The blowing wind is very cold that even the toughest and thickest skins would shiver from it and yet this guy along with the Snow Goblin, Jaka seems to not be bothered by it. It is a bit understandable if Jaka is immune to the cold since this little goblin lives in the snowy region and natural cold climate of the Frozen Region of Sandurk but it's a bit mind-boggling to the guy who Jaka calls Master.
"Jun-san, are you sure the fish will only be available at night? It's not like we are doubting you but we are quite tight in time," Janus asked.
"Yep. That bloody fish is a nocturnal hunter. Don't bother looking for it in the morning and afternoon. It will just be asleep like a rock under this frozen water. Once the night fell, or more precisely once the darkness has blanketed the entire sky, it will emerge and start its daily hunt for food."
"What does it eat? I don't think there are any creatures living under the ice except the monster itself. And I don't think there are even monsters courageous enough to even dive or walk above the ice."
"The main diet of this monster is meat which is pretty obvious for a carnivorous fish. But yeah, due to how the monsters are no longer going to the lake to do something, this fish was forced to eat the inhabitants of this lake to satiate the hunger it feels every day. Of course, the inevitability arrived and the only living being left behind living in this frozen lake is none other than the damnable fish. Can you guess what it did to survive?"
Chase was the first one to answer though it was a clear wild guess as to how he immediately answered without thinking too much and the way he said it like it was a joke.
"The fish decided to abandon the water and walk through the land~"
Jun snaps his finger. "Bingo, boy."
Nove l B(in).C OM
"Wait, what?" Chase then realized that it wasn't even something of a joke.
"He said it right. The f*cking fish decided to abandon the water and decided to use its fins to walk on land and find prey to eat. Now, it only comes back in the morning underwater to sleep before going back to the land after the dark settles."
"Damn, are you serious? I thought it was hilarious if a fish walks on the land but it can indeed walk on land?!" Chase was terrified imagining the fish walking out of the water.
"I am not joking. It is one of the daily occurrences that this monster goes out and eats monsters all around that comes its way. It might not be as big as most monsters do but it still poses a big threat, especially to explorers who are mapping the place or are just passersby to the place. So I was suggesting that you guys wait for it to go out of the water instead of taking the initiative to disturb it."
"I see. However, I don't think there's no need for us to wait till nighttime to fight it since you told us what it is going to do during the night, I can only say that our best course of action is to make this guy force itself out of the hole it was staying."
Jun was surprised but he didn't stop their actions and just smiled. "I see, well, I am not surprised but don't blame me if things get hard. Don't ask me for help if the time comes."
Sigma smiled after hearing that. "Don't worry. I know what I am doing."
...
Sigma and Chase returned to the group after the discussion was done. The others were not there because they are trying to learn the best way to find the target.
"So, did you find any kind of information we can use against the fish?" Bladeheart's mother asked.
"He didn't give much information but I can easily piece out things without him telling directly at me. The only thing he said to me about the fish directly is that it is a carnivorous monster, a nocturnal hunter that will leave its normal habitat and has the ability to walk on land after the natural prey it has under the water of the lake all gone inside its belly. I already formed a simple plan to pull that fish out of its bedroom."
"Oh, so it is an evolved creature? As expected of this Alternate World, if these animals existed back in our world, I doubt we will be surviving until now," Janus scratches his head.
"Are you nervous? I still remember you have Thalassophobia, will you be fine?" Dolly looked at Janus who is clearly sweating and getting paler any minute.
"Yeah, I think I will be fine since we will not be fighting underwater but it still makes me have some lingering fear from it and I am not going to lie that I am not nervous at all."
"Maybe you should sit this one out, boy? I can still remember the time you screamed in fear when my son tried to pull you into the sea to go swimming?" Bladeheart's father rubs his back for a bit to calm him down.
"Don't worry. I am fine but I think I will not be going to be in the front until the monster has fully emerged from the water."
Sigma approached them and looked at Hagane for a bit before nodding.
"I have an idea so that you don't need to sit this one out. You won't be directly involved in seeing the fish go out of the lake but you will be needed to be crucial in this battle. Is it fine with you?"
"Eh? What kind of plan...?"
"Okay, tell everyone to gather. We will now begin the discussion of the plan. Once we are done with the discussion, we will begin the battle of taking the Corrupted Gill out of its body."
...
...
...
The quiet discussion only lasted for around 10 minutes before the group dispersed. But they are now pretty much calm and collected having the discussions done. The only one who seems a bit more panicky and a bit sweatier than the group is none other than Hagane. From the looks of the plan, it is a risky one and it seems he will be also part of the players who will be having very direct contact with the target.
p "Let's begin the mission."
Dolly and Topaz went to the edge of the frozen lake while Bladeheart's mother is just behind them. The two looked at each other and they also look at Bladeheart's mother before nodding simultaneously, reaching an understanding on what to do.
"[Oil Rain]!"
A black mass of clouds appeared above the whole frozen lake and black liquid fell to the ice which is obviously the oil. Once the [Oil Rain] finished being cast, the oil is now covering the whole frozen lake's surface. But she is not yet done. With the ice being covered with the oil done, she pulled out four bottles of Molotov Cocktail that Bladeheart handed to her before and throws them all onto the oil-covered ice,
BOOM!
Simultaneously, Dolly and Topaz also activate the skill they are waiting to use.
"[Combustion]!"
The magician's ability to increase the intensity of the existing flames allowed the explosion of flames to cover the whole place in a single explosion. However, they are still not done. Harmless Sparrow comes running with her sword ignited with flames rushes to the ice and stuck her sword to it before she unleashes the final blow to the ice.
"[Flame Geyser]!
BOOOOM!
The explosion was so great that the ice that seems to show no signs of change has finally caved in and the brick ice is now divided into multiple smaller pieces. With the flames still raging on the surface, the smaller ice that got separated from the bigger ice started to melt and it didn't take too long before the whole ice covering the lake is now gone.
Now, most fishes would already be disturbed from the ruckus that was done from just that but it seems the target seems to not have any signs of waking up so soon. It was clear since the water remains calm and collected even after all of the things that just occurred.
Seeing that the first thing has not shown any signs of being disturbed, Sigma finally steps out and stood with the others. She crossed her arms before she unleashed one of her skills.
"[Chain of the Heavens]!
The chains appeared from the sky and they landed in the water at a fast speed. Sigma can feel the chains and the moment they all landed to the bottom of the floor, she looked at Dolly and Topaz before nodding. Harmless Sparrow smiled after seeing the signal.
Sparks of electricity appeared on their hands, and in Harmless Sparrow's case, the electricity is circling around her sword.
"Let's do some fish blasting!"