I'm (un)ashamed to say, it took a while for me to calm down after hearing about this "Tentacle Triangle" area. But what a letdown! It was just fishermen mistaking countless sea serpents for tentacles from some crazy sea monster? Again, what a letdown! 

"*Sigh*. Well, considering whose Treasure Tower was built there, there's not such a big surprise there." - Ciara

"Mhm. The Horde Lord, truly a small fish." - Revi

Indeed. The "treasure" that was contained within the mentioned Tower turned out to be a small crown the size of a common ring. I could even wear it on my finger had I wanted to. And that's not something I wanna do. The thing's made out of rotten-looking fish bones, scales, and seaweeds. I must admit that my tastes can be described as "extreme", but the limit is reached when it comes to literal trash.

"Just to be sure, the Horde Lord's dead?" - Ciara

"Mhm. Squashed. The Guardian must have disliked him." - Revi

"The Guardian, you say..." - Ciara

Revi's comment made my gaze wander to the club's main entrance, the one leading to the "bridge" that connected this floating bar with the shore. That huge thing, that's what used to be the Water Tower's Guardian? And Revi's saying she defeated it in one blow? I'm a little dubious about that, but when you remember that she has the Death attribute and [Envy] on her side...

Ah, now I remember. Before we split up, we were endowed with some "Extra Medal" stuff from Bermuda. He even pointed us to those "Trial Grounds" places near our locations that we could raid while waiting for the Treasure Towers to appear. I did score three wins on those "trials", and I'm glad I followed Bermuda's tip on using the "safety mode" the first few times, but how well did our little Seven Sins user rough up her Trial Ground? 

A part of me wanted to ask, but then the more reasonable part told me that doing so would lead to me learning how that giant sea serpent outside got one-shot by the little lady. Trying to understand that is a bigger risk to one's SAN points than the stuff I can conjure up. And I need those points, at least for now. After the war quest, we can see~. Gosh, now I just wanna be done with this stupid quest already!!

"Alrighty then," I said while placing the strange idol I obtained from the Darkness Tower beside the box with the Horde Lord's ring, "we have two Treasures on our side, both having their respective Guardians six feet under. And we know that the Chaos Church is commanding the Guardians for the Earth and Chaos Towers, so they should have those Treasures on hand."

"Then...we steal?" - Revi

"We steal, rob, and strip them for everything they have! Nothing good's going to come from staying in this town, so let's skeedadle as soon as possible!" - Ciara

"Mhm. Then, Nozomi?" - Revi

"Yes, yes," said the robot barmaid while bringing a huge whiteboard. On the said board, a map of the city was drawn. And it even includes the bits and notes from the wolf girl's handwritten one! Oh, now I get it. They copied that one over to the whiteboard. 

"At the moment, the Chaos Church is using the eastern part of the city as its territory. It will be difficult to locate where they store their Treasures, if they are there in the first place." - Nozomi

"Y-you sure are working fast..." - Ciara

"It's part of my programming~. Anyway, I would not advise you to try to defeat the Chaos Church head-on. Their numbers are greater, and according to Miss Ciara, we know that they have the Treasure Guardians under their control." - Nozomi

"How?" - Revi

"Hmm, maybe they know a way to utilize the Treasures to command the Guardians? Or maybe the Guardians were created to follow the Chaos Church's orders from the start." - Nozomi

I think it's the first one, since the Irritation Lord didn't even try to command the Darkness Guardian, despite being on the same side as the Church. Either way, we don't have the same options, considering that the Darkness and Water Guardians have already turned into fish food. 

"The north is just as dangerous, since it is the source of the mysterious gold slime creature. And in the western parts of the city, two forces seem to be clashing with each other." - Nozomi

"Two forces?" - Revi

"Hey, when you mention that, I saw the wolf girl's map earlier myself. She had drawn a mark similar to a polar bear." - Ciara

"As in...Polaris?" - Revi

"That was my first thought as well!" - Ciara

"Polaris?" - Nozomi

"It's a tamed monster belonging to one of our friends. A Polaursa Kumacub. It looks like a polar bear with flashy meteor bits attached to its fur." - Ciara

"Wow, that sounds so cute~. Hmm, little Eilie would not include such a drawing without a purpose. Maybe your second friend might be there?" asked Nozomi while looking at Revi. So I'm friend #1 then?

"I didn't think so at first. I mean, this pic's pretty nasty for it to be Polaris." - Ciara

"...? It looks exactly like him." - Revi

"EEEHH?! No, no, nonono, NO. This here looks more like a mafia than a cute, little, living teddy bear!" - Ciara

"Exactly. What is so difficult to understand?" - Revi

"...Revi, do you and Polaris have some bad blood between you two?" - Ciara

".........Not really," replied the dishonest dragon witch. Yeah, as if anyone's going to buy that. If someone took a picture of Revi's face right there, they could put it up in a dictionary underneath the word "grudge". 

"Nozomi. We're leaving for the west." - Revi

AHH! She's trying to change the subject, this sneaky little dragon-but-acts-like-an-eel girl! And there's one more thing I gotta complain about here!

"Have a nice trip~." - Nozomi

"Hold it! We're staying here for the night!" - Ciara

"Why?" - Revi

"Because we wouldn't arrive before past midnight if we started heading out now! Also..." I paused, right before my stomach made a lonely cry for food. "I haven't had anything decent these last few days..." I said with sorrow in my voice, remembering the lonely days in the prison cell. The few snacks I got when traveling with the fake Alf weren't enough to satisfy me after several days of prison food. 

"In that case~," said the robot barmaiden with a smile on her artificial (yet super hot) face, "allow me to serve our Bar Serencarbonity's finest dinner options~."

"Great~!" I replied with a similar, floaty tone. And if someone comes to ask me about payment? Just shove them in Garami's or Filyn's directions. At worst, I can pay them back with my body~. Better not let them meet Nozomi. With a bod (artificial or not) like the one walking to the kitchen right now, I need to up my game if I want to compete with her. 

"You just thought about something scandalous." - Revi

"Wow~, you know me so well that you don't even have to guess~." - Ciara

"*Sigh*. It's a miracle that you haven't obtained [True Chaos] yet." - Revi

"It's just a few more points left, probably. And that reminds me, I can probably upgrade some skills now~." - Ciara

I obtained some new classes before the big dive to the Darkness Tower, but I haven't gone through the skills just yet. Now's as good a chance as any to up my game, like I said before. Though the beautification skills will have to wait. We need raw combat power today!!

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

Due to system updates to the World System, the Skill Shop is currently unavailable. 

Please be patient. The system update will be finished within the next 10 hours.

Eh...eeeeehhhh? Didn't we have one of these just recently after that Nightmare Festival-thingy on the Luxuria continent? Another good reason to wait till tomorrow.

"...It doesn't work..." said Revi with a frown, staring at the thin air in front of her. She must have tried to access the Skill Shop as well. 

"It seems the gods want us to have some quality girls' night tonight~." - Ciara

"What god? The Chaos Church's?" - Revi

"...I was hoping for the Baron, but now you sunk that hope into the deep seas..." - Ciara

Partially to erase that idea from my head, I asked Nozomi for the best she had on her menu. Today I'll pig out! I've got something better than just the plain old [Golden Ratio] to keep me fit after all~.

---

1 day before the release of the Invidia Overlord.

Another day, even more rain~. Sheesh, hadn't their inability to publicise their store stopped them from getting customers, then the weather would. Lucky for us, Nozomi had some extra umbrellas we could borrow. The magical kind that floats above your head and keeps the rain 100% away from you. What hospitality~. It almost makes me want to stay here forever~. Especially lately, since the last few days have been torture for my sleeping routine and diet. 

"...*Yaaaawn*..." - Revi

It seems that someone else has also received their share of the good life. Revi's appearance is far from slouchy, yet her face is still showing signs of laziness. Now I'm imagining Nozomi helping the sleepy witch with dressing up. And it's probably what happened. That fancy gothic lolita dress is far from easy to put on by yourself. Did Garami make it? It does match the black dragon plushie Revi loves to carry with (as a weapon).

"Today, I will act as your guide," said a voice all of a sudden. I can't see who spoke, but I nonetheless recognize it.

"And where are you hiding, little Eilie~?" - Ciara

"...A sniper shouldn't show her face that easily," replied the hidden wolf girl. Did I traumatize her last time? In my defense, most of the fault here lies in that weird anti-social allergy thingy of hers, not in my freakazoid tentacle trap. ...Okay, so I'm partially at fault, but just that!

"...Just get it over with..." responded Revi, forcing the conversation to continue. And she has a point. We only have till midnight tomorrow before this War Quest turns to Overlord mode. 

"Follow me," said Eilie. I was about to ask "how", but the little red hiding hood was one step ahead. A trail of smoke...cloud...something that looked like a trail of mist started to appear, showing no care about the rain around us. 

"She hates people," said Revi as I looked on curiously at the wolf girl's strange way of interacting with us. "Probably more than Garami."

"Yeah. She looks like she was born to have that [Reclusive Deviant] thing." - Ciara

"...? She is not a deviant. Correction, she is not like you." - Revi

"Ouch! And I was talking about a title!" - Ciara

"Sure, fine." - Revi

This girl knows how to use those snide remarks! I mean, I already knew, but this stuff hurts even if you're in the know! And I guess Revi isn't the most curious one when it comes to titles and such. I think it's only [Migrants] like me, those who had [Identification] from the start, that has the mindset to stay conscious about this stuff. Without that skill, it's kind of difficult to keep track of the skills and titles you have. 

Heck, even WITH the skill, I'm barely scraping by when it comes to my skill list! Specifically, when I looked over it this morning, I had SOOOOOO MAAAAANY skill points! Or, I guess they're called "Aether Points" now? AP? Huh. That helps differentiate it from SP (stamina points) at least. 

While the AP thing was nice, not having thought about using them hurts! Now I have so many new and upgraded skills that things are going to become messy the next time I meet the Chaos Church and their two Guardians. As in, I'm going to make a mess out of THEM! Not to mention the little "extra" stuff I obtained from the Extra Trials will finally get their time to shine! As long as I don't forget about them! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

"Why did she start slapping herself in the face?" - Eilie

"Don't pay attention. It will only encourage, rather, arouse her." - Revi

"I'm not THAT kinky!!" - Ciara

---