Leaving the snake Beast Lord, the party decided that the next entity they wanted to look into was one they had recently learned of. They had already suspected that this type of monster would have a Beast Lord, considering the pattern that the lake had. However, they had wanted to make sure, since they had tried to ask about a duck-related Beast Lord before, but had no success. It didn't mean that such a creature wouldn't exist in the dungeon; it's just that it wasn't part of the lake event. That said, the beam gars did have a Beast Lord that the party could track.

  Of course, as expected, this Beast Lord was located in the turbulent waters of the lake, much like the other beam gars the party had run into while looking for Tigress. And just like when they had been looking for Tigress, the party took some time to track down the turbulent waters. Things got even unluckier at that point as the first area they visited held no Beast Lord, but at the very least, the second one did.

  Of course, throughout their search, they ran into plenty of dungeon monsters whom they scared off or killed. Finally, during one of their fights, their search came to an end as they found the beam-gar Beast Lord, who looked much like its brethren but was larger. She was of a shy nature, and it had been sheer luck that she had passed by when the trio had been in combat. This had caused her to intervene in order to stop her brethren from getting killed. Not that she had fought the party, but her potent attack had paused the battle long enough for her to try to stop it.

  The beam that the Beast Lord had shot had been about the width of an ale barrel, and if it had the power to easily penetrate a shield, any adventurer would be in a tough position when facing her. Thankfully, the lord was a relatively gentle creature, and the reason she had intervened at the time was because she did not like seeing her brethren killed. Not that her nature had helped the party in recruiting her, as she had politely declined when they asked.

  “Would you consider joining us in helping the frog folk?” Alexion had asked, hoping to use the fact that they decided to call off the fight in the hopes that the lord felt like she owed them even a little.

  “I-I have to say no. Sorry. It's just that if I join, then my kin will likely join, and they might get hurt,” Bean the Beast Lord had told them, her voice gentle as a flower.

  “Ah, it's alright then, no worries,” Adriana told the lord, throwing a glare at Alexion and Arctur before they could say anything. The mermaid had quickly taken a liking to Bean, and she was petting the large, dangerous-looking fish as if it were a house pet.

  “Th-thank you for understanding,” Bean said as she leaned into the mermaid's touch.

  “Of course, of course, and there might be some mean individuals trying to come by later to forcibly recruit you, so stay hidden, alright? Though if you can’t, just find us, and I will kill all of them, okay?” Adriana said, meaning every word of it. Bean was so sweet that she was already ready to go full murder mermaid on anyone who hurt the beautiful fish.

  After saying goodbye to Bean the Beast Lord, the party headed back to the surface. They had spent quite a significant amount of time searching for the lord, and it was time to set up camp for the night. After all, they wanted to get an early start as they plan to continue their search for Beast Lords, having two more already in their sights.

  The next morning, after having breakfast, the party decided that the next Beast Lord they would try to find would be the eel Beast Lord.

  If it wasn't already obvious where the lord could be found, then after previously chatting with one of the guards, they had learned that the lord was indeed found in the eel’s nesting area. This meant that the lord would be easier to find, but nothing compared to the beaver Beast Lord. It also meant that heading into the eel nesting grounds would have them constantly fighting the eels, as the creatures did not like intruders. Not that they cared about killing a bunch of eels, though they wished they could have avoided it, as they felt the lord would already be rather angry at them from their previous visit.

  Arriving at the boundary of the nesting grounds, the party took a second to look at the many holes and cracks that covered the walls. Like they had seen before, there were two types of eels, and both groups swam around catching small fish that permeated the lake along with the rest of the more normal wildlife. Of course, many of the eels kept their eyes on the party as they waited for them to leave or give them reason to attack.

  Getting into the right headspace, the party took their brief pause to prepare for battle before moving forward. It didn't even take seconds after they had stepped over the invisible boundary before they found a multitude of eels rushing at them, many after having discharged their lightning attacks, while others flattened, ready to slice and dice the trio. Granted that all of it was simply a show, as the party easily countered, deflected, blasted, or squeezed the incoming attacks or the eels themselves.

  After about a minute of fighting, the party had killed all the attacking eels and realized they should have left a few alive for questioning. Not that they expected any of the eels to actually talk, but it was worth a try. So, with nothing else to do, the party continued in their search for the next nesting area.

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  It wasn't long before the party found the next nesting area, which was much easier to deal with than the first place since it had fewer eels. Unlike last time, they did remember to leave a couple alive. Not that they really did them much good. To begin with, the ones they had left alive weren’t likely to tell them about the Beast Lord, and much less after they had invaded their nesting grounds. After hearing their response, the party couldn't really blame them and had promptly put them out of their misery so they could continue on.

  Annoyingly, it did take them a couple of hours to find the Beast Lord, as they had not been using their brains. The party had forgotten about the map that they had gained all the way back when they first visited the nesting grounds. Pulling up the map, they had used their rather remarkable underwater mental awareness to cross-check the areas they had previously been in the nesting ground area, with the areas they had visited this time around. Doing this allowed them to save time, as they made more accurate assumptions about where the lord might be.

  Sure enough, only two nesting areas later, the party finally got to where the Beast Lord was. It was yet another nesting ground, though much smaller than any of their other ones they had previously visited. Even so, this supposed lack of eels was made up for by the much larger hole in the wall. And as expected, only seconds after arriving in the area, a much larger eel emerged from said hole.

  The eel, which was obviously the Beast Lord, had dark skin and yellow currents of electricity visible on its body as they traveled across the creature's skin. However, even more impressive and slightly intimidating than its dark skin were its small but incredibly bright, glowing eyes, which emitted small bolts of electricity. The party, having spotted the Beast Lord rather fast, had stopped as they watched the creature fully emerge, its body about the size of two grown men but not as wide; instead, it maintained a sleek form that ended in a sharp tail. This tail was like a blade, and it glowed threateningly as all the lightning in the beast's body collected on its surface.

  “Adventurers, have you grown tired of killing my brethren, so now you come for me?” The lord said, her feminine voice cold and hostile as it resounded all around them.

  “That is not our intention, my lady, and we apologize if you have come to believe so. However, we were attacked first, and we honestly would have wished to pass through in peace,” Alexion answered carefully but confidently; however, he and his friend were also ready to pounce in case this lord was the exception to the theory of the dungeon holding the lords back.

  “Ha! You say this, as if it weren’t within their right to do so! After all, you are trespassing here. Nevertheless, you are here now, and the weak have been culled, so I ask, why are you here?”

  “We wished to ask if you would assist the frog folk. Of course, they would reward you handsomely.”

  After Alexion finished speaking, there was a moment of silence as the Beast Lord went completely still before she began to laugh maniacally. Hearing the laughter sent a slight shiver down the spines of the three friends, not because they were scared, but at the sinister intentions and sheer coldness the laughter conveyed.

  “You three are either incredibly brave or incredibly dumb. You came here to ask me. Me!? Of all creatures to help the dumb frogs! After they have killed so many of my kind for merely existing!”

  “Yes, we came in hopes an arrangement could be reached; however, now that you mention it, perhaps it was never to be, you do steal their young after all,” Alexion said, his voice still calm, even if slight sparks were starting to appear on his skin.

  “Right, right, right. I will tell you what, I will help them if they offer me all their eggs as payment. What do you say, is that fair?”

  “I cannot say, as it is not my decision to make. However, I will take your response back and see what their answer is,” Alexion told the lord, both of them knowing he was lying and causing the lord to let out a laugh of cruel enjoyment, no doubt thinking about feasting on the many eggs.

  “Very well, I will await your response. Now, if you have nothing else to say, leave!” The lord told them, shouting the last word.

  Having gained a response, the party began to swim away, a mental conversation quickly starting.

  “We should kill her,” Adriana told the two guys, her words not surprising them.

  “We can’t,” Arctur answered matter-of-factly.

  “Sure, we can, it would be easy to.”

  “You know what I mean,” Arctur rebutted, and Adriana was forced to concede her argument with a sigh, before her actual concerns for her idea came out.

  “I know, but what if Victor recruits her by promising to feed her half of the eggs from Ribbiton's side?” The mermaid told them with worry.

  “That is a possibility,” Alexion pointed out.

  “Alright, that’s fair, but I still don’t think we should fight her yet. What if we get a demerit or something for it?” Arctur countered.

  “We can also come back later. How about she becomes our second target after the otter?” Alexion asked, and instantly got nods from the other two.

  After speaking with the eel Beast Lord, the last lord the party had information on was the lily pad Beast Lord. This Beast Lord would be one of the easiest ones to find. They already knew that the lily pads like to flow with the current, so all they had to do was find the main currents and travel around. Of course, even if it were easy, it wouldn’t mean that it wouldn't take a long time. After all, the main currents traveled throughout the entire lake, and though the party could stay in one spot, that would waste even more time. So, the party had done the only thing they could think of and had split up.

  Alexion and Arctur had chosen two of the main gathering spots that the lily pads liked to be in and hoped that the lord would pass by. Meanwhile, Adriana swam off faster than any D Ranker had the right to go, something only possible because of who she was. The plan was for Adriana to actively look for the lord while the other two waited to get lucky.

  In the end, it was Adriana who found the lord and used their telepathy rings to get in touch. Their rings were only used for long distances, as they preferred Adriana’s link when nearby, since it felt much more personal. At least that’s what the mermaid told the two guys. Apparently, the mental linking gave her a sense of comfort, while the ring didn’t, and as such, the guys had long decided to do what they could for their friend. Now, as for the lily pad Beast Lord, well, her name was Lory, and she quickly declined to join the frogs because it was too much work, and she enjoyed lazing around as the currents pulled her throughout the lake.