Chapter 257: Bikini Warriors
What's happening to me?
The bestial and red halo of the Minotaur spirit only stayed visible and lasted for a couple of seconds before vanishing, but everyone saw it.
The knight had defeated the Summer lion.
The body of the beast came down. It was over.
"Junk…" September stopped everything. The witch froze as she stared at the changed knight.
"Hubby…" April called him, following suit with September when it came to staring at him.
"What?" Meanwhile, Junk had no idea why the two of them were staring so much. "Do I have something on my face, or what?" he asked them.
"No," September replied.
"Not exactly," April followed with.
"What is it, then?"
…
Junk finally looked down and took a look at himself, and it was revealed to him that he now had armor on his body. That new armor was incredibly similar to the last one he had, except that this one was brand-new, as opposed to ancient and beat-up like the old man he had. It was exactly as if the same red and black demonic armor as before had been reforged just for him and that he had recovered while raging during the intense battle. There was something else that was slightly different about it… It was pulsating with more red, orange, and yellow energy than ever before. It was beautifully shining.
Even his face was covered.
His Minotaur helmet was up.
"The old armor is back…?" he asked himself.
***
The sun quickly became even hotter.
Soon, it was going to be a little too hot for anyone to wear much clothes. September and April certainly had that covered since the two of them were already topless, which was still a gorgeous and exciting sight for the knight, however, this was, unfortunately, not something that they could keep going for much longer. For example: What if someone came? September and April didn't want any stranger to see them bare-chest. Well, April was probably a little more open to the idea than the witch since she was a little more of an exibisionist, but that didn't mean that April wished to be seen by a total stranger in this province that she still didn't know anything about.
"Okay, this is becoming an issue… I officially feel like I am melting! We are going to have to find a solution!" April legitimately didn't enjoy the heatwave that they were going up against in this marginally more humid and warm climate. April might be getting a sunburn if they didn't try to find a shelter or something where there was a bit of shadow. Her situation was even worse than for Junk and September. For some reason, April couldn't stand this horrid heat as much as the other two members of the team.
"Agreed. The temperature is only climbing and climbing. We have to do something about it otherwise we'll fry," the witch admitted.
"I mean there are a few palm trees over there," Junk pointed out to them. He wasn't wrong. There were, indeed, a few palm trees over there to their right on the beach. It wasn't much, but that was something, at the very least.
Everyone gathered where the few palm trees were. They obtained a tiny bit of shadow, so it wouldn't be as horribly hot.
"We won't be able to stay here for too long. It's pretty hot. We'll have to find another spot–a real shelter from this blazing sun…" the knight mentioned. This wasn't the best time to gain his Minotaur armor back. That surely was not the case.
"First thing first: We can't go around bare-chested like this for all eternity, but we can't wear our regular clothes either since they are too warm," September, the Autumn witch reminded everyone.
"I totally agree with you, Sep, but what do you suggest?" April was still melting. She was overeating. She was doing good, at all.
"Let me summon something for us to wear…" September announced as she invoyed her scepter, which suddenly appeared out of thin air. She then lifted her magical conductor high above her head. It was at that moment that a big, black cauldron was abruptly manifested. "Summon: Emergency Swimsuit!" September called out the name of her spell and the fluids within her caudron began bubbling.
When her spell was completed, the witch pulled something out of it.
The first thing that came out of it was a women's swimsuit: That one was a green two-piece bikini outfit with white accents.
That one was for no other than April.
"That's for you," September handed it to her.
"Thank you, Sep!"
"That's nothing."
April wasted no time. She immediately stripped out of the rest of her clothes she still had and erotically put on that new swimsuit and she looked absolutely sexy and gorgeous in it. Especially when she finished placing it on and seductively placed both of her arms behind her head.
"What do you think, sweetheart?" April winked right at Junk.
"Not bad, at all…" he replied.
September pulled a second women's swimsuit out of her big, black cauldron.
That one was destined for her and it was an orange and black two-piece bikini. Naturally, there was the symbol of a jack-o-lantern on each of the two cups of her bikini top.
September stripped out of her clothes and put on.
She seductively posed and pushed both of her arms against the side of her huge tits, showcasing her beauty while she posed for her loyal knight.
"Does it fit me, well, honey?" September asked her knight.
"I love it…" he whispered to her.
"IT'S FREAKING HOT ON YOU, SEP!" April enthusiastically complimented her.
"Thank you," September replied, "hey, look, Junk, I even have something for you…" the witch pulled something else out of her cauldron and showed it to him.
It was a very revealing pair of swimsuit trunks for men.
The color was crimson red.
"Oh, that's so sexy! Please, Junk, wear those! Please!" April begged him.
"I'm not too sure about that…"
Sweat drops suddenly began appearing all over the exterior of his metallic helmet.
Chapter 258: The Evolved Minotaur Armor
Junk chose to continue wearing his armor and declined to switch for this swimsuit that the witch had just cooked up for him, even though he perfectly knew that it would be a lot less hot, but he still wouldn't do it.
The beach they were on was the strangest any of the three party members had ever seen in their lives. It was a regular beach for most part, except that this one had some kind of farmland on it. There was a field and there were scarecrows everywhere. Real scarecrows. They were not moving or anything like that, there were just real scarecrows constructed of clothes and hats and things like that. No jack-o-lanterns for their heads, though, as this was not the Autumn province. Everyone knew that there were no pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns in this province. Instead, the scarecrows had strange leatherheads with vague shapes that sort of resemble eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
They were real scarecrows meant to frighten crows in the hope to protect the fields, as well as the beach it seemed.
"What the heck is this place supposed to be?" April asked as the party finally began exploring the area following the recent and intense battle. So far, there was no one around here. Except for those stupid scarecrows, there was no one here. At least, there was no one they could actually go up to and talk to, which was a shame because this would make this entire investigation a lot easier for them.
"There are scarecrows everywhere. This has to be a connection to that one scarecrow back home, right?" Junk theorized as everyone was desperately searching for more clues.
"I like how you're thinking, knight. We got to keep a close eye on those scarecrows if you ask me? It doesn't matter that they are not moving… We never know…" September was careful, as she was most of the time…
"Right. You got it," Junk replied to her, getting what she meant out of this. Being as careful as possible was capital.
"Hey! There's a path over there in the field!" April, the ranger was the most efficient among any of them to analyze landscapes and areas. April was the one who found this path in the field. This path was still on the beach, but in an area that they had not explored yet. Everyone followed April without even thinking twice about it. The ranger led the way in this particular case.
"Good job, April!" the knight congratulated her.
"I knew you could do it, girl!" September mentioned to her.
"Don't mention it, guys! Say, Junk… Are you certain you don't want to change up and wear your swimsuit trunks instead? You'd look even sexier that way if you want my opinion…" April reminded the knight that this possibility was still on the table. It was obvious that she desperately wanted him to wear his swimsuit. She turned wet simply thinking about it.
"Nah… I think I am going to pass my turn for now."
"Too bad…" April's shoulders dropped as she was feeling disappointed that he didn't want to change.
"We should focus on the mission at hand!" September snapped a little and tried to bring April to reality for a second.
"RIGHT!" April shouted. She agreed to focus on the job at hand and immediately went back to working on studying this unknown area.
"You got it, witch," Junk was more than ready to work.
At some point on their path, April abruptly came to a stop. Everyone then also stopped behind her. April then crouched down and placed the palms of her hands on the ground, so she could feel the earth with her hands. April was silent. Her eyes were shut for the longest time… There was a beat. Junk and September both tried to be silent for as long as possible until…
"What's wrong? Are you feeling anything interesting, April?" Junk had to know.
"Anything noteworthy?" even September asked her about it.
…
Another silence later…
April finally raised her eyes and opened her eyes again.
"There's a shrine over there!" April revealed. She was able to determine that there was a shrine at the end of this path they were in without any of them actually seeing anything in front of them. The skilled ranger sensed something from a distance…
***
April was completely right.
A little later, the party discovered a golden shrine at the end of this path they traveled on. There were even more scarecrows around the shrine. It felt like they were placed there to watch over that shrine more than scaring crows and protecting the field. The shrine had an entrance, but no doors, so they were able to enter easily, which they did. Junk entered first with April entering second and September penetrating last.
The interior of the shrine was almost completely dark. Junk couldn't see much here, unfortunately, but it was important to continue searching everywhere inside to uncover what secrets this mysterious place held.
"Do you see anything, Junk?" the witch asked him.
"I don't see anything in here…" he told her.
Perhaps the knight spoke a little bit too soon because as soon as finished replying to his Witch Queen, he suddenly began to feel a presence around him inside the shrine.
It felt like there was someone behind him.
Step!
Step!
Junk stepped back and turned around to discover that there was, indeed, something inside the shrine. To be more exact, there was someone. When the knight finally turned around, he came face-to-face with a tall and imposing shadowy shape. It had to be a tall man or a humongous monster even.
The knight immediately summoned his ax and readied himself for battle.
A second later, Junk realized that this was no man and no monster. It was not a male monster, at the very least. This shadowy shape came closer to him and light from outside began illuminating it…
It was a woman, but not any kind of woman.
This one had horns on the side of her head.
"I don't want to have to hurt you…" Junk immediately told her.
She scoffed.
"Um… I'd like to see you try…" the mysterious and tall horned woman replied to the knight.