D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 1315 Chapter 1315 Splitting the Party

--- Lily ---

After the pair got their anger out, wait no, after they broke out of the question box they had a straight shot to the start of the curve. Marigold shifted Lily to her hands and said, ”So Iʼm going to throw you straight up just to test how high we get. If you jump at the top of my throw you should go even further. Donʼt worry about my arms, if I break them I break them.”

Lily glared at Marigold from her place on the elfʼs hands. ”See that just looks adorable and minimally threatening. Anyway, youʼre distracting me,” *Iʼm distracting you?* ”So the plan is, I throw you up, check how far we get, and then you fall back down so I can throw you at the correct platform. So… make sure to use the same power to jump both times. You ready?”

*Wait hang on I have several questions.* Lilyʼs traitorous head nodded on reflex and despite her mental complaints Marigold bent her knees. Lily panicked slightly but managed to ready herself in time. Marigold stood and threw her arms upwards while Lily matched the timing pretty well and kicked off Marigoldʼs hands. What neither was expecting, was that Lily ended up just one short of the checkpoint.

Marigold caught Lily lightly the bruising on her hands already vanishing.?”Right… thatʼs a lot higher then I thought but donʼt let it be said Iʼm not a woman of my word so here we go again!” announced Marigold.

*Wait hang on you donʼt have to throw me that high!* Lily wanted to protest, again, but Marigold was already getting into the motions. Lily hissed as she to prepared and helped launch herself upwards. Lily may have extended her claws for a moment, but Marigold deserved it. Of course, whether Lily intended it as a punishment or a reward was unclear.

The Memphis went flying up into the air and easily landed on the second last platform. As soon as her paws touched down the whole thing started to shake and Lily launched herself towards the checkpoint. Moments after she left the platform it exploded into pieces. It was completely trashed. None of the pieces remained floating and now there was just a large gap where it had once been.

*Ok seriously? Thyme HAS to be watching this right now and messing with the platforms. It might not have been allowed in an official match but this isnʼt official and we never put anything on the line. Iʼd be willing to put down quite a bit of money that Thyme is fucking with us… though if thatʼs the case Thyme is probably messing with everyone somehow.*

Lily looked down to where Marigold would be… only to see the elf had vanished, presumably into a challenge room. *Right. So what do I do? I could leave a paper plane here for Marigold… though that would be costly on mana and likely to dismiss itself. I could just sit here waiting… but thatʼs slower for both of us honestly.

Which means I need to backtrack to clear the challenges. Backtrack over the large gap. Hmm… it looks jumpable. Barely. The extra height is really going to help. The question is. How am I going to get back?*

Lily considered the problem for a few moments. *The obvious answer is that Marigold can throw me up here again… but that leaves her back on the lower platform. Hmm… she could throw me and then I could summon up a paper bridge that goes back down. No that might take a bit too much mana. What about just a paper rope? Still expensive to maintain but not as bad… especially if Marigold can jump most of the way. Sheʼd just need it to climb up a bit.

I suppose the alternative is that we just launch the paper plane from down there, but then Marigold doesnʼt have the checkpoint. I suppose I can just ask her. See what she says? Yeah that seems like it might be for the best. Give her the option.*

With that decided Lily lined herself up with the lower platform and readied herself for a few moments before leaping down. Part of the way through she had to shut down her instincts screaming at her to open her wings and glide. It was an involuntary reaction. She could see that she was going to make it. Sheʼd used just the right amount of effort. Which, admittedly, was basically all of her effort, but still.

Lily smacked into the platform landing rather ungracefully and perhaps at risk of sliding off… if she hadnʼt ended up in a challenge room. The room was on the smaller side and filled with bamboo. There was a table nearby, and while Lily couldnʼt see it, the table had a bunch of swords and sword adjacent weapons. The sign in front of her said ʼslice all the bamboo at least onceʼ.

Lily gave a mental shrug to the command and started to charge through the room slicing through all the bamboo with her claws. After doing the first side, she turned around and got to work on the second, missing the ʼcut all bambooʼ button at the back of the room. Though in fairness to Lily it was hidden off in the corner and at eye level for a person not a small cat. It didnʼt take Lily long to slash at everything anyway and soon she was back on the obstacle course.

Lily then started to jump back down. The first platform was fine, the second was fine, the third one turned to ice which was a slight issue but at least it didnʼt explode. The next box was a question box with the following question ʼWhat are the conditions required for the Golden Skullcap to bloomʼ.

*Well Iʼve got no idea what a golden skullcap is… but Iʼm going to guess it has something to do with the sun and corpses. I mean… the golden part might have nothing to do with the sun… but… itʼs clearly a plant so the sun should be somewhat involved. Though this is a magic world. Perhaps it needs moonlight.*

Lily shook her head. There was no reason to overcomplicate things. She meowed her answer ʼTwenty corpses sacrificed a middayʼ which apparently wasnʼt correct so she started to attack the barrier. Lily might have been interested to know, she was just missing a step. That it had to be twenty corpses sacrificed at midday for a week. So close.

With that down Lily continued to clear a path for Marigold. The next time she hit a something unique it was another puzzle box but it was just a math question and easily cleared. She was rapidly approaching the halfway point and Marigold was visible now. Trapped in a puzzle box but visible. Lily nodded at seeing the elf. *Seems like I need to clear a few more obstacles then we should be good to get back to the checkpoint. Wait a second… itʼs a checkpoint. Would it be better for me to just jump off the edge and so that Iʼm right there at the checkpoint? No thatʼs silly, I might as well stick with Marigold. All the platforms have been cleared so getting back to it wonʼt take long at all.*

Another jump and then Lily was thrown into another puzzle room. Instead of a more normal room though, she was instead thrown into a minecart that started to move as soon as her feet touched the bottom. It wasnʼt fast, but it was clearly moving. Lily transformed so she could see out. The sign, now visible, read ʼMake it through the minecart maze. Pull the lever to jumpʼ

*Shit.* Lily cursed mentally as the minecart fell over the edge and gained speed rapidly. There wasnʼt exactly much of a choice regarding where she had to go so she just looked around for clues. That was, until another sign sprang from the wall right where her head was.?Lily transformed letting it sail over her head before transforming back. *Hmm… I didnʼt read that sign… not sure I couldʼve. Was it important?*

Lily grumbled as she saw a gap in the tracks. Just before the minecart would be thrown into the abyss she pulled the leave and the cart sprung across the gap, landing heavily and jarring Lilyʼs teeth. From that point on, it was a just a repeat of the two actions. Ducking when necessary and jumping over the gaps when she had to. That was, until she finally reached an intersection.

*Which way! Which way do I go?!* Lily couldnʼt see any answers, just another lever beside the tracks. Unable to decide, she reached out and smacked the lever, changing the tracks and sending her onto the alternative route. Lily was cheering internally because a few moments later she was teleported back to the obstacle course. *Thank the lord. That couldʼve been messy. Now where is Marigold…*