After resting for a few hours and recharging some of their mana, the party, on Adrianas's behest, decided to go after Perry. Sure, they had said they needed to deal with the eel lord, but their mermaid friend really wanted to recruit the cute platypus, as she was worried that another party might kill him. Apparently, she wasn’t worried about Bean since the lord was in the turbulent waters, which she doubted any adventurers would try to head towards, at least not until later in the event.

  Heading back down, the party knew exactly where they needed to go to find Perry, and a somewhat short swim later, they were close to the cave. Arriving on the outskirts of the cave, the party was annoyed to find another adventuring party also arriving at the spot, just as Perry was getting there.

  The trio stared at the party for a few seconds before flaring their Presences in their direction and watching as the demeanors of the other five adventurers changed. They had believed that, since they outnumbered the trio, they would intimidate them, but after feeling the quality and power of the three friends' Presences, their minds changed.

  Speaking of minds, Adriana was also influencing their minds, further ensuring there wouldn’t be a fight. With the other party taken care of, the trio swam over to meet with Perry.

  “Hey, Perry, how are you?” Adriana greeted, having been left to be the sole speaker.

  “Hello, have you come to hug me again?”

  Hearing the Beast Lords answer, Adriana almost agreed, but managed to hold herself back at the last second. She needed to remember that they would likely end up fighting soon, and she didn’t want to make the lord feel betrayed by starting in too friendly terms.

  “Sadly, no, we have come to speak with you about a certain matter. Do you remember what we talked about last time?” Adriana answered calmly.

  “Yes, you asked me to help the frogs, something I still do not find myself inclined to do.”

  “Ah, I see, and there isn’t anything we or the frogs can give you to help change your mind?”

  “No, particularly, no, and if that’s all you wish to ask of me, then I must make my leave,” The teal-furred platypus answered as it began to turn around, only to find Adriana getting in its way.

  “Come on, Perry, anything at all we can do? I just don’t want to make things much more difficult for you, or me,” Adriana told the platypus, her voice low and already regretting where things were heading.

  “How is it difficult? You asked, and I said no, now if you don’t mind,” Perry answered as he swiftly maneuvered around Adriana, the mermaid letting him pass her by.

  “Perry, please, I don’t want to do this, just come join us and we won’t have to fight,” The mermaid stated with remorse.

  For his part, Perry hadn’t stopped moving and had gotten close to the platypus cave, the lord's body indicating it was slightly annoyed but otherwise not worried. Naturally, as soon as Adriana’s last words reached the platypus, its entire demeanor changed. However, not only was the change physical, the lord's body now on high alert, but the trio felt the slightest pulse of energy as an odd, almost imperceptible static spread outwards from the creature. At first, they thought Perry had unleashed an attack, but after inspecting their bodies and not finding anything, they ruled out the option.

  “Is that a threat? Are you saying if I don’t go help the frogs, then you will make me?” Perry told Adriana, his angry tone making the mermaid feel even worse. Hearing the platypus and unwilling to let his girlfriend continue feeling bad while trying to recruit the lord, Alexion spoke up.

  “She likes you too much to say it outright, but yes, either you come with us, or we will have to put you down so you don’t join our enemies.”

  “Your enemies? What are you talking about?” The lord responded, some of his anger replaced by confusion.

  Now, Alexion didn’t care to do all this talking. They knew that more than likely, and just like with the first phase, it was unlikely that a lord would join anyone without a fight happening first. However, Alexion knew that Adri had taken a liking to this lord, and even if she hadn’t, the mermaid was often a little too nice. This was apparently even more prominent with most creatures in the dungeon, so he would play along, attempting to be nice, for the cute mermaid's sake.

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  “Basically, there are two factions and…” Alexion began as he explained the situation in the lake. Explaining the two groups, and how adventurers needed to recruit the lords for each group, and they couldn’t let the lords be, for fear they would join the other side. As Alexion spoke, the party didn’t fail to notice how slowly but surely ten other platypus began to gather in the area.

  When the party had first arrived, there had been around five or six of the beasts, but they had been doing their own thing. However, now a few more had emerged from the cave, and they were all intently watching their lord and the three adventurers. Finally, as Alexion’s explanation came to an end, the trio noticed two platypuses heading back inside the cave. The party hoped that things were de-escalating, or perhaps the opposite was true, and they were going to get more reinforcements.

  “What if I don’t join either group? Then there wouldn’t be a reason to fight, and you three can leave,” Perry told Alexion, the lord having calmed down some.

  “I am afraid that wouldn’t work. Eventually, a group would defeat you and make you join, or if you still refuse afterwards, they would kill you to avoid the issue in the first place.”

  “What!? Do you think I am so weak that any party can just come by and defeat me!?” The platypus yelled as his anger returned in full force.

  “Not any party, but a certain good number of them can bring you down, especially a party like ours,” Alexion answered as he flared his Presence at the lord, who flinched slightly but was still undaunted.

  “Enough! If a fight is what you want, then a fight is what you will get!” The lord yelled, Alexion’s words and actions having pushed it over the edge, and it released another static wave.

  The party had been expecting the lord to attack at any point, but they had yet to start their enhancements, so they wouldn’t seem as aggressive. After all, for Adriana’s sake, they had hoped to recruit the boss without fighting, even if it was improbable. However, now that talks have been thrown out the window, the party quickly started their enhancements and finally noticed what the static was for. The lord used the energy to communicate with its minions, and as soon as the energy was unleashed, the eight platypuses that had been watching rushed forward, with two more coming out from the cave.

  The thing was that these two new platypuses were not the same as the other eight. These two new ones, though still D Rank, had much more teal fur than the average-ranked platypus, their beaks and tails even having slight hints of yellow. Watching the two, it was clear to the party that the two new platypuses had to be of the mini-boss variety, as that would line up with their theory after defeating Otterson.

  With only seconds having passed after the fight started in earnest, the first one to make a move was Perry. This was mainly because the three adventurers were still assessing the situation as they tried to identify the capabilities of the platypus while also hoping things would get interesting, which they did. Perry unleashed a thick beam of deep purple energy, traced with dark green and black lines. The beam hit Alexion before the elf could do much, and the elf instantly felt the energy eat away at him from the inside.

  “Guys, the lord has access to poison,” Alexion told the other two calmly, managing to keep the pain under control as he began to work to eliminate the invading energies, his own enhancement ramping up as electricity sparked across his skin.

  Having heard Alexion, Adriana concluded that the rest of the platypuses would likely be able to use a similar attack, and sure enough, the eight platypuses unleashed a barrage of purple beams. Still, the lord was much stronger, and the trio managed to dodge the much slower beams of energy. Even so, the two stronger platypuses were catching up to their weaker kin, and Adriana was hoping to balance the numbers. The mermaid reached out, spending lots of mana to crush the weaker beasts while hoping to delay the two mini-bosses.

  Adriana’s plan worked, at least partially. Wincing as five of the platypuses turned to red mist, Adriana found that she had been unable to kill three, as they had used quite a large amount of mana to rebuff her attack by flooding the area around them with their own mana. Things had gone even worse with the two stronger platypuses, as they had been further away and had been able to resist much more easily.

  Arctur focused solely on the mini-boss closest to him, and he used Adriana’s momentum to follow up with his own attack. Alright, not an attack, but something to keep it at bay so he could help Alexion out. The mini-boss was soon enveloped in vines and roots as Arctur pumped a good chunk of mana into the ability to ensure it stayed still. He hadn’t been able to use his most basic magic against the otters due to their explosive nature, but he could now, as he doubted the platypuses had something similar. Sure enough, Arctur saw the platypus unleash a cloud of poison, which began to weaken his vines and roots, but they would still hold.

  After ensuring that the mini-boss was stuck in place, Arctur turned to Alexion and, with one pointed finger, unleashed a line of green golden energy at his friend. The beam was quick, and it arrived at his friend's location right as another poison beam struck the elf’s barrier, which managed to hold the lord's attack.

  Alexion had kept an eye on Perry and knew that even as it swam towards him, the lord would likely try to hit him with another attack, which was why Alexion had placed a translucent barrier in front of himself as he worked to eliminate the poison. The second beam the lord unleashed wasn’t as strong as the first, and once his friend's magic took effect, along with his previous progress from using his enhancement and generally throwing mana at the problem, Alexion was ready to get back into it.