Chapter 169 - Asphodel Meadows

Twas the night before Christmas, noise echoed through the house. Embarrassment started brewing, as Ikarus moaned at her future spouse...

"*Sighhh*... always the same with you Petra. It's appearance over practicality like usual"

"Heh, you barely feel the cold though Ikarus. Give me a spin since you look cute"

"No..."

https://i.ibb.co/HBB4smy/Ikarus-Petra-Christmas.png

---FYI, I'm using the holidays as an excuse to slack off so uploads will probably be sporadic this upcoming week. Happy holidays everyone and don't drink too much! I'm a hypocrite so I'm ignoring said advice...

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"Uh, this place seems scary"

"Heh, slight understatement Ariza. You don't have to look so happy about this though Ikarus"

"I'm not Petra! It's just that this sort of place was something I expected, that happy Elysium place was unsuitable for the Underworld. This is definitely more like it"

"Even I don't understand orangey's tastes here, this place just looks shit. Like a necromancer's wet dream or something"

(Geld) "Funny you should say that Zeki, my master did mention once all undead are summoned from the Asphodel Meadows"

"Meadows? But there's no flowers or even life here?"

"Maybe the spikes are supposed to be flowers Lotte? There is a lot of dead shrubbery around, the name probably isn't literal though"

Now fully healed up and ready to go, we've just entered the doorway to the next Underground region and boy, this place definitely looks more suitable for this place.

Standing on top of a huge rock overlooking Asphodel, what presents us is a huge, flat but lifeless wasteland vast as the eye can see, also containing these small rocky spikes and deceased plant life. The darkened sky itself adds to the ominous atmosphere, the lighting that repeatedly strikes the land in the distance makes it feel even more terrifying.

"So, we'll have to fight off the hordes of the undead then? Pretty sure I can just make out the next gate way over there"

"Heh, your eyesight is probably the best out us all Ikarus so that's where we'll head"

Should also mention the skeletons roaming about aimlessly, countless different shapes and sizes coming from any sort of creatures corpse imaginable. This place still has the ghastly souls that reside in the Underworld but it almost looks like they're trying to hide or stay out of sight from the undead, are they policing or hunting the souls? Not really about all that sure.

"Anyways, let's get on with this then"

"Heh, catch me Ikarus"

"What..."

Slowly climbing down the rocks with me leading, Petra can't help but 'accidently' slip and somehow ends up being princess carried within my arms. Normally, I like this sort of thing but not when we're literally about to fight the entire goddamn skeleton army!

"...You know Petra, sometimes you really make me wonder"

"Heh, that better be in a good way Ikarus. You also make me wonder as well"

Putting her down before having a quick kiss and trying my best not to scoff at the joy of a woman alongside me, we gradually make our way to the first batch of skeletons after passing one of the rocky spikes around Asphodel.

Ahead of us is a small squadron of boney creatures all approaching not looking best pleased from us intruders. I'm getting the vibe this may be easy but I'm not overconfident enough to neglect a fight.

Putting out an arm and releasing a good burst of flame all over ahead of us, my suspicions are all but confirmed when the shattering of bones occurs and most of the forces collapse onto the ground adding more death into this place. I barely charged up the flamethrower there as well.

Even the few to the side get swiftly burnt up by Zeki and Petra, just how weak are these undead to flame? It reminds me a little of how video games do it, skeletons are always either too powerful or too weak. In this case, it's obvious the answer.

"Heh, don't jinx it Ikarus. We all know what you're thinking"

"Uh huh, Petra is right Ikarus"

'Look at Ariza ganging up on me as well'

"I erm... imma just stay quiet this time then"

"Orangey doesn't have to jinx it, these bastards are worthless fodder only fit for becoming a wolf's treat"

At least I'm not the one setting a red flag now, it just has to be Mr obnoxious doing it this time around. When we come across a skeletal mammoth or dragon now, he can be blamed.

After Zeki can't help but do what I'm best at, another group of undead makes a way to our travelling party and like the first, have greatly superior numbers to our seven.

Once again, us mages now including Charlotte let out our usual spells of choice and like the first time, all the skeletons collapse with no issues whatsoever. This place is clearly going to be a breeze until we come across something different, more and more skeletons appear to be approaching again all as weak as the last. As much as we all love overpoweredness, this isn't even worth it. The fight is basically form a line, spray magic everywhere and the undead collapse. I get that the Underworld needed some foes like this but still.

'That's the second group of these done. Now, only a few thousand more to go, no point wasting too much time on this...'

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'Status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 588]

[Health 166,666*/166,666*]

[Stamina 72,420*/80,000*]

[Magicka 130,008*/166,666*]

[You currently have 7334 unassigned points]

'Oh, did I level up without realizing it, Aesa?'

[<Apologies 10 Ikarus but even Aesa didn't receive the notification, levels have been gained and 22% of your magicka used. Already mentioned status is a little bugged out inside here presumably, EXP was from fight against Alecto>]

'Those snakes held EXP? Huh, maybe the dungeon aspect of this place won't be a huge bust'

Having just dealt with another sizable force of these skeletons, actually more like an army's worth, we all find ourselves taking a quick breather and bite to eat before the next inevitable battle. With the number of skeletons around this place and the fact combat is unavoidable, might as well take a second when we have the chance. We could be doing this for hours, maybe even days if this keeps up.

"Erk, is there seriously more of these bastards incoming? Why don't we just fly over this all already?"

"Try it for yourself kid and you'll see why"

While we were in the middle of one of the previous fights, I posed the same exact question to Aesa and got an answer. Might as well allow Zeki to find out firsthand why none of us are even trying.

Zeki quickly switches into bird, tries to take flight and immediately lands flat on his beak when trying to take flight. Me and Petra are the only people to chuckle due to his failure, everyone in this party is way too kind at times.

"What the fuck orangey!? It's like I'm ten times heavier!"

"If you and your system were on better terms Zeki, he'd have told you the gravity inside this place makes literally no sense. The higher you go up, the stronger it pulls you down"

"Uh huh Zeki, even my voice told me about that despite it sounding like a riddle. She has been losing her mind a little recently"

"As if I'm asking that dick for advice. At least that explains why we're dealing with all these weak bastards, can't you just nuke'em or something orangey?"

'He's pissing me off now'

All I want to do is quickly relax and eat something in the arms of my woman while we've got a sec, yet Zeki just won't let that be a possibility. We've probably got like two minutes at tops before the next group slowly gets to us.

"You're being serious kid? You want me to waste one of my nukes on skeletons? What happens if we have to face someone much more powerful inside this place? Use your brain kid"

Zeki just scoffs from my reasoning but I am right though, I've already wasted immortality and star blaze on those snakes. For all we know, it could get progressively harder and harder within this place. The abilities haven't even recovered from the daily timer yet.

"Heh, we should probably make a move now Ikarus. We really don't have the time for this"

"Urgh, fine then. Charlotte and Nathan, you two can stop gobbling each other up as well"

"We're not doing anything though Ikarus?"

"Yeah Ikarus-sama, we were only hugging"

"Yeah yeah, don't be acting so coy and innocent because we all know what you two are really like. If you were alone, I bet that hug would've gone way further, right?"

Heh, I was only making a joke but clearly, I was onto something there considering how red those two have gotten. Of course, me and Petra weren't the only couple locked in cuddles, those two are getting bolder by the day and they may even be at our public intimacy level in a couple hundred years or so.

'It's funny how Geld, Ariza and Zeki can get so awkward around this sort of thing. That actually presents a good question about Geld though, does he have a partner or potential interest? For some reason, I'm getting the vibe he could be gay, not sure why though...'

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"Finally, we're at the next gate. This was fun at first but I'm over it now"

"Heh, it's taken you this long to realize that Ikarus? How many undead did it take?"

"Eh, probably got bored after the first hundred or so Petra"

"This place is a little sad if you think about it, all those skeletons we've had to destroy"

"Brother, are you seriously caring for the undead now!? You really are too sensitive at times"

"There's no problem with Ariza-sama being a little sensitive to other people, of things Zeki"

(Nathan) "Yeah kid, not everyone needs to murderous and ruthless like yourself"

(Zeki) "Both of you and the nun can bite me, I'm right and I know I am"

(Geld) "I feel a little out of place around you lot at times"

Having just spent a day or two getting through the endless skeleton armies around Asphodel, we've finally managed to clear a sizable area out, had a quick rest and now we're all ready for the next doorway.

Everything just came down to time rather than having to put in any effort. Seriously though, even Ariza would've been safe fighting hand to hand against these skellies. Ah, made sure not to use any abilities and for good reason.

There's an important piece of information I neglected to tell earlier on. Apparently, my abilities aren't recovering inside here, well they are but extremely slowly. Aesa said there's some restriction but it could also be the time inside this place so we're a little unsure right now. Technically, the Underworld is a dungeon and maybe it's using real world time instead of inside this place? Ah, I really don't know.

Petra's already tried to tell what the time ratio is but other than her saying it's slow like with every other dungeon we visit, she can't get the specifics either and seems to be restricted a little like I. It must be done this way slightly on purpose, pretty sure I remember something being said about dungeon creation once before than can restrict certain things.

Anyways, now onto the next gate and of course, another fury sister appears to be rising from the ground. It would've been nice if the gate keeper was something different this time around but at least we get another humanoid enemy this time around.

Looking kinda similar to her sister Alecto, she shares the same skin and hair colour, only wearing hers in a ponytail this time around. She also is a lot more conservative with her clothing compared to the last bikini wearing fury, you can still see a load but still.

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https://i.ibb.co/fQjTFbP/Megaera.jpg

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Judging from the fact she's wielding a whip, it's safe to assume we need to fight this sister as well? We've all raised our weapons and have steadied our resolve, whatever that means. Might as well give a slight warning beforehand though, save any guilt the other members of the party could have. I'll happily kill her if needed though.

"We've already taken down one of you so let us pass and we won't need to fight"

"Don't worry, have no intention to fight you all"

She responds in a calm and soothing voice taking us all back a little, that wasn't even a lie though.

"Wait, seriously!? You don't want to fight us like with the other fury?"

"Tsh, you really shouldn't compare us three sisters to each other. I do want to fight you, and we will inevitably fight, just right now isn't the ideal time since there's other places to be within Sir Hades's realm"

'Huh, I wonder what the cause could be the cause of this. Judging by how uncomfortable her face looks, it's clearly something embarrassing so not going to ask, bet she's got a date or something like that! Wait, could the whip be related? Okay, I'm definitely not questioning that...'

"Who are you anyways, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Megaera, make sure to keep that to yourselves..."

While speaking, the fury sister sinks back into the ground and the doorway to the gate opens up a mirror portal to the next Underground region. To actually think we got through this next bit without having to fight the boss, I know she just said we'll have to fight again but still.

[<Aesa 10 has been keeping an eye on status and would like to inform Ikarus another levels have obtained>]

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 598]

[Health 166,666*/166,666*]

[Stamina 65,518*/80,000*]

[Magicka 101,226*/166,666*]

[You currently have 12334 unassigned points]

'Seriously!? She's given levels as well? Well, this has been a fight worth fighting!'

To think, we just got to skip a boss fight! You'd think I'd be pissed but if it wasn't for so much boring skeleton action and just wanting to leave the meadows already.

By the sounds of it, I'm not the only one noticing the increase. Mr obnoxious does sometime pay attention to his system stuff as well.

"Wait, when the hell did I gain twenty levels? Was this from the half-naked sisters or something?"

As soon as Zeki notices, both Ariza and Petra join us in the blue eye status gang. Guess they didn't realize we're getting EXP inside this place as well.

"Zeki, you really need to be friendlier with your voice more, this seems like one of those things he would told you if he noticed it. Mine didn't but she's sleeping right now"

'Ariza's voice can sleep? Ah, I probably shouldn't ask, hers does sound like it's going down the route of Petra's'

"Brother, that dickhead doesn't deserve anything nice! Like orangey, he keeps going on about that stupid jugular body of mine that I'm NEVER going to accept! He can fuck right off"

Okay, I really want to speak with Zeki's voice now if he's in agreement with me, we really need to drug Zeki up again sometime soon but should probably wait until he does something despicable. So won't be a long wait I hope.

"What about you Petra? Have you finally hit max level yet?"

"Heh, still stuck just before a thousand Ikarus. It's good that this place is levelling you three up though"

Ah, guess she's still at nine-nine-nine again. We're still unsure why Athena broke her level counter but it definitely should come up someday.

Of course, Nathan, Charlotte and Geld still aren't going to be completely sure on the whole level thing but two of which are locked at five hundred after all. The only one who isn't and isn't a mythical creature is Nathan, that actually presents a good question though.

'Huh, wonder what his level is at now? Status'

[Name: Nathan | Species: Human | Level: 209]

[Health 10,450/10,450]

[Stamina 4,321/10,450]

[Magicka 0/0]

[<Last 10 182 check on Nathan showed him at a level Ikarus. Even excluding levels just obtained, clearly travelling in the party agrees with>]

'I'm pretty certain he must've gained some EXP from one of the previous dungeons somehow? Eh, I'm not figuring this out'

It wouldn't surprise me if he's able to level inside the majority of dungeons unlike us birds but basic levelling was always weird and broken to begin with. Let's just move on from all this system related stuff now.

Before moving on and deciding how to approach the next region, Geld now feels the need to step up and say something though.

"Before we precede into Tartarus, I suggest we take a much longer break than beforehand Queens. Unlike these two previous areas, the next one could prove an extremely difficult challenge"

Judging from the fact his arm is shaking a little, the warrior is surprisingly nervous about entering the next region.

"It's safe to assume Tartarus is extremely dangerous then Geld?"

"Yes Queen Ikarus, at least that's what I've been told from my master. Tartarus is the heart of the Underworld so anything that is really strong must be residing down there. Hopefully, we get lucky and miss most of it but he did say to be careful"

We still don't have a clue who this mysterious master of his is other than the fact he's a demon lord but best not question everything right now. We'll find that out as well someday, hopefully he's not a dick but you never know with these sorts of things.

"Then, we'll definitely have a proper break and a good nap or two... me and Petra call dibs first though!"

"Damn it orangey! Can you read minds as well or something?"

Noticing Zeki spark up when a break was mentioned, could tell he was about to call shotgun on first break but me and Petra always deserve it first. Can't all be sleeping when it's guaranteed more and more skeletons will approach this area throughout the night, or however the light cycle works within this place. It's always kinda dark really.

"Heh, are you really that desperate for a sleep Ikarus, or is this something else?"

Judging by the way she just winked at me, Petra's clearly got a dirty mind and I'm not for it, at them moment. As if we're going to hump in the middle of this 'dangerous' place, we'd clearly get interrupted by skeletons and ain't no one going to stand over us protecting us while we do the deed. This isn't that sort of show, guess Aesa could be useful for watching duty but even then, that clone body is extremely weak.

"No no, nothing like that, just want a proper hug before sleep really. You started it earlier when you accidently fell into my arms..."