I could not believe what had happened. I knew that Grimm could absorb mana. I knew that the Goddess was releasing such huge quantities of mana that even I, a dungeon, had issues with keeping it all contained. I did not expect such a violent end. I quickly directed my efforts to covering up the Goddess with ice again, then letting Rebekkah out of the makeshift elevator.


    Rebekkah’s face was filled with dread. The grisly sight in front of her left her looking like she was about to throw up, and her antennae were twitching violently.


    “Did you just kill him?” Rebekkah asked, then before I could answer she continued with a shake of her head. “No, you aren’t a killer. Grimm made a mistake somewhere between his giant ego and threatening both you and me.”


    “You are correct on that front,” I mentally said to her. “He could handle the Death Mana until he made direct contact with Elsa, then his absorption went into overdrive and killed him.”


    “Wait, you know who caused the death blight?” Rebekkah asked, suddenly surprised. “Who was she? The officials from our Kingdom that sent us out here didn’t recognize her.”


    “I only knew her briefly,” I admitted. “She introduced herself to me as Elsa, a Goddess of Fate. I was about to be sent to this world from a different world by her when something killed her.”


    Rebekkah looked down, speechless, her centipede feelers twitching as though she was contemplating my words.


    “I know Grimm tried to kill both of us, but you don’t seem as upset by his death as I thought you would have been,” I said after a long moment of silence.


    “While he was an important member of the team, Dracomorphs bully my kind while the humans and other species watch silently. Even though they feed on mana, they require us Centipede Demis to track sources of mana and identify what it is as they don’t have such senses.”


    “I am sorry for making you relive that pain with my question,” I mentally apologized as I started cleaning away the pieces of Grimm that were still all over the floor Rebekkah was standing on.


    “What do we do about the rest of your team?” I asked her, focusing on my swarms of eyes that were following the four of them now huddled together outside watching the mountain for any sign of Grimm and Rebekkah returning to them.


    Rebekkah froze at that, apparently having forgotten about them. Her feelers and antennae twitching as she looked around in deep thought.


    “I can’t think of any explanation for what happened that they will accept,” Rebekkah said, dejected. “Grimm’s absence will mean I can’t lie, and the fact that Grimm’s dead and I’m alive will make them think I made a deal with you to kill him, and they will instantly label me a traitor of the Kingdom.”


    “Well, we can’t avoid facing them forever,” I said, starting to make a new tunnel to lead back to the outside world. “I can assist if they are hostile, but you will have to talk to them. Sorry to make you be my voice again.”


    I finished the tunnel to the surface and put the starting point near where Rebekkah was standing. She looked over to it just as it finished forming and skittering on her dozens of legs made her way through the hole.


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    Rui was the first to notice the hole on the surface, and she threw a dagger at it just as Rebekkah was about to make it to the surface. Rebekkah ducked at that as I made a rock fly into the dagger’s trajectory and knock it off course. Just from that I had to agree with Rebekkah that this conversation will not go smoothly.


    Solaire moved to the front of the party as Rebekkah finally built up the confidence to finally exit the tunnel. Greyson and Seirah turned towards Rebekkah as well. The former party members were all wearing furious expressions directed at Rebekkah, but I was ready to intervene if the worst happened.


    “Where’s Grimm, Rebekkah?” Solaire asked, drawing his sword slowly out of its gleaming hilt.


    “Dead,” Rebekkah answered back, emotionless. “The Dungeon can contain the source of the Death Blight, but cannot remove it. It agreed to allow Grimm to try to remove the source, but it was too much for Grimm’s Dracomorph physiology, and the rampaging Death Mana killed Grimm.”


    “You aren’t just saying that to hide your murder, are ye, you pest,” Greyson slowly inched forward as well, his giant hammer in one hand and his ax in the other slowly threatening Rebekkah.


    “I know you dwarves are hard headed, Greyson,” Rebekkah said as she tried her best to stand her ground. “But how would I have killed Grimm? Dracomorphs are way too sturdy even for you dwarves to take down in a fight, let alone a lone centipede such as me. The Dungeon couldn’t have done it either since he can absorb the energy of everything the Dungeon throws at him.”


    Rui stepped forward, holding a knife up in front of her. “Just because you two couldn’t fight Grimm alone doesn’t mean you wouldn’t find a way around those issues by colluding together, traitor. We all know you have been working with it from the beginning.”


    As Solaire, Greyson, and Rui got closer to Rebekkah, she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle all of them. At that moment just as she started to move, a magic glyph appeared around Seirah. Chains flew out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Rebekkah.


    “Thank you, Seirah,” Solaire said as he stood in front of the now tied up Rebekkah. “Good to see we still have some reliable support members in this party.”


    I didn’t intervene because Rebekkah had wanted to handle this on her own from what I could tell, but things were getting way too dangerous now.


    “Two can play at that game,” I mentally said loud enough for Rebekkah to hear, causing her antennae to twitch slightly.


    Greyson, Solaire, and Rui all suddenly found their feet covered in ice, and frozen to the ground. Rui tried to make a motion to throw a knife, but as she swung her arm back, I made a small pillar of ice form around her hand and catch her mid-throw.


    I could see the mana of Seirah’s spell in the air, and with just a thought I broke it. They were all in my Dungeon. I held full control here. I then weaved the spell back together, and made the chains wrap up Seirah instead. This caught her off guard, and she fell to the ground.


    “The Dungeon isn’t a killer,” Rebekkah said once she was sure I had restrained everyone. “This Dungeon’s voice is unlike other Dungeons that I have seen. It is not a bloodthirsty maniac. Even if you are too thick-skulled to see it, it is saving all of us right now. The Death Blight’s source was too much for even a Dracomorph to handle, which would have killed many more expeditions, but the Dungeon has sealed it away and stopped it, even though it can’t get rid of it either. It didn’t kill any of you either, even though it just proved it could.”


    Seeing that all of them still had expressions of hatred on their faces, Rebekkah sighed, and turned back to my mountain.


    “You know this isn’t over, you traitorous pest!” Greyson yelled as Rebekkah walked away. “You and your little Dungeon are not long for this world!”


    Rebekkah gave me a hand signal, and I formed a tunnel directly in front of her. I sealed it directly behind her so that none of her former party could follow, then thawed out the ice holding them, and made the chains tying down Seirah vanish. They all made a hasty retreat, with Solaire pausing for a moment to look back at my mountain before catching up with the others.


    Finally, I led Rebekkah back to the bed I had made for her previously, and she immediately curled herself into it and let herself cry over the events of the day. I gave her the space she needed, as well as peace and quiet.