Cleaning the Cleaners

     The arrival to the island of Bibilan is... strangely peaceful. There's no hustle and bustle. The small amount of outside-of-dungeon population of traders and such isn't even there. In fact, for the most part the entire area is cleared out except for a Hunters Guild representative that was there to turn away lower level adventurers who would be stumbling into the danger of the currently high danger level dungeon.

     There had been some suffering due to it as well, a general lack of quality of life by many members of the lower level players, those that had hidden or just been slower to level now lacking a place to grind at, other dungeons had become overpopulated by adventurers. Luckily, there was a group set up for this.

     That being Jazuhanzu's party, as well as a secondary party sent by the Hunters Guild that, upon arrival, the party has been let know that they went ahead for scouting and to see what has changed, if anything, in the dungeon.

The term 'peaceful' is rarely used in regards to any dungeon in Yamato, and that, in itself, is unsettling. The fact that a leveling dungeon that is so close to the newbie areas of the game has been all but shut down is also concerning. Yet, for now, Mikage seems to be relatively calm. It's Rama who is pacing back and forth, perhaps giving an idea that some nervousness lies beneath the surface.

"So... did anyone come up with any bright ideas on how we deal with the monster we encountered last time?" She's likely looking towards the more academically-minded members of the party with that question, her arms lightly folded over her chest.

"My strongest attacks are all water and storm magic, so I should be able to play into the natural affinities of the dungeon, but..." That only goes so far. She lifts her shoulders, expression pensive.

Estelle looks just as she did last time, really. Except there are a number of stoppered gourds hanging off of a belt, and her shoulders, each marked with a number from one to three. A rating, based on duplicate numbers. "Good evening, everyone." She murmurs, silver gaze flicking around at all assembled. "I hope you've all had time to consider solutions of your own, and make preparations for dealing with the Cleaner... I have some, myself, and a small assortment of extras." She produces a bag from her inventory, dropping it onto the sand by her feet.

"The omens for this venture warn of danger, of course, but I think they're ultimately positive. Let's try not to disappoint the heavens." She clasps her hands in front of herself, tails flicking and curling behind her.

"Likewise." Shiruba chimes in after Mikage, and gives her bow a brief pat. "Between us we've got that well covered. Of course that doesn't mean anyone else shouldn't use what they've got. The more advantages we can bring, the better." She gives her shoulder a roll. "And this time, we know it's there, that's one less advantage IT has."

    Akatsuki is here.
    One minute she wasn't, the next second, she appears, dangling upside down from the entry to the dungeon, the imp ninja's long ponytail dangling towards the ground. She's holding a soap-shuriken taken from Estelle's dropped bag and eyeing it dubiously, giving a few testing flicks of her wrist while holding the soapiken, as though to test its aerodynamics.
    "..."
    Well it should work in theory so she's not going to knock it.

"I am leaving the proper solving to you folk for this one. I'm just looking to support." For the person who was first to call a retreat last time, Cyrus is remarkably calm about this whole situation. He indeed doesn't have any particular plans. But being an alchemist, he's far more capable of doing certain alchemical works 'on the fly' rather than having to make straight preparations for them. He doesn't mind menu-crafting when it comes to potions he's just going to use on monsters anyway.

The Cait Sith takes a few steps and touches Mikage's shoulder for a moment, giving her a warm look. He doesn't need to say anything. He's used to how some of her behavior ends up sometimes reflected in Rama from time to time. "We've got a bigger party this time however. And we are more prepared. Just as long as we don't go into straight melee, we should be okay. And I've got some spells with me to pull people out if they get dragged into the creature." He remarks, his tail flicking calmly. "Healing and CC, don't expect me to do too much damage."

Miho has just come off her fight with the wave and is riding a bit high on this she looks ot Mikage and Shiruba for a moment "Well I have something new that I can do." The fact this place is peaceful? Miho does not like it and her tail gives that away she's ready to help Jazz though and see this through to the end. "As for what I can do now it's Fire Based." Her tail thumps again and then grins. "I have a bag of baking soda..." She said she'd do that and looks like she has...

"I recovered some acid resistant chitin and Uta recommended glass as a material we can make use of," remarks Jazz. She's been here, of course, all quiet for a time and staring off into the distant opening of the dungeon. Her tentacles twitch. This... thing is an inconvenience she would rather not have had to deal with.

     Speaking of advantages, the aforementioned other party emerges from the dungeon entrance, the healer treating a couple of minor wounds on the tank's form once they're out of the dungeons. Nothing more than one encounter might cause though, seemingly they're fine. "And it looks like it's less unpopulated than last time, too." Says the female pooka from the other party as she approaches ... ... someone from the main party. Probably whoever's closest, really. "We encountered some smaller cubes on the first floor, and we were able to defeat them with magical attacks. Physical attacks don't do too much on their own unless the enemy is frozen first or something." Says the Pooka, whose name above her head reads as 'Honoka'. "Anyway, the Hunters' Guild sent us to help with this since it's causing problems with quests."

     Honoka hooks her thumb towards Mitcchan, a human in fullplate, "That's Mitcchan, our tank. Next to her, the imp, is Aira, our healer and support. I'm Honoka, I'm a hierophant so I've got a mix of support and combat magic, and finally over there is Hiroshi. She likes to punch things with lightning." Also, Hiroshi is a gnome. All of them seem to be relative veterans, though none of them higher than obsidian rank. Probably the best they could get after the Wave of Calamity yesterday. "Anyway, we're ready to go back down whenever you guys are, we'll split up on the first floor and meet up on the exit to the second floor." Seems Honoka's the face of that party.

The familiar touch to her shoulder is enough to draw Mikage's eyes towards Cyrus, lingering on the cat for a moment before she nods her head without offering any acknowledgement outloud. The two have traveled together for a long time now, so some things just go unspoken.

As Miho mentions having something new she can do, the Ranger reaches back and pulls a strange looking rod from a holster at her back. As she channels a bit of magic into it, mechanical arms extend from each end and a wire slides out between them, forming into a strange, partially robotic looking bow. "I've got something new as well."

Looking to Miho, she offers the smith a nod of acknowledgement. "Thanks to Miho and Cyrus." Oh, she'd put in some effort, but she'd rather have them get the credit for it. "Guess this is as good a test for a new weapon as any."

As the other travelers give their introductions, she raises a hand and offers, "Mikage, Ranger, DPS. I shoot and stab things, and he bites things." He motions to the lynx, who huffs. Then, with the invitation to move out, she seems ready enough to head down into the dungeon proper.

The vixen nods to Akatsuki, as she sees the ninja with one of the soapikens. Still, as the scout team introduces themselves she returns the favour; "Estelle, Astrologian. I have a number of Stellar Artes to damage and buff, and some Void Artes to damage and debuff. Also some alchemy and chemistry knowledge. Speaking off..."

She looks to everyone else, and nudges the bag at her feet. "The cubes, big or small," there's a tip of her head towards the scouts, and a smile to thank them for their work, "are made from an organic acid. I've done some tests, and basic chemistry works; alkalines cause neutralization reactions here, still. So I have some bases in these gourds, working up from ground soap to some stronger mixes, and this bag is filled with soap. You may laugh, but it's a decently strong base so it should do some damage when thrown into the things."

Cyrus rubs behind his head. "I just applied a little bit of science to it, that's all." He remarks as Mikage talks on the topic of the bow. "I'm no smith, but I can at least put some things together." Mikage knows what he contributed to getting the bow all done. Many hours of work were involved. But he just skips right over that. He then looks up to the approaching party. "Small cubes huh? Looks like the Flans are continueing to be an issue then." He notes, before nodding and shaking Honoka's hand. "Alright. We'll take the east side, you folk take the west, and we'll meet up on the second floor. Got it." He proposes to her. He then looks back to the rest of the team. "That good with everyone else, right?" Me does check.

    "Akatsuki. Ninja."
    That is Akatsuki's introduction to the other party. Simple. Economic. To the point and no frills. She drops down from where she dangles to get some more of those soapikens and start arming herself properly.

"...small cubes, of course," mutters Jazz with a sigh. Things would get more difficult. Still, she offers an introduction to the arriving 'helpers' for herself.

"...Jazz. Sea-Witch, I guess," she says, looking down at her dress. She tugs on the skirt of it and then puts her hands in her coat pockets. She gives Estelle's soapikens a curious look, as if she's defiitely wondering how well those are going to work, before her attention goes back to the otehrs. "Clever," she agrees.

Miho looks to Jaz and everyone else nodding it seems like people have some good ideas though Miho is very uneasy she does not want to end up in a certain type of animation for real. That was the least enjoyable experiance she's had in Yamato if she was being honest about things. she would take a glance to Mikage for a moment and just beams "It's slain dragons I'm so pleased about that." She grins even more about it but it's time to get to work and she'll look to the other party for a moment an nods. "Good to meet all of you."

"We should check in every five min, so if it's missed we know something's up." Miho note before she'll gfall in with her part of the party.

Shiruba bows briefly to the other group as introductions are made. "Shiruba, Spell Fletcher, and Guild Leader of the Silver Swords." But that's quick for greetings, it's time to get down to business. "That sounds like a good plan. We can cover more ground that way, just in case something else has slipped in here over time. We certainly appreciate the help."

     Honoka smiles towards Mikage and Rama. "A pleasure~. I'm sure that he's useful for hunting and tracking as well." She nods towards the lynx, dipping into a bit of a bow. Estelle gets a slightly wider smile, "So we're in similar positions then! I'm mostly attack magic, but I have a good bit of support from my secondary class of Acolyte." She didn't do anything fancy like stellar or void artes, mostly just spellcasting. But she doesn't say that.

     The comment of what the flans are gets a nod from Hiroshi. "I see, that does explain why punching them hurts, though I suppose I knew that going into it... magical shielding does help a little against the acid if you have to get up close and personal like I do." Hiroshi taps the center of her chest. "Anyway, yeah, that plan's good with me." Hiroshi responds to Cyrus, and the others of the party voice their assent as well.

     "A pleasure, Akatsuki and Jazz!" Honoka pipes up cheerfully towards the two, as Aira finishes her healing of Mittchan, and they turn to begin to descend back down into the dungeon to take the aforementioned west side.

Into the dungeon they go, with Cyrus sticking at the rear. The cart he's got with him kind of rolling behind him. It's a small cart, but it's got potions on it which will be useful. "Let's do this then." He proposes as they group heads down into the dungeon itself, and with that, to their first encounter with the flans no doubt!

"Slain is a bit of an exaggeration." Mikage replies, "Mildly annoyed a dragon is more accurate." She keeps her bow in front of her, Rama at her back, sticking close to the rest of the party while keeping a watchful eye on things.

    Time to go into the dungeon, then. As the group starts making their way inside--
    ...
    Hey where did Akatsuki go?
    One minute she was there, the next second as soon as people weren't looking, she's just gone.
    Like Batman ditching Commissioner Gordon.

     The first floor is... ... absolutely spotless. There's no monsters, no drops, it doesn't even /smell/ fishy anymore. No, it smells... vaguely lemony? It's hard to explain, it's not /quite/ lemon, but... it's as if someone had started very early on their spring cleaning of the dungeon. The east side that the party went along is...

     Mostly just that clean, however it's not long before they encounter a set of those cubes, which were slowly scrubbing along the walls of the dungeon, two or three of them halfway up the wall, while three or four of the cubes are scrubbing the bottoms of the wall itself.

     The arrival of the adventurers gets an almost immediate reaction though. Whatever they were scrubbing right now? It was much less interesting to them than the adventurers were, it seems! Because they immediately turn and start their unrelenting slide towards the group. Probably a good chance to test those methods of dealing with Reinigerin!

Estelle is growing accustomed to Akatsuki's appearances and disappearances. As to the rest, though, she picks up the bag of soap and whatever remains in it, stowing it until someone asks for a top-up on base-ic ammunition. "You're likely best off shocking them from a bit of a distance; they should conduct it quite well, though they may also explode a little. The splatter is likely to be... hazardous."

She's probably going to invoking the Raven a bit, in this dungeon.

But then they're into the First Floor, and she's looking around, tails flicking behind her. "... Hm." The change in scent, the complete absence of even the remains of arms and armor... it's eerie, really, how empty the dungeon is now. Up until they come across their first sets of cubes, that is. "They're sticking to the walls." She notes aloud, before looking /up/. "We'll have to keep an eye on the ceiling, and anywhere else they could squeeze through for an ambush."

... she does try throwing some bars of soap into one of the closer ones, though, to watch the reaction.

     It was... almost immediate, the cube started to /fizz/ when it came into contact with that bar of soap, soapy bubbles starting to foam off of it and causing its movements to grow slower.

"They're like scrubbing bubbles on crack. And acid. I mean, made of acid." Shiruba is already drawing an arrow and notching it into her bow. Then leans back a bit to raise it up and aim at one of the cleaners on the ceiling. "Eyes up, and don't let them drop on top of you." Little rivlets of water start to swirl around the arrow. "I hope this works." Then frost over as she fires it. By the time it hopefully hits the slime cube it will have frozen completely, creating a larger head of ice over the arrow.

Mikage is not armed with anything special other than her own abilities, but that may just have to do, for now. "I'll see if I can slow them down, or at least make them a little easier to deal with." Pressing her hand over the grip of he bow, she channels a bit of magic through it, causing the weapon to light up blue at certain points.

Her breath seems to hang in the air as the temperature drops slightly. It's a cold enough chill that the others might feel it around her. Rama even bats at a few particle effects given off by the magical energy. Then, she extends her other hand out, drawing water from the air into a freezing rain. It falls onto the cubes, dropping their temperature along with the piercing attack.

Cyrus is remaining at the back, letting the team handle the flans as they move along, and using the occassional potion as the magic heavy team takes care of the front lines. "Keep it up. We're making good time." Though he wonders how well the timing will match up with the other team of randoms. Pick up groups are always iffy like that, though their party makeup had seemed pretty decent in his eyes.

Miho seems to be cool with hte other group and she'll head out she has her bow out, as meeling the creature is something Miho does not want ot do if she can help it. As they go in? Miho would note. "Looks like it's been feeding very well." She noted the thing was cleaning up ie eating everything it could.

"Presume an attack can come from anywhere Estelle!" 5R
Then she'll see it she'll take aim at the slimes, gels or whatever you wish to call them and just open up with a shower of arrows at them.

"You have no place in this world or any other!"

    And of course the group encounters their first batch of slimes. Right about now is when Akatsuki makes one of her re-appearances, lunging out from a shadow, several soapikens clasped between her fingers.
    Soapikens that are thrown in quick succession.
    To be a ninja assassin isn't just a job. It is a calling. A calling that Akatsuki answers with a gusto.
    Always remember: Be polite. Be efficient. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

So Jazz is observing. Of course she is. There's a lot to observe.

In this time, however, the small Undine maid hasn't been *idle*. She's standing back towards the back of the group, as is wise for her with her class, and proceeds to draw forth oine of the bars of soap that Estelle helped her to acquire. To be honest, she had no idea where to get them. She's relied on the persoinal sanitation system for so long, she's never NEEDED to get soap. Actual soap.

She holds the bar in her hand and forms a small bubble of water around it, shaking it vigorously between her hands thereafter until the ball is full of suds, thereafter bringing her hands together around it and utteirng, "Darkest Heart of the Ocean, lend me your strength."

A swirling vortex of water forms behind the bubble, which is then propelled into the great ooze at a high rate of speed.

Speed and suds.

     Water attacks seem to be effective, as Shiruba's ice arrow strikes true and punches a hole straight through the bubbly cube, while the spreading suds from the cube that had been struck initially seem to be filling the tunnel rather rapidly-- possibly it was TOO effective? Though some of that rapid expansion is mitigated almost immediately...

     As Mikage unleashes her burst of icy magic, the icy rain freezing one of the cubes solid and slowing the expansion of those soap suds. Which is possibly for the best, because really, who wants to be engulfed in acid soap suds?
     The rest of the slimes are left starting to solidify, which lets Miho's arrows easily strike true, breaking up another slime and leaving its pieces to slowly melt away into a puddle of soapy suds. Remember how those suds were starting to die down a little from the ice? Well. That was before soapikens struck other cubes, creating another direct mix of base and acid, and one of the cubes is starting to swell up, the center of it bubbling and churning wildly.
     And ... that churning only grows larger as Jazuhuanzu's spray of soapy water hits! It grew larger, larger, larger... until there was an audible, wet, gushy ~POP~ noise, spraying the party and tunnel in those soapy acid suds. ...Luckily, the acid itself was already neutralized, so it just possibly made them a bit miserable as they moved forward to the end of the first floor. Where they meet up with the other party!

     Seems that that other party survived, too! Though both Honoka and Hiroshi seem to be slightly worse for wear, missing about a third of each of their health bars, though there's still a REGEN status effect on Honoka from previous healing attempts. Seems that their battle with the slimes didn't fare quite as well, as they lift their hand to wave to the party once they meet back up.

     A brief exchange of how things went -- mostly that the lack of people in the other party caused minor problems, hence the relatively poor state of their party -- and the parties are able to continue on to the second floor, which is... ... empty? Mostly, at any rate. In fact, it's ... a pretty easy movement through it to the end of the second floor, where they knew that Reinigerin had been before.

     And frankly, it's... not exactly hard to see it, now that they know what to look for. A group of cubes was between Reinigerin and the party. This time, the other party had opted not to split up from the party, and is right there with them, ready for battle.

"Alright, this is the real thing. Remember to stay in formation. We've got another party backing us, but we're not exactly an official trained raid party. So edge on the side of caution, and don't Leeroy!" Cyrus calls out to the party as they finally make it to where Reinigerin is waiting for them.

"We've done a good job getting here so far. Let's make this one count! I'll keep the mobs at bay with CC and deal with the healing!" And as he says this, he fires out four potions into a fan-like direction in front of them, creating a series of potions that stick into the ground, and release a sudden fierce tornado at their locations, creating a very clearly defined 'turtleneck' through which the adds can approach the party, and an easy road forward. Some of the wind picking up some of the cubes, throwing them into the air, aiming to cut them apart!

"... Hm. A bit messy in it's own way, but it does work out." Estelle muses, on the results of weaponized soap. "We'll have to keep it in mind, going forward. Though it's mostly neutralized, so it's safer to walk through than the cubes themselves." Her tails curl energetically, and then she nods. "Right. Onward!" She doesn't mind walking through the suds-filled puddles as they press forward, to meet up with the smaller party. A party she is happy to share some of the excess soap with, as part of considerations for tactics going forward.

Still, the next batch of cubes, when they delve even deeper, has her considering the situation - especially with Reinigerin at the back of the room. She hums thoughtfully, and then reaches for one of the gourds marked '2' on her belt. "Right. This is probably going to get... complicated. The big one is going to be a more serious threat, but we shouldn't forget the small ones. Being swarmed is not ideal." Still, she wants to try and keep the Cleaner itself at bay.

"Vela, the wanderer's sail, I call upon the winds you jail. I turn them to a mighty gale, and loose them with freedom's wail." The chant slides forth with ease, and the silvery wind gathers around her - perfect for her to pour powdered soap into, the roaring torrent of air turning itself into a drill to drive the flakes deep into the Dungeon-Eater's gelatinous mass.

In the best of times, Mikage is sometimes the quiet member of the party when there are more than a certain number of people present. Perhaps not as quiet as Akatsuki, but she doesn't seem all that interested in social niceties, or simply lacks some social graces in that. Instead, she seems to be focused on the task at hand - clearing the dungeon of the strange gelatenous cubes that are keeping the newbies at bay.

"I'm going to try to keep at range as much as I can, but..." She glances down at Rama. "Think you could take a chunk out of it before I fall back to shooting arrows?"

The cat huffs. "Give it your best shot. At least maybe we can freeze part of it." She traces her fingers down the lynx's spine, gifting him part of her own magical energy. The little cat dives forward, slashing out his paws an snapping at wobbly bits, dodging around to try to avoid being caught in the process.

    Don't Leeroy.
    Easy enough to not do. Akatsuki re-appears once more, from another shadow, efficiently hurling soapy shurikens in a small barrage at the biggest slime that she may or may not have a grudge against from the last time for eating her normal shurikens, before she backs off for a moment.
    Long enough to make it to Estelle's side.
    Akatsuki draws her kodachi.
    "Soap please."
    She asks, indicating her desire to have the blade coated in yet more soap.

Shiruba takes note of the other group with a tilt of her head when they regroup. "I would suggest keeping your wounded to the back and middle of the two parties. So the rest of us can keep them safely covered." She's not trying to tell them what to do, but offer some advice for the sake of both teams and their odds at success on a whole. "Considering the reach that thing has with it's pseudopod tendrils. Try to keep the smaller ones isolated so they can't be absorbed or something weird like that."

Then it's straight on into the fight, to try and give the enemy as little time as possible to move in on them. They need to remove as many advantages as this creature had as possible before it can put them in a corner again. Taking her own advice Shiruba starts firing arrows into the smaller slimes that form frosty bubbles around them in an effort both to chill, and take away their traction against the ground to slorp about.

Jazz casts a sly look towards Estelle and then snatches up a larger piece of soap that was provided to her. First, she gestures towards the Great Cleaner.

"Blackest waters, grasp our enemy in your ebony embrace!" She claps her hands together before her and a spiralling weave of water hurls out towards the Cleaner, balooning around it into a bubblee of tinted, darkened water. One can still see the Cleaner, of course, but Jazz isn't kidding around when she calls on it! Still, she produces a large bar of soap, casts a glance towards Estelle, and then throws it into the bubble, where it begins to quickly dissolve and float.

Things are getting ... sudsy.

Miho nods to Cyrus as he talks about keeping the party in formation. "I have experience raiding. It was mostly pugging to get materials for crafting." She admits and she often paid to get to go on those raids by making things for the party who took her along. With that, she'll draw her Katana. She then levels it at some of the adds and she dashes in trying to keep quick on her feet slashing with the heated bladed.

"TWIN DRAGONS!"

She'll then fade back before the slimes can counter-attack.

"I will have my revenge!"

Miho is looking like she's not making the best choices but so far things are going okay... at least or so it seems.

     Potions strike the ground among the add group, releasing a burst of wind, tornados swarming around the group of flan adds and starting to do chip damage to them! It was fairly effective to be honest, going for AoE attacks on them! Cyrus is almost immediately the one who gets the aggro of those cubes, which send out thin spikes out towards him to attempt to pierce straight through him!

    Meanwhile, Estelle uses a burst of wind to unleash a flurry of flakes of base into the dungeon eater, which actually gives a horrifying, squelching /squeal/ in response to that soap being driven into it and causing it to begin to move forward towards the group as surprising speed. It begins to reach out several tendrils with round, cupping ends that attempt to sweep through the party! These movements are suddenly slowed, however.
     As the cat huffs and unleashes a frosty Rama, attempting to slash and bite at it with icy bites! In fact, one of three pseudopods is /bitten off/ by Rama, dropping to the ground on top of the other cubes... which engorge slightly on it, though it doesn't seem to affect their health bars or anything. They're just a bit larger. More threatening looking. So far.
     Hey, it's not Reinigerin's fault that you threw shurikens at it! They're even still there, floating inside of it and they're not even that worse for wear since they've not been in there long. And those soapy shurikens join them inside of Reinigerin! Though they're starting to bubble and froth almost immediately, unlike the metal shurikens!
     That bubble of water isn't QUITE able to cover all of Reinigerin, but there is a good portion of the front of it that is covered in water. That is quickly getting soapy. And it is screeching, its pseudopod that had been removed and attempting to regrow immediately dissolved again.

     Meanwhile, the small cubes are getting pummeled by Shiruba and Miho, icy bubbles freezing them, while burning blades cut at their forms, causing them to freeze and then crack, a small explosion as one of them is destroyed by the frost shock!

     The other group of adventurers, meanwhile... throws in their own attacks, the four of them joining together for a combo attack that unleashes several flaming spikes of earth among the cubes! The fire doesn't do too much, but those spikes of earth manage to do a small amount of damage to the smaller slime group!

The downside of sending her animal companion into the fray is the fact that both Mikage and Rama share a combined health bar. So, it isn't long before the cat gets caught by one of the pseudopods, causing him to wiggle, squirm, and yowl. Mikage winces as her health takes a hit, causing her to look a bit worse for wear from the damage.

"Need... to get Rama out of there." She presses a blue gemstone into the socket of her bow, a bit of an aura radiating around her as she channels magic into the weapon. The gem lights up, seeming to facilitate the magical current as she draws an arrow, aiming towards the monster at the heart of the problem, and the one that has hold of her companion.

Where the arrow lands, it is like the impact of a storm, but in a more condensed space. Water and wind rip and tear, trying to cut away enough of the creature to allow Rama to get free.

Akatsuki's request is met with a shake of Estelle's head, but a '1' gourd is popped open and suds are poured along the offered blade. "You'll need to oil it properly after this, but good luck." Then she turns back around, considering the effectiveness of the group's assault... and leaving the vixen to try fend off a pseudopod. She makes the attempt with the soap-filled wind around her, but it doesn't do so well and she ends up with an angry red SPLOTCH all along one arm, a hiss of pain leaving her mouth.

She pushes through it, though, and considers what to try next... which leaves her grasping for one of the '3' gourds, carefully hefting it in hand. She runs the math in her head, for the angle she needs to huck it at, and then nods. "Fire in the hole!" she calls, before throwing the gourd filled with the strong base into Reinigerin. She then proceeds to back off a little, even as she readies herself for defense.

It'll take the creature a bit to eat through the gourd, after all... but that will only release the base within it.

Shiruba cusses under her breath as one of the small cubes explodes from the damage it takes. Wind whistles and sparks fly around her as the wolven cait sith dives and rolls away from the bursting slime box, but not far enough to keep from getting splattered with some of the noxious ichor that's splattered before the monster dies and dissolves. She hisses as she gets onto her feet, tail twitching in annoyance. "I hope Gwen knows how to remove slime stains..." She draws a different set of arrows, holding two between her fingers as she notches the first. "Pin them in and finish them off so the other group can focus on the main boss."

She fires the arrow into the ground between the slime cubes and the party. It might look like a missed shot, but the Adventurers familiar with Shiruba's style know it's anything but. It's a tactical placement, as stony shafts and spikes erupt up from where the arrow hits to block off the cubes and knock them back from the group. "Now! Before they have a chance to dissolve through the stone!"

    Thusly with her blade en-soaped, Akatsuki slinks into a shadow. Unfortunately not in time to avoid the boss' flailing pseudopod-y wrath.
    Her HP eats a sudden drop, but Akatsuki takes it without complaint or cry, just a strangled grunt that she swallows down as she leaps for the dungeon ceiling and clings to it.
    Her blade is not put to use- not yet as she snap-throws several soapikens into the adds below.

The darned Flans manage to pierce some of Cyrus' defenses, the thin spikes rushing towards him and cutting through the tornado defenses he'd set up. Their needle-fine attacks rip into his body through his arms and chest. If this had been the real world, he'd been dead...

But it's not. Instead, red lines show while the young man grimaces, noting his heath dropping. And he can see that others are having similar problems.

"Hang in there. Keep your focuses up. At this rate, we'll outdamage them. Keep up the assault!" He waits and sees - making sure the others are dealing with the remaining enemies while considering the use of potions.

Noting that the small cubes are being taken care of, he throws a potion forward /into/ the hole that Mikage no doubt just made, aiming to give it a potion to really chew on... as it enhances the storm quality of Mikage's attack, and tries to SHOCK the cube from within!

Miho is moving fast on her feet not wanting to stay still right now she does not want to get caught by these things she knows what happens she darn well knows what happens if they catch her, so the Salamander just keeps on the move. She's done some damage but it is not enough and a lot of the party is getting messed up. These things need to be taken out faster. If the ads are taken down they can then focus all their might upon the boss, hopefully once that is done they can clear this place out for good.

She turns about for another assault with her Katana

"Enlightened Strike!"

She lashes out this time with light-based sword art which hopefully will follow up and finally help burn down the last of the ads or so she hopes. Then she's got something for the big boss, oh yes she's going to turn that thing into jello bits.

Having delivered all the soap she feels she can, to the point of usefulness at any rate, Jazz steps back. Her eyes open a little wider, luminous amber. She holds her hands out to either side of herself, a gust of wind seeming to pass through the area around her and her long hair lifting and twisting in the process. "Time to bring the lightning, I guess," she remarks, nonchalantly, eyes then focusing on the Cleaner again as the air around the great ooze begins to crackle and discharge several short bursts and flashes of lightning at it. It doesn't seem to accomplish much, alas.

     The party had dropped off a health bar from the boss already with their extreme damage, even if those pseudopods had dealt great damage to the party! And it was getting ready to attack again! It was... until, well. There was... suddenly, well. An arrow. Striking Reinigerin. Right near where Rama had ended up caught. And it was like someone had taken a /scoop/ of Reinigerin, as that storm sends air and water rushing down the tunnels, washing away some of the suds that had begun to violently form in the area! ...Which was probably kind of nice because that chemical reaction was starting to make the area kind of toasty.

     Good luck hearing each other though. That 'fire in the hole!' is drowned out by the tsunami arrow, though luckily the gourd itself was not blown away, as it strikes true at Reinigerin... and... once it eats through that gourd... it was like a bomb had gone off, an immediate burst of hot suds rushing out and splattering the area... as well as possibly the party!
     Meanwhile, Shiruba and Akatsuki work together to unleash arrows around the ground and the party, stone shafts and spikes stabbing through those creatures, as soapy shuriken strike each of those remaining cubes! ... And... with a ~pop~ of soap and slime... the adds were no more.
     And letting the party focus on boss from here on out. Which is... looking... a lot smaller now? Ice and soap having taken away from its general mass. It didn't even consume the entire tunnel anymore. Especially not after that light based sword arte cuts through it! Lightning, meanwhile... doesn't seem to be as effective, either that or Jazuhanzu is just unlucky, as the lightning shoots straight through it, causing minimal damage.
     The other party, meanwhile, had taken some hits! Which was... unpleasant, but they were still in it! The three casters stand together and start to chant, with the hymnist singing acapella in the center. Soon, they had gathered up energy and pointed towards the beast, unleashing a massive sword of light that shoots towards the boss!
     Which responds with... magic?! Dark energy gathers in the center of its mass, and something that sounds vaguely like schlorping chanting is audible... followed by a wave of dark energy that saps energy and weakens will that is sent out like a black fog through both party's ranks!

Cyrus manages to touch the ground in time, breaking a potion bottle and causing a sudden aura of light to grow on the 'square' he's standing in, creating a soft pink aura that seems to make him practically invulnerable to the kind of long ranged attack coming his way.

While that is happening, he quickly grabs a larger flask, noticing Shiruba - one of the Guild Leaders - having dropped down in health. The flask literally gets thrown /at her head/, shattering there, and raining a healing glow all over the wolf Cait Sith.

"I've got you!" He calls out, while readying a potion to help Estelle out with. "Estelle, pull back a bit behind the tanks until I can get a potion out to you!" He calls out.

In the aftermath of the attack, Rama dodges around hissing sections of smoldering goo in order to dart behind Mikage, looking a little worse for wear for his adventure with the monster. "Stay behind me from here out, Rama. I don't want you getting caught again." She murmurs, seemingly more worried for the cat than about their joined health pool.

As the dark energy is gathered, she is quick to scoop up Rama and dive out of the way, utilizing some of the natural rock formations as a shield against the dark wave. Lifting a scarf over her mouth and nose, she takes a couple of careful breaths even as the lynx wiggles, trying to get free.

With the boss being the only target that remains, she pushes herself back up to her feet, the bow folding back down as she places it back in the holster along her spine and reaches for her sword. The weapon is slashed through the air three times, leaving swirling cuts that hang in the air, forming into condensed blades of storm energy.

Then, extending her palm outward, she shoots the trio of them towards the boss monster, each blade of elemental energy acting as a weapon strike.

There is a /distinct/ satisfaction, at the explosion of steaming suds from within the great cube at the reaction of the gourd's contents. And at the chunk of its HP bar that the action takes off of it. Estelle's ideas for chemical warfare are certainly bearing fruit, and she's quite happy at the results of her work since their first encounter with the thing. Even as everyone else batters away at it, further chunking out its HP now that they know how to fight it.

... of course, the sudden spellcasting from it is quite worrisome, and she manages a harsh, firm "Scutum!" as she tries to defend herself from its latest assault - and is left staggering, as its draining wave breaks through and saps at her HP, leaving her feeling a bit woozy and frazzled. She shakes it off, frowning at her status, and considers the lay of the field.

At the sound of her name, though, she glances over to Cyrus - and nods, pulling back as much as she can, and letting the others take the front, for now. Not that she was ever truly part of it. She doesn't wait for his healing attentions, though; she enacts her own.

"Monoceros and your healing horn, defend us from the ills you scorn. Make hale and hearty of the ill, your healing light I now instill."

Shiruba slams a foot to the ground, kicking up a swirling rush of air around herself. The wave of darkness surges into it, the two forces colliding and shoving the Cait Sith back. Until the wind barrier finally gives out and Shiruba is the one getting lombasted by the dark. She snarls through gritted teeth, eyes squinting shut briefly as the dark force tries to sap the life out of her.

Then there's a spark in the darkness, as a well-timed and place potion fills her with revitalizing energy. Though she still huffs out a breath as she recomposes herself, even as her tail flicks a few times with relief. "Thank you!" She's not going to complain about it being a bonk to the head, not at the moment

With her health and strength restored Shiruba stands back up tall, and nocks one of her stronger arrows into her bow. "Let's finish this! You don't have bones to chill to, but the storm shall not relent!" She lets loose the arrow at a low arc, and at midair it bursts into a shower of ice shards that plummet down on the slime boss to dig deep like frigid shrapnel.

    From her perch, upside down, on the ceiling, Akatsuki watches the battle play out. The smaller slimes are dealth with. That just leaves the big one, and she narrows her eyes.
    She watches.
    She waits.
    And when it comes time to strike...
    Akatsuki lets go of the ceiling, falling like a streak of black and purple to the ground, quickly drawing her soap-coated blade.

    "-Assassinate!-"

    It's a simple declaration of lethal intent as her DPS suddenly spikes as she drags her blade through the gelatinous cube and quickly darts away to avoid reprisal.

They can't play around here sadly Miho hasn't had a chance to use the baking soda and may not but she's got an idea to do something else here. Oh yes, she's got an idea to do something else here and so she's going to do it. She'll ready her Katana and focus for a moment, she's not moving as she face down the dark magic she'll hold there for a moment she'll hold then slash her Katana as it flares up seeming to catch fire.

"Not enough, you end here monster."

Did she just cut the darkness it seems so as Miho now moves in at her top speed, her sword seems to be on fire as she will leap for the boss aiming to hack and slash her way through it with a chain of stikes so quick and powerful one can hear it cutting the air as it goes. If she connects she will attempt to hack and burn her way through the creature.

"FORGE'S FURY!"

Jazz is not too thrilled with the damage she's taken so far. While the pain is handily diminished by her nature as an adventurer, it's clearly been a while since something *actually* hurt her.

She makes a face, steps back, keeps her fofcus on it, and when its next attack rolls around, she's far more prepared. With wide eyes, she throws her hands up defensively and calls upon the oceans once more. Dark water forms in a pool around her feet, flowing up over her form and encasing the vital points of her anatomy in black ice that definitely does the trick to absorb most of the impact of the Cleaner's enxt efforts, leaving her staggered buyt relatively unnharmed compared to previously.

Recovering her wits (and her hat, it'd fallen oin the ground), Jazz whips her hair oiut of one of her eyes, making her look particularly anime this dungeon.

Extremely twee anime.

She lets out a breath and it mists in front of her.

"Guess this is it, then. Denizens of the blackest abyss, let loose those who died by your grasping hands!" Indeed, the puddles of water from her very own magic seem to shimmer, twisted, gnarled and rotten-clawed and phantasmal clawed hands emerge from the pools as bloated, undead *things* draw forth, called by Jazuhanzu's cry and contorting themselves to fit through the puddles as if they were a small gateway to somewhere else. It's all just special effects, but they're her's. A pair of these spirits then lunge towards the cube, clawing at it wiht semi-solid forms.

"Ugh," grumbles Jazz. "Gross."

     Healing! Is effective. Very effective. Like seriously this party seems to be able to critically heal like mad! ...Both Estelle and Shiruba are brought out of the danger zone almost immediately and very effectively at that!
     And then attacks begin to come out. Storm blades are unleashed upon its remains, slicing it up into further, smaller pieces, which split into... MORE MOBS?! Yes, now they're fighting more gelatinous cubes, though these ones are the small, easily killed, and already heavily damaged ones! But the party easily takes this in stride.
     As Shiruba's shower of ice shards comes in, some of the group of gelatinous cubes are broken apart further, becoming little more than pieces rapidly turning into soap suds. Others are cut to pieces by Akatsuki's assassination! She gets away scott free, as health bars rapidly deplete and pieces of Reinigerin are starting to explode into red pixels!
     And... fire begins to spread over Miho's sword, and she leaps and hacks through the remaining creatures, cutting through them, destroying many of them! In fact... there's only a few left it seems! Which... Jazuhanzu's summoning attack begins. THose pools starting to unleash clawed monstrosities, and soon... soon there were spirits lunging at the monster to ... destroy what's left. Bubbling away until turning into pixels of red light.

            <VICTORY!>

...There was no loot.

Estelle sighs, relaxing, as Reinigerin is finally laid low by the mass attacks of the others. The broken pieces turning to red light, and disintegrating. She finds herself a dry seat to sit on, and absently pulls up the bugged quest tied to the evening's hunt, considering it and looking out to the others.

"Good job, everyone." She gives them all a smile, tails swishing behind her. "That's that out of the way. Hopefully it's our only worry in the dungeon, though..." She looks beyond where it blocked the way, and then towards the scouts and back, as she thinks about the issues of any more Cubes lurking around down there.

Shiruba lowers her bow only once she's sure there's not more of the chopped down slime bits slinking about. "At least the passage through is clear now." Her ears tilt part-way back as she hears Estelle comment. "Don't say things like that. It might jinx it..."