Enter the labyrinth.

The moment your party takes the next corner, you realize Niki's instincts were correct. Branches in the path immediately turn in various directions. You see now why you felt this chamber to be larger than it seemed at first. There's no telling how large this maze may be, nor what lurks within.

You place your hand against the wall. It's polished smooth. "We'll hug the left. Be careful."

"Why the left?" Niki asks.

"It's a classic maze trick. Keep to the left or right wall no matter what."

"I don't really get how that helps. Must be some kind of complicated math stuff."

"... Don't worry too much about it. Just keep to one side and our odds of getting lost are low. Of course, they could have made this maze knowing people would try it, but we need to start somewhere."

Your party takes the next turn and follows it through even to a dead end, then back again, to yet another turn, and then another. The deeper you enter, the more uncomfortable you become. It's quite unnerving to be lost within an ancient labyrinth. At any corner, there could be a trap or a foe to combat, though the most deadly part of any maze is the inability to get back out.

To satiate your curiously, you pause for a moment to perform a Bunny Hop. You have a terrible feeling--a familiar one. And when you try, you realize why. A powerful magic shields this entire labyrinth from teleportation.

"I can't get us out," you say. "So we need to be extra careful."

"Do not fret. Stay close and continue as you are," says Nyllia.

"Yeah! We're seasoned adventurers," Niki adds.

You feel Eva's fingers on your back. After the next turn, she comes in closer, until she's cuddled cozy up beside you, which would be far less disruptive if you weren't trying to walk.

"Hey Kyle," she says. "I'm hungry... Do you know what I could go for right now?"

"I could guess."

"Your big, hard--Eek!"

She jumps as an alarmingly loud noise reverberates out from deeper within the maze. It's difficult to parse the direction or distance, but if you had to guess, it was close, and perhaps even the way you're heading.

"We need to continue," you say regardless. "If we stop hugging the left wall just because of a sound, we really will get lost."

You hardly travel any farther before a ginormous shape leaps out from around the corner! Its strange, lanky body nearly reaches the ceiling. Whatever it is, the head is small with one single cyan-glowing eyeball, and while large segments of its body shine like polished metal, the muscle-like connections in between are nearly black. It has long arms with blades extend down each arm, reaching a few feet from its human-like hands. When it moves, it whirrs like the shifting of mechanical parts.

"Stay back!" Niki screams.

She does this a second before the creature swings its deadly blade directly at her torso. Sparks fly as it impacts dead center of her shield, and she clenches her teeth as she manages to take the entirely of the blow through her body.

But then she looks down in panic. "Wh-What is this?!"

Her ankles have been grabbed by two wobbly purple hands coming up through a crack across the tiled floor--more slime.

Then, the beast's single eye--more like a lens than something of flesh--illuminates with a charging hum. You've seen something similar in the past from golems and automatons. It's about to fire!

Compared to those you've fought before, it unleashes its attack way faster than you expect.

Just as the beam is launched, Nyllia shouts, "Holy Shield!" as she raises her sword up in front of her. Right behind Niki's head, a spectral golden shield manifests, and it absorbs the entirety of the attack.

She isn't done there. Straight after, she vaults straight through the spell as it dissipates. Using Niki's shield just as she raises it, the elf leaps into the air as she pulls back her two-handed sword. Then as she swings it, the metal burns bright into a growing flame, but not in the same way as your own. "Burning Smite!" she shouts, and as she does, her weapon explodes into a swirling blaze of white and gold.

Nyllia carves right through the creature's neck, not only severing it as if made from butter, but melting the metal around the point of impact. A burst of kinetic energy sends the head flying into the wall, and the body stumbles back until it collapses motionless on the ground.

She flicks her blade, and the magic fizzles away.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Eva shouts in panic. She looks around, and then brings a hand to the front of her skirt. She mumbles, "Why am I so... O-Oh. Oh no. I remember everything."

"It seems she finally snapped out of it," Masumi comments.

"The fight isn't over!" Niki calls out as he attempts to pull herself free from the slime girl arms still grappling her ankles. She's strong, but the issue is that they refuse to break. Not only is the grip tight, but the arms simply stretch when she tries to step away. "D-Damn. Is Jelly this strong too?"

Without warning, it thrusts up her legs.

Now even more panicked than before, Niki readies her mace, though wonders if swinging down at her own appendages is a good idea. Ultimately, she decides that she is not only super strong, but durable as well, so they'll likely just cancel themselves out anyway. At least, you figure those are the thoughts going on in her head. It sounds about right.

Before she can try, you say, "Wait!" And then you leap down to the gelatinous substance consuming her lower half. You dig your fingers in, pulling at the goop and stretching it out towards you, though it doesn't come free. That isn't your plan anyway. While gripping the slime girl, you cast the spell, "Pleasure."

Suddenly, it writhes and wiggles frantically. You can feel the slime quiver. After that, it retreats quickly back down the crack.

You look up to see a full moon rising.

Niki didn't escape unscathed. Nothing is gone except for two things--her shorts, and her panties.

Though she's a rather bold warrior, she's certainly not immune to embarrassment. She brings her shield down to cover her bare pussy, not before it was on full display for a long moment, and she flushes deep red. "Are you kidding me?"

Meanwhile, you look to Eva who still seems to be struggling through all that's happened.

You out a hand on her shoulder and she flinches. "Are you good, Eva?"

She looks to you, blushing, and nods. "I uhm... S-Sorry about all of that. I don't know what came over me. We're potentially in the domain of my mother's people, and all I could think about was--Uhm, let's not dwell on the past actually! What the heck is going on with this place?"

That thing... It's unmistakably a machine, though not a design anything like Elok made. There's so much magic here that we've already run into three slime girls, and I bet those aren't the last ones we'll see. But also, they didn't eat any of the crystals in the storage chamber? Maybe only stel'ae can extract the magic from them. Either way, this place is strange.

Niki looks to the ceiling and whines. "H-How am I supposed to lead the party from the front with my bare ass out?" she mutters to herself. Then with a groan, she slowly brings her shield back to cover her ass, and her mace down in front. "Stupid slimes... Of course that's all they eat. It's like some kind of sick joke."

Masumi lets out a quiet chuckle. "You can't properly protect us if your shield is behind you."

"I'll be fine!"