Ace strikes true at the fleeing Eel, bruising his ribs with the flat of his sword!
With two ships down, Daliya began heading for the third to dump some more water on it. Although she was mildly surprised most ships didn't have someone who could cast it. It wasn't a hard spell. It did require a level of dedication, to a God or an Ideal.
Gurram enters the cave. If she sees the Eel, she'll try to use her superior speed to get ahead of him and cut off his escape.
The tunnel is narrow; Krom could cut off the Eel but Gurram would need to squeeze, cutting his speed enough that he could merely float below the Eel as an oppressive force.
The water's surface is not far behind the Eel.
Between Daliya and Gremory, the last two fires are extinguished.
The Eeel continues to flee, breaching the surface.
Ace follows after krom.
Gurram leaps out of the water, in the same moment unfolding her wings to push herself forward and keep some of her momentum, as she pounces on the Eeeel once more.
Assuming that hasn't knocked him out, Krom begins monologuing.
"A dry cave, huh? Now you're even slower compared to me and my eidolon, so thanks for making this easier. Now you won't even have a chance to escape before your protective spells wear off. 'Course, you could always dive back in the water, but then you'll have both us and Manta Ace to deal with."
"You're running out of options. How much longer do you want to keep this up?"
The Eel ducks, dodges, and weaves, remaining completely unscathed by any of Gurram or Krom's attacks.
"Yeah...thing is, champ, I couldn't fight down there. In here though?"
He takes a step back and pulls two vials from his vest, launching them at you with a flick of his wrist.
The air explodes into chaos, a crushing force beating down on the pair of you and forcing Gurram to its knees, then flat onto its chest. The same force hits Krom, but lesser. Not much after a goopy substance sticks to Gurram like tar, but thankfully even in its weakened state it's able to doge enough to prevent being glued to the floor. Nevertheless the weight of gravity beats down on both, making movement immensely difficult.
Gremory helpfully douses some fires while Krom gets beat up.
Daliya swam towards the next burning ship and if she could swim there in time, dumped even more water on the burning ship. It was a thing she could do, after all.
The last blaze is extinguished before any irreparable damage is done.
"Did you forget about me?"
Ace shouts as he pops out of the water and gives the eel the ol' Ace 1-2 punch.
[
"Spread out, or he'll bomb all three of us at once!"
Krom casts Heroism on himself and Gurram , then crawls 5 feet away from her and Ace.
Gurram, unable to move at all, tries to snarl intimidatingly at the Eel.
Krom stands up instead.
Ixrul will let his summons help with the ship.
Ace likewise misses the cocky Alchemist with every strike.
"Oh good, another one joins the party. Here, have some of what I gave the other guy."
He steps back another five feet and chucks two more bombs; one at Ace, and one at Krom.
More black goop explodes from the bombs, burning your flesh as it hits. Worse, it quickly hardens, sticking you to the floor and rendering you unable to move.
Gurram dodges the worst of the splash, but alas is still sent back to her home realm, leaving only Krom and Ace to face down the Eel.
Satisfied with the suppression of the flames, Gremory addresses Ixrul.
"Commodore? There is still the matter of the slip that started the fires. Krom and Ace followed him underwater, but I was not able to keep up. Do you suppose we could do something about that? They're likely in no danger, but I like to see these things through personally."
With the fires all out, Daliya turned and began to swim towards where the others were. They'd probably already dealt with the problem, but you never knew when they might need a hand.
Krom starts trying to use his Summon Monster ability...
...And summons a succubus 10 feet behind the Eel.
"Hey, cutie," the succubus coos, "do you really need to waste your time with these fools? You've clearly outsmarted them, so why not just save your bombs and potions and stuff, and stop fighting?"
"I don't take orders from dames whose nethers smell like rotten eggs."
Meanwhile, anyone near the surface might notice that Krom's Babau have disappeared. It's reasonable to assume that the summoner has called upon his power for the second time today (and indeed, ever).
"I assume they can handle it. Besides, what's the saboteur going to do - swim the entire distance? If he had a way to teleport out, he would have used it by now."
"Well, you got us" said Ace as he slices away his bindings"if you think you are so good, do you wanna take a bet from me?"
Ace then drops his blade as to signify his intent.
"Not here to make buddy-buddy with you, kid. Leave the blade on the floor and maybe both of us get out alive, got me?"
He seems legit. Logically speaking, you guys started this fight; he only wanted to flee. If he can make a getaway by whatever means, he'll take it.
Krom, clearly frustrated, thinks for a moment before responding.
"Alright, fine. A truce, it is."
"Let him go. Don't attack him, don't cast anything." he says to the succubus.
Ace puts his hands in the air,in a shrug of sorts "You have my word"
The Eel nods, taking his hand out of his jacket.
"You guys stay put for a bit."
He walks deeper into the cave.
Krom dismisses his succubus.
"Hey Ace, a little help?" he points out his bindings. "I don't have anything to cut this stuff with."
Ace cuts off Krom's bindings.
"If the captain asks, let say he laid a trap."
Krom nods. "This was a trap, technically. But don't worry - I have one last trick up my sleeve."
He grins cockily.
"Think about it. He led us right into this cave without hesitation, and now he's escaping us by going further in? This wasn't a random destination for him - he's been down here before. He must have some place he can go to rest and lick his wounds."
He summons an Invisible Stalker, and begins giving it orders. To Ace, it looks like he's talking to the air in front of him.
"I need you to track someone who just went further into this cave. If you come to any forks, leave a scratch or marking on the walls to indicate the direction his trail leads you. If you see him, don't attack and don't let him notice you. Keep enough distance to avoid detection."
He gives the Stalker a description of the Eel, then sends it off.
"We may not have captured him, but now he won't be able to hide much longer."