"Alright, this monster seems durable enough to st more than a fsh. Time to actually test our strategy," Thornno said. The earlier mohey had ran into had pretty much melted nearly right away uhe team's bined assault, but monsters from this point onward would get tougher and tougher.

  "Beware the tail spines," Seeker said, "It unch them. Also poison, but take care of it and Camity won't care regardless."

  Thornno nodded. "Thanks for the warning."

  Like that, Thornno and Camity exploded into a, Thornno going first to take the blunt of the three-jawed lion-thing's crushing bites on her shield while Camity took the other side from Thornno to also grab some attention for herself. At the same time, Seeker started juring traps for the tanky two to drive or lure the foe while saw jured and unched normal-sized saws while looking for an opportunity to go in with her ridiculously over-sized saw and really go wild. hurled a few needles with rubber tendrils but mostly stayed on watch for any injuries serious enough to require healing. And Clover merrily pyed away, boosting all of their bat capabilities.

  The lion-thing arently intelligent enough to identify the actual rgest threat; it revealed the hidden spines in its tail to send a storm of them at Clover, most of which Thornno caught on her already battered shield. A few stray spines caused injuries and shouts in the back-row, and started beaming his heal-gun across the group. The spine-shooting stopped after Camity quickly grabbed on tight to the tail, the foe monster instead smashing said tail into her repeatedly. Immediately, she felt 's quick pass of his healing beam across her, boosting her already impressive healing even more for a brief moment.

  This went on for a few frenzied moments in which Camity lost track of things a little. Things she noticed: the lion-thing pig up injuries as the fight moved over the traps, Thornno ughing with maniaervousness but tinuing work with a fresh new shield, the pounding of the metal-like tune Clover had chosen, and then suddenly the chaos stopped. Blinking, Camity looked for what had happened and saw that saw had ehe battle by beheading the lion-thing with her giant saw.

  "Fug barbed spines," saw moaned while toug the spihat had nded in her shoulder.

  "Do not touch them, let the healing take care of getting them out," said as he passed the healing gun's beam bad forth over the team. "Any particurly stubborn spines I will do a quick operation on."

  "So what's the story with your joutfit?" Thornno said with a chuckle to Camity.

  Indeed, as usual, Camity was wearing all denim, though this time she had switched up from her usual jeans-and-shirt look to a denim corset and denim miniskirt but kept her denim jacket and the denim socks and shoes. Camity looked Thornnht in the fad said, "Denim is the objectively superior fabric."

  ~~~

  "'Denim is the objectively superior fabric', she said! Still 't believe she said that with a straight face!" Thornno said with a chuckle, "Not that I'll gainsay her, not worth fighting over something like that."

  "Yeah, we're buddies now in thinking denim is the best," Camity said right before she once again bit a great ball of flesh and maws with her sentacles, pumping it full of venom, curses, disease, and other suastiness.

  "The pact has been sealed!" Thrinned while driving the many spikes on her shield into the thing.

  "ot believe you two have been joking nonstop about that for a hour," said while maintaining his grip on his healing gun, "Do I really have to be the straight-man here?"

  With a twinkle in her eyes while pying a upbeat pop song on her instrument which had turned from a guitar into a portable harp, Clover said, "You're the only one who doesn't think it's funny."

  "Oh my gods, stop it you two!" saw kept thrashing away with her massive saw, all while beset with giggles.

  "I am... not ued by the humor of this," Seeker said quietly as shadowy things emerged from their sleeve, bearing murky poisonous secrets to the maw-ball's mouths.

  "Ow!" Camity said as the ball rolled over her, inflig many bites. "Oh, wait, I'm fine again!" She got up, her wounds already healed.

  The meaty ball rolled into a er of the room... and just rolled to a stop.

  "Eh?" Thornno said.

  "...It died just like that?" saw said with a squint.

  looked at the maw-ball. "Expired of poison. That is what my medical seells me. You pae nasty stuff, Camity. You too, Seeker, but her venoms are just more deadly."

  "Not ued. She is more specialized in poisons than I am," Seeker said.

  "Yep, that's me!" Camity said proudly.

  "Remi to get bitten," Thornno joked.

  Camity giggled. "Hey, I bite without iing that stuff! I do it to my girlfriend all the time."

  saw raises her eyebrow. "You have a girlfriend? Guess I should tone down the flirting."

  "No, no, it's fine, Grad I are in an opeionship." Camity said.

  "I'll have to verify that after we're done," Clover said.

  Camity tilted her head quizzically. "Eh?"

  "I fully io score, assuming you and saw're both willing and yirlfriend really doesn't mind." Clover fshed a thumbs up.

  "Oh, sure, I'm fih that, the more the merrier up to a certain point where it just gets clumsy!" Camity grinned.

  "That'd be cool!" saw said.

  "Hookups aside, let us plete athering of the treasures within this room and proceed onward," said.

  With a chorus of agreement, the team got moving.

  ~~~

  "This monster is an absolute moron," saw said as she watched the marshmallowy foe pounding away on Camity with its rge fists.

  Camity fshed a thumb up while lying on her front. "Hey, that stupidity's getting me a nice back massage. Seriously, I haven't had this much tension released in a good while."

  "It is indeed remarkable that our foe has not noticed how iual its attacks are on our teammate, but I do wish to be home sooner or ter," said.

  "Okay dokey!" Camity sprung right up and took a big bite of the marshmallow monster. "Tastes sweet... Oh hey I evolve now!"

  In a fsh of motion, Seeker made a sweeping motion, cutting the monster in half using something unseen.

  "That's doh, looks like," Thornno observed while pig up loot.

  "Damn marshmallow gumming up my saw," saw muttered. "I'll stand watch over your evolution."

  "Thanks!" Camity immediately allowed herself to evolve.

  Hmm... a starry version of herself influenced by having a little Beyonder in her and also hanging out with a Beyonder... Iing but nah.

  An evolution based around being really good at eating... Nope!

  A version of herself with bded tentacles... Maybe... No.

  An evolution that retty much just more of what she was already going for, a furthering of what Evolver was now calling her Camity Hound species. Basically more deadly venom, more nasty diseases, worse curses, and the addition of weak banefire... Yep, this was good enough.

  Camity awoke from the evolution and looked over herself. No appearance ges, not that she expected any. With a hesitant inhation, she tried drawing on the new well of banefire within herself... and it came out with a splutter. A few tries ter, she mao exhale a small but steady puff of fmes. Stopping that and theing lighting up her cws with the sickly green fmes, she nodded. "Good enough!"

  saw stared. "Is that fug banefire?"

  "Yep!" Camity said.

  "Cool!" saw said.

  "What's the deal with banefire?" Thornno asked.

  saw gestured emphatically. "Okay, you know all that nasty shit she put on enemies? Poison, curses, siess, all that? Now imagine a fire that do all that. And she spew it all over the pce."

  Thornno whistled. "Damn."

  Camity said, "Did you really have to use the word 'spew' like that?"

  saw grinned. "No."

  ~~~

  "Just how many byrinth monsters are you going to bribe with video games?" Thornno asked.

  finished drawing blood and smoothly put a bandage ohree-eyed hedgehog's arm. "The byrinth is decisively g in stimuli aside from fighting less civilized monsters. As such, those civilized souls who chose to dwell within it tend to appreciate eai, and those particur video games are known to provide siderable repyablility."

  "Fuck yeah I was waiting for this ohe icy hedgehog monster said. "Love the Rogue Farming series."

  said, "Additionally, their video soles provide them with i access, but many of them appreciate having games on physical media."

  "Don't always have good access down here," the hedgehog said as they promptly loaded up their new video game and started pying.

  "Alright, only the fairace signs of the Corruption," said as he examihe vial of blood. "Normal for this area. I'm finished now." He tucked the vial away in his bag.

  "Wait, normal for this area? Do I have some of that Corruption gunk ihornno sounded unnerved, making the warding sign of iron.

  "It's everywhere, but mostly in highly insignifit amounts," expined, "We irange Medical Corps have been highly successful in pushing back the Corruption to a few high-tration areas."

  "Like Old Dalia?" Seeker said.

  "Yes, unfortuhat city-state remains under a deep ke of Corruptioe our best efforts." swung his bag onto his back.

  "Between the Labyrinths and their more hostile monsters (though the more friendly ones like you folks here are a real boon to civilization), the Corruption, the Horrors, the Pestilehe occasional Beyonder messing things up (when they aren't benign like Clover here), the Order of Emptiness, and so on, this world sure has a lot of troubles, huh. Still we're managing." Thorrned.

  Clover rose from her sitting position watg the hedgehog monster py. "Most Beyonders don't really mean ill, they just... don't uand this world, which causes problems whery to i with it. I had my hiccups at first actually."

  "Oh? I'll defer to your knowledge." Thornno summoned more metal to create a new shield which she strapped to her back.

  "...It's rare but I know of one friendly Horror. They're hiding what they are." saw said.

  Thornno scratched her . "Really? Suppose there are exceptions to everything. I know there are some sapieilence folks that try and rein in their urges to go around iing others and turning them into more Pestilence. Like the folks in Camp Green S. I went there for a job, they were nid polite folks. Avoided toug me, mind."

  nodded. "We have dealings with a few creatures of the Corruptiely ged residents of Old Dalia who doesn't want what happeo their city to happen to anyone else."

  "Anyways, we better prepare. We're going to be fag tougher foes from here," Seeker said.