When we arrived at the second floor, we appeared in a room that was filled with some type of pink liquid. All five of us dropped into the liquid, and I immediately swam over to my unconscious wife. Fortunately, she seemed to float in the liquid, and had landed face up.

Around me I could see that Yuri was not the only one in a bad state. Leisha had returned to her human form, but she seemed to be extremely weak and disoriented. She looked around with a lost look, as if not knowing what happened or how we had gotten here. Thankfully, Sierra was there to comfort her.

The new girl, Bailey swam over to us as well. A loom of concern was on her face as she observed Yuri from a distance. She did not approach, but it was obvious that she wanted to. Just what had Yuri done to attract this girl anyway? I sighed but nodded to her, allowing her to approach.

I could not help but admire her body. The liquid had caused her clothes to cling tightly to her curves, and she was rather well endowed. Her blond hair and blue eyes made her an exquisite beauty. A hint of jealousy began to fill my heart, especially as I realized I had become a monster.

How I missed my old body, especially my cat ears and tail. Perhaps I would eventually evolve enough that I could get them back, but I found the idea laughable. I was now a new creature, what would be the point in reverting to my old self. Yuri did not seem to mind my appearance anyway.

The pink liquid slowly began to drain from the room leaving us standing, or laying in Yuri's case, on solid ground. It was only then that I got good look at the area that surrounded us. The area around us black, with small b.a.l.l.s of light in the distance. The floor was made of clear blocks, underneath them you could see the same darkness and lights that were all around us.

Despite the Black surroundings there was plenty of light for us to see. When I turned around, I had to cover my eyes. There was a large source of light behind us. The color was a bright blue. I could feel an intensity of heat coming from it, but somehow it did not seem to harm us. I could only imagine that there was a type of protection here.

It was only then that I realized I had recovered from my wounds. Even my hearing had returned, though the only sounds I could hear were the sounds of breathing coming from my companions. Their breath was like an air horn, constantly a.s.saulting my ears.

Beside me I could feel Yuri slowly starting to stir. It seemed that pink fluid had been a sort of recovery liquid, something I had never heard of before.

Yuri's groans were much louder than the breathing of my companions, the sudden noise forced me to cover my ears in agony. Around me then others were doing the same. All of us were staring daggers at the girl who was slowly regaining her consciousness.

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Yuri's point of view

When I opened my eyes, I could tell that I was in s.p.a.ce. It was disorienting at first, how did we get here? And why were the girls covering their ears? Around me I could hear nothing, nothing except for the unusually loud breathing of my party members. But I could not understand why they were glaring at me. Hadn't I just saved them?

Mentally I could feel that Hylia was cursing at me. Something about keeping my voice down. Then it hit me, we were in s.p.a.ce, s.p.a.ce was a vacuum. There would be no sound here, and yet somehow, we were able make sound. We were essentially in the quietest place in existence.

I nodded in response and got to my feet. I had worry about my movements making sound, I had the light feet skill to cover that. I noticed that the others, except for Bailey were still glaring at me. I did not have time to wonder why as I received a response right away.

"Do you even realize what your actions have done? Did you not even realize that I was using the locusts as a buffer against an even more terrifying opponent? Of course, you did not. Because instead of working as a team you just acted on your own again!!"

"What is your goal out of all of this? Do you want to die? Do you want to go out in a blaze of glory like your mother? Do you want to kill all of us? Or maybe you just want to give up and let the Necromancer King, have you? Well? What is it? How could you be so stupid!?!"

I was stunned by Hylia's words. Another opponent that was even more powerful than the locusts? But how did we survive? And how come I did not see anything? How come Bailey did not sense anything?

As these questions ran through my mind, I could only look at her in a state of shock. This was the girl who I had fallen in love with. The girl who I had worked so seamlessly with in the past. What exactly had happened to her? What had caused this sudden change in behavior.

My first thought was that the G.o.ddess of War was interfering with her again. But as I looked into her eyes, I knew that was not the case. I could only see Hylia there, not a trace of anyone or anything else. I could only sigh and shake my head. Maybe this was not going to work out.

I did not bother to respond to her as I looked deeper into the floor. I did not look back as I entered stealth and walked ahead on the path. They would catch up when they could. There was no point in waiting for them.

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Hylia's Point of View

I watched as Yuri disappeared. I could feel that she was still close by, only walking further ahead of us, most likely scouting the area. I could not help but seethe at her response, but the look in her eyes when she turned around began to haunt me. A look as if she were questioning our entire relations.h.i.+p. As if she was questioning me.

I could feel my heart breaking on the inside. Had my words been that harsh? We had nearly died because of her actions. She would have been dead or worse had not Leisha saved her.

When I looked back at the rest of the party, I could see Leisha and Sierra nod in agreement with my words. Showing me that my words had been correct. That perhaps they were the only thing that I could have said.

Only Bailey looked at me oddly. The look in her eyes told me that I was wrong. And she was quick to voice her opinion.

"I have been in dozens of dungeons, and I can tell you this. We would not have survived if she had not acted. We had not even killed 10% of the locusts and Sierra had already burned through over half her mana. What do you think would have happened if she had not acted? Do you really think we could have survived?"

I knew her words were correct. I knew that Yuri had done what needed to be done. But if she had failed, we would have all died. If things had gone slightly different with the fight with the Kraken, we would have all died. Worse she was one step closer to the Necromancer king with her actions. The amount grenades she had used during that battle... Before I could finish, she once again spoke.

"This is the way the Inverted tower is. No choice is a good one. Every option can lead to death. We cannot prevent that. Just hope that we are strong enough to get through the challenge."