After Seth had asserted his dominance, Commander Halon had quickly realized that they had nothing to lose when these humans wanted to throw their lives away. He had given them a centaur to guide them.
The centaur guard had left them out of the city and into the lush forests east of it. They were dense, damp, and full of monsters. Nothing dangerous to the members of Minas Mar, but uncomfortable in general.
Crossing the shallow ridge that made up the tail of the manta ray -shaped island, they could see the eastern coast. The centaur guard spoke up soon after, pointing to a cliff to the left of them. It was a big stone cliff, peaking out of the dense jungle.
"The Phinene lives in a shallow cave at the foot of that cliff," the centaur informed the group. " I do not dare get any closer," he added firmly. he was not going to bring them directly to the cave. Seth sized him up for a moment before he allowed their guide to leave. It didn't seem like he had brought them to the wrong place to deceive them.
Without the guide, they closed in on the cliff and quickly found the cave entrance he spoke of. It was almost like a rift, going across the whole foot of the blank stone face. With the dense stalactites and stalagmites inside, it looked almost like the maw of a beast.
It was shallow, as he said. They could see the back of the cave, even without night vision. The back half of the cave was a big pool of water, suggesting that the cave went on further, but that part was submerged.
There was no place to hide, and it didn't even try. The creature called Phinene was lounging leisurely on a mountain of blankets, pelts, and pillows it had probably looted from the city. It perfectly fit the description of a gorgon from mythology.
Lolling around in her nest of blankets was a woman, covered in golden reptile skin, a pair of golden wings folded on her back, and, currently sleeping, snakes for hair. She was completely naked, and her impressive bust caught more glances than the head full of snakes.
It was not just her gaze that could harden the opponent. They never mentioned that in the myths. Her face was buried in pillows, so Seth couldn't judge whether Phinene had the typical tusks and ugly mug.
According to Monique, the only one with a level high enough to get a reading with appraisal, Phinene was lv. 188. That was quite the level. Since she was currently sleeping, her face hidden, this was their chance. There was no time to dawdle.
"Here, everyone, take these for when you have to enter the fight or something doesn't work out. They give 100% Petrification Resistance for 30 minutes," the bard announced, as he brought out a six-pack of potions.
"Where did you get these?" Monique asked, checking the bottle with sky blue liquid.
"Alison made them for me, using some of the stuff they got in the Sea of Trees," the tower master explained matter-of-factly. Now everything was ready; however, Seth had to ask Monique an important question first.
"Now, this is technically your operation, so I will ask: Do you want to do this the easy or the hard way?" the blacksmith asked, holding his special helmet ready in hand. The Helmet of Hades would make him imperceptible.
"What would be the easy way?" Monique asked, intrigued. She was the Chosen of a War Goddess known for her strategy. There were no "cowardly" tactics in her book.
...
Wearing the Helmet of Hades, the blacksmith had snuck up to the sleeping gorgon. Relying on the artifact's power, he had ample time to get in position for the easy plan.
The easiest way would have been if Seth had been able to directly harvest the soul of the gorgon. A simple touch and she would fall over dead. However, the level difference was way too high. He could only do this with enemies that were weaker than himself, apparently judged by level.
In the myth, Perseus used his shield to see the Medusa and escaped her petrifying gaze that way, but Perseus was a demigod and angered the Medusa from the start. Seth had a much better idea. It was inspired by an old novel he had read in his youth.
The book told the story of four famous adventurers who got embroiled in a conspiracy surrounding a hidden twin brother of their king. So nobody could ever recognize him, the twin in question was sentenced to life in prison, wearing an iron mask for all of his life.
Although the four friends ultimately help the twin, nobody would be able to help Phinene. He called this strategy "The Gorgon in the Silver Mask", as he had created a cursed mask of epic
Technically, it was two halves of a featureless bulb, connected by a hinge on top and shut by clasps on the sides.. It was enchanted with automatic size adjustment, Olympian Durability, and the Curse of Binding, the same as on the Whimsical Curse Necklace.
Once the mask was put on, there would be no way for her to take it off, unless she died or managed to destroy the mask with over 10,000 durability. With four people ready to help her with the former, it was clear which of the two options was more likely.
Technically, one could also try to dispel the curse... but a gorgon didn't seem like something that was able to do that. Standing over the gorgon, he realized her size. This time it was not about her bust, but her human half was more than twice the size of a normal person.
As he held the mask over her head, it was growing at a visible speed. It was a good thing he had enchanted it with size adjustment, considering he had not known how big their target would turn out to be. Only then did he notice a certain flaw.
It was too late now for the blacksmith to realize that the gorgon would look like she was wearing a silver gimp mask during the fight. Her exposed bust, gently jiggling with every sleeping breath, didn't help with that image. Especially, when he thought of the action it would experience during the fight.
"THUNK! " He forcefully shoved the silver bulb over the head full of sleeping snakes.
"CLINK!" The two halves shut around her head, perfectly encasing it.
"Tack! Tack! Tack! Tack! Tack! Tack!" The clasps at the neck and sides of the head shut on their own, locking the quickly waking gorgon in eternal darkness.
"Ahhh!" the muffled scream echoed in the cave. The blacksmith hurriedly stepped back as the rudely awakened gorgon jumped up from her mountain of blankets. Her scaly hands were hectically wandering over the silver mask, searching for a way to take it off.
The clasps? Shut tight. Pulling it off? Not a chance. Stumbling around blindly, she knocked against and knocked over stalagmites left and right. At this moment, the three ladies from Minas Mar were rushing over.
The gorgon's disorderly stumbling and muffled screeches of rage were their signal. Monique stopped some distance away and started firing aura spears. Mina vanished in the shadows, lounging blades of darkness at the snake lady.
Long and mid-range were taken, leaving Fin to go into the melee. Her favorite. Fists clad in barriers started pounding Phinene in a flurry of punches, throwing her around violently. This was never going to be a fair fight, considering the numbers and equipment of Minas Mar, but this was only bullying at this point, and Seth was yet to join.
"I wonder whether a gorgon counts as a dragon kin," the blacksmith wondered, equipping the Dragonburned Messer.