Found you… Sinking, surrounded by oppressive blue, the sun continued shining on me. Glorious rays of sunshine brilliantly pierced through the water of the pool just for me. I won… Ahahahaha! We won! We found the monster, and I completely stopped its ambush.

  The pool’s jumping board turned into a war pick, and the monster tried to use it to crush Hecate. We have a no-touching policy, so I pushed her out of the way and caught the spike before it stabbed into me instead. My back hit the bottom of the pool, and a gentle cough of bubbles escaped my mouth. The water reduced most of the impact, and by the time I sunk to the bottom, I was able to stop its momentum with my bare hands.

  Then again, maybe I was celebrating too soon… I stopped its first attack, but nothing’s over yet, is it? If I don’t find a way to get out of here soon, I’m gonna drown. But if I let go of its weapon, it might attack someone else. The spike wiggled left and right and also tried to go deeper, to stab my chest, as if to prove my point.

  This thing is dangerous. I can’t just let go of it. Could I get it stuck to the bottom of the pool? I moved around the spike as quickly as I could and got into position to slam it down. Is my strength enough to do this underwater? I gotta do it to protect the others!

  “Brl! Brlbrl! (Hey! Wait!)” As soon as I got my weight above the giant, war pick shaped springboard, it started pulling up. “Brl?!” Too quick!

  *Splash!*

  “Wait wait wait wait! Too fast! That’s too fast!” I clung onto it not to fall, only to get flung into the air. “Woaaaah!” There it is… That’s the enemy… While in the air, I got a good look at the monster. It looked like some kind of giant lizard. It reached about chest height, being also twice as wide. Its tail was longer than its body and was shaped like a weapon.

  Uhmm… Where am I gonna land? I was going over the lizard and getting away from the pool. There are other pools this way, but I don’t think I’m going that far. I adjusted myself and landed in front of the lizard, right between some tables and chairs. It hasn’t moved since the ambush attack, and its back was turned to the pool where the others were.

  Looking at it again, this is not just any lizard, is it? It’s a chameleon! Or at least something related. It had a horn on its forehead and looked more like a monster from a game than an animal. Which it is.

  “Iroha! Where are you? Are you okay?” Carol jumped around in the pool, looking for me. “Hold on, we’re on our way!”

  “I’m right in front of it. I stopped the spike before it reached me, so I’m alright. Just bring me my sword, Carol, okay? Please hurry!” This is kinda scary otherwise. I ended up on the side opposite of where our weapons were. I don’t know if I can do anything like this!

  “We’re on our way! We’ll join you as soon as possible!” Katja said as the four of them quickly swam towards the edge of the pool with Carol in front. Okay… Guess I just have to survive for a while. “Wait!”

  *Thud!* At some point, the chameleon’s tail had turned into the shape of an axe and stopped the girls in their tracks. They stopped in time, and no one got hurt. Is it focusing on them? Does it not see me as a threat?

  I’m not really a fan of being underestimated like this… They can’t get to our weapon with the monster getting in their way. But more importantly, they might get hit at this rate. I gotta do something! “Here it goes!”

  I closed the gap with Agility Burst. I can’t go all out since it’d give away my magic and get me in trouble. But I can still use my skills if I’m careful. “Look at me, you stupid lizard!” When I got close, I brought my hands together and smashed them down on its head. The chameleon’s skin was hard and protected it from any damage. Its head wobbled for a moment. It worked.

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  The monster finally looked my way and focused on me. Tables and chairs were sent flying. Still in the shape of an axe, the monster spun and swiped with his tail along the floor. “Nice dodge, Iroha! Keep it occupied!” I jumped over the tail, and Katja and the others finally made it to the edge.

  “It’s working… Woah!” The lizard repeatedly slammed its tail on the deck of the ship, breaking furniture with each slam. What exactly am I dealing with here? The tail had a spike at first but now is shaped like an axe. A chameleon that can change the shape of its body? Just its tail?

  The answer to that question arrived right away. The claws on its front legs turned into scythes, and it lunged forward into a hug. “Nope! No touch! You can keep those to yourself!” It repeatedly lunged after me while I ran around the pool. I gotta find a way to defend myself!

  I grabbed a chair to attack, but it ate right through it. I dodged out of the way of the following lunge, and it crashed into some tables. This monster is not very smart, is it? It’s buying me time, though. Before it got up, I noticed a bartender stand near a railing to my side. That’s used to mix cocktails, right? I have an idea…

  I ran towards the stand, and the monster lunged ahead of me, leading his shot. I used Agility Burst to stop and turn my momentum around. The chameleon crashed into the wooden stand, and I smiled. There it was, flying through the air… A small metallic object reflecting the bright sun. A kitchen knife!

  I jumped to grab it but got too close to the lizard. It slashed with its tail at me before I had time to grab the knife. I gotta be fast… I really need this one to work! Parrying Strike!

  I hit the axe from above with the knife and smacked it into the ground just before my feet. Almost scratched a toenail. It’s a miracle the knife didn’t break against an axe the size of someone’s torso. Parrying Strike has that effect, right? Either way, I can put up a fight now!

  I rushed the chameleon down, and it pulled back. The tail transformed into a long blade for more maneuverability up close. It swung as it backed away to stop my advance, but I dodged its attacks while closing the gap. Even with Parrying Strike, I get the feeling this knife can’t take many more hits. I have to finish this soon! Heart Piercer!

  With a burst forward, I moved past its defenses and hit the head with the knife. Before resistance even reached my wrist, the blade snapped, and only a small wound appeared on its skin. “Arggh! Dammit!” I knew this was gonna happen too! I got too carried away! Were there other knives?

  “Iroha! Here.” Just as I was thinking about retreating, Carol arrived at my side and tossed me my sword.

  “Sorry we took so long. You held out well!” Katja jumped between us and the monster and stopped the counter to my thrust with her two-handed sword.

  “Thank you… Thank you, Carol.” I unsheathed my sword, ready to join the fray. After Katja blocked the attack, Narumi followed up with her axe, aiming for the monster’s legs. The two of them hit multiple attacks while buying time for Hecate to set up. The tail was still in the shape of sword, and the chameleon used it like a scorpion’s tail, but- Bang! From the other side of the pool, Hecate knocked it away with her sniper before Katja and Narumi were harmed.

  The enemy was out of options and resigned itself to withstanding the attacks. The three of them were clearly damaging it, but its skin started transforming. “It bounced? Why?” Narumi tilted her head after the spot that she hit before became harder than steel.

  “Yeah, it can change shape in the middle of a battle. Careful, girls!” Now was a bad time to charge in, but I approached regardless to cover their retreat. Katja took longer than Narumi to pull back and received the monster’s full attention.

  “There!” She hit its left leg once, but it hardened before the second hit, growing thicker and bulkier. “Bad timing…” Since her sword did nothing, the lizard followed up with a step forward and a swipe. Katja put her sword to block it and got pushed back.

  “Don’t even try!” It moved to either grab or crush Katja, but I arrived just in time to deflect its claws away.

  “Sorry, Iroha. You saved me.” We finally managed to put some positions between us and the monster and regroup. “The situation is not looking great… Who knew we’d run into something so strong?”

  “Even my shots stopped having any effect.” The five of us stared the monster down with Hecate standing in the back with her sniper. “It’s an interesting specimen. If even we lack the firepower to damage it, isn’t this a real threat? Do we have a plan?” No matter how sturdy it is, I can always spam Heart Piercer to take it down. There’s Blade Dance too! It buffs consecutive attacks, so if I could just hack at it away for a while, it might work. I might be able to bulldoze through its defenses. Is that really feasible though?

  “It’s alright, Hecate.” Carol took a glimpse at me and grinned. “Iroha has a plan.” H- hey! Why are you saying that? You’re putting me on the spot here!

  “Do you?” Katja tilted her head. “I’m out of ideas, so if you’re that confident, tell us what we should do. Otherwise, we have to call for help. Before it transforms into something even more dangerous.”

  “Uhmm… Well…” How can I land consecutive hits uninterrupted? We’d have to find a way to restrain it. If only we could do that… The only other option is… “If I could get on top of it, it might work. I’m pretty sure I’d be able to kill it if I had enough time.” I need to stop it from interrupting me. “If Hecate could prevent its tail from knocking me off and someone else kept the limbs busy, we could do this. Like… What if Narumi covered Hecate while the two of you attacked its legs?”

  “Isn’t that too risky?” Asked Narumi.

  “…” Katja took a moment to think about my proposal. “It seems like we’re asking you too much, but we have no other choice. This is a good opportunity for you and Carol to show the results of your training.” Katja took a step forward and signaled Carol to follow her. “We’ll create an opening for you to jump on its back. You’ll be the one in most danger up there, so get away if things get iffy.”

  “It’s alright… With you covering for me, I don’t have anything to worry about, do I?” I followed the two of them to be close enough to jump when the opportunity showed up. They smiled without turning back and drew their swords confidently. “Let’s go… Let’s make it pay for attacking us while we were having fun!”