In addition to the reasons mentioned by Wendy, it also lacks traps and monsters which could hinder them. They debate and discuss the contents of their plan for a couple more minutes before they all go to their designated positions. Lemon is all the way to the back with Snow, both of whom have a full view of the battlefield, while Rain and Wendy lay in ambush, ready to execute anyone who takes the bait and rushes towards the two Nymphs standing in wait. From here on out until they all have been spotted, they will only communicate through hand-gestures.

Lemon has climbed into a tree and has the unenviable task of luring the enemy out. What makes her task so hard is the fact that she has to kill as many enemies as possible without actually being seen herself. In the best case scenario she can kill all of the lookouts, but that's extremely unlikely, so she puts her goal into two or maybe even three. The tree she's sitting on is not the best one for the job, but depending on her first target and luck, she can hide away from enemy's sight well regardless. So, she draws her bow to the limit and takes aim. Benefiting from her stealther surprise attack and from height-bonus, she's sure she will kill any lookout in one shot, provided she hits her target. Sure enough, a targeted shot to the head takes out one.

While Lemon takes cover to hide from the prying eyes, Snow observes the village from hiding. As expected, the enemy is immediately on high alert, and they're alerting everyone. They can't seem to figure out where the attack came from, so Snow gives Lemon the signal to enter enemy's line of sight again to shoot again. Once again, she takes out a lookout. This time though, the enemy has figured out where the Nymphs are. Snow signals this to her allies, telling everyone to prepare for melee. She herself takes the opportunity to summon some minions to help with fighting. She kind of has to save strengthening her minions and allies to the very last seconds; otherwise the spells would run out too soon.

There's more than just the lookouts coming their way. From the looks of it, they sent more than half the village, way more than the Nymphs anticipated. They all seem to be melee fighters with additional ranged weaponry as a backup, as is typical for Beastmen. They still don't know the exact location of the Nymphs, but their hunch seems to be good, since they're heading straight towards the team. What's more, they scatter in the hopes of encircling the team, a move which might prove problematic for Rain and Wendy, who can't hide from all directions.

Lemon's intuition tells her that she must make one final shot, one that will hopefully agitate the enemy and disrupt their plans. This one does not manage to take out the enemy instantly - due to the fact that she shot it in a hurry - but it does have the desired effect, at least partially. Having been spotted properly, most of the enemies are heading straight towards her. Some are still cautious and keeping their distance, perhaps even trying to set up an ambush of their own, but overall, everything is still going exactly according to their plan.

As soon as the first couple of enemies blast into the battlefield from between the hideouts where Rain and Wendy lie in ambush, they reveal their positions. Wendy, along with the summoned minions, work to defend Snow and Lemon, who in turn put all their efforts into helping out their only melee, and the person who arguably has the hardest task tanking a swarm of enemies. Rain manages to catch the first enemy she targets off guard and executes it brilliantly. The next four enemies all target the closest enemy to them, to which Rain responds with imprudence and reckless abandon. Following a successful dodge, she charges into the swarm of enemies, taking one shot at the enemy. It fails to take him out, and leaves her surrounded. She's still fast enough to dodge and keep herself safe, and Lemon's cover from above manages to catch an enemy off guard. Despite having the advantage in numbers, the enemy is unable to do anything. Their morale shatters as they realize that they made a bad move in trying to take out the Nymphs in the battlefield they choose.

Every enemy that charged in to attack Lemon was defeated and all that is left are the ones trying to catch Rain and the ones who are still waiting in the back ready to attack, or trying to encircle the team. As soon as Rain gets some welcome assistance in her difficult battle, the enemy begins to retreat.

"After them!" Wendy commands. "Take out as many as you can before they force the battle to the village!"

They all know that it can't happen. If too many enemies are on the defensive inside their own village, the fight instantly becomes much harder. At this point, Snow's minions are rather useless, so she calls them back to restore portion of the mana used to summon them and focuses the rest of her efforts on strengthening her allies. The three others on the other hand go on offense to attack the retreating enemy. Four of them make it back, while three Beastmen still try to take down the Nymphs. They all fail.

And so begins the next stage of the battle. Half of the enemy forces were just wiped out and the four Nymphs barely broke a sweat. The enemy is not going to make the same mistake again, so the battle is forced into the village.

It might sound strange of the four Nymphs to do the very thing Beastmen failed in doing and rush the village, but they think it's a risk worth taking for them. The enemy is still caught off guard and the longer they wait attacking, the more time they have to prepare. Lemon uses her wings to quickly maneuver herself on another tree branch from where she can see inside the village very well. As expected, some of them are barely armed. She takes quick aim and gives a signal to her allies. "It's safe to charge but be careful!"

Rain charges in, but to say that she's careful is a dirty lie. She takes the fight straight to her enemy's face not even caring about being outnumbered. She takes out one quickly, and in a flank between two huts she faces a wall of three Beastmen stopping her from advancing. They successfully push her back and manage to block her attacks as well, but the concentrated defense on one spot allows Wendy to approach from another angle. Once again, enemies start to fall, and as they do, the picture begins to clear up. They can count the remaining enemies with their fingers, and the victory is all but guaranteed.

Beastmen start to fight dirty in desperation. They take their poison bottles and ditch their melee weapons in favor of ranged and thrown weapons. They do their best to try and gain distance, using a cloud of poisonous spores as a shield against Rain. She closes her mouth and picks her nose as soon as she sees the fumes scatter from the broken bottle, and retreats quickly as well. There's no way she's going to try to actually fight in the middle of that cloud. In the end, it doesn't seem to matter anyway, because the team has two ranged attackers, and Rain can just attack other enemies anyway. Soon, none are left.

"Forget about perfect execution", Wendy says grinning from ear to ear. "That went better than planned!"

"Dude, this loot is going to be wicked!" Rain says with sparkle in her eyes. "We should do this more often!"

"I don't want to underplay our skill or anything, but we were lucky as well", Wendy says, trying to reel Rain back a little.

"Yeah, I'd rather not risk becoming a sexslave for the sake of loot when there's easier ways to acquire it", Snow adds, walking towards the cage in the middle of town. Inside, she sees three familiar figures. "Speaking of sexslaves, we successfully liberated three of them."

Lemon, who was the farthest away just a moment ago is late to the party, but the first one inside the cage, and the look on her face mirrors nothing but worry for her brethren. "Jesus, those Beastmen didn't pull any punches…"

"I reckon those lads didn't pull out much at all", Rain says jokingly, walking up to Pink, who lies still with her butt still sticking in air. Rain finds herself taken aback by the silly smile that is drawn on Pinks face, and a trail of drool that has rolled down her jaw. "You okay?"

"No… No more dicks… Please…"

"Come on, babe", Rain says. "You're safe now."

"What took you so long…?" Angel asks, still laying on her back, borderline motionless.

"Yeah, sorry about that", Wendy says, scratching her cheek. "We knew you were being brutally raped, but uh… We couldn't just rush in, you know…"

Snow's attention is almost fully occupied by Crystal. "Do you think you can walk?" Crystal responds by shaking her head slowly. "Can you even stand?"

"Not for a while…" Crystal responds and cracks a shy smile. She looks a little exhausted, so that smile - while kind and full of gratitude - does not seem that convincing. "Thanks…"

Snow blushes a little and whispers, "You seem okay…"

"O-oh…" Crystal herself is still blushing like crazy. "I… I guess I am okay… Goblins made me do worse stuff for days, so this much is nothing…"

Snow tilts her head and tries to smile herself. "I think I can actually empathize with that…"

Lemon immediately reaches into her inventory full of relief and medicine. "Snow already told me that Beastmen only use kinds of poison that can be dispelled with remedies. It will help you regain your strength faster."

"Thanks a bunch…" Angel responds, sitting up.

"Rain and Wendy, you do the looting", Lemon suggest. "I'll stay here with Snow to take care of them."

"I'll go check the enemies outside the village", Wendy suggests, leaving Rain to loot the enemies in the village. "Don't forget to look for containers."

"I'll track them down, but let's save them for later", Rain says. "The treasure chests aren't going to run away."

And so, the team, bruised and battered as they may be, is reunited after the setback they suffered. Despite being apart from each other for only less than an hour, they talk almost as if they haven't met each other in weeks. All of them got really worried because the last time something like this happened to them, the results were much more devastating. Was it due to luck, lack of difficulty in these zones, or simply for the fact that they stayed cool for the duration of the mission and never panicked? They're not sure, but they couldn't be happier to be united once more.

Chapter V